The possible menaings of the lexems alsó ‘lower’ and felső ‘upper’ in Hungarian toponyms

The use of toponyms and space perception in the Transylvanian town Négyfalu

Abstract

When the users of the toponyms discussed in my paper talk about familiar places, they rely on the complex system of a mental map based on their collective spatial knowledge. However, they do not orient themselves on this map according to the points of the compass, but rather in a particular way: they take a so called „standard position” and correlate everything to this position. Since the settlement I have examined is located in a mountainous region, the standard point of reference here is always the forest. Wherever they are, the users of these local names locate the places on their mental map through going straight upwards, towards the forest, and they stick to this orientation as regards denomination as well. This assumption is supported by the fact that the branches of the rivers are not referred to within the settlement in conformity with the standard geographical norms: the one that would be the right branch according to geographical norms is called left branch in this area, whereas the actual left branch is called right branch. For it is not the course of the water that determines denomination, but the position of the person going towards the forest, straight forward.