Hispanic toponymy of Chile: linguocultural and linguopragmatic approach

Abstract

The article provides a linguo-cultural and linguo-pragmatic analysis of the Hispanic toponymy of Chile. Geographical names are considered from historical, geographical, and linguistic perspectives. A semantic classification of the Chilean Hispanic geonames is presented. Examples of hagiotoponyms, anthropotoponyms, military toponyms, descriptive, expressive toponyms, etc. are provided, and their etymology and morphological structure are analyzed. The author concludes that, in general, the toponymic system of Chile is characterized by both universal features of Latin American toponymy and unique linguo-culturological, morphological, and semantic features.