Lebanese Place-names

Download or read book Lebanese Place-names written by Elie Wardini and published by Peeters. This book was released on 2002 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume covers some 1724 Lebanese place-names in the districts of Mount Lebanon and North Lebanon. The aim has been to: a) establish a database of place-names based on fieldwork; b) present the etymologies of these names based on the latest findings in Semitic lexicography, onomastics and dialectology; and c) plot the results across the Lebanese territory. analysis of the place-names, focusing on language, geography and society, tends to confirm that language and religion shifts in Lebanon were gradual. Nearly 49 are Phoenician. The traditional dividing lines between religious groups are only slightly reflected in place-names. These groups seem to have had a similar sociocultural development. The landscape holds a central position in Lebanese place-names. Water, human occupation, religion and the family also hold a prominent position