All Outputs (30)

An etymology for campshed (2023)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2023). An etymology for campshed. Notes and Queries, 70(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjad003

The Oxford English Dictionary [OED] defines this word as follows: ‘[a] facing of piles and boarding along the bank of a river, or at the side of an embankment, to protect the bank from the action of the current, or to resist the out-thrust of the emb... Read More about An etymology for campshed.

Fetlar (2019)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2019). Fetlar. Journal of Scottish Name Studies, 13, 37-54

This article rehearses the history of attempts to account for the name of the island of Fetlar in Shetland. It is concluded that explaining it as pre-Celtic is beset with philological difficulties, and that it is probably, after all, Scandinavian, th... Read More about Fetlar.

Naming Shirehampton and the name Shirehampton (2019)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (in press). Naming Shirehampton and the name Shirehampton. https://doi.org/10.34158/ONOMA.50/2015/1

Using the example of the place-name Shirehampton in England, this article explores (1) the complications involved in understanding the history of a particularly difficult place-name (an etymological and philological question) and in the history of th... Read More about Naming Shirehampton and the name Shirehampton.

Each p[ɚ]son does it th[ɛː] way: Rhoticity variation and the community grammar (2019)
Journal Article
Blaxter, T., Beeching, K., Coates, R., Murphy, J., & Robinson, E. (2019). Each p[ɚ]son does it th[ɛː] way: Rhoticity variation and the community grammar. Language Variation and Change, 31(1), 91-117. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394519000048

This paper examines individual differences in constraints on linguistic variation in light of Labov’s (2007) proposal that adult change (diffusion) disrupts systems of constraints and Tamminga, MacKenzie, and Embick’s (2016) typology of constraints.... Read More about Each p[ɚ]son does it th[ɛː] way: Rhoticity variation and the community grammar.

Meaningfulness in literary naming within the framework of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP) (2018)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2018). Meaningfulness in literary naming within the framework of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP)

This paper develops ideas originally floated in the Journal of Literary Onomastics 4 (2015) particularly concerning the genesis of “meaningful” or “cratylic” names for characters, so-called “sprechende/redende Namen”. I argue that literary naming fal... Read More about Meaningfulness in literary naming within the framework of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP).

Two lost place-names in the west Midlands: Gaia in Lichfield and The Gay in Shrewsbury (2018)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2018). Two lost place-names in the west Midlands: Gaia in Lichfield and The Gay in Shrewsbury

The purpose of this article is to note the existence of two, or probably three, related unexplained names, to present possible further examples of the element involved, and to review how far it is possible to explain them.

The meaning of names: A response in defence of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP) addressed to Van Langendonck, Anderson, Colman and McClure (2017)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2017). The meaning of names: A response in defence of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP) addressed to Van Langendonck, Anderson, Colman and McClure. https://doi.org/10.34158/ONOMA.52/2017/1

In a number of interrelated articles, I have presented some ideas about the nature of proper names, and specifically about their meaning. A central concept of these papers has been subjected to criticism, I believe inappropriately, by several scholar... Read More about The meaning of names: A response in defence of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (TPTP) addressed to Van Langendonck, Anderson, Colman and McClure.

Welsh Lloegr 'England' (2017)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2017). Welsh Lloegr 'England'. Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 74, 41-45

A new etymology is proposed for this controversial name, suggesting a Germanic origin.

Popular books on English place-names — a serious issue in onomastics (2017)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2017). Popular books on English place-names — a serious issue in onomastics. Voprosy Onomastiki, 14(2), 143-158. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2017.14.2.016

© 2017, Ural University Press. All rights reserved. This article reflects on a recent spate of books on English place-names produced by a nonprofessional writer, showing in considerable detail, for five counties, in what ways these books are deficien... Read More about Popular books on English place-names — a serious issue in onomastics.

On the possibility of proper verbs (2016)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2016). On the possibility of proper verbs. Linguistics, 54(2), 411-431. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2016-0005

© 2016 by De Gruyter Mouton. The quality of being proper is always presumed, for perfectly understandable reasons to do with its function in acts of reference, to be restricted to nouns or noun phrases. This article is an exploration of the idea that... Read More about On the possibility of proper verbs.

Welsh markets in marcher towns (2015)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2015). Welsh markets in marcher towns. Nomina, 38, 17-32

Magiovinium, Dropshort Farm, near Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire (2015)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2015). Magiovinium, Dropshort Farm, near Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire. Studia Celtica, 49(1), 175-181

An investigation of this Romano-British place-name and possible Germanic analogues.

Italian surnames in the Family Names of the United Kingdom project (2015)
Journal Article
Coates, R., Hardcastle, K., & Hanks, P. (2015). Italian surnames in the Family Names of the United Kingdom project

An overview of surnames of Italian origin treated in the Family Names of the United Kingdom project.

Oundle, Northamptonshire (2014)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2014). Oundle, Northamptonshire

The name of Oundle, noted earliest as the death-place of St Wilfrid and later of St Cett, and as the burial-place of archbishop Wulfstan of York, has not received a fully satisfactory explanation, despite a wealth of early mentions.

The name of the Hwicce: A discussion (2013)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2013). The name of the Hwicce: A discussion. Anglo-Saxon England, 42, 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263675113000070

This article presents the evidence for the Anglo-Saxon ethnic name Hwicce borne by a people of the south-west Midlands, and reviews previous unsatisfactory attempts to explain it. It appears to be probably of British Celtic origin, and an etymology i... Read More about The name of the Hwicce: A discussion.

Rethinking Romano-British corinium (2013)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2013). Rethinking Romano-British corinium. Antiquaries Journal, 93, 81-91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581513000243

It is suggested that the name generally accepted as the Romano-British name of Cirencester, Corinium, the traditional spelling deriving from a Latin rendering of that in Ptolemy's Geography, is mistaken, and that for philologically sound reasons the... Read More about Rethinking Romano-British corinium.

The name of the state of Maine: An Irish perspective (2013)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2013). The name of the state of Maine: An Irish perspective. Names: A Journal of Onomastics, 61(3), 150-158. https://doi.org/10.1179/0027773813Z.00000000052

The three current theories of the origin of the name of the American state of Maine are reviewed and rejected. The connection of the colonist Sir Ferdinando Gorges with Ireland is explored, and a possible origin is proposed in the circumstances of th... Read More about The name of the state of Maine: An Irish perspective.

Wirral revisited (2013)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2013). Wirral revisited. Nomina, 36, 75-105

This article has two goals. The first is to document fully the recurrent English place-name Wirral and a number of similar ones which can be shown, in some cases definitely, in others probably or possibly, to have the same origin, as well as others w... Read More about Wirral revisited.

A toponomastic contribution to the linguistic prehistory of the British Isles (2012)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2012). A toponomastic contribution to the linguistic prehistory of the British Isles. Nomina, 35, 49-102

It is well known that some of the major island-names of the archipelago consisting politically of the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the UK Crown Dependencies are etymologically obscure. In this paper, I present and cautiously analyse a... Read More about A toponomastic contribution to the linguistic prehistory of the British Isles.

Some consequences and critiques of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood (2011)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2011). Some consequences and critiques of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood. https://doi.org/10.2143/ONO.41.0.2119609

In several recent papers (Coates 2005a, 2005b, 2006a) I have suggested an approach to name theory which I have called a pragmatic theory of properhood, or, if I may elevate the descriptive phrase iconically into a proper name, The Pragmatic Theory of... Read More about Some consequences and critiques of The Pragmatic Theory of Properhood.