Toponímia transplantada de origem italiana no Brasil: o caso do modificador “novo” / Transplanted Toponymy of Italian Origin in Brazil: the Case of the Modifier “novo” (“New”)

Abstract

Toponyms are proper names that designate places. In this article, the object of analysis are toponyms that denominate human groupings, specifically municipalities and districts, transplanted from Italian toponymy to Brazilian toponymy through the adoption of the modifier “novo” (“new”). After examining all the names of Brazilian municipalities and districts, 16 toponyms were included in the data set to be analyzed. These toponyms were studied considering linguistic, in particular morphological and semantic, and historical-cultural aspects. We observed that, in the vast majority of cases, Italian toponyms transplanted in Brazil started to be used in Brazilian toponymy to name places occupied by Italian immigrant communities, thus characterizing a form of evocation of the homeland.