Multiculturalism and onomastics in the comarcas along the lower course of the river Ebro

Abstract

This study analyses the names of places and people of diverse origins collected from the documents which outline the territory from the mouth of the river Ebro (running into the sea) in Catalonia, and the adjacent part of the Aragon strip. These place names and anthroponyms are based on Latin onomastics, influenced by the Arabization of the Iberian Peninsula which occurred in the eighth century and the subsequent cultural and linguistic Catalanization. It is possible to observe that the primitive Latin element is evident in names of Mozarabic origin, and that there are many Arab, and some Hebrew elements, which are the result of the presence of these two cultures during the Middle Ages in our territory. The Catalan element – which makes up the majority – comes from the medieval Christian repopulation carried out during the reign of Count Ramon Berenguer IV in the mid-twelfth century. It should be noted that, with Catalan, some elements of the pre-Roman substrate and Germanic superstrate were also introduced into the proper names.