Mapping Ethnophysiographies: An Investigation of Toponyms and Land Cover of Missoula County, Montana
Year of Award
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Anthropology
Other Degree Name/Area of Focus
Geographic Information Systems
Department or School/College
Anthropology
Committee Chair
Anna Prentiss
Commitee Members
Anna Prentiss, Irene Appelbaum, Cheyenne Laue, Kevin McManigal
Keywords
ethnophysiography, toponymy, GIS, land cover, landscape, language
Publisher
University of Montana
Subject Categories
Geographic Information Sciences | Human Geography | Social and Cultural Anthropology
Abstract
This thesis investigates the ethnophysiography of Missoula County, Montana via place names. Toponyms and landscape have been observed to have a relationship that can be studied through many lenses. Ethnophysiography, the study of how language and landscape relate to each other via human conceptualization, is a lens that was applied to this thesis because it recognizes the embodied information that toponyms carry and investigates landscape accordingly. Thus, the following research seeks to understand if ethnophysiographic diversity exists between toponyms in the Salish and English languages of Missoula County, Montana by analyzing place names and land cover in GIS and analyzing the data for a Zipfian distribution. I research, collect, and analyze the secondary information available on Missoula County names and land covers in order to empirically examine this ethnophysiographic relationship.
Recommended Citation
Cahoon, Emily L., "Mapping Ethnophysiographies: An Investigation of Toponyms and Land Cover of Missoula County, Montana" (2021). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11764.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11764
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© Copyright 2021 Emily L. Cahoon