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Main aim of the project is to delimit and analyze regional place name systems in Estonia, their interrelations, relationship with Balto-Finnic area and neighbouring territories. The following subtopics will be concentrated at: 1) evolution of toponyms in West Estonian islands, especially Hiiumaa (Marja Kallasmaa), 2) name borrowings and hydronyms (M. Kallasmaa, Peeter Päll), 3) multilingual place naming in Estonia (P. Päll), 4) toponyms of Võrumaa and Setumaa (Evar Saar), 5) change of toponymy through times (Marit Vesiaid). As necessary preliminary work are undertaken the further development of place names databases, compilation of the bibliography on Estonian onomastics and working out a model for the digitization of place names collections at the Institute of Estonian Language. Papers written during the project will be published in the international series "Onomastica Uralica" in cooperation with onomasticians from Hungary, Finland and Russian Finno-Ugric republics. Publications also include an introduction to the Place Names Dictionary of Estonia, for which this project serves as a prelude. A monograph on the place names of Hiiumaa will be compiled. |