Some principal thoughts on place names and place naming

Abstract

The article addresses in the manner of an opening speech basics of toponomastics like the symbolic and identity-shaping power of place names, the place-naming process with its implications not the least on the endonym/exonym divide, as well as major roles of place names in mediating between humans and geographical space. It adds some remarks on place-name standardization as it is exerted on the global level by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) as well as by national and subnational authorities in various countries emphasizing on the one hand its benefits, but hinting also at the delicate relationship between place-name standardization and conceiving all place names as cultural heritage as well as on the fact that place-name standardization is not politically innocent.