AN ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND THE REFLECTION OF SOCIAL MEMORY ON TOPONYMS IN THE CITY OF PAULÍNIA STATE OF SÃO PAULO: SOME REFLECTIONS

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the morphological characterization of toponyms in their main aspects, as well as present some considerations about the etymological formation of toponyms and the reflection of the social memory of toponymy of an official or parallel nature in the city of Paulínia in the state of São Paulo. We classify this research as ethnographic and qualitative, as it fits into the study process of a certain social group, through data collection and observations carried out during the research period, which will define the ethnographic characteristics of the population. Toponymy is defined as the etymological study of place names. Given this, the question arose: why study these “testimonies”, that is, the toponyms, especially those of Tupi origin and their great influence on the formation of the Portuguese spoken today in Brazil? To try to answer this question, support was sought in specific literature and in mapping at the research locus. To analyze toponyms, it is usually restricted to the linguistic and historical aspects of their origin without taking into account that the naming of places is, in fact, a political-cultural process that deserves an approach beyond the name attributed to a location. Not unlike other locations, the city of Paulínia, state of São Paulo, is known in several neighborhoods, streets and rivers, by names originating from the Tupi language. Therefore, there was an interest in researching some toponyms of this origin, since it is still a language spoken by everyone today. The interpretation of the meaning of place names in the process of constructing identities and territorialities in the face of the symbolism and iconography of the place. As a result of this research, it was understood that Toponymy constitutes a relevant cultural mark in the territory and expresses an effective appropriation of space by a given cultural group, in addition to involving and contributing to the preservation of the topomastic and cultural heritage of a region, of a people..