A study investigated one segment of toponymy, the study of place names, in Quebec. The first chapter discusses the nature, functions, and functioning of place names from a semiotic-logico-linguistic viewpoint. Chapter two describes the corpus and methodology of the study. Over 900 occurrences of "anse," the French word for "cove," in Quebec were examined from the perspective that the cove names given to geographic locations are an attempt to acknowledge meaning through metaphor. The cove names were assigned to four categories, including: parallel or similar forms; native names; homographic or identical names; and coves named after people. Within these categories, further lexical, morphosyntactic, and homonymic analysis is performed. The third chapter examines how semantic and semiotic connotations are incorporated into place names, laying a foundation for the concept of the place name as metaphor. The fourth and final chapter addresses in greater depth the idea that the place name may be both created and perceived as a metaphor within a particular spatial and temporal context. A 117-item bibliography and the categorized cove name lists are appended. (MSE)