Observations on the geographical distribution of toponymic endings in Estonia

Abstract

The article looks at the geographical distribution of toponymic endings with the aim of discovering significant patterns. The corpus includes ca. 9,000 oikonyms, of which 24% are those that have the analysed endings. Endings are recognized if names have at least 3 syllables or have 2 syllables and the Q3 degree of quantity; in these cases the existence of a toponymic suffix is most likely. In the case of endings that have multiple origins there are seemingly no specific distribution patterns, with the exception of some borrowed endings (e.g. -na or -va). In the case of typical toponymic suffixes -la, -ste and -vere each of these are often concentrated into certain areas based on which the whole are of Estonia might be divided into regions: -vere-region (northern Tartumaa and northern Viljandimaa), -ste-region (Võrumaa, southern Tartumaa, southern Viljandimaa and southern Pärnumaa), -la-region (Virumaa, Järvamaa, Harjumaa) and a mixed region (Läänemaa, northern Pärnumaa). The island of Saaremaa is dominated by -la-endings, Hiiumaa is either a mixed region or a -ste-region