Vernacular Geography
Vernacular geography refers to the ways ordinary people describe and name places in their everyday language. These terms often differ from official place names and may have imprecise boundaries. By studying vernacular geography, researchers aim to understand people's sense of place and how they define their surroundings.
One aspect of vernacular geography is the concept of "vernacular regions." These are areas where residents share a sense of identity and interconnectedness based on common history, interests, or culture. Vernacular regions may not align with political or administrative boundaries and often reflect local perspectives and experiences. Examples include the Tidewater region in Virginia, the Tri-City area in Illinois, and the American South.
Research on Vernacular Geography
Modern research on vernacular geography leverages the vast amount of geographical information available on the World Wide Web. By analyzing text-based resources, such as search engine results and social media posts, researchers can extract vernacular place names and identify relationships between locations. This information is then used to approximate spatial boundaries for imprecise regions defined by vernacular terms.
Challenges and Tools
One challenge in studying vernacular geography is the vague and imprecise nature of place names used in everyday language. To overcome this, researchers employ "trigger phrases" to identify linguistic patterns that indicate relationships between places. For example, the phrase "X is located in Y" can be used to gather data on the vernacular region of X.
Public Participation
Cardiff University has developed a public participation tool to collect people's perceptions of vernacular geography in Great Britain. This tool combines a web questionnaire with mapping tools, allowing participants to share their understanding of place names and boundaries. The data gathered contributes to a better understanding of how people experience and articulate their sense of place.