On Toponymic Constructions as an Alternative to Naming Patterns in Describing Finnish Lake Names

Based on a comprehensive corpus of Finnish lake names, this study takes a look at the phenomenon of contrastive naming: cases where for instance neighbouring lakes are named after different species of fish. Earlier research has suggested that analogy plays an important role in naming even when there are other motivations for the name, and the current study confirms this. However, it also appears that the established theories of pattern-based naming are in need of some revision. In this, cognitive linguistics presents itself as a promising approach, and the descriptive formalism of Construction Grammar seems especially well suited for the task.