Summary

Place names in Gražiškiai area (interwar data)

Dovilė Tamulaitienė

In the article, the names of the places in Gražiškiai rural district of Vilkaviškis County recorded in the interwar questionnaires (Lietuvos Žemės vardynas, 1935 /Place-names of the Land of Lithuania) are analysed in terms of origin and formation. A total of 486 land names (336 lexical units /LUs/) of this area are discussed: the names of meadows, hills, fields, arable lands, bogs, and other objects. The names of meadows and hills are mostly recorded in the questionnaires of Gražiškiai area place names, 281 and 82, respectively.

In terms of origin, place names derived from common words were found to predominate, i.e. 399 of them (255 LUs) were recorded. Place names associated with proper or common names of persons are less by one-fifth, i.e. 73 ones (66 lexical units). A very small number of the names discussed originate from other place names; so, 8 land names are derived from the names of villages, rivers and meadows. Also the origin of a small part, i.e. 6 place names (including the structure in some cases) is not entirely clear. In terms of formation, secondary toponyms prevail, of which 327 ones (243 LUs) have been identified. Among the secondary toponyms, there are mostly compound ones, i.e. i.e. 150 ones (111 LUs). The derivatives are fewer established: i.e. 108 ones (81 LUs), the largest part of which is derived from suffixes (87 ones, 72 LUs). Even less plural (pluralia tantum forms) and compound place names are recorded, respectively 40 (22 LUs) and 29 (the same number of lexical units). Moreover, 156 primary place names have been identified (89 LUs).