A Geographical Survey of Village Names in Cizre District

Abstract

Settlement names come from the effect between people and areas. While giving a name to any settlement, people define the settlement in terms of the natural environment, economic factors or the inhabitants. This Survey aims to reveal in what aspects people define the settlement names when giving names to villages in Cizre district in Şırnak city. Cizre district is situated within Mesopotamia region, it is history is very ancient. Therefore, rich cultural influences offer diversity about settlement names in this ares. In our survey, these settlement names will be discussed in terms of geographical characteristics. According to the data of general directorate of provincial administration, in this research area, there are 31 villages. Researches conducted shows that % 35.48 (11) percent of villages names in district are given according to the habitat and economic factors, and % 64.52 (20) percent are given according tı the enviromental conditions. The reason of enviromental conditions being effective on villages names is Cizre’s settlement in Dicle’s River flow, topography which is broken by river and being sorrounded by mountainous areas.

Key Words: Cizre, Human, Site, Place Names, Natural and Human Environment.