Linguistic and cultural peculiarities of British Columbia (Canada) toponymy

The subject of the article is linguistic and cultural features of place names of one of the Canadian provinces - British Columbia. The aim of the work is to do lexico-semantic comparison of toponymic lexis and to identify its origin and motivation using the methods of classification and structural analysis. The distinguishing feature of the province is anglization of indigenous names and euphemization of some English toponyms. As a result of the research it was found out that English place names prevail in the province with a big share of indigenous names in their original form. According to motivation characteristics toponyms with the names of prominent people dominate. This conclusion contributes to the formation of the idea of English Canadian toponymy in general and its linguistic and cultural peculiarities. The results of the work can be used in making up practical and theoretical courses on English lexicology, language and culture under study, cross-culture communication and translation science.

toponymy of Canada, lexico-semantic classification, anglization, indigenous place names