Toponymy of Irkutsk Region

In the years 1700-1300 BC, representatives of the Glazkov culture lived in the Baikal region. There is an assumption that these were the ancestors of the Tungus-Manchu peoples .

The Evenki toponymic layer is one of the oldest in the region, but not the most ancient, since the names of the largest geographical objects do not come from the Evenki language . Toponyms of Evenk origin are widespread in the north of the region, in particular, in the Vitim and Lena basins, the middle reaches of the Angara , and the middle reaches of the Uda . They also occur in separate foci to the south, for example, in the area of ​​the village of Bolshoi Goloustnoye in the Irkutsk region .

As a rule, Evenki place names are associated with the geographical characteristics of the area. Distinctive features of toponyms of Evenki origin:

• adjective- suffix ( Kulenga - snake , Kirenga - dirty , Kochenga - with a bend , etc.)
• the suffix of the name of the adjective -ma ( Mama ( Evenk. Moma ) - wooden , wooded place , Turma - earthen , Muma ( Evenk. Muume - formed by water ) Katharma , Yarma , Kirma , etc.)
• diminutive suffix -can (Angara - Angarakan, Vitim - Vitimkan, Aya - Ayakan, Talakan - salt marshes , Amutkan - pond , Mukan (distortion of Flour ) - low - water , etc.)
• magnifying suffix -nda , -ndya (Burundya - a large field of flint , Parenda - a whirlpool , etc.)
• the suffix of neglect is chan , chon (Bugachan is a bad place , Birakchan is a river , etc.)
• the location suffix is whale (Davakit - the place of the pass , Ollokit - the place where you can fish , Urikit - the place of the camp, tanneries , Salakit, etc.)
• suffix indicating the names of the gli rivers (Ingagli is a sandy and pebble river , Siragli, Orogli, Ugagli (some are not located in the Irkutsk region), etc.)
• a suffix of multiple actions in relation to the place or indicating the accumulation of something small- cta (Arbakta is a shallow river . Mariakta is a shoot of low birch , Kovykta is pebble , etc.)
• the plural suffix is gir , indicating gender (Kytsigirovka, Katygirovo, Kachegir, etc.)

Toponyms of Yenisei origin are often found in the west of the Irkutsk region - in the Taishet and partly in the Nizhneudinsky regions, occasionally and in some other places. Most often they come from the language of the Cott people, which disappeared in the middle of the 19th century . Kott names refer, as a rule, to small geographical objects, from which we can conclude that the Cott were not the most ancient inhabitants of this area.

A distinctive feature of Kottian toponyms is the toponymic element shet , even that translates as a river ( Tayshet - a cold river , Akulshet - a river with rotten water , Kamyshet - a goose river , Saranchet - a river-sleeve , Tamtachet - a stone river , Cherchet - a lizard river , etc. .). These toponyms do not extend east of the Uda River .

Also in the Irkutsk region there are asan toponyms with the element st , which means water . The area of ​​these place names is much wider than the area of ​​Kott, although they can easily be confused with names of a different origin ( Agul , Tagul , Angaul , Ulyr , etc.).

In addition, there are a number of toponyms in the region, probably of Arin origin and containing elements of kul , culture - water (Uskul, Kulurey, Modonkul, etc.) and set , sat - river ( Kaksat , Ulzet , etc.).

It is also worth noting a number of geographical names, the origin of which is not exactly established and, possibly, is associated with the ethnonym chum (Hit, Baruun-Kit-Kit, Zuun-Kit-Kit, Kitkai, Kitoy , etc.).

Until the middle of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries , various not numerous Samoyed peoples , Sayan Samoyeds, lived in the Western and Eastern Sayans . Among them stood out Kamasins , Taigans , sailors (bators), Koibals , as well as a number of other tribes. Tofalars and Soyots , nowadays belonging to the Türks and close to the Tuvans , are of Samoyed origin.

The Samoyed origin may have toponyms with the element bi , bu (in Russian, it could be translated as ba ) - water ( Telba , Shuba , Barba , Barbitai , Zyaba , etc.), common in the northern part of the Kuitun , Tulun and parts of the Bratsk regions. Sometimes water in Samoyed languages ​​could also sound like ma ( Horma , Khailoma , Hadama , etc.), distributed in Tofalaria .

Also in the Irkutsk region (mainly in Tofalaria) there are names with the Samoyed element yaga , yakh - the river ( Yaga , Dzhugoyaka , Egega , Nyangoyak , etc.).

Samoyed names include the name Uda ( ud means water in translation), possibly also Oia .

Some Turkic place names can be found in the Baikal region almost everywhere. In the VIII - XI centuries , the Turkic-speaking people of Kurykans lived on this territory. Their range extended from the Selenga valley to the upper Angara , they lived on the shores of Lake Baikal , according to some reports, also in the upper Lena. In the Irkutsk region, the remnants of their material culture have been preserved, in particular, it is worth highlighting the Kurumchin culture , prevalent in the Ekhirit-Bulagat district . In the places of discovering the monuments of their culture, Turkic toponyms are found, which confirms that the Kurykans were most likely Türks. The Turkic origin may have the name Baikal , meaning a large lake or sea . The well-known Turkic toponym is the toponym Baitog (in translation - a big mountain ). Toponyms of Karg, Kara-Buren, Kurum , Kultuk and others belong to the Turkic.

Distinctive features of Turkic toponyms:

• affix suffix
• the buy element is large , rich ( Baytog , Baikal, Baymak, Baysug, Baytal, etc.)
• element of kai , kai (also hai ) - mountain , rock , cliff ( Mankhai , Kitkay, Khashkhai, Tashkai, Sarykta-Khai, Haita , Haiga , etc.)
• element stake , khol ( Tuv. Khөl , Yakut. Kүөl ) - lake ( Berikul , etc.)
• element su , sug - water (Karasuk, Toysug, Argazyk, Kandazyk, etc.)
• Bash element - head , peak (Tumyrbash, Bashir, etc.)

and some others.

Tofalar-Tuvan toponymic layer

In the Sayans, Turkic (usually Tuvan and Tofalar) toponyms are ubiquitous and constitute the majority. The following elements are often found in these place names:

• element oh - stream , lowland , key (Borly-oh - a native key , Katumny-oh - a birch key , Orakty-oh - a road key , Karang-oh - a dark key , Kadly-oh - a pine key , etc.)
• element adyr - source or ruin (Hall-adyr - lake source , etc.)

^[2]

Yakut toponymic layer

In the north and northeast of the Irkutsk region, as well as in its more southern parts, toponyms of Yakut origin are found. Their characteristic features are the үrekh element (read as yurekh , yuryakh ) - small river ( Tutura ( Yakut. Tuut үrekh - non - elm river ), Tayura ( Yakut. Tya үrekh - taiga river ) Alakh-Yuryakh - piebald river , Bes-Yuryakh - pine river , Kuokh-Yuryakh - green river , Tet-Yuryakh, etc.), the suffix leeh ( lah ) and some others. Possibly, the toponym Turuka refers to the Yakut (from turuktas - a ledge , standing along the edge of a rock ), although it may be Evenki (from turuka - salt ). Perhaps the name Tulun ( Yakut. Toloon - valley , valley ) is understood from the Yakut language, although it may have Buryat roots.

Buryat place names are among the most numerous in the Irkutsk region. They prevail in the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat District and the surrounding areas, extending up to the Nizhneudinsky District in the west, Kachugsky and Zhigalovsky in the north. The Buryat place names of the Irkutsk region are more significantly different from the Mongolian place names than the Buryat place names of Buryatia . However, despite this, she still has similar features with the Mongolian.

Buryat place names can have simple foundations, for example:

• Gorhon - stream
• arshaan - healing source
• Bulag - spring, key
• pity - ravine, fall
• goal - river (medium size)
• mүren - river (usually large)
• nuur - lake
• hushuun - cape, ledge
• hada - mountain
• hardag - char

And others. There are no double foundations in the Buryat language (with the exception of borrowings).

Often in Buryat place names there are complex place names consisting of several words, the first of which are definitions. Examples of such definitions:

Colors:

• hara - black ( Kharagun , Khara-gol , Kharatirgen , Kharazargay , etc.)
• Shara - yellow ( Sharagul , Sheragul , Shara-Togot , etc.)
• Ulaan - red ( Ulan (lake) , Ulan (village) , etc.)
• Sagaan - White ( Sagan-Zhalgai - White Pad , etc.)

Position in space:

• hoito - north
• urda - south
• zүүn - eastern
• baruun - western
• deed - upper
• dunda - medium
• dodo - lower

The size:

• hehe - big
• bug - small

The main Buryat suffixes:

• affiliation suffixes -ta , -te , -to , -thai , -tei , -thoy (in the Russian transmission of thujas ), with the help of which adjectives from nouns are formed ( Naratai - sunny , Shabartuy - dirty , Shalloty - stony , etc.)
• the plural suffix -uud , -guud , often indicating a generic name ( Kharanut , Kukut , Mogolyut , etc.)
• diminutive suffix -khan , -khen , -hon ( Olkhon from the bur. Oikhon - slightly forested )
• suffixes -gar , -er , -hor , forming verbal adjectives
• the verbal suffix -sa , -se , indicating the place of action ( Khidusa - the scene of the battle , Karantsai - the observation deck , Tarasa - the place of discrepancy , etc.)
• verbal suffix -hai , -hoy , forming adjectives

On the territory of the Irkutsk region there are toponyms that cannot be deciphered from the languages ​​of the peoples living or residing in this territory in the relatively recent historical time. These include:

• Toponyms (often hydronyms) with the element ob , ob , found on the border of the taiga zone in the north of Kuitun , Tulun , in the Bratsk regions ( Barob , Tynkob , Akhob , Ukhob , Zob , Kob , Zarb , etc.). Toponyms with similar elements outside the Irkutsk region are found in Western Siberia in the Ob River Basin and also in Tajikistan . In Tajikistan, the element about is deciphered from the Tajik one . In the Irkutsk region, these toponyms are probably related to the Sogdian language, which, like Tajik, belongs to Iranian , several settlements of which were found in the region, but are quite far from the range of the aforementioned toponyms.
• Toponyms with an element are given , don ( Dardan-Gol , etc.), which in Iranian languages ​​means a river .
• Toponyms with the element tare , tari ( Tareya and others). The similar elements in the toponyms of Western Siberia, the scientist Andrei Dulzon considered Iranian-speaking.
• Toponyms with the element man ( Manut , Haramanut , Sharamanut , Mandadym , Tumanshet , Mankhai , Manzurka , Mandagay , etc.). However, it is worth noting that combining the above toponyms in one group may be incorrect, for example, the name Manut by Matvey Melkheev is explained in another book from the Buryat manan - fog , manatay - foggy , and the toponym Tumanshet contains the Cotta element shet .

Russian place names began to appear on the territory of the Irkutsk region at the time the Russians began to develop this territory ( XVII century and later). Often Russian names were of anonymous and surname origin, for example, the Zhigalovo settlement was named after the name of its founder Yakov Zhigalov, the village of Markov was named after the exiled Pole Mark Savin, Kaimonovo was named after the founder of the village Mitki Kayamonov, and the town of Vikhorevka was used to scratch Vihor Savina and. There are a lot of name and surname names both in the areas of the original land colonization and in the areas of the Stolypin reform . There are also names that characterize the area from a geographical point of view.

Some localities were named after prominent personalities ( Byronovka , Lermontovsky , Tolstovka , Turgenevka ^[3] , etc.)

Often the names of Russian settlements were formed from the names of local rivers ( Irkutsk , Angarsk , Ust-Kut , Ust-Ilimsk , Nizhneudinsk ), the names of peoples ( Bratsk , Balagansk , etc.).

Some of the names have religious roots - comes from the names of saints, the names of church holidays ( Troitsk , Pokrovka , Bishop , etc.). Their number decreased significantly during the Soviet period.

Sometimes new settlements were named after the locality where the settlers who founded them came from ( Lidinskaya , Poltava , Buzuluk , Minsk, Moskovschina, Ryazanshchina, Voronezh end, etc.).

In the Irkutsk region there are a number of specific Russian geographical terms, for example, a site , a pub, and others.

In the region there are names Karymskoye, Yasachnaya and similar ( Karymsk , Yasachnaya Khayryuzovka , Novoyasachnaya , etc.). The emergence of names like Karymsk comes from the Boers. Harim - Buryats who have married Russians . In the villages called Yasachnaya there lived a local population (Buryats, Evenks, etc.), taxed with yasak . A number of toponyms comes from Buryat and other non-Russian names ( Bazhey , Hatchet, Shangin, etc.).

Soviet names ( Oktyabrsky , Ideal , Gortop, Krasnoye Pole , etc.) should be singled out in a separate group.

Very often, settlements founded by Russians and other settlers were given local names - Buryat, Evenki and other names, often these are the names of rivers located near the settlement.

Sometimes settlements were renamed, old Dorussian names were replaced by new ones. Sometimes it was almost a literal translation ( tracing-paper ), for example a drill. dabһan - salt - Usolye-Sibirsky . Often the new name was not associated with the old one ( Arangata - platform , tower - Cheremkhovo , Nuga ulus - meadow - the village of Bazhey , үшөөһэн - talnik , willow - Burkova , etc.).

• Gurulev S. A. What is in your name, Baikal ?. - Novosibirsk : Novosibirsk: Science. Sib. Department, 1991 .-- 168 p.
• Gurulev S. A. Geographical names of the Irkutsk region: a toponymic dictionary. - Irkutsk : Inst. geographer. them. Sochava V.B., 2015 .-- 575 p.
• Melkheev MN Toponymy of Buryatia: History, System and Origin of Geographical Names. - Ulan-Ude : Buryat Book Publishing House, 1969. - 185 p.
• Melkheev M.N. Geographical names of Eastern Siberia. - Irkutsk : Publishing house Irkut. University, 1995 .-- 320 p.
• Pospelov E. M. Geographical names of the world. Toponymic dictionary / resp. ed. R. A. Ageeva. - 2nd ed., Stereotype. - M .: Russian dictionaries, Astrel, AST, 2002. - 512 p. - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-001389-2 .