Place-Names of Wales | Hywel Wyn Owen

The Place-Names of Wales was originally published in 1998 and reissued in 2005 in the Pocket Guide series. This current updated publication adds some 30 places but more importantly takes advantage of recent research. The entry for each place-name provides details of historical forms and dates, analyses each name into its component linguistic elements with meaning, tracks the later linguistic development of the name and the influences upon it particularly within a bilingual society, compares the name with similar names elsewhere and interprets that meaning within the history of Wales and in the local context having regard for the landscape and changing land-use. The introdution, as well as explaining the link between place-names and language, history and landscape, has a section on the significance of place-name study, and a short section to allow non-Welsh speakers to understand some relevant sound-changes.