Borrowing of Place Names in the Uralian Languages

The fourth volume of the series "Onomastica Uralica" is dedicated to the borrowing of toponyms in the Uralic languages.
Although the articles in this volume cover very diverse themes, there are many questions common to all of them. The problems related to verification of language contacts, substrate and borrowing, their possible differences and outcomes, methods of etymologisation of toponyms, etc., recur in several articles. Thus, similar kinds of theoretical problems have been addressed in these articles in different contexts and on the basis of different linguistic material. One fundamental observation that also emerges from the articles is that the onomastic evidence has not yet been used in the research on prehistory to the extent and in the manner it deserves. In this respect, we are living in an interesting period as far as Finno-Ugrian toponomastics are concerned, since modern methods are just beginning to be developed and utilised to their fullest extent.