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Summary
Language Contact and the Toponymy of Anglo-Saxon Eng¬
land: Early Latin Loan-Words
The study aims at a reassessment of the Latin influence on Old English
place-names containing elements which were borrowed up to c.700. It brings
three questions into focus. Firstly: Does the toponymy of Anglo-Saxon England
comprise continental loan-words? Secondly: Were Romano-British place-
names adopted in Latin or latinized forms? Thirdly: Are there early insular
loan-words taken from Latin at or immediately after the adventus Saxonum?
After a summary of the state of the art and its problems each question is
answered with the help of selected typical examples. Their detailed discussion
results in findings as follows. Firstly: Quite a number of Latin loan-words,
which Angles and Saxons brought from the continent to Britain were used as
place-names or place-name elements later on. Secondly: Romano-British
place-names were not adopted from Latin speakers. Place-names such as Firle,
Speen, and early ME Trie cannot be derived from a Latin etymon. Others, e. g.
Catterick, Lincoln, and Lindsey, are based on Celtic forms. Thirdly: The
place-name elements camp ,field’ and port,harbour; market-place’ turn out to
be continental loans. OE *cort(e) ,enclosed yard’ (cf. Dovercourt) was
borrowed in the sixth century at the earliest, and OE croh ,crocus’ is a monastic
loan adopted in the course of conversion. The theory that several place-name
elements were borrowed either by Germani in Roman service as early as the
fourth or fifth centuries or from Latin speakers of Germanic or Celtic origin in
the course of the Anglo-Saxon settlement should be abandoned. The
lexicological findings include proof of the non-existence of OE camp
,battlefield’ whereas OE roc^a ,rye’ did exist. Port ,gate’ ranks among late OE
loans and ModE, Sc. tod ,fox’ originates from OE *toda, -e ,scrub’.
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