Product Description

This scholarly and accessible dictionary, the first of its kind in Wales, deals with most of the place-names of Wales as well as prominent features of the landscape. For each name, the authors provide the evidence of historical forms and dates, identify the etymological elements, comment on the derivation, meaning and linguistic development, and explain the topographic, social or historical significance. Based on the authors' original research and that of other place-names scholars past and present, this authoritative dictionary also includes an invaluable glossary of the place-names elements.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282201 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 680 pages

About the Author
Professor Hywel Wyn Owen is Director of the Place-name Research Centre at Bangor University and Vice President of the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland. He is a regular broadcaster, and advises the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Language Board and other national bodies on matters pertaining to place-names. Richard Morgan is an archivist, formerly with Shropshire and now with Glamorgan Record Office. He is an honorary lecturer at the School of Welsh at Bangor University. Both have published extensively and are acknowledged as leading authorities on the place-names of Wales.

Customer Reviews

Dictionary of the place names of Wales
This is undoubtably an important work. Regrettably it has one serious flaw however. Although it lists earlier spellings of place names, as is usual in serious place name studies in the UK, it does not give references for those earlier spellings. Thus the reader is unable to check the veracity of the evidence given and from an academic viewpoint this must be unacceptable.

Congratulations to the Authors
This volume must surely take it's place as the definitive work on the place-names of Wales, and the only one to stand comparison with those already written for the place-names of England and Scotland. The inclusion of all available early records and the easily understood explanations will be much appreciated by the average non-academic reader - such as myself!

William Oxenham

At last!
This is the first full-sized dictionary of the place-names in Wales. In one volume it deals with over 2000 places, selected from OS maps and gazetteers according to the importance or the interest of the names. There are also many additional entries arising from alternative names for the same places. As well as towns and villages terrestrial and marine features are included.

Many places in Wales have names that are not Welsh, including English names (e.g. Newport), French (e.g. Beaumaris), Scandinavian (e.g. Swansea), and Brittonic (e.g. Ystwyth). An introduction describes their significance and the influence the various languages have had on each other, as well as the historical and geographical importance of place-names generally.

Especially useful is a list of over 900 place-name elements, such as caer, bron, llan, pentref, in the various languages, together with an explanation of Welsh consonant mutations and of the structure of Welsh names. The reader can use these to think up possible origins of names not included.

The authors represent the highest level of expertise in Welsh place-names and have each published several works on the subject, and they also draw on the vast knowledge base compiled by the late Melville Richards.

Explanations are clear to the casual reader yet provide all the information an expert could ask. Each entry includes a selection of early spellings; these are dated though not attributed. Where the origin of a name is unknown, the writers admit this and give explanations that are interesting or likely but acknowledged as uncertain.

The only disadvantage I can find with the "Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales" is that it's too bulky for a rucksack. There are however smaller books for the pocket, such as Prof. Wynn Owen's "The Place-Names of Wales, A Pocket Guide".