Деривационно-семантические категории производных от топонимов

Internally nouns are classified as proper names and common names as the largest categories. In terms of proper names, there is a clear opposition between anthroponyms (personal names) and toponyms (names of geographical objects). The article is devoted to study of ways of transition of toponyms to proper names, namely appellativation of toponyms and their integration into the vocabulary of the languages (English, German, French and Russian). Names derived from toponyms by means of affixation and more seldom conversion form rather numerous semantic categories of common names: names of geographical units, citizens, regions and settlements; names of products, plants, items of clothing, kinds of textiles, dances, songs and animals (their species), languages (their dialects), monetary units, etc. Intracategorial word formation, i.e. transition of toponyms to nouns and adjectives by means of suffixation is characteristic of toponyms, as well as of proper names in general, whereas intercategorial word formation, i.e. transition of nouns to verbs, and vice versa, verbs to nouns, is dominant in the category of common names. Different degrees of productivity of various word formation ways for native languages, for instance, productivity of conversion in English and French and suffixation in the German and Russian Languages are also demonstrated in the article.