Zemljepisna imena Slovenskega Porabja

Geographical names are an important part of the cultural heritage of every nation. They are a fundamental building block of all civilizations or cultures, filling space with meaning and developing spatial identities. Geographical names in languages with few speakers, such as Slovenian, are often endangered, but this is even more true for the geographical names of ethnic minorities, including the Slovenians of Hungary, the smallest cross-border Slovenian minority. The far western edge of Hungary, which lies between Slovenia and Austria, is called the Rába Valley. It includes seven settlements in which bilingualism is officially present. An outward sign of this bilingualism is bilingual road signs with the names of settlements. The main subject of this research was microtoponyms. The result of the research, a volume with a map and a dictionary, is based on extensive fieldwork and a review of archival sources. It is hoped that the results will help preserve these microtoponyms in people’s minds. In addition to a comprehensive monograph, the map of microtoponyms in the Rába Valley was published as a result of the project.