Toponymic System as a Resource to Explore the Ancient History of a Region: the Case of Khakassia
The article addresses a number of issues related to the origins of hydronyms in Southern Siberia, primarily in Khakassia. The author adopts the earlier proposed theory, according to which the aboriginal ethnic groups of Southern Siberia, belonging mainly to the Ural and Yenisei linguistic families,...
| Published in: | Вопросы Ономастики |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | Russian |
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Izdatelstvo Uralskogo Universiteta
2019
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2019.16.1.012 https://doaj.org/article/fbe13eacb5534ca78a282ff12cb13a0a |
| Summary: | The article addresses a number of issues related to the origins of hydronyms in Southern Siberia, primarily in Khakassia. The author adopts the earlier proposed theory, according to which the aboriginal ethnic groups of Southern Siberia, belonging mainly to the Ural and Yenisei linguistic families, were almost completely assimilated by the Turkic-speaking peoples who came to their land. This naturally led to the formation of a late stratum of Turkic toponymy in South Siberia, superimposed on chronologically earlier strata. Thus, the hydronymy of the Khakass-Minusinsk basin and the adjacent areas suggests that prior to the arrival of the Turkic-speaking population, this territory was inhabited by Samoyedic peoples, which have produced numerous river names with determinant -v, correlating with the Samoyed dialectal lexemes of bi, bu, bü ‘water’: Anbu, Buiba, Erba, Irba, Karasiba, Kolba, Salba, Seiba, Taiba, Tebe, Tuba, Holba, Chorba, etc. Apart from those, Southern Siberia was also home for the speakers of Ugric languages, who left a number of names with the component -as/-es either as a stem (Askhys, Essuh) or the determinant (Albas, Izbas, Saras). The picture is further complicated by the presence of place names of presumably Indo-European (Eastern Iranian) origin, in particular, river hydronyms with formants -dan /-dyan, -ir, -kem, -man: Sheldian; Algair, Koir; Akem, Bertkem; Chulyshman, Shashikman, Yaloman, and others. The author assumes that in the distant past the Iranians could have reached Altai, so the Indo-European elements could be transferred by the Turkic peoples to other South Siberian territories. The toponymy of Southern Siberia is thus a valuable source for reconstructing the ancient history of the region and an important resource for popularizing the historical and cultural heritage. The prospective study of the toponymy of Southern Siberia relates to building toponymic models reflecting the culture of indigenous ethnic groups. |
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