Outputs (50)

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.

The trajectory of changing rhoticity in Bristol English: A consultative paper (2022)
Working Paper
Coates, R., Blaxter, T., Beeching, K., Murphy, J., & Robinson, E. The trajectory of changing rhoticity in Bristol English: A consultative paper

This consultative paper by Blaxter, Beeching, Coates, Murphy and Robinson presents data on rhoticity in Bristol English. Through an investigation into the speech of 30 Bristol speakers the study demonstrates that this traditional feature is declining... Read More about The trajectory of changing rhoticity in Bristol English: A consultative paper.

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.

Your City's Place-Names: Cambridge (2019)
Book
Coates, R. (2019). Your City's Place-Names: Cambridge. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society

The fourth in a new series of books from the English Place-Name Society focusing on English cities rather than counties. Interpretations published earlier (1943) by P. H. Reaney have been extensively reassessed and critiqued, and new material added.

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).

Steps towards characterizing Bristolian (2018)
Book Chapter
Coates, R. (2018). Steps towards characterizing Bristolian. In L. Wright (Ed.), Southern English Varieties Then and Now, (188-226). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter

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.

Capel Soar-y-mynydd, Ceredigion (2017)
Working Paper
Coates, R. Capel Soar-y-mynydd, Ceredigion

A history, description, bibliography, set of texts and photo-gallery of a chapel in Mid-Wales.

Your City’s Place-Names: Bristol (2017)
Book
Coates, R. (2017). Your City’s Place-Names: Bristol. English Place-Name Society

Preparatory to A Dictionary of Sussex Place-Names: A,E,I,O,U (2017)
Working Paper
Coates, R. (in press). Preparatory to A Dictionary of Sussex Place-Names: A,E,I,O,U

First tranche of new popular dictionary entries.

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.

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (2016)
Book
Hanks, P., Coates, R., & McClure, P. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001

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.

Bristol vocabulary: A provisional list (2014)
Other
Coates, R., & Vicker, M. (2014). Bristol vocabulary: A provisional list

A provisional list of vocabulary strongly connected with, or diagnostic of, the Bristol area.

Family names of the United Kingdom (2014)
Other
Hanks, P., Cullen, P., Draper, S., & Coates, R. Family names of the United Kingdom

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.

"Agricultural" compound terms and names in tun like Acton and Barton (2012)
Book Chapter
Coates, R. (2012). "Agricultural" compound terms and names in tun like Acton and Barton. In R. Jones, & S. Semple (Eds.), Sense of Place in Anglo Saxon England (211-237). Paul Watkins Publishing

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.

Family names of the United Kingdom: A new research project in British anthroponomastics (2011)
Presentation / Conference
Hanks, P., McClure, P., & Coates, R. (2011, September). Family names of the United Kingdom: A new research project in British anthroponomastics. Presented at 24th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain

We present a major new research project in surname studies in Britain. The project is called Family Names of the United Kingdom (abbreviated to FaNUK). It is a 4-year project based at the Bristol Centre for Linguistics in the University of the West o... Read More about Family names of the United Kingdom: A new research project in British anthroponomastics.

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.

The traditional dialect of Sussex (2010)
Book
Coates, R. (2010). The traditional dialect of Sussex. Lewes: Pomegranate Press

Part One consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 situates dialect, and dialect writing in particular, in relation to the history of the emergence of standard written English. Chapter 2 presents the contribution of academic linguists and philologists to... Read More about The traditional dialect of Sussex.

A place-name history of the parishes of Rottingdean and Ovingdean in Sussex (2010)
Book
Coates, R. (2010). A place-name history of the parishes of Rottingdean and Ovingdean in Sussex. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society

The title is self-explanatory. Approximately 800 local names in the two parishes are discussed and explained.

A strictly Millian approach to the definition of the proper name (2009)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2009). A strictly Millian approach to the definition of the proper name. Mind and Language, 24(4), 433-444. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0017.2009.01369.x

A strictly Millian approach to proper names is defended, i.e. one in which expressions when used properly ('onymically') refer directly, i.e. without the semantic intermediaryship of the words that appear to comprise them. The approach may appear sel... Read More about A strictly Millian approach to the definition of the proper name.

Reflections on some Lincolnshire major place-names, Part 2: Ness wapentake to Yarborough (2009)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2009). Reflections on some Lincolnshire major place-names, Part 2: Ness wapentake to Yarborough

Reflections on some major Lincolnshire place-names, part 2: Ness wapentake to Yarborough (2009)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2009). Reflections on some major Lincolnshire place-names, part 2: Ness wapentake to Yarborough

The name of the island of Annet, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall (2008)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2008). The name of the island of Annet, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall

Reflections on some Lincolnshire major place-names, Part 1: Algarkirk to Melton Ross (2008)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2008). Reflections on some Lincolnshire major place-names, Part 1: Algarkirk to Melton Ross

Locus focus: Forum of the Sussex Place-Names Net 1996-2007 (2007)
Other
Coates, R. (2007). Locus focus: Forum of the Sussex Place-Names Net 1996-2007

Locus focus: newsletter (later forum) of the Sussex Place-Names Net was a roughly biannual periodical edited by Richard Coates at the University of Sussex between 1996 and 2002, with a final issue covering 2003-2007 produced at UWE Bristol. Fourteen... Read More about Locus focus: Forum of the Sussex Place-Names Net 1996-2007.

Azure Mouse, Bloater Hill, Goose Puddings, and One Land called the Cow: Continuity and conundrums in Lincolnshire minor names (2007)
Journal Article
Lincolnshire minor names

The place names of Hayling Island, Hampshire (2007)
Working Paper
Coates, R. The place names of Hayling Island, Hampshire

This resource is made freely available, and may be downloaded, printed and copied without permission provided that proper acknowledgement is made of the author, title, and web-address. It should be cited as follows: Coates, Richard (1991) The place-n... Read More about The place names of Hayling Island, Hampshire.

Maiden Castle, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Harun al-Rasid (2006)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2006). Maiden Castle, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Harun al-Rasid. Nomina, 29, 5-60

A submitted article in an onomastics journal, accepted without major revision, whose main thesis is that the place-name Maiden Castle, recurrent in Scotland and England, has its immediate origin in the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth. He transposed it f... Read More about Maiden Castle, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Harun al-Rasid.

Properhood (2006)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2006). Properhood. Language, 82(2), 356-82

A submitted theoretical article, accepted without major revision. The novel ideas presented have emerged from the author's historical studies of proper names conducted over many years. It consists firstly of a forcible restatement of J.S. Mill's view... Read More about Properhood.

Names (2006)
Book Chapter
Coates, R. (2006). Names. In R. M. Hogg, & D. Denison (Eds.), A history of the English Language (312-351). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.2277/0521662273

Commissioned chapter in one-volume survey of the history of English. This is the first work ever to pull together the history of all major types of namegiving in English. It has an introductory section covering linguistic and philosophical aspects of... Read More about Names.

Behind the dictionary-forms of Scandinavian elements in England (2006)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2006). Behind the dictionary-forms of Scandinavian elements in England

Verulamium: The Romano-British name of St Albans (2005)
Journal Article
Coates, R. (2005). Verulamium: The Romano-British name of St Albans. Studia Celtica, 39(1), 169-176

A submitted article in the principal journal of general Celtic scholarship, accepted without major revision, reviewing previous scholarship on this difficult Romano-British place-name and claiming that it meant, in British Celtic, 'place of a man nam... Read More about Verulamium: The Romano-British name of St Albans.

Accents, dialects and languages of the Bristol region: A bibliography (state of 5 January 2015)
Working Paper
Coates, R., & Spittal, J. Accents, dialects and languages of the Bristol region: A bibliography (state of 5 January 2015)

A bibliography in the course of development: believed close to complete

Bibliography of, and notes on, railways in Ceredigion
Other
Coates, R. Bibliography of, and notes on, railways in Ceredigion

As per title

Frederick Bligh Bond (1864-1945): A bibliography of his writings and a list of his buildings
Working Paper
Coates, R. (2015). Frederick Bligh Bond (1864-1945): A bibliography of his writings and a list of his buildings. Bristol

A bibliography of the writings of Frederick Bligh Bond and a list of his buildings, with a short biography. First draft pending the possible receipt of additional information.

Response to a brief to suggest names for the ponds on the Frenchay campus of the University of the West of England, Bristol
Report
Lobban, E., Watson, K., Nicholson, L., Rotter, S., & Coates, R. (2019). Response to a brief to suggest names for the ponds on the Frenchay campus of the University of the West of England, Bristol. UWE Bristol: UWE Estates

The report suggests names for bodies of water on Frenchay campus, taking into account local history, geography, University policy and strategy, and onomastic considerations.