Pavel Štěpán
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2565-7079
Czech Language Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

https://doi.org/10.4467/K7501.45/22.23.18076

Although every town or village in Czechia has its single official standardized name, some other name forms may be used for the given locality, if the official name is not sufficiently clear and unambiguous. These extended forms have been influenced usually by train station or post office names, which are also official toponyms, though they have been standardized by a different authority. The paper provides a thorough analysis of train station, post office and cadastral area names differing from the name of the given municipality. The individual types of extended municipality names and their existing combinations are investigated. Also, the use of the extended municipality names is analysed, as well as their reflection in media discourse. The conducted analysis has shown that multiple standardization may cause confusion in communication. Not only strangers, but sometimes even local inhabitants are not sure about the exact official form of the name of their town. However, it is not easy to eliminate this multiple standardization due to the fragmented powers and insufficient coordination in the standardization process of Czech toponyms, resulting in the fact that one locality has two or even three diverse names, standardised by different authorities.

Keywords oikonyms, standardization of toponyms, multiple standardization of toponyms, toponymic variants, train station names