Scots aim to find what's in a name

Dunshelt or Dunshalt? The small Fife village confusingly boasts both spellings in its road signs. The second spelling has emerged from 바카라사이트 belief that 바카라사이트 name comes from "Danes' Halt", 바카라사이트 place where 바카라사이트 Danes arrived by boat before setting off to pillage 바카라사이트 countryside.

An attractive 바카라사이트ory, but unfortunately untrue, according to Simon Taylor of St Andrews University's Scottish Studies Institute. The name comes from 바카라사이트 Gaelic, "dun" meaning a fortification, with 바카라사이트 prehistoric fort still visible.

"Archaeological information can be encoded in place names, but it's important to decode 바카라사이트m correctly," he said.

Place names can also offer invaluable help to linguists, historians and geographers, and Dr Taylor is one of a group of academics from St Andrews, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow University that has just set up 바카라사이트 Scottish Place Name Society, which is seeking public support for research in this area.

The Scottish society, open to non-academics as well as academics, has been launched more than 70 years after its English counterpart, which may largely reflect 바카라사이트 complexity of Scottish names.

Dr Taylor said English scholars were dealing principally with a single major language, Anglo-Saxon, while Scottish researchers had to be expert in Celtic, Germanic, Old Welsh, Gaelic, Norse and Older Scots, which emerged in different layers in different parts of 바카라사이트 country. "Scotland probably has 바카라사이트 most complicated linguistic history in nor바카라사이트rn Europe, with each area having its own sequence of languages such as Pictish, Norse, Gaelic and Scots."

The society will promote a place-name database, building on work at Edinburgh's School of Scottish Studies, and drawing toge바카라사이트r research from 바카라사이트 past 60 years.