Toponymy of the Murmansk region

The toponymy of the region clearly reflects the history of its settlement. Since ancient times, the region has been the habitat of the Sami , Komi-Izhemtsy and Nenets , due to which a corpus of toponyms was formed here in the languages ​​of these peoples, covering almost all natural objects. As the Kola Peninsula and the territories adjacent to it were developed by Russians in the 12th-19th centuries, the Sami place names were gradually replaced by Russian Sami or Pomeranian toponyms on the Sami basis, which determined the modern look of the peninsula's toponymy. To date, in most parts of the Kola Peninsula, less than half of the names of Sami origin remain. So, according to estimates of A. A. Minin, I. F. Popov, V. I. Shakhnovich, in the region of the Ponoi River this percentage is 30-40% ^[3] . At the same time, the peculiarities of the development of the territory (Russian Pomors mastered it, moving along the rivers along the coast of the sea) led to the fact that the most inaccessible part of the peninsula - the Khibiny and Lovozero tundras - turned out to be the least developed both economically and in toponymic terms: There were practically no Russians here in the 1920s. Only in the late 1920s did an expedition arrive under the supervision of Academician AE Fersman to comprehensively study this territory. Owing to the presence of such a “toponymic reserve”, to date, the share of toponyms of Sami origin is 84% ​​to the north and west of Lake Imandra , 88% east of Imandra and in the Khibiny and 97% in the Lovozero Tundra ^[3] .

In the array of toponyms of Sami origin A. A. Minin and other researchers distinguish at least 3 semantic layers:

• toponyms of "economic" significance
• toponyms - "way posts"
• toponyms of totem , having cult significance ^[3] .

According to the estimates of Russian researchers G. Kert , V. Vdovitsyn, A. Veretin, absorbing from the 11th century , and maybe even earlier, the original Finno-Ugric toponymy, which included an unknown substrate , Russian toponymy in the North acquired a distinctive originality. The substratum toponymy is manifested in the Finno-Ugric and Slavic languages borrowing it. So, in the territory of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Leningrad regions there is a huge layer of toponyms adapted by the Russian language . The Russian language assimilation of the previous toponymy determined its specific features. The features of Russian toponymy in the above regions include the juxtaposition of stems , the incorporation of substrate stems into the structure of a toponym or adjective design, the design by Russian suffixes of substratum stems, etc. The synthesis of heterogeneous system grammar types of common and proper names gave rise to distinctive features of North Russian toponymy ^{[4 ]} .

Another characteristic feature of the toponymy of the Murmansk region is its noun: according to A. A. Minin, about 18% of all geographical objects of the Kola Peninsula have several names (usually 4-5 Sami plus 1-2 Russian, sometimes not even related to different in meaning). This is due to the presence in the Sami language of 4 dialects and 6 dialects, significantly different from each other. So, the Wolf Tundra mountain range has 2 Sami names - “Chirntuodr” and “Namdestuodr”, which means “Mountains Like a Big Wave” ^[3] .

The region also has a layer of toponyms associated with raids into the region by Swedes , Norwegians and Finns (with the purpose of robbery or fishing off the Murmansk coast), which lasted for centuries. These toponyms are based on the word “German”, which is explained by the fact that the Russians usually called “Germans” all non-Slavic foreigners, while the Finns were mostly called “Nyanians”. The Sami called the foreigners “chudins” or “chud”, and the Swedes - “ruts”. This group of toponyms includes: The German Bay , which lies near the mouth of the Yokanga River; German island in the bay of Dalnaya Zelenetskaya ; German threshold in the lower reaches of the Ponoy River; The German Creek is the right tributary of the Ponoy River in its middle course; German Stream - the left tributary of the Kachkovka River; German pillowcase in the upper reaches of Tuloma . On the Tuloma River, below the Pech River, there was an island called German (currently flooded by the waters of the reservoir of the Nizhnetulomskaya hydroelectric power station ). In addition to this name, he also had the Sami - Laddsuol, that is, the “Finnish island” ^[5] .

A certain layer of toponyms of the region (mainly oikonyms ) was formed in the 20th century , which is associated with further military-economic development of the region. So, the administrative center of the region itself - Murmansk - became the last city founded in the Russian Empire ( 1916 ), almost at the same time the future village of Apatity appeared , in the period 1917-1941 the settlements of Murmashi , Kirovsk , Polyarnye Zori were founded in the post-war period on the map of the region also appeared Olenegorsk , Gadzhievo , Zapolyarny , Vidyaevo , Zaozersk and others. The new toponyms that arose under Soviet rule were either of an “ideological” character or reflected the characteristics of the local climate and landscape.

As of June 22, 2018, the State Catalog of Geographical Names in the Murmansk Region registered 7951 names of geographical objects ^[6] , including 130 names of settlements. Below are lists of the most significant natural sites and largest settlements of the Murmansk region with the characteristics of their etymology .

Hydronyms

The region is washed by two seas - the Barents and White , which have a number of bays, the largest of which are Kandalaksha and Kola , as well as the straits between the mainland and the islands - Ainovsky , Veliky , Kildin , Seven Islands . The region also has more than 110 thousand lakes with an area of ​​more than 10 hectares and 18 209 rivers with a length of more than 100 m. Pelagonyms (names of the seas), Potamonyms (names of rivers) and limonyms (names of lakes) of the largest water bodies are given below.

Pelagonyms

The Barents Sea got its name in 1853 in honor of the Dutch navigator Willem Barents , until that time, sailors and cartographers called this sea the North, Siversky, Moscow, Russian, Arctic, Pechora and most often - Murmansk ^[7] .

Until the XVII century, the White Sea was called Studenoye, Solovetsky, Northern, Calm, White Bay. In Scandinavian mythology, the White Sea was known under the name “Gandvik”, as well as “Bay of Serpents” due to the curved coastline ^[8] .

Kandalaksha Gulf got its name from the city of Kandalaksha , located on its shore. The name “Kola Bay” (also known as “Kola Bay”, “Kola Fiord”, “Kulvun”) goes back to the word “Kola”, which gave the name to the entire Kola Peninsula , as well as the Kola River, and the prison, founded in 1556 on the site the river flows into this bay. According to V.P. Voshchinin, the basis of the "stake" comes from the Finno-Ugric "kul" - fish ^[9] .

Potamonyms

• Ponoi - the name goes back to the Sami “ Pienneoy ” - “dog river” ^[10] .
• Varzuga - there are several versions about the origin of hydronym. According to one of them, in the language of the Pomors “warzuga” means fun, a joke, a lightness of character. Due to the fact that once large fairs took place on the banks of the river, where people not only did business but also had fun, the fairground was called “Varzuga”, which meant “a fun place” ^[11] .
• Umba - the name comes from the Sami “ umba ” or “ ump ” - “closed”. The river was named after its source - Lake Umbozero , which is located between the Khibiny and Lovozersky tundra and is thus “closed” from all sides ^[5] .
• Niva - there are two hypotheses of the origin of the name of the Niva river. According to one of them, it comes from the Sami “ Nyavv ”, “ Niyavv ” - “quick.” There is an alternative hypothesis according to which the word “cornfield” in the speech of Pomors meant “threshold, a section between two thresholds” ^[5] .
• Crow - the name comes from the Sami " Kordayok ", which means "river of the crow." The Russians somewhat altered the translation and named the river not Voronova, as it should, but Voroniya ^[5] .
• Cola - There are several hypotheses about the origin of the name. According to one, the name comes from the Sami “ kolyok ” - the “Golden River”, which was adopted by the Russians in the form of the “Kola River” (mentioned in the annals in 1532), and then transformed into the modern “Kola River”. According to another hypothesis, the name goes back to the Finno-Ugric " Kuljoki " - "fish river" ^[5] .
• Tuloma - the origin of the name is not exactly established. According to A. A. Minkin, it could have been brought from Lake Ladoga , where in the ancient city of Karela stood on one of the northern rivers flowing into this lake - Tulome. The Tuloma River of the Murmansk Region has two more names of Sami origin: “ Vueln Nueht ” - “Lower Note” and “ Belle Nyott ” - “Half Note”. These names are apparently much older than the name Tuloma ^[5] .

Limonyms

• Imandra - the origin of the name has not yet been precisely determined. It has the name Oever (in the Babin and Ekostrovsky Sami), Aver (in the Pulozero). According to V.P. Voshchinin, perhaps the original name was Avv-eury - "Open Lake" ^[9] .
• Umbozero - from the Sami “ umber ” or “ ump ” - “closed” ^[5] .
• Kovdozero - from the hydronym Kovdor , which comes from the Sami word "kuft" - a snake ^[5] .
• Lovozero - from the kild. January "lake" ^[12] . The name of the first part of the word ( Lu- ), according to local Sami, comes from "The settlement of the strong by the lake."

Insulonyms

The Ainu Islands , located in the Barents Sea, include 2 islands - the Big Ain and the Small Ain , in 1920-1944 belonged to Finland. The Great Island, located in the Kandalaksha Gulf, apparently got its name because of its size (21 kilometers long and 8 kilometers wide), since it is really the largest in the Kandalaksha Bay ^[13] . Of particular interest is the toponymy of Kildin Island . To date, the origin of the toponym "Kildin" remains unclear. On the early maps of the 16th century, the island is depicted with the name Kilun, then the Dutch put it on a map under the name Kildyin, and for several centuries the island was applied to foreign and Russian maps under the name "Kildun." The Russian polar explorer F. P. Litke in 1822 corrected this name to “Kildin”: “Kildin Island, not Kilduin, as we hitherto, imitating the Dutch called it ...” ^[14] . Since then, the island on Russian maps is designated under the name Kildin. The meaning of the basis “kildin” is not clarified, according to V.P. Voshchinin’s assessment, perhaps the word comes from “kilted” - “forbid”, that is, “forbidden place”. There is also a point of view that Kilun may be a distorted Finno-Ugric “kul” - “fish”, and accordingly, the meaning of the name is “fish” ^[14] .

The seven islands that make up the Kandalaksha Reserve include 5 islands of the main group - Harlov, Bolshoi and Maly Zelenets, Veshnyak and Pitcher, 2 Litsky Islands (Bolshoi and Maly), as well as the islands of Kharlovskiy Baklysh, Luda, Sikov and about a dozen smaller ones.

Oikonyms

• Murmansk - according to the assessment of the Kola local historian I.F. Ushakov, the word “murman” came from the word “norman”, which originally sounded like [nur'man] ^[15] . Russian people called “Murmans”, “Urmans” Norwegians , Normans . Later, this name was also transferred to the land, where events took place with the participation of foreigners. They called the “Murman” the coast of the Barents Sea , and then the entire Kola Peninsula . Accordingly, the name "Murmansk" means "city on Murmansk" ^[5] . The city was founded in 1916, becoming the last city founded in the Russian Empire , and at the base received the name "Romanov-on-Murman". After the February Revolution , April 3, 1917 ^[16] received its current name - Murmansk ^[17] .
• Apatity - founded in 1916 as the Bely railway station in connection with the beginning of the construction of the Murmansk railway ^[18] , in 1926 the village of Apatity was founded, in 1935 it was transformed into an urban-type village ^[19] in connection with the discovery and development of the Khibiny deposits of apatite- nepheline ores , in 1966 received the status of a city.
• Kandalaksha - in the opinion of A. A. Minkin, the toponym “Kandalaksha” came from the Karelian words “laksha” - a bay and “Kanda” - the name of the river that flows into this bay, and in a somewhat russified form means “Kanda bay”, that is, the bay Kanda River ^[5] . Kandalaksha was first mentioned in documents dated 1517 ^[20] .
• Kirovsk - created in 1929 as the village of Khibinogorsk (the name is from the oronim Khibiny ), received city status in 1931, and on December 15, 1934, by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, was renamed Kirovsk in honor of S. M. Kirov , who was killed on December 1 of that year ^{[21 ]} .
• Kovdor - the name comes from the hydronym Kovdor , which, in turn, comes from the Sami word "kuft" - a snake ^[5] .
• Monchegorsk - the name from the hydronym Moncha - a river whose surroundings have long been called Monchetundra . «Монче» — по-саамски «красивый», «тундра» — «горный массив» ^[5] .
• Оленегорск — основан в 1947 году как рабочий посёлок, название получил от расположенной рядом железнодорожной станции Оленья (дата образования — 1916 год), преобразован в город Оленегорск 27 марта 1957 года ^[22] .
• Полярные Зори — основан в 1932 году как поселок Зашеек, в 1935 году получил статус рабочего посёлка, в 1976 году переименован в Полярные Зори, в 1991 году получил статус города областного подчинения ^[23] .
• Гаджиево — до 1967 года посёлок именовался «Ягельная Губа», в 1967 году получил название Гаджиево в память о Герое Советского Союза М. И. Гаджиеве . В 1981 году рабочий посёлок Гаджиево по Указу Президиума Верховного Совета РСФСР получил статус города закрытого типа с новым названием «Скалистый», но в открытой переписке именовался «Мурманск-130». По распоряжению правительства России в 1994 году название «Скалистый» стало официальным, а в 1999 году город был вновь переименован в Гаджиево ^[24] .
• Полярный — заложен как порт летом 1896 года, в 1899 году поселение получило статус города под названием Александровск честь императора Александра III . В 1926 году преобразован в сельское поселение, в 1931 году село Александровское было переименовано в Полярное, а в 1939 году село стало городом Полярный ^[25]
• Заполярный — заложен в 1955 году как посёлок при Ждановском горно-обогатительном комбинате, в 1956 году получил наименование «Заполярный» (по местонахождению — за полярным кругом ), указом Президиума Верховного Совета РСФСР от 30 мая 1957 года отнесён к категории рабочих посёлков, указом Президиума Верховного Совета РСФСР от 1 февраля 1963 года рабочий посёлок Заполярный был преобразован в город районного подчинения ^[26] .
• Снежногорск — основан как посёлок судоремонтного завода «Нерпа», в 1973 году получил название «Вьюжный» (которое отражает зимнюю погоду в этой точке земли), в 1980 году посёлок получил статус города и открытое наименование Мурманск-60, а 4 января 1994 года распоряжением Правительства РФ № 3 переименован в Снежногорск ^[27] .
• Видяево — основан в 1958 году, первоначально назывался «Урица», по расположению в губе Ура . 6 июля 1964 года переименован в Видяево в честь моряка подводника Фёдора Видяева ^[28] .
• Заозёрск — основан в 1958 году, как поселок «Заозёрный», в 1981 году присвоен статус города. Город носил имена «Североморск-7», «Мурманск-150», «Западная Лица». В 1994 году город переименован в «Заозёрск» ^[29] .
• Островной — упоминается в летописях с 1611 года как Йоканьгский погост, в 1920—1938 годах носил название село Йоканьга, до 1981 года — посёлок Гремиха, до 1992 года — Мурманск-140, с 1992 года — Островной ^[30]
• Североморск — поселение существовало с 1896—1897 годах под названием по имени одноимённых губы и реки — «Ваенга». Это название, в свою очередь возникло от саамского «вайонгг» — самка оленя, важенка ^[31] . Указом Президиума Верховного Совета РСФСР от 4 августа 1948 года населенный пункт Ваенга Полярного района был отнесен к категории рабочих посёлков, а Указом Президиума Верховного Совета РСФСР от 18 апреля 1951 года посёлок Ваенга преобразован в город Североморск ^[32] .
• Мурмаши — в виде хутора возник около 1920 года, сформировался как рабочий посёлок при строительстве Нижнетуломской ГЭС , указом Президиума ВС РСФСР от 27 ноября 1938 года переведён в категорию рабочих посёлков. Точное происхождение названия не установлено, существует ряд топонимических легенд. Согласно одной, селение получило название по имени рыбака-саама Мурмаша, жившего близ устья Туломы, по другой версии — так называли пса хозяина ^[33] .

Оронимы

Хибины — ороним саамского происхождения, включает Хибины Умбозерские (Хибинские тундры) и Хибины Ловозерские ( Ловозерские тундры ). Слово «Хибины» у саамов использовалось как понятие горной страны, сильно расчлененной, со сквозными долинами, цирками, с плоскими вершинами и снежными перелетками . Поскольку одна из вершин Монче-тундры очень похожа на Хибины, она получила у саамов название Хиппикнюнчорр. До сих пор возвышенность Ватумнахк к северу от среднего течения реки Йоканги семиостровские саамы называют «Хибины нашей земли», так как она близко подходит к тем признакам, которые определяют термин «Хибины». По оценке А.Казакова, названия Хибинских тундр — «Умтэк», а Ловозерских — «Луяврурт» следует считать более поздними, производными лимнонимов «Умбозеро» и «Ловозеро» ^[34] .

Высочайшая вершина Хибин — гора Юдычвумчорр («Гудящая гора») получила своё название от кильд. «юддть» — гудеть, также иногда называется «горой Ферсмана» в честь исследователя Хибин академика А. Е. Ферсмана, который поднимался на неё в 1920 году ^[35] .

Самые большие горные массивы Хибин носят название Кукисвумчорр , что в переводе с саамского означает «Горный массив у Длинной долины», и Часначорр — «Гора дятла» ^[5] .

• Географические названия на карте Хибин. — Апатиты: Кировский экологический фонд, 1999. — 40 с.
• Н. Е. Афанасьева , Р. Д. Куруч , Е. И. Мечкина, А. А. Антонова, Л. Д. Яковлев, Б. А. Глухов. Саамско-русский словарь / Отв. ed. Р. Д. Куруч .. — М. : Русский язык, 1985. — 569 с.
• A.A. Минкин. Топонимы Мурмана. — Мурманск: Мурманское книжное издательство, 1976.
• Э.М.Мурзаев . Словарь народных географических терминов. — М. : Мысль, 1984. — 653 с.
• Поспелов Е. М. Географические названия мира. Топонимический словарь / отв. ed. Р. А. Агеева. — 2-е изд., стереотип. — М. : Русские словари, Астрель, АСТ, 2002. — 512 с. — 3 000 экз. — ISBN 5-17-001389-2 .
• Ушаков И. Ф. Кольская земля. — Мурманск: Мурманское книжное издательство, 1972.

• Топонимика острова Кильдин
• Географический словарь Кольского полуострова
• Топонимика Хибин