Several pieces of research on the toponym of place names in Indonesia have
been carried out but focus on place names on the island of Java. The limited
documentation of place names makes the study of toponymy in Sumatra a
must. This article aims to map the thematization of place naming on the West
Coast of Sumatra Island. The research was conducted in a qualitative
descriptive manner with a corpus linguistic approach. Data was collected by
means of documentation, interviews, and focus group discussions. Data were
analyzed by following work procedures by Miles and Huberman (2013),
involving data condensation, data display, verification drawing, and
Sudaryat's toponymy categorization (2009). The results showed that the
toponym of place names on the West Coast of Sumatra Island reflects the
relationship between humans and their natural environment. This relationship
is manifested through the thematization of place names, namely: embodiment,
social, and culture. The embodiment aspect includes the sub-themes of water
background, topographical background, and natural environment background.
The social aspects include the sub-themes of residential background, economic
activity background, and building background. The cultural aspects include
sub-themes of myths, folklore, and legends passed down through oral traditions.
Keywords:
Corpus linguistics
West coastal
Sumatra island
Toponyms