2017 International Symposium on Place Names. Critical toponymy; Place names in political, historical and commercial landscapes, Jointly organised by the Joint IGU/ICA Commission on Toponymy, The UFS and UNAM University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia, 18-20 September 2017.

BRIEF SUMMARY

18-19 September 2017, in Windhoek on the main campus of the University of Namibia.

Theme: ‘Critical toponymy: Place names in political, historical and commercial landscapes’.

History of the ISPN: https://www.ufs.ac.za/conferences/conference/2017-international-symposium-on-place-names/2017-international-symposium-on-place-names/about.

19 September: Conference dinner at the Stellenbosch Wine Bar and Bistro in Windhoek.

20 September: Cultural tour. Visit to N/a’an ku Sê San and Wildlife Sanctuary (http://naankuse.com/), followed by a tour through Windhoek and its township, Katutura.

Two keynotes:

1)      Prof Matthias Brenzinger, Director of the Centre for African Language Diversity (CALDi) at the University of Cape Town (http://www.caldi.uct.ac.za/) and General Secretary of the World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL) ( http://www.wocal.rutgers.edu/).

2)      Prof Peter Raper, former Chairman of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names and Extraordinary Professor in Linguistics at the University of the Free State (www.ufs.ac.za).

Delegates: 31 attendees

28 presentations (two of them by proxy): Austria: 1, Germany: 1, Italy: 1, Kenya: 1,  Namibia: 3

Slovakia: 1,  Slovenia: 2, South Africa: 9 USA: 1,  Zimbabwe: 11

Two book launches:

1)      “Of the Same Breath: Indigenous Animal and Place Names” (SUNMeDIA) by Dr Lucie Möller.

2)      “Onomastics – A Multidisciplinary Field of Study. What’s in a Name” (Lambert Academic Publishing) by Prof Bertie Neethling.

Some selected papers presented: Lucie Möller, Herero place names, Felicitas Mberema et al., The meaning of the click sounding places’ names in the Kavangond east and west region, Namibia, Theodorus Du Plessis, Geographical name standardisation in South Africa, 2007-2016, George Kahari, A critical study of Zimbabwe’s toponymy of place names in historical, political and commercial landscapes, Jani De Lange, The role of toponymy in identifying cultural east place heritage: a case study  of place names in the Bushmanland, Northern Cape, Chrismi-Rinda Loth  et al., Using technology to raise awareness about place names as cultural heritage, Georg Schuppener, Plurality of names as a problem of historical sciences, Tendai Mangena, From Rhodes Memorial Preparatory School to Matopos Primary School: memory, history and symbolic resistance in Zimbabwe,  Chrismi-Rinda Loth, Place names, place, and place-related identities in the linguistic landscape of rural South Africa, Peter Jordan, Three types of commercial place-name-use – with example from Austria, Cosimo Palagiano, Place names which made known a product, Geršić Matjaž et al., The challenges of using choronyms in brand names.