Toponymy and nissology: an approach to defining the Balearic Islands’ geographical and cultural character

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The cultural identity of each of the larger islands that make up the Balearic archipelago is shown through the local geographical terminology and toponymy, which are results of the successive overlapping of languages and cultures brought to the islands by various peoples throughout history. By classifying and analyzing the toponymy and geographical terminology of the Balearic Islands, unique particularities can be found. There are differences between each of the islands, as well as with non-island territory, as a result of centuries of isolation. This same isolation has also led to the preservation of terminology and other linguistic aspects, and has created an endemic culture. The results of the records of terminology that contribute to the geographical and cultural characterization of the Balearic Islands are presented along with some keys to understanding the islands' idiosyncrasies.https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.15Keywords: Balearic Islands, cultural identity, ethnography, geographical terminology, nissology, toponymy Nissology, geography, and toponymyDespite the course of action begun by Moles (1982) and the opinion of McCall (1996) that the new millennium would be the one of island sciences, to Espínola & Cravidao (2014) who highlighted the contribution of geography to their expertise, nissology 1 , or islandology, undoubtedly has a promising future. This is true not only because the world is full of islands (Baldacchino, 2006), but because of the valuable role that they play when considering any of the three lines of research suggested by King (2010). As geographers, we are convinced that an interdisciplinary approach must be taken to address island-based topics, and in line with the criteria proposed by Bonnemaison (1990Bonnemaison ( -1991 and the terminology by Depraetere (1990Depraetere ( -1991, we value the contributions made by other branches of science, like economics, and especially, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Very related to these last three, we believe that geographical surveying can be of great help in correctly understanding island phenomena, just as it is when it comes to understanding the mechanisms behind toponymy. It should be noted that, in this respect, the information that can be gathered from the name of a place can be analyzed from various perspectives: from its meaning, 1 Of Greek origin: nesos, νησί (Vieira, 2010).