FROM PLANT TO PLACE

THE LINGUISTIC-CULTURAL SYMBOLISM OF PHYTOTOPONYMS IN ARAPIRACA

Abstract

This study discusses the names of four rural communities in Arapiraca related to the local flora, aiming to understand their connections with the dynamics of socio-spatial organization in dialogue with the concepts of toponymy, territory, and culture. In this sense, it seeks to describe how these names reveal aspects of the flora and how they are articulated with the cultural dimensions of this municipality in the agreste region of Alagoas. Regarding the theoretical-methodological assumptions, it is generally aligned with the field of Toponymy, especially the contributions of Dickian theory; in dialogue with works on territory by Haesbaert (2004), Schneider and Tartaruga (2004), and cultural studies by Laraia (2001), Hall (2003), and Bauman (2005), among others. It is characterized as a basic, theoretical study with a qualitative approach and a descriptive objective. The analysis of four rural communities classified as phytotoponyms shows that flora, especially food and craft-related species, influences cultural and identity practices. It is concluded that vegetation acts as a decisive element in the naming of rural areas in Arapiraca.