History and mysteries of toponymy. Toponyms in modern research

Toponymy (from other Greek firpt (topos) - place and? npmb (onoma) - name, name) is a science that studies geographical names, identifying their originality, the history of occurrence and analysis of the original meaning of words, from which they are educated. The set of geographical names is denoted by the word toponomy, and the person who studies geographical names is called a toponomist.

Is toponymy a branch of onomastics? branch of linguistics that studies proper names. Accordingly, any toponym is at the same time an onym.

In the West, such linguists as William Bright, Robert Ramsey and George Stuart dealt with the problems of toponymy. Among the Russian toponymists, the most famous are Alexandra Vasilievna Superanskaya and Vladimir Andreevich Nikonov.

Toponymy is also closely related to history and geography. Scholars have not yet come to an agreement on the question of how important the role of each of these three sciences in toponymy is. For example, A.V. Superanskaya believes that "Only linguists can and should analyze all types of geographical names in their connection with each other, with other proper names and with the entire system of the language in which they are created and used" . Her colleague V.A. Nikonov, on the contrary, says that history, geography, and linguistics play their definite, albeit different in magnitude, role in toponymy: “A toponym does not exist without a named object, and objects are studied by geography. The need for toponyms, their content, their changes are dictated by history, but only through language. The name is a word, a fact of a sign, and not of geography and not of history itself.

However, our study focuses on linguistic aspect toponymy, namely the ways of word formation of toponyms. But before turning to them, you should get acquainted with a few more terms used in the framework of toponymy.

Topobases and Topoformants

Any word consists of a certain number of elements, called morphemes in linguistics. Naturally, this statement is also true for toponyms, however, when considering the composition of geographical names and their etymology, according to toponymists, it is more correct to speak of such elements as topobases and topoformants.

The topographic basis, or the basis of the toponym, is the semantic component of a geographical name (even if in given language meaning, i.e., the connection with a common noun or another proper name, is not entirely obvious).

Topoformants, or toponymic formants, are service elements that are involved in the construction of toponyms.

For example, for the toponymic systems of Russia, such elements are the suffixes -sk; - hail; -ov (Chelyabinsk, Volgograd, Azov).

Topobases in their pure form do not exist. They are necessarily supplemented to whole words, made out with the help of topoformants. Even if the topobase is completely homonymous to the whole toponym, then the topoformant is still present structurally and is called zero.

Territorially organized sets of topobases and topoformants, rules and ways of connecting them with each other, as well as the specificity of perception of certain toponymic formations form toponymic systems.

Perhaps, it is precisely with placers of gold-bearing sand that the abundance of the most interesting, valuable and necessary words for us - geographical names, which catches the eye at the first glance at a geographical map, can be compared. And the larger the scale, the more detailed the map, the more we see these precious grains ...

Any person can name dozens, hundreds of geographical names known to him. These are the names of settlements - villages and villages, cities and towns, villages and auls. These are the names of streets and squares, lanes and avenues. These are the names of rivers, lakes, streams, seas, bays, mountains, valleys, ravines, hills, gorges, plateaus, fields, clearings, forests, arable lands, cordons, wells, etc.

Imagine for a moment that all geographical names have disappeared from the map, disappeared from our lives. What then? Will not. It's an exaggeration to say life will practically stop. A person will not be able to name, mention, designate any desired object. The transport will stop. The post office, telegraph, fire department, Ambulance, other services. There will be a host of other unpleasant events. But such an assumption is only from the realm of fantasy. Toponymic scholars often cite it to emphasize that now hardly anyone can doubt the practical, social significance of geographical names. Quite figuratively, A. A. Minkin, the author interesting book about the toponyms of the Kola Peninsula: “We are used to geographical names and sometimes we don’t feel their existence just as we don’t notice that we have a heart and lungs until they remind of themselves with interruptions in work” (Minkin A. A. Toponyms of Murman, Murmansk, 1976, p. 4).

However, toponyms have another value. Any geographical name, referring to a specific geographical object and being an integral part, a word of our language, is at the same time historical. Very often, toponyms contain such words that have now disappeared from the Russian language or are not actively used. Some names can tell about the ancient customs, occupations, life of our ancestors, we can learn about their trades and crafts. Other toponyms - to tell what the nature of the region was like in bygone centuries, what trees and grasses grew, what animals and birds were found in the forest. There are names in which we find word roots or whole words from other languages; they testify to the trade, military ties of our ancestors with other countries and peoples, to the migrations of tribes. Many toponyms, such as the names of some rivers, are deeply rooted in hoary antiquity and can even trace their origin back to the Stone Age.

Any geographical name has its own history, its own destiny. It can tell a lot to an attentive and experienced researcher. In recent decades, Soviet and foreign scientists working in the field of the study of geographical names have extracted important information from this material - information about the past settlement of tribes and peoples, about the ways of colonization of various territories, about the movements of individual ethnic groups. Geographical names can often serve as a serious addition to the far from perfect and incomplete documentary evidence of past centuries that scientists have at their disposal.

The study of geographical names is carried out by a special science - toponymy (this term is based on the Greek words r opoe. - "place" and oni.cha - "name"). This science lies at the intersection of geography, history and linguistics. But toponymy is a special section of the science of language, a linguistic discipline, since any name is a word and, as such, is part of the language system and obeys its basic laws.

Toponyms - geographical names are very diverse, as geographical objects themselves are diverse; the Volga River and the city of Chelyabinsk, Magnitnaya Mountain and the village of Pochinki, Devil's Gorge and Krugloye Lake, Studenets Stream and Simferopol Highway, Senkino Iole and the Caspian Sea. You can see for yourself that the character, type, variety of the named object immediately catches your eye. Accordingly, in toponymy it is customary to single out several subsections that specialize in the study of the names of various types of geographical objects. The toponymic scientist has as material for his research: the names of settlements, points - oikonyms (the city of Kostroma, the village of Silikatny, the village of Lyskovo, Semyonov Khutor); the names of the elements of the earth's surface are oronyms (Ural Range, Communism Peak, Caspian Lowland, Devil's Ravine); the names of water bodies, both natural and man-made, are hydronyms (the Oka River, the White Sea, Lake Peipus, the Red Pond, the Pinsk Marshes); names of intracity objects (Kibalchicha Street, Stoleshnikov Lane, Vosstaniya Square, Michurinsky Prospekt, Teply Stan). Toponymy also studies the proper names of land plots, fields, arable lands, communication lines, forests, natural underground formations and other objects. The set of geographical names of a certain territory is usually called toponymy: toponymy Central Russia, toponymy of the Moscow region, etc.

As studies by linguists show, any toponym (regardless of its variety and type of object to which it refers) is formed in one of two ways. The first way is the transition of the finished name. from one object to another, when either an already existing geographical name, or a name, a surname of a person, or the name of a church, or the name of an institution, enterprise, or the name of a holiday, etc. become a toponym. Chekhov, the nickname Voronoi is the village of Voronovo, the Volga River is the city of Volzhsky, the Church of the Trinity is the village of Troitskoye, the Proletary factory is the village of Proletarsky, etc. According to the second, the toponym is formed from a common noun; this word turns into a proper name and serves to highlight, individualize a given geographical object. For example, from the word onion - “a large long bend of the river; a peninsula on the river, formed by its bend” - the name of the village Lukovnya is formed; the word vartsche, meaning "a place where salt was obtained by evaporating it from a saline solution", became the basis for the name of the village Varishchi; the phrase red way - "revolutionary way, the road to socialism" - turned into the name of the village Krasny Put. Even from these individual examples, you can see that each geographical name has its own face, is associated with the history of society, the geographical environment, and the history of the language. The statement of Doctor of Philology A. V. Superanskaya is very accurate and fair: “Each name is historical, and toponymy can be called a mirror of history. Toponyms ... bear the imprint of the time and place of their origin.

For a person, “toponymic” questions arise immediately beyond the threshold home, and sometimes even without getting out of it. As soon as a child living, for example, in Moscow, goes out into his street, into his lane, onto his boulevard, he immediately learns that the street is called Malaya Filevskaya, the lane is Plotnikov, and the boulevard is Tverskoy. And all his senior mentors, who carefully take care of the child, try to make little Natasha or Kirill firmly remember the name of the street on which they live, the house number, the apartment number. So the young "Muscovite learns the first" toponyms in his life. For his peer, who lives, say, in a small village in the Pskov region, the first names will, of course, be different, but no less important, necessary.

Growing up, the guys learn that others cross their street, which also have their own names, and that the streets open onto a large and long avenue leading to the city center through several squares, through a large bridge over the river and embankments, and that they all have their own names. These names seem to be united by the name of the city, the name of Moscow. And from Moscow, railways and highways diverge in all directions to other cities, towns, to rivers, mountains, seas, to other countries, and they all have their own names.

Each name should be treated with care and frugality, as we treat any cultural monument. It seems that knowledge of geographical names, knowledge of their connections with the historical past of the language, country, with our modern life to a certain extent, the cultural level of a person is determined ...

Interest in geographical names, in their comprehension appeared at the earliest stages of civilization. Ancient historians and geographers tried to explain this or that toponym in the ecumene - the inhabited part of the world. Later, with the development of human knowledge, toponyms more and more attracted the attention of scientists of various specialties, directions and schools. But first of all they were geographers, historians and linguists.

In our country, toponymic research is carried out in all republics, in many regional and regional centers. Systematic work on the study of geographical names in the USSR began after the Great Patriotic War. It is believed that in the late 50s and 60s in our country there was a kind of "explosion" of toponymic research, which led to the fact that toponymy took a strong place among scientific and educational disciplines. Many monographic studies and articles on toponymy of certain regions of our country and toponymy have been published. foreign countries. Interesting and necessary regional toponymic dictionaries are being printed more and more often. The seriousness of toponymic research in the USSR is also due to the high level at which they are carried out. Large research teams are engaged in the systematic study of toponyms: the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of the Russian Language of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Central Research Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Photography and Cartography and a number of others. Work on the study of toponymy, lectures, organization of special courses and special seminars on a number of problems related to the names of geographical objects are carried out in a number of leading universities of the country. Among them are Moscow State University, Peoples' Friendship University. P. Lumumba, Leningradsky State University, universities of Sverdlovsk, Kazan, Irkutsk, Kiev, Minsk, Lvov, Odessa and other cities. The Geographical Society of the USSR is also doing a great deal of work, especially the toponymic commission in its Moscow branch.

Every year, many geographical names disappear from the map of our country, and new toponyms appear. This process is generally natural: the social system in the country has changed, the economy and life in the countryside and in the city are changing, new modern cities and villages are growing. Some names are replaced by new ones, more appropriate to the era.

Certainly, big changes do not occur without loss. Sometimes a hot, or indifferent, or simply ignorant hand crosses out some ancient, ancient name and is replaced by a modern, but dry, faceless and clerical one. Names that are precious to science often disappear as a result of large-scale construction, such as hydroelectric power plants, when a new sea floods a large territory. So, and for other reasons, very interesting, priceless, and sometimes one-of-a-kind toponyms can disappear. Therefore, toponymic scientists need help. Firstly, help in collecting disappearing geographical names, toponyms, in remote corners of the country, where toponymist expeditions have not yet managed to reach. Secondly, the help of the broad masses of the public in the struggle for high culture, value, informativeness of newly created names and for the protection, protection from renaming of valuable ancient toponyms. This is a very necessary and noble cause.

We would like to end this chapter with the words of N. K. Roerich, who was a historian and a talented artist, a man in love with his country, its nature, history and culture. It is no coincidence that in his articles, ideas, books there was a place for geographical names. “Who named the mountains and rivers? Who gave the first names to cities and localities? Only sometimes vague legends about the foundations and names reach. At the same time, the names often refer to some already unknown, unused language. Sometimes the names unexpectedly correspond to the names from completely different countries, which means that travelers, settlers or captives imprinted their names on the way.

The issue of geographical names often puts forward enigmas (riddles. - M. G., V. D.) unsolvable. Of course, if people usually no longer know how the name of their grandfather's estate came about, then how impossible it is to catch the thousand-year-old reasons. ... Only a few ignoramuses will say; “What do we care about our decayed forefathers!” On the contrary, a cultured person knows that, plunging into the study of the expression of feelings, he learns that persuasiveness, which is close to all ages and peoples. A person who studies reservoirs, first of all, cares to learn about the origins. In the same way, he who wants to touch the soul of the people must look for the origins. I must look for them not arrogantly or prejudicedly, but with all the openness and joy of my heart ”(Roerich N.K. Sources. - In the book: N.K. Roerich. Selected. M., 1979, p. 299-301).

Can you say better, more precisely?

The names are folk poetic design of the country. They speak about the character of the people, its history, its inclinations and peculiarities of life. ( Konstantin Paustovsky)

Throughout our life, from the moment of birth to the very death, various geographical names accompany us. We live on the Eurasian continent, in Russia, in a certain region or region, in a city, town, village and village, and each of the listed objects has

Thus, a toponym is the name of continents and oceans, countries and geographical areas, cities and streets in them, rivers and lakes, natural objects and gardens. Origin and meaning historical roots and the change over the centuries of pronunciation and spelling of the names of geographical objects is studied by a special science - toponymy.

What is toponymy

The word "toponymy" comes from two Greek words: topos - place and onyma - name. This scientific discipline is a branch of onomastics - a branch of linguistics that studies proper names. Toponymy is an integral science functioning at the intersection of linguistics, geography and history.

Geographical names do not appear in an "empty" place: noticing certain features of the relief and nature, people who lived nearby called them, emphasizing their characteristic features. Over time, the peoples who lived in a particular region changed, but the names were preserved and used by those who replaced them. The basic unit for the study of toponymy is the toponym. The names of cities and rivers, villages and villages, lakes and forests, fields and streams - all these are toponyms of Russia, very diverse both in time of appearance and in their cultural and linguistic roots.

What is a toponym

Literally translated from Greek, a toponym is a “place name”, that is, the name of a particular geographical object: a continent, a mainland, a mountain and an ocean, a sea and a country, a city and a street, natural objects. Their main purpose is to fix the "binding" of a particular place on the surface of the Earth. In addition, toponyms for historical science are not just the name of any geographical object, but a historical trace on the map, which has its own history of occurrence, linguistic origin and meaning.

How are toponyms classified?

A single classification of toponyms that would suit both linguists and geographers and historians does not exist today. Toponyms are classified according to a variety of criteria, but most often according to the following:

• by type of designated geographical objects (hydronyms, oronyms, dromonims and others);
• linguistic (Russian, Manchu, Czech, Tatar and other names);
• historical (Chinese, Slavic and others);
• by structure:
  - simple;
  - derivatives;
  - complex;
  - composite;
• by territory area.

Classification by area

Of greatest interest is the classification of toponyms according to their territorial basis, when geographical objects, depending on their size, are classified as macrotoponyms or microtoponyms.

Microtoponyms are individual names of small geographical objects, as well as characteristic features relief and landscape. They are formed on the basis of the language or dialect of the people or nationality living nearby. Microtoponyms are very mobile and changeable, but, as a rule, they are limited territorially by the distribution zone of one or another language.

A macrotoponym is, first of all, the names of large natural or natural and socio-administrative units created as a result of human activity. The main characteristics of this group are standardization and stability, as well as the breadth of use.

Types of place names

The following types of toponyms are distinguished in modern toponymy:

How toponyms decline

Toponymic words with Slavic roots and ending in -ev(o), -in(o), -ov(o), -yn(o) were previously considered traditionally inflected. However, in recent decades, more and more often they are used in an indeclinable form, as they were previously used by professional military and geographical scientists.

The declension of toponyms, such as Tsaritsyno, Kemerovo, Sheremetyevo, Murino, Kratovo, Domodedovo, Komarovo, Medvedkovo and the like, was mandatory in the time of Anna Akhmatova, but today both the inflected and indeclinable forms are considered equally true and used. The exception is the names of settlements, in the event that they are used as applications with a generic name (village, village, farm, town, city, etc.), then it would be correct not to incline, for example, to the Strigino region, from the Matyushino region, to the city of Pushkino . If there is no such generic name, then both inflected and non-inclined variants can be used: from Matyushino and towards Matyushin, to Knyazevo and from Knyazev.

Indeclinable toponyms

In modern Russian, there are several cases in which toponyms ending in -o can only be used in an invariable form:

Each object of the reality surrounding us has its own name or title. Names are the majority of words in a language. Words name things book, table, chair, TV), creatures ( bird, man, wolf), abstract concepts ( miracle, relaxation, beauty, joy), qualities and properties ( good, big, deep, industrious), etc. Each of these words does not refer to a certain specific subject, but to a whole class of identical objects. This is - common names or appellatives . But in the language there are also words that refer to only one subject or object, naming objects and beings that are unique in their kind. This is - proper names . These include and geographical names , or toponyms (from the Greek τοπος - "place" and ονομά - "name", i.e. the name of the place.)

The world of geographical names is exceptionally diverse and interesting. From birth, we live in this complex and endless world. Our planet is woven from the interweaving of geographical names relating to different eras and languages. Every day we hear them on the radio, read them in newspapers, see them on TV screens and computer monitors. Without them it is impossible to imagine geographical map or atlas. We perceive many events of our life through geographical names. However, we rarely think about what this or that, often well-known geographical name means.

It is impossible to imagine modern civilization without geographical names. Toponyms are an indispensable element in the development of society and humanity as a whole. Their totality within a particular territory is the result of centuries-old folk art, creating geographic names. Geographical names are a business card that begins acquaintance with a country, city or natural object.

It seems natural to comprehend toponyms, find out how they appear, develop, change, what contributes to this process, and, of course, what they mean. All these questions lie in the sphere of interests of special science - place names . The need to study geographical names is due to the significant scientific and practical significance of toponyms for a number of scientific areas.

Toponymy is a scientific discipline that studies geographical names, their origin, development, state of the art, semantic meaning, spelling and pronunciation.

This term should not be confused with the concept toponymy –is a set of geographical names of a certain territory. Concepts geographical nomenclature (from Latin nomenklatura- list of names toponikon (toponymicon ) are analogous to the term toponymy. Thus, toponymy is the object of study of toponymy.

2. Place of toponymy in the system of sciences.

Toponymy is an integral scientific discipline. It arose at the junction of several sciences - linguistics (linguistics), history and geography. This is the complexity of toponymy, its complex interdisciplinary essence.

From point of view linguistics, toponyms are first of all the words of the language, proper names. They represent a whole layer of the language and reflect the history of its formation and development. Geographical names are an element of vocabulary, a linguistic category, therefore they obey the laws of the language and should be studied by linguists. The section of linguistics that studies proper names is called onomastics (from the Greek όνομαστική - "the art of giving names"). Onomastics studies various proper names, or names - names of people anthroponyms ), nicknames and names of animals ( zoonyms ) , names of celestial bodies ( astronyms) , names of tribes and peoples ( ethnonyms ), vegetation names ( phytonyms ), names of organizations and institutions ( ergonyms ), etc. Among this set there is a place for geographical names or toponyms .

Toponymy as a doctrine of geographical names explores not only their origin, but also their fate, the causes of change, the conditions for their emergence. Geographical names arose in certain historical periods. They are chronological historical events. Toponyms changed over time in form, content, spread depending on specific events in history. Wars, population migrations, ethnic contacts leave their mark on toponymy. Each historical era is characterized by its own set of geographical names. They form a kind of toponymic layers of different times. Many toponyms are mentioned in historical documents (chronicles, scribe books, charters, etc.) and are also objects of historical study. Thus, toponymy is closely related to historical science.

Toponymy is of great importance for geography. Place names are the most important element of a map. They have a spatial reference, tell about the nature of the settlement, development and economic use of the territory. Toponymy reflects the features of the nature of a particular region. Geographical names make it possible to reconstruct the landscapes of past eras. A correct understanding of toponymy provides geographers with rich material for the knowledge of natural landscapes, the nature of the economic activity of the population, and ethnicity. It is geographers who know folk geographical terms, many of which form toponyms. The correct spelling of toponyms is very important for cartography.

None of the sciences should have a "monopoly" on toponymy. Experience has shown that fruitful toponymic research can be developed using the methods and achievements of all three sciences. toponymist(a scholar engaged in toponymy) should not only be a linguist, or a geographer, or a historian - he should be a toponymist. This position, formulated back in the 60s of the last century, is decisive in modern approaches to toponymy as a science. Thus, toponymy is an independent "frontier" science, developing at the intersection of three disciplines (linguistics, history and geography).

TOPONYMY

FOREWORD

SECTION I. GENERAL REGULARITIES OF TOPONYMY

1. 1. SUBJECT AND PLACE OF TOPONYMY IN THE SYSTEM OF SCIENCES

1. 2. MAIN STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOPONYMY

1. 3. METHODS OF TOPONIMICAL STUDIES

^ 1. 4. TOPONYMIC CLASSES

1. 5. REASONS FOR THE APPEARANCE OF TOPONYMS. FOLK GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS IN TOPONYMY

SECTION II. CLASSIFICATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

2. 1. TYPES OF CLASSIFICATIONS OF TOPONYMS

2. 2. TOPONYMS REFLECTING NATURAL CONDITIONS

2. 3. MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURAL TOPONYMS

2. 4. TRADE AND TRANSPORT AND RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL TOPONYMS

Currently Scientific research most dynamically and fruitfully develop at the junction of several areas of knowledge. Toponymy is the science of geographical names. As a branch of knowledge, it has been actively developing for a long time, but interest in it from both scientists and ordinary people does not decrease, but constantly increases.

Place names or toponyms are the most important component of geography. They are a kind of link between man and geographical feature, not only indicating its place on the surface of the planet, but also providing interesting and often very important scientific information.

Geographical names are an expression of the mentality of people, their attitude, culture, way of life, customs, psychological state. They are an integral part of modern civilization and represent a unique toponymic environment, without which the existence of mankind is impossible. In this context, the words of Academician D.S. Likhachev can be cited: “Historical geographical names are a monument of spiritual culture of a special kind - the names of our cities and villages, streets and squares, outposts and settlements. Toponikon of the people is a collective work of folk genius… They serve as landmarks in time and space, creating the historical and cultural image of the country.”

This study guide has been written in accordance with curriculum on the course "General Toponymy", approved by the Academic Council of the Faculty of Geography of the Belarusian State University. The purpose of the course is to give an idea of ​​the subject of toponymy based on the acquired basic knowledge of the geographical, historical and linguistic plan. The objectives of the course are to show the place of toponymy in the system of sciences, to form knowledge about the history of the development of scientific thought in the named area, the principles and methods of science, to study the existing schemes for classifying toponyms, to give a general idea of ​​the specifics of the regional toponymic systems of the Earth, to acquaint students with a variety of toponymic facts and phenomena. and understand their role in the modern world.

In this study guide systematized and summarized modern ideas on the problems of toponymy. Along with the key theoretical and methodological components of the course, a regional toponymic overview is given.

Based on the purpose and objectives of the course, the structure of this manual is as follows: the first section discusses the general patterns of toponymy, the second provides a classification of toponyms, the third section is devoted to the principles of transferring toponyms and standardization, the fourth section includes a regional overview of toponymic macroregions.

The author is grateful to the reviewers, Dr. geographical sciences, Professor V. S. Anoshko, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor D. L. Ivanov, Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor D. A. Rogovtsov for valuable advice to improve the structure and content of the manual.

^ SECTION I. GENERAL REGULARITIES OF TOPONYMY

SUBJECT AND PLACE OF TOPONYMY IN THE SYSTEM OF SCIENCES

subject of toponymy.

Each object of the reality surrounding us has its own name or title. Names are the majority of words in a language. Words name things book, table, chair, TV), creatures ( bird, man, wolf), abstract concepts ( miracle, relaxation, beauty, joy), qualities and properties ( good, big, deep, industrious), etc. Each of these words does not refer to a certain specific subject, but to a whole class of identical objects. This is - common names or appellatives . But in the language there are also words that refer to only one subject or object, naming objects and beings that are unique in their kind. This is - proper names . These include and geographical names , or toponyms (from the Greek τοπος - "place" and ονομά - "name", i.e. the name of the place.)

The world of geographical names is exceptionally diverse and interesting. From birth, we live in this complex and endless world. Our planet is woven from the interweaving of geographical names relating to different eras and languages. Every day we hear them on the radio, read them in newspapers, see them on TV screens and computer monitors. Without them, it is impossible to imagine a geographical map or atlas. We perceive many events of our life through geographical names. However, we rarely think about what this or that, often well-known geographical name means.

It is impossible to imagine modern civilization without geographical names. Toponyms are an indispensable element in the development of society and humanity as a whole. Their totality within a particular territory is the result of centuries-old folk art, the creation of geographical names. Geographical names are a business card that begins acquaintance with a country, city or natural object.

It seems natural to comprehend toponyms, find out how they appear, develop, change, what contributes to this process, and, of course, what they mean. All these questions lie in the sphere of interests of special science - place names . The need to study geographical names is due to the significant scientific and practical significance of toponyms for a number of scientific areas.

Toponymy is a scientific discipline that studies geographical names, their origin, development, current state, meaning, spelling and pronunciation.

This term should not be confused with the concept toponymy – is a set of geographical names of a certain territory. Concepts geographical nomenclature (from Latin nomenklatura- list of names toponikon (toponymicon ) are analogous to the term toponymy. Thus, toponymy is the object of study of toponymy.

Place of toponymy in the system of sciences.

Toponymy is an integral scientific discipline. It arose at the junction of several sciences - linguistics (linguistics), history and geography. This is the complexity of toponymy, its complex interdisciplinary essence.

From point of view linguistics, toponyms are first of all the words of the language, proper names. They represent a whole layer of the language and reflect the history of its formation and development. Geographical names are an element of vocabulary, a linguistic category, therefore they obey the laws of the language and should be studied by linguists. The section of linguistics that studies proper names is called onomastics (from the Greek όνομαστική - "the art of giving names"). Onomastics studies various proper names, or names - names of people anthroponyms ), nicknames and names of animals ( zoonyms) , names of celestial bodies ( astronyms), names of tribes and peoples ( ethnonyms ), vegetation names ( phytonyms ), names of organizations and institutions ( ergonyms ), etc. Among this set there is a place for geographical names or toponyms .

Toponymy as a doctrine of geographical names explores not only their origin, but also their fate, the causes of change, the conditions for their emergence. Geographical names arose in certain historical periods. They are chronological evidence of historical events. Toponyms changed over time in form, content, spread depending on specific events in history. Wars, population migrations, ethnic contacts leave their mark on toponymy. Each historical era is characterized by its own set of geographical names. They form a kind of toponymic layers of different times. Many toponyms are mentioned in historical documents (chronicles, scribe books, charters, etc.) and are also objects of historical study. Thus, toponymy is closely related to historical science.
Toponymy is of great importance for geography. Place names are the most important element of a map. They have a spatial reference, tell about the nature of settlement, development and economic use territory. Toponymy reflects the features of the nature of a particular region. Geographical names make it possible to reconstruct the landscapes of past eras. A correct understanding of toponymy gives geographers rich material for the knowledge of natural landscapes, character economic activity population, ethnicity. It is geographers who know folk geographical terms, many of which form toponyms. The correct spelling of toponyms is very important for cartography.

None of the sciences should have a "monopoly" on toponymy. Experience has shown that fruitful toponymic research can be developed using the methods and achievements of all three sciences. toponymist(a scholar engaged in toponymy) should not only be a linguist, or a geographer, or a historian - he should be a toponymist. This position, formulated back in the 60s of the last century, is decisive in modern approaches to toponymy as a science. Thus, toponymy is an independent "frontier" science, developing at the intersection of three disciplines (linguistics, history and geography).

^ 1. 2 MAIN STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOPONYMY

Ancient World and Middle Ages.

Interest in geographical names and their semantic content arose at the earliest stages of the formation of human civilization. Even in the ancient Egyptian texts, there were first attempts to describe and classify toponyms. In the ancient period, a tradition arose to accompany historical and geographical works with an explanation of toponyms. However, the validity of the toponymic etymologies of that period varied. Often this or that name was associated with some mythological plot, or explained with the help of modern authors. Greek or Latin. But there were also quite plausible interpretations according to the real signs of the object, its geographic location etc.

Toponymic notes accompanied the description or mention of various geographical objects in such well-known ancient works as "History" Herodotus, "Geography" Strabo, "Natural History" Pliny the Elder. All the toponymic facts cited in these works concerned only individual names, i.e., they were single, without establishing patterns and relationships. The toponymic information of that period was a collection of interesting and entertaining facts for an inquisitive mind.

In the 1st century n. e. an attempt was made to scientifically use toponymic information. antique scholar ^ Pomponius Mela, a native of southern Spain, in his work "De situ orbis" ("On the position of the Earth"), also known as "Chorography", first used toponyms as a scientific tool. Based on the belonging of geographical names to a particular language, the author tried to determine the boundaries of the Lusitanian and Celtic regions of his homeland - the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

In the Middle Ages, in view of the virtually complete absence of a scientific base, toponymy was not widely developed. Toponymic explanations remained sporadic, new, often fantastic hypotheses appeared. In ancient Russian chronicles there are attempts to explain geographical names at the level of legends.

So, the legend about the origin of the toponym Kyiv from the personal name Kiy, which allegedly was worn by a prince or a carrier across the Dnieper, is well known. Also, for example, the Russian chronicle (933) connected the origin of the name of the city of Pereyaslavl (now the city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, Ukraine) with the fact that the young warrior of Prince Vladimir won here (in Old Russian "transfer glory") Pecheneg warrior-hero.

The scientific approach to toponymic data can be traced in the works of scientists of the medieval East. Among them should be mentioned the Armenian scientist Movses Khorenatsi(VII c), Central Asian scholar-encyclopedist Abu Reihan al-Biruni(X-XI c.), Turkic geographer and linguist Mahmud al-Kashgari(XI century) In particular, the last of these scientists was specially engaged in the scientific interpretation of the etymology of toponyms and left a number of interesting explanations for the hydronyms of Asia.

However, the explanation of individual toponyms, found in various medieval sources, was often based on speculation, since there was still no method for knowing toponymic patterns.

The origin of the foundations of scientific toponymy (XVIII - XIX centuries). Toponymy as a scientific discipline is largely due to its differentiation into a special branch of knowledge due to the practical demands of science. Scholars of the 18th – 19th centuries were among the first to accumulate and use the names of objects in the process of their study, description and mapping.

Constant interest in geographical names as an important source of scientific geographical information has been manifested in Russia since the period of the 18th century. The founder of the toponymic direction in research is the historian and geographer V.N. Tatishchev, who considered toponymy as an element of geography. According to his definition, "... geography itself is a description of some area or limit, what is the first name, what language and what does it mean ..."
In the 19th century toponymic data have gained wider use in geographical research. First of all, you should name the work N.I. Nadezhdina"The experience of the historical geography of the Russian world" (1837), built on toponymic material. In it, the author raises the question of the need to use the cartographic method in historical and geographical studies of the toponymic plan. He also owns the expression, which later became winged: "Toponymy is the language of the Earth." Toponymic issues were considered in their works by academicians A. Kh. Vostokov, M. A. Kastren, Ya. K. Grot.

Among the first Belarusian researchers who contributed to the formation of the toponymic direction of science, one should mention the famous historian and ethnographer A. K. Kirkora. In the work “Ethnographic view of the Vilna province” (1857-1859), he noted the need to use toponymic data to restore ancient ethnic boundaries: “... to explore the names of ancient places, rivers, lakes, etc. and from the dialects to which these names belong, to determine the boundaries. Toponymic materials are contained in the third volume of "Picturesque Russia", where the pen A. K. Kirkora owns most of the essays.

Thus, in the XVIII - XIX centuries the foundations of the toponymic direction were laid, significant material was accumulated, and individual particular patterns of toponymy were identified.

Formation and development of modern toponymic science .

In the first half of the 20th century, the importance of collecting, classifying, studying and using folk geographical terms and toponyms in the interests of geography was noted in his works by a prominent geographer academician L. S. Berg. He wrote: "Being the result of centuries-old observations of a permanent local population and the product of the creativity of such a brilliant team as the people, folk terms deserve the most careful attention, both philologists and especially geographers." The author first noted the phenomenon of the semantic shift of terms, which was subsequently studied using examples of various toponymic systems. An important milestone in the process of formation and development of the toponymic direction geographical research were the works of a prominent scientist-geographer V. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky.

Toponymy as a science was developed in the works of scientists of the second half of the 20th century. To a large extent, the theory and practice of studying geographical names was predetermined by the work of linguists. V. A. Nikonov formulated a number of basic toponymic laws, showed the historicity of toponymy, developed a typology and classification. A. V. Superanskaya made a significant contribution by developing the theory of proper names. Theoretical basis toponymic studies are considered in the works O. N. Trubacheva, V. N. Toporov, N. I. Tolstoy, A. I. Popov, Yu. A. Karpenko and etc.

The founder of the modern geotoponymic direction of research can rightly be considered ^ E. M. Murzaeva. He developed a method of using vernacular geographical terms in order to extract information of a geographical nature. The author considered toponyms to be objective informants about the geographical environment, noted the exceptional informativeness of folk geographical terms. The result of many years of targeted research by E. M. Murzaev was numerous works, including the fundamental Dictionary of Folk Geographical Terms. Works E. M. Pospelova devoted to mathematical and cartographic methods in toponymy, folk terminology and the use of toponymy in the process of teaching geography.

A significant base of theoretical material is toponymic works V.A. Zhuchkevich who laid the foundations for toponymic research in Belarus. He was the first to develop and teach a course of general toponymy for students of the Faculty of Geography at the Belarusian State University. His work was continued G. Ya. Rylyuk, who made a significant contribution to the formation and development of geotoponymic research in Belarus and the popularization of toponymic knowledge.

Toponymic research is actively developing at the present time. In Belarus they are engaged various issues place names V. P. Lemtyugova, A. F. Rogalev, G. M. Mezenko, L. M. Lych, V. V. Shur, V. M. Emelyanovich, F. D. Klimchuk and many other researchers.

Toponymic studies were actively developed abroad in the 20th century. Many countries have developed their own toponymic schools. A significant contribution to the study of geographical names of various regions of the Earth was made by A. Doza, A. Cherpilyo (France); G. Krae, M. Vasmer (Germany), E. Acwall, A. Smith, A.. Rum, S. Matthews (Great Britain); A. Profouz, V. Shmilauer (Czech Republic); V. Tashchitsky, J. Staszewski, S. Rospond, K. Rymuth (Poland); V. Georgiev (Bulgaria); L. Kish (Hungary), I. Jordan, G. Dragu (Romania); M. Olson (Sweden); J. R. Stewart, N. Holmer (USA), J. Armstrong (Canada), A. Cardoso (Brazil)