Raakpunte tussen streekgeskiedenis en pleknaamkunde.

Abstract

• Opsomming: Omdat taal een van die belangrikste kultuuroorblyfsels van vergange mensegemeenskappe is, behoort historici dit as 'n waardevolle en veelsydige bron van inligting omtrent die verlede te ag. Hierdie opvatting het miskien in hoër mate ook op plekname betrekking. Gevolglik is dit 'n logiese uitvloeisel dat pleknaamkunde en streekgeskiedenis sekere raakpunte en vlakke van samewerking behoort te toon. Hierdie samewerking hou egter praktiese gevare in as dit nie op deeglike (vak-) kennis gegrond is nie. Suid-Afrikaanse streekhistorici het nog nie eens begin om pleknaamkunde as 'n bron van inligting te benut nie omdat daar by hulle óf nog onkunde oor die waarde daarvan heers of omdat hulle nie onderleg is om naamkundige gegewens te ontsluit nie. Aangesien plekname moeilik uitgewis word, bly dit dikwels eeue lank voortbestaan en dien byvoorbeeld as kennisbron omtrent die eerste inwoners en Iatere nedersetters, die ras, taal en tradisies van die mense, die oernatuurlandskap, fauna en flora, historiese gebeurtenisse en figure asook kultuurbedrywighede. Plekname kan soms misleidend wees en die historikus op 'n dwaalspoor laat beland. Hy moet dus vir sowel name wat nie direk op 'n bepaalde plek of sy inwoners betrekking het nie as vir die onjuiste uitleg van plekname, op sy hoede wees.• Summary: As language is one of the most important cultural relics of human societies of the past, historians should regard it as a valuable and many-sided source of information on the past. This is also true of place-names, perhaps more so. It is therefore natural that there should be points of contact and co-operation between toponymy and regional history. There are, however, practical risks in this cooperation if it is not based on sound scholarship. South African regional historians have not even begun to exploit toponymy, largely because they are ignorant of place-names as a source of information, and, secondly, because of their incompetence in retrieving the information they contain. Since place-names are very resistant to change, they sometimes survive for many centuries, carrying with them information on various matters, e.g. on the original settlers and those who moved in at a later stage, their race, language, and social traditions; on the original landscape, including fauna and flora; on historical events and personalities, and on cultural activities. In some instances place-names can be deceptive and lead the historian astray. He should therefore be wary of names that have no direct bearing on either the location or its inhabitants and of unsound interpretations of place-names.