/ 
Acme-Geo-Whitwell-Name-0.04
River stage zero No dependents
/ Acme::Geo::Whitwell::Name

NAME

Acme::Geo::Whitwell::Name - Steadman Whitwell's "rational geographic nomenclature"

VERSION

Version 0.04

SYNOPSIS

use Acme::Geo::Whitwell::Name qw(to_whitwell from_whitwell);

# Convert Sunnyvale, CA's lat and lon to a Whitwell name pair.
my @names = to_whitwell("37.37N", "122.03");

# Same conversion, using signed latitude and longitude instead.
my @names = to_whitwell(37.37, -122.03);

# Convert a Whitwell name to a latitude and longitude.
# (Washington DC's "rational" name to N/S lat and E/W long.)
my($lat_string, $lon_string) = from_whitwell("Feiro Nyvout");

# If you want signed values, add signed => some true value.
my($lat, $long) = from_whitwell("Feiro Nyvout", signed=>1);

DESCRIPTION

This module implements Steadman Whitwell's "rational system of geographic nomenclature", in which place names are generated by converting the latitude and longitude of the location into a two-part name by means of a transliteration scheme.

Whitwell devised this scheme in an attempt to provide an alternative to the proliferation of similarly-named towns in the early US. However, people seemed to prefer creating many Springfields and Washingtons in preference to using Whitwell's uniquely quirky names.

THE SCHEME

Two tables of number-to-letter(s) are used to translate latitudes and longitudes of two-decimal precision, digit-by-digit, into vaguely-pronounceable two-part names.

           1 2 3 4 5 6 7  8  9  0
 latitude  a e i o u y ee ei ie ou  vowels
longitude  b d f k l m n  p  r  t   consonants

Transliteration is done by looking up the apropriate digit in the tables above, switching rows until all the digits are consumed. If the coordinate is negative, a special 'sign consonant' is inserted into the (partial) name after the first vowel is added, and the transliteration continues by choosing again from the vowel table, then continuing to alternate again.

This is very orderly, but confusing to generate by hand (putting aside the fact that no one in their right mind really wants to live in "Isilu Buban" instead of Sydney, AU, or "Feiro Nyvout" instead of Washington, DC).

The generated names are guaranteed to have alternating consonants and vowels, and should be pronounceable (though most likely bizarre). I have not been able to locate the original documentation of the scheme, so I am unable to determine why some example names are built in "reverse": with the first letter for the latitude selected from the longitude table, and vice versa for the longitude. I can only guess that the alternate construction was deemed more pronounceable or "interesting". Since this is the case, I generate both alternatives so you can choose the one that seems "better". In the cases of places like McMurdo Base ("Eeseepu Bymeem" or "Neeveil Amyny"), I'm not sure there is a "better".

However, solely for the purposes of amusement, it can be interesting to find out what a given location would have been called in the alternate universe where Whitwell's scheme caught on.

It would be lovely to use this module to change all the place names on online maps, wouldn't it?

SOURCES

  • The Angel and the Serpent: The Story of New Harmony, William E. Wilson, Indiana University Press, 1984, p. 154 =item * Search books.google.com for '"new harmony gazette" whitwell' =item * http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/2007/05/15/whitwells-system-for-a-rational-geographical-nomenclature/

EXPORT

FUNCTIONS

to_whitwell($lat, $lon)

Generates a properly-capitalized Whitwell name from a latitude-longitude pair. Latitude and longitude are truncated to the two digits after the decimal point, in keeping with Whitwell's original scheme. Zeroes are added after the decimal point as necessary.

North latitudes are positve, and south latitudes are negative. East longitudes are positive, west longitudes are negative. Trailing E/W and N/S are converted into the appropriate sign. If you supply both for some reason, trailing sign indicators override signs.

Returns both alternatives for the name (see SCHEME).

from_whitwell($whitwell_name, signed => $yes_or_no)

Converts a Whitwell name back into a lat/lon pair, in trailing indicator format. Results will be undefined if the string does not match the Whitwell scheme; if the strings is Whitwell-compatible, but includes extra letters, these will be assumed to be further digits after the decimal point.

If you supply the 'signed' option with a true value, the returned values are signed numbers rather than numbers with trailing sign indicators.

AUTHOR

Joe McMahon, <mcmahon at cpan.org>

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-acme-geo-whitwell-name at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Acme-Geo-Whitwell-Name. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

KNOWN BUGS

  • (0,0) isn't handled correctly; however, since there's nothing there but water, this is not a practical limitation.

SUPPORT

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc Acme::Geo::Whitwell::Name

You can also look for information at:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2008 Joe McMahon, all rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.