Generic toponyms of natural features in Oklahoma are distributed unevenly. Physical generics are numerous in the more rugged parts of the state and relatively scarce in the more level sections. Southern toponym generics are more common than either Western or Southwestern generics, although most of Oklahoma's natural toponyms do not correlate with culture or speech regions. Diverse themes have been investigated by North American toponymists. Studies include the utilization of placenames to

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... s political ideology (Cohen and KHot 1992), the analysis of the mutability of culture areas (Detro 1984), examinations of individual generic placenames (West 1954), and the association of generic placenames with dialect boundaries (Bastian 1977). Oklahoma has not been ignored by students of placenames, with studies such as those of Carney (1976) , Gould (1933 ), Shirk (1987 ), and Wright (1929) . However, no toponymic analysis has dealt directly with the state's regional identity. Oklahoma is a land of contrast, both physically (map 1), and culturally (map 2). The dissected Ozark Plateau and the prominent ridges of the Ouachita Mountains in the east give way to the flattish horizons of the central and western parts of the state. Culturally, eastern Oklahoma is generally considered to be a part of the South, largely the Upland South. The strip of Oklahoma that borders on Kansas has been regarded as Midwestern (Gastil 1975; Zelinsky 1992), and the western section of the state is part of the cultural West (Zelinsky 1992). Much of Oklahoma, however, has no clear regional affiliations.