next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--Boundary_(ID_YvCUkC7r8g9hodazFxqoqw)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Hi everyone,
I agree with Paul that this is indeed a great reference and provides
interesting background information for the unfathomable reasons behind
the spelling of some names. Since I deal with place names all the time
in bird sighting records that have been sent into NS Birds this
discussion, while not exactly along the lines we normally have on
NatureNS, has been of interest to me.
I wanted to point out that while the apostrophe 'S' has been removed
from practically every instance of location names in The Nova Scotia
Atlas, I know of at least three locations that still have one. One,
mentioned by Rolland and Joan, is Clark's Harbour (Lower Clarks Harbour
doesn't!!!) , another is St. Peter's in CB and the third is T.R.'s Cove
on Digby Neck.
To muddy the waters even further, there remain plenty of 'O'
apostrophes, 'L' apostrophes, periods, letters with various accents and
even quotes in Nova Scotia location names. Yikes!
Now back to nature.
Lance
===========================
Lance Laviolette
Glen Robertson, Ontario
lance.laviolette@lmco.com
===========================
________________________________
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of David Hughes
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 8:42 PM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Apostrophes in place-names
With the help of Google, I found this on the U.S. Geological
Survey website.
Question: I have heard that the use of the apostrophe "s", such
as Pike's Peak (Pikes Peak in the database) to show possession is not
allowed in geographic names, so why are there many such entries in the
Geographic Names Information System Database?
Answer:
Since its inception in 1890, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names
has discouraged the use of the possessive form-the genitive apostrophe
and the "s". The possessive form using an "s" is allowed, but the
apostrophe is almost always removed. The Board's archives contain no
indication of the reason for this policy.
However, there are many names in the GNIS database that do carry
the genitive apostrophe, because the Board chooses not to apply its
policies to some types of features. Although the legal authority of the
Board includes all named entities except Federal Buildings, certain
categories-broadly determined to be "administrative"-are best left to
the organization that administers them. Examples include schools,
churches, cemeteries, hospitals, airports, shopping centers, etc. The
Board promulgates the names, but leaves issues such as the use of the
genitive or possessive apostrophe to the data owners.
Myths attempting to explain the policy include the idea that the
apostrophe looks too much like a rock in water when printed on a map,
and is therefore a hazard, or that in the days of "stick-up type" for
maps, the apostrophe would become lost and create confusion. The
probable explanation is that the Board does not want to show possession
for natural features because, "ownership of a feature is not in and of
itself a reason to name a feature or change its name."
Since 1890, only five Board decisions have allowed the genitive
apostrophe for natural features. These are: Martha's Vineyard (1933)
after an extensive local campaign; Ike's Point in New Jersey (1944)
because "it would be unrecognizable otherwise"; John E's Pond in Rhode
Island (1963) because otherwise it would be confused as John S Pond
(note the lack of the use of a period, which is also discouraged); and
Carlos Elmer's Joshua View (1995 at the specific request of the Arizona
State Board on Geographic and Historic Names because, "otherwise three
apparently given names in succession would dilute the meaning," that is,
Joshua refers to a stand of trees. Clark's Mountain in Oregon (2002) was
approved at the request of the Oregon Board to correspond with the
personal references of Lewis and Clark.
--Boundary_(ID_YvCUkC7r8g9hodazFxqoqw)
Content-type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:o =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3354" name=GENERATOR><o:SmartTagType
name="State"
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType
name="place"
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><!--[if !mso]>
<STYLE>st1\:* {
BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui)
}
</STYLE>
<![endif]-->
<STYLE>@page Section1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; }
P.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
LI.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
DIV.MsoNormal {
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"
}
A:link {
COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.MsoHyperlink {
COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
A:visited {
COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {
COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline
}
SPAN.EmailStyle17 {
COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-compose
}
DIV.Section1 {
page: Section1
}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY lang=EN-CA vLink=purple link=blue>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>Hi everyone,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>I agree with Paul that this is indeed a great reference
and provides interesting background information for the unfathomable reasons
behind the spelling of some names. Since I deal with place names all the time in
bird sighting records that have been sent into NS Birds this discussion, while
not exactly along the lines we normally have on NatureNS, has been of interest
to me. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>I wanted to point out that while the apostrophe 'S' has
been removed from practically every instance of location names in The Nova
Scotia Atlas, I know of at least three locations that still have one. One,
mentioned by Rolland and Joan, is Clark's Harbour (Lower Clarks Harbour
doesn't!!!) , another is St. Peter's in CB and the third is T.R.'s Cove on Digby
Neck. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>To muddy the waters even further, there remain plenty
of 'O' apostrophes, 'L' apostrophes, periods, letters with various accents and
even quotes in Nova Scotia location names. Yikes!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>Now back to nature.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008>Lance</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=261360214-11072008><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New"
size=2>===========================</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2>Lance Laviolette</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN
lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>Glen Robertson, Ontario</FONT></SPAN>
<BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT face="Courier New"
size=2>lance.laviolette@lmco.com</FONT></SPAN> <BR><SPAN lang=en-us><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2>===========================</FONT></SPAN>
</P></SPAN></FONT></DIV><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] <B>On Behalf Of </B>David
Hughes<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, July 10, 2008 8:42 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<BR><B>Subject:</B> [NatureNS] Apostrophes in
place-names<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">With the help of Google, I found
this on the U.S. Geological Survey website. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Question:
</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I have heard that the use of the
apostrophe “s”, such as Pike’s Peak (<st1:place w:st="on">Pikes
Peak</st1:place> in the database) to show possession is not allowed in
geographic names, so why are there many such entries in the Geographic Names
Information System Database?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Answer:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Since its inception in 1890, the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names has discouraged the use of the possessive
form—the genitive apostrophe and the “s”. The possessive form using an “s” is
allowed, but the apostrophe is almost always removed. The Board's archives
contain no indication of the reason for this
policy.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">However, there are many names in
the GNIS database that do carry the genitive apostrophe, because the Board
chooses not to apply its policies to some types of features. Although the
legal authority of the Board includes all named entities except Federal
Buildings, certain categories—broadly determined to be “administrative”—are
best left to the organization that administers them. Examples include schools,
churches, cemeteries, hospitals, airports, shopping centers, etc. The Board
promulgates the names, but leaves issues such as the use of the genitive or
possessive apostrophe to the data owners.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Myths attempting to explain the
policy include the idea that the apostrophe looks too much like a rock in
water when printed on a map, and is therefore a hazard, or that in the days of
“stick–up type” for maps, the apostrophe would become lost and create
confusion. The probable explanation is that the Board does not want to show
possession for natural features because, “ownership of a feature is not in and
of itself a reason to name a feature or change its
name.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Since 1890, only five Board
decisions have allowed the genitive apostrophe for natural features. These
are: Martha's Vineyard (1933) after an extensive local campaign; Ike's Point
in New Jersey (1944) because “it would be unrecognizable otherwise”; John E's
Pond in Rhode Island (1963) because otherwise it would be confused as John S
Pond (note the lack of the use of a period, which is also discouraged); and
Carlos Elmer's Joshua View (1995 at the specific request of the Arizona State
Board on Geographic and Historic Names because, “otherwise three apparently
given names in succession would dilute the meaning,” that is, Joshua refers to
a stand of trees. Clark’s Mountain in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> (2002) was approved at the request of
the Oregon Board to correspond with the personal references of Lewis and
Clark.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
--Boundary_(ID_YvCUkC7r8g9hodazFxqoqw)--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects