The Territory Speaks to Us: An Approach to the Study of the Place Names of the “Muysca” Area of the Cundiboyacense Territory

Abstract

Currently, a good part of the studies on the place names of the Cundiboyacense region and in particular of the area commonly called Muysca come from a research tradition that has not developed a clear, diverse, and critical working methodology for them. The territorial, human, cultural, and linguistic diversities of said space are not considered, and rather homogeneity as well as generalization is assumed, which has resulted in these studies presenting decontextualized, unreliable, and even invented toponymic interpretations that unfortunately are quite widespread and seem to conclude the discussion in this field of knowledge in which the contribution of multiple sources, disciplines, researchers, perspectives, etcetera, is still very necessary. This article seeks to consider and expose the diverse panoramas at the territorial, human, cultural, and linguistic level of the aforementioned area; to propose and evaluate the relevance of some sources that allow access to toponymic data; to propose criteria for the identification and collection of said data, as well as an analysis methodology for them using the Muysca language of Bogota or Muysc Cubun; and to evaluate their possible lexical motivations within the framework of particular territories, peoples, and cultures.