All disciplines wishing to be recognized as true arts or sciences must have clearly defined fundamental concepts. The global toponymie phenomenon in Québec has still not been systematically studied. After a detailed examination of important terms such as space, place, place name, toponym, toponymy, choronymy..., a place name is investigated as an exceptional modality of space appropriation among Quebec's Amerindians, Inuit, and Whites. Toponymie language is examined largely from the structural and semantic points of view. One can see that an opposition exists between the objective notion of space and the subjective notion of denominative action.