Friday, July 29, 2011

What's in a name?

At home or in the classroom - investigate local place names. Does the name still reflect the location? If named after a person, what led the place to be named after them? Why do people name places after other people or themselves in the first place? Is it a distinct geographical feature that defines it? Has the place gone by a different name before? Here in Alaska the federal government calls the tallest mountain in North America Mt. McKinley, but the locals call it by it's Athabascan name: Denali, meaning "The Big One." Would you change the names of these places if you could? Take what you've discovered about place names in your area and look at places around the world. Do other cultures seem to do the same thing as us or are they different?
On Denali, aka Mt. McKinley
 

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