• A glossary of generic as well as frequently occurring specific (determinative) elements – like adjectives of colour and dimension, the points of the compass, etc. – should be included, ideally in each of the occurring languages, so that their correct spelling is safeguarded.

• To foreign users, toponymic glossary also adds meaning to the otherwise opaque geographical names.

*See definition in UNGEGN Glossary of Terminology (pdf)

An example: Glossary of Greece

The Austrian glossaries contain:

• Geographic-topographic generics

• Adjectives of age (old, new)

• Adjectives of colour (black, white)

• Adjectives of dimension (large, small)

• Adjectives of situation or relative position (rear, fore, middle, upper, lower)

• Adjectives of nationality (Austrian, Croatian, Slovenian)

• Prepositions (at, on, upon, in, above, between)
  

Back to the checklist of Toponymic guidelines