Abstract
Colour terms play an important role in toponymy, frequently appearing as the first, specifying, part of place-names. This paper looks into Finnish and Czech place-names containing the colour terms 'gold' and 'silver' (kulta and hopea in Finnish, zlatý and stříbrný in Czech, respectively).
Both colours are considered to be secondary colour terms and they are primarily derived from metals. The qualities related to these two precious metals can play a significant part in the naming process, along with other factors.
The paper investigates and compares the naming motives of these Finnish and Czech toponyms: which qualities 'gold' or 'silver' in these place-names can refer to. The preliminary results suggest that the usage of 'silver' and 'gold' in Finnish toponyms is related to more or less same areas: e.g. to the colour and quality of springs, beaches, rocks or vegetation, and others like mining history of the place, a hidden treasure or a secret distillery, etc.
However, some differences can be seen as e.g. when denoting the quality or clarity of water or the type of vegetation, 'silver' appears more frequently, whereas 'gold' is used more often when referring to the beauty of a beach or any place in general. The analyzed material of Finnish place-names consists of about 1,600 microtoponyms collected in the Names Archive (Helsinki) in autumn 2016.
The Czech toponyms are collected in the Institute of the Czech Language in Prague.