On the Transfer of an Oikonym from Linkmenys Parish

Abstract

The article examines the historical development of the name of the present-day village of Meironys, located in the territory of the Ignalina District Municipality and eldership. An analysis of records from 16^th–18^th century sources reveals that this oikonym can be classified as a transferred toponym, since it originally referred to a different village, the present-day Ripaičiai, situated in the Linkmenys eldership of the Ignalina District Municipality. It was only from the beginning of the 18^th century that the present-day settlement began to be referred to by this name. In contrast, its original name was *Antadringiai or a similar one. Research data indicate that the process of oikonym transfer was completed in the second half of the 18^th century. This type of change in settlement names is evidenced by descriptions of village locations in historical sources, the analysis of settlement anthroponymy, and the usage of oikonym variants in documents from past centuries.

The analysis of historical material aims not only to establish the fact of the toponym transfer, but also to describe this case within the broader context of research on transferred toponyms and to highlight its distinctive features. The study also offers considerations on the possible reasons behind the emergence of such an atypical case of toponym transfer.