Toponymy of the Astrakhan region

The toponymy of the Astrakhan region is formed by toponyms originating from different languages, since the region has historically been formed as a multinational and multicultural region - currently there are representatives of 178 nationalities ^[2] , the most represented are Russians (according to the 2002 census - 70%, according to the census 2010 - 67.6%), the second most numerous people are Kazakhs (16.3%, the largest Kazakh community among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation), then Tatars (including Astrakhan and Yurt , speaking separate dialects) (7%), Nogais (in bo shinstve Karagash ) Kalmucks , Turkmenians and other faithful 14 religious denominations in the area 17 functioning National Culture Society ^[3] .

The Russian toponymist E. A. Vasiliev identifies the following strata in the toponymy of the Astrakhan region:

• Indo-Iranian
• Turkic
• Mongol-Kalmyk
• East Slavic ^[4] .

The most common and numerous groups of toponyms in the region are Turkic-Kypchak , then - Tatar-Nogai and Kalmyk ^[5] .

There is a direct connection between toponymic strata and the historical stages of development of the Astrakhan Territory. The presence of the oldest, Iranian stratum in toponymy is indicated by the “-an" component in a number of toponyms, the basis of the toponym "stan" goes back to Indo-European languages : ancient Indian sthanam - "place", "location"; Avestan and ancient Persian stana - “stand”, “place”, “stall”; Persian sitan - "country" ^[6] .

The most ancient toponyms of the region are hydronyms , which is due to the important role of hydrographic objects in the life of the population. The large number of hydronyms in the region indicates the abundance of rivers, lakes, channels, ilmeni, estuaries, marshes and other water bodies: Krivaya Volozhka , Sennaya Volozhka , Maylegul , Bozhakkol , Karakol , Febor-Kul , Beskol , Protoka , Prolevukha , Baltschug , Zaplavnoye and others ^{[ 7]} .

As the territory was developed, a partial replacement of the Turkic toponyms by Russian took place, and often foreign names were given the Russian “shell”: Kartuzan - Kurochkino , Kameni - Lineynoe , Bantir - Prichtochnoye , Tyumenevka - Rechnoye , Baigushi - Rynok , Sasyk-kul - Sasykoli , Kizan Tatar Bashmakovka , Jamene - Three Protoks, Maylegul - Yaksatovskoe , etc. The name of the settlements in the honor of the Orthodox churches, church holidays and saints - great martyrs contributed to the formation of Russian oikonyms: Rozhdestvenka , Pokrovsky , Trinity , Assumption , Arkhangelsk , Ilyinka , Petropavlovka , etc. ^[5]

The emergence of a number of toponyms is associated with certain details of the landscape of the region: Agashtyube , Akhtubinka , Barkhany , Osypnoy Bugor - Yarly-Tyube , Urochishche , Chagan , Kostyube , Kopanovka , Rakushsky Bugor , Baraniy Bugor , Plaven and others ^[7] .

The toponymy of the region also presents a wide layer of zootoponyms - names derived from the names of species of fauna living or living in the region: Mogoy , Kara-Biryuk , Karalat , Kuyanly , Biryuchya Kosa , Rooks , Camel , Korovye , Lebyazhye , Novokargino , Konny Mogoy , Sorochye , Baklanii , Gusino , etc., as well as phytotoponyms (derived from phytonymic terms): Karaagash , Kamyzyak , Tabola , Oak , Makovo , Yablonka , Khmelevka , Kovylny , Hay , Wormwood , Chilim , Garden , Cherry , Berry , Cheryukha , Green Garden , Vyazovka , Bulrush ovo , Lesnoye and others ^[7] .

Coloristic toponyms are quite widespread in the Turkic-Mongolian and Slavic toponyms of the region: White Ilmen , Chisty Yar , Aktyube , Akhterek , Krasnopeschany , Krasny Khuduk , Krasny Yar , Krasnoye , Bor Moga Hotn , Kek Tengs , Sizy Bugor , Har Tolga , Zelenga , Bolshoi Karabulak , Black Hp et al. Analysis of this type of names indicates that the nomination process using the color component described soil color, reservoirs, vegetation, designated properties and qualities of a geographical object, and could be related to its spatial oh orientation ^[8] .

In addition, in the region there are “numerical” place names of Turkic, Mongolian and Slavic origin: Three channels , Beshtyube , Trekhizbinka , Zurkhan hoti , as well as toponyms-metaphors: Besputnoye , Vshivinsky , Dead Kultuk , Durnoe , Boltayka , etc. ^{[9 ]}

The youngest is the East Slavic toponymic layer of the late XVII - early XX centuries., Formed during the development of the Astrakhan region by Russians. The first toponyms of Slavic origin were mostly descriptive, indicating the type, affiliation of the object or its location: Kotel , Vyshka , Ivanovka , Black Ostrog , etc. Often, immigrants gave names associated with their previous place of residence: Tambov , Voronezh hill , Samarsky farm , etc. ^[5]

To date, the Slavic toponyms of the region are represented by two groups ^[5] :

• toponyms Slavic in origin and education from Slavic word-forming affixes : Color (s), Pokrovka (s), Ikryanoe (s), etc .;
• toponyms Slavic only in use, as they are formed from foreign affixes: Yaksatovo , Tuluganovka, Novokucherganovka , etc.

The toponymic system of the region as a whole completed its formation in the middle of the 19th century and has survived to this day with relatively minor changes. Renaming made after 1917 for ideological reasons made some changes in the toponymy of the region, then Volodarsky , Narimanov , May 1 , Krasnye Barrikady , Kalinino , Zorino (formerly Kyuktya), Polevoye (formerly Charlata), Severny (formerly) appeared on the territory of the region. - Prisarpa), Desert (formerly Champot), Samoilovsky , Chapaevo , etc. ^[10]

As of December 20, 2017, the State Catalog of Geographical Names in the Astrakhan Region registered 3,786 names of geographical objects ^[11] , including 434 names of settlements. Below are lists of the most significant natural sites and the largest settlements of the Astrakhan region with the characteristics of their etymology .

Hydronyms

The largest Volga river in Europe flows through the region with numerous watercourses (about 900 units), the length of the Volga within the region is about 400 kilometers, there are also about 1000 fresh and salt lakes in the region, the largest of which is Baskunchak , in addition, the region is located on the coast of the largest enclosed body of water on the planet - the Caspian Sea ^[12] . The hydronyms of the region’s largest water bodies - potonyms (river names) and limonyms (lake names) are given below.

Potamonyms

• Volga - the name was fixed around the second half of the XV century. There are several versions of the origin of the name. According to one of them (“Slavic”), the potamonym comes from the Pre -Slavic * V Vlga , cf. dumb - volog - moisture. In favor of the Slavic version is the presence of the Vlga rivers in the Czech Republic and Wilga in Poland ^[13] . There are also versions of the origin of the potamonym from the Baltic: ilga “long, long” → lake. Volgo → r. Volga ^[14] ; valka “stream, small river” ^[15] , Baltic-Finnish ( Fin. valkea “white”, cf. Vologda ; vyrus. Valgõ ) and Volga-Finnish (dr. Mari. * Jylγ (from Turk. ), modern Mar. Yul ) languages;
• Buzan - value not established;
• Bakhtemir - translated from Turkic languages ​​means “iron happiness” or “blow to iron”;
• Kamyzyak - probably comes from the Kazakh “kum uzek” - “sand river”;
• Old Volga - received the name from the main river of the region;
• Bolda - probably from the old Russian word "bolda" (bolda) - "club" ^[16] ;
• Akhtuba - from the Turkic "ak-tyube" ("white hills");
• Kigach - possibly from the Olonets “kigachi” (“midge, midge”) ^[17] .

Limonyms

• The Caspian Sea - the reservoir throughout its history has had about 70 names from different tribes and peoples, including:
  • “Girkan Sea” - according to the name of the city (now Gorgan ) and the province of Girkania;
  • "Dzhurdzhan Sea" - according to the name of the city Dzhurdjan (now Gorgan);
  • “The Khvalynsk Sea” or “The Khvalis Sea” - the old Russian name, derived from the name of the inhabitants of Khorezm who traded in the Caspian - praises;
  • “Khazar Sea” - the name in Arabic (Bahr al-Khazar), Persian (Daria-e Khezar), Turkish, Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar (Khazar denizi), Turkmen (Khazar denzi);
  • “Abeskun Sea” - according to the name of the island and city that existed in the Kura River Delta, before they were flooded by the sea in the XIV century;
  • Sarai Sea;
  • Derbent Sea - by the name of the city of Derbent in Dagestan;

and others ^[18] . The modern name of the reservoir came from the name of the ancient tribes - the Caspians , who inhabited the middle and southeastern Transcaucasia in the II millennium BC. In the first millennium BC, neighboring tribes pushed the Caspians to the southwestern part of the coast, which was called Caspian ^[19] .

• Baskunchak - there are various versions of the origin of the name. According to one, the name comes from the Nogai “bash” - “head”, kuncha - “dog” (that is, “Lake“ Dog’s head ””). According to another, the name comes from the Turkic “bass” - “head” (meaning “main”) and “konak” - “station, parking” (that is, “baskonak” - “main parking”, which corresponds to the significance of the lake in the past as one of the main sources of salt production). There is also a hypothesis that the name is a distorted form of the Mongol-Turkic “Uskonchak” (“Sunny Lake”). The Kalmyk name of the lake is “Bogdyn Hara Nur” (“Black Lake of the Saint”) ^[20] ;
• Big Chad - value not established;
• Big Dolban - from the Kalmyk “dolban” (“dalvң”) - “level field”;
• Big Karabulak - comes from “Kara” (Kazakh or Turkic-Mongolian) - “black” and “Bulak” - source (“black source”);
• Rear Khotyn - the name is a partial translation of Kalm. Ardk Hotn ( Kalm. Arnk - back; lying behind; northern ^[21] and Kalm. Hotn - hoton; village; village ^[22] );
• Front Khotyn - by analogy with the previous one, is a partial translation from Kalmyk: Kalm. Өмнк Хотн ( Kalm. Өмнк - front: located in front; south; former ^[23] and Kalm. Khotn - khoton; village; village ^[22] ).
• Garden ilmen - the name consists of two components - "Ilmen", which is characteristic of a number of lakes of the Lower Volga region, and "Garden", which serves as a clarifying definition, the circumstances of the name have not been established;
• Tyuga - origin is not established;
• Chichin - the name goes back to Turkic (Tatar archaic dialectic "chichin").

Oikonyms

• Astrakhan - for a long time there was no consensus regarding the origin and significance of the oikonym of the regional center. Currently, the most reliable point of view is that the word "Astrakhan" comes from the name Hadji Tarkhan , meaning "freed from duty, exempt" ^[24] - the city of the Golden Horde , located in the lower Volga, 12 km upstream center of modern Astrakhan. This name is found in the notes of the Arab traveler Ibn Battut , who visited Hadji Tarkhan in 1334. According to Ibn Battut, “Tarkhan means a place withdrawn from taxes from them (among the Tatars) ... This city got its name from the Turkic Haji (pilgrim), one of the pious who appeared in this place. The Sultan gave him this place duty free, and it became a village; then it increased and became a city ” ^[25] . This version of the origin of the name of the city was subsequently used by V.N. Tatishchev and S.G. Gmelin , having heard it from the Astrakhan Tatars. This version also occurs later, in historical notes of the 19th century, being recorded from the words of local religious (Muslim) authorities ^[26] . Different travelers and ambassadors announced the name “Hadji Tarkhan” in different ways, adapting it to the sound of their languages, therefore it sounded in different sources as “As-Tarkhan”, “Tsitrahan”, “Tsitarhan”, “Dastarkhan”, “Ashtar- Khan ”,“ Haji-Tarkhan ”,“ Gintrahan ”,“ Aji Darkhan ”,“ Adyash Tarkhan ”,“ Astorogan ”, etc. The main role is in the distortion of the name of Hadji-Tarkhan, the appearance of the Crimean-Ottoman version at the beginning of the 16th century with A primary Azhdarhan and turning it into "Astrakhan" played laws transition sounds in Turkic languages ( "Haji" - "Aja" - "Az "-" Az "-" AC ") and the transliteration of the Turkic sounds of the city name when writing his Latin letters on medieval maps, portolanah and re-reading ^{[27] [28]} .
• Znamensk - formed as a military town at the Kapustin Yar missile range. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of January 11, 1962, the military town was given the status of a city with the name "Znamensk" and the mailing address "Kapustin Yar-1" ^[29] .
• Akhtubinsk - arose in 1959 as a result of the merger of the village of Vladimirovka (district center) with the villages of Petropavlovka and Akhtuba, the name of the latter comes from the hydronym Akhtuba (Turkic. “Ak-Tyube” - “White Hills”);
• Volodarsky - since the 16th century, the so-called Churkinsky Uchug (“Uchug” is a Tatar word means a special clogging-trap that blocked the river and did not allow large fish to spawn) was located on the Churka River (the channel of the Buzan River) from the 16th century. In 1923, the Churk field was named after the Bolshevik V. Volodarsky , who was killed in 1918 by the Social Revolutionary ^[30] .
• Enotaevka - presumably comes from Turkic. "Yang" - side, side; “Tau” is a mountain (“side of a mountain”).
• Caviar - from the hydronym Ikryanka .
• Kamyzyak - from the Turkic "Kamysak, Qamyzaq" - "reed thickets."
• Krasny Yar - founded in 1655 as a Russian outpost on the Volga, the name represents a coloristic toponym, from “red” and “yar” - “high steep bank washed by the river” ^[31] .
• Estuary - until 1943 was called Dolban, in 1943 it was renamed Estuary, apparently due to its location. The word "liman" (liman) is known in the Crimean Tatar and Turkish languages, means "port, bay, bay", limanik - "calm, protected place" ^[32] .
• Narimanov - On October 19, 1984, the village of Nizhnevolzhsky was transformed into a city and received the name "Narimanov" in honor of the Azerbaijani statesman Nariman Narimanov .
• Nachalovo - according to one version, the name is associated with the activities of the Governor of Astrakhan, N. A. Beketov, who in 1766 laid down his suburban residence on the banks of the Turtle River - this was the first settlement he laid down ^[33] .
• Kharabali - there are several versions of the origin of the name. According to one, the name came from the Kalmyk “Kharabali” (“black hillock”), because once the village was divided into two parts by a hillock. According to another, the name came from the hydronym for the name of the river washing this place and abounding in fish (“Kharabalyk” - “a lot of fish”) ^[34] .
• Black Yar - founded in 1627 as a Russian outpost on the Volga, the name is a coloristic toponym, from “black” and “yar” - “high steep bank washed by the river” ^[31] .

Oronyms

• Big Bogdo is the only real mountain in the Caspian lowland and its highest point, the height of the mountain is 150 meters above sea level. This is a special, sacred place for the Kalmyk people . According to one legend, the Dalai Lama ordered his two companions-heroes to bring a mountain of stone to the banks of the Volga in order to diversify the scarce landscapes here. The monks grabbed onto their backs a mountain mined somewhere in the Urals and carried it towards the great Volga River, but a sinful thought flickered in the head of one of them and the mountain fell upon the monks with all its weight, turning them into a cake and painted the slopes are in the color of blood, after which the grief was given the name "Bogdo", which is translated from Mongolian as "holy."

In 2013, the decision of the Astrakhan City Council adopted the “Regulation on the procedure for assigning, renaming, and abolishing names of toponymic objects in the territory of the city of Astrakhan” ^[35] , according to which all questions about the procedure for assigning, renaming, and deleting names of toponymic objects in the territory of the city of Astrakhan are resolved with the participation of special commission.

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