GeographicalName

Proper noun applied to a real-world entity.

GeographicalName attributes

language

Language of the name, given as three letter codes, in accordance with either ISO 639-3 or ISO 639-5.

More precisely, this definition refers to the language used by the community that uses the name.

The code “mul” for “multilingual” should not be used in general. However it can be used in rare cases, such as official names composed of two names in different languages. For example, “Vitoria-Gasteiz” is such a multilingual official name in Spain.

Even if this attribute is “voidable” for pragmatic reasons, it is of first importance in several use cases in the multi-language context of Europe.

• Type: CharacterString

• Multiplicity: [1]

nativeness

Information enabling one to acknowledge if the name is the one that is / was used in the area where the spatial object is situated at the instant when the name is / was in use.

• Type: NativenessValue

• Multiplicity: [1]

nameStatus

Qualitative information enabling one to discern which credit should be given to the name with respect to its standardisation and / or its topicality.

The Geographical Names application schema does not explicitly make a preference between different names (for example, official endonyms) of a specific real-world entity. The necessary information for making the preference (for example, the linguistic status of the administrative or geographic area in question), for a certain use case, must be obtained from other data or information sources. For example, the status of the language of the name may be known through queries on the geometries of named places against the geometry of administrative units recorded in a certain source with the language status information.

• Type: NameStatusValue

• Multiplicity: [1]

sourceOfName

Original data source from which the geographical name is taken from and integrated in the data set providing / publishing it. For some named spatial objects, it might refer again to the publishing data set if no other information is available.

• Examples: Gazetteer, Geographical Names Data Set.

• Type: CharacterString

• Multiplicity: [1]

pronunciation

Proper, correct or standard (standard within the linguistic community concerned) pronunciation of the geographical name.

• Source: Adapted from [UNGEGN Manual 2006].

• Type: PronunciationOfName

• Multiplicity: [1]

spelling

A proper way of writing the geographical name.

Different spellings should only be used for names rendered in different scripts.

While a particular GeographicalName should only have one spelling in a given script, providing different spellings in the same script should be done through the provision of different geographical names associated with the same named place.

• Type: SpellingOfName

• Multiplicity: [1…*]

grammaticalGender

Class of nouns reflected in the behaviour of associated words.

The attribute has cardinality [0…1] and is voidable, which means that:

• In case the concept of grammatical gender has no sense for a given name (i.e. the attribute is not applicable), the attribute should not be provided.

• In case the concept of grammatical gender has some sense for the name but is unknown, the attribute should be provided but void.

• Type: GrammaticalGenderValue

• Multiplicity: [0…1]

grammaticalNumber

Grammatical category of nouns that expresses count distinctions.

The attribute has cardinality [0..1] and is voidable, which means that:

In case the concept of grammatical number has no sense for a given name (i.e. the attribute is not applicable), the attribute should not be provided.

In case the concept of grammatical number has some sense for the name but is unknown, the attribute should be provided but void.

• Type: GrammaticalNumberValue

• Multiplicity: [0..1]