Article

Name: The role of somatisms in the Bashkir toponymy

Authors: Firdaus G. Khisamitdinova, Gulnaz N. Yagafarova, Rimma T. Muratova, Madina R. Valieva

Institute of History, Language and Literature, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: The paper is devoted to the study of the characteristic features of geographical terms and toponyms, formed from somatisms in the Bashkir language on the basis of metaphorization. A diverse landscape of the Republic of Bashkortostan, with steppes and forest-steppes being replaced by taiga, forests, mountain peaks and thousands of rivers and hundreds of lakes cutting through the natural landscape, gave birth to a specific geographical terminology in the Bashkir language. In total, more than 60 somatic terms have been identified, among which the names of the visible parts of the body, rather than of the internal organs, prevail. Most of the geographical terms-somatisms are universal for all Turkic languages. As seen from the factual material, the words baš ‘head’, һyrt ‘back’, arqa ‘back’, qul ‘arm’, moron ‘nose’, tamaq ‘throat’, күҙ ‘eye’ etc. are the most frequent in all Turkic languages, including Bashkir. Some words are presented showing the specific use of somatisms in certain Turkic languages. The study reveals the characteristic geographical terms of the Bashkir toponymy and explains the features of their origin in connection with the mythological view and the worldview of the Bashkirs. It is noted that the mountainous and water landscapes differ according to the somatisms used; a specific representation of each of them is revealed. According to the linguistic materials, the Bashkir mountain is personified by a living creature that faces the subject. The subject perceives only its visible part from the top to the slope. Therefore, only the parts of the body above the waist are used among somatisms. As concerns the names of large rivers, they represent a person with all of his/her external body parts from head to foot. The water space is represented in the language picture of the Bashkir world as something being stretched.

Keywords: Bashkir language, place names, somatic terms, oikonyms, hydronyms, oronyms

Bibliography:

Akademicheskiy slovar’ bashkirskogo yazyka [The academic dictionary of the Bashkir language]. F. G. Khisamitdinova (Ed.). Ufa, Kitap, 2011–2018.

Bashkirskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo. Epos. T. 1 [Bashkir folklore. Epos. Vol. 1]. Ufa, Bashkir. kn. izd., 1987, 544 p.

Berezovich E. L. Toponimiya Russkogo Severa: Etnolingvisticheskie issledovaniya [Toponymy of the Russian north: Ethnolinguistic studies]. Ekaterinburg, Izd. Ural. Univ., 1998, 338 p.

Bukharova G. Kh. Antropomorfnyy i somaticheskiy kody kul’tury v modelirovanii landshafta i ikh otrazhenie v bashkirskoy toponimii [Anthropomorphic and somatic codes of culture in the terrain modeling and their reflection in the Bashkir toponymy]. Vestnik Bashkirskogo universiteta (Bulletin of Bashkir University). 2015, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 1289–1294.

Bukharova G. Kh. Bashkirskaya onomastika v kontekste dukhovnoy kul’tury: Slovar’ mifotoponimov [Bashkir onomastics in the context of spiritual culture: the dictionary of mythotypes]. Ufa, Gilem, 2006, 112 p.

Drevnetyurkskiy slovar’ [Old Turkic dictionary]. Leningrad, 1969.

Dybo A. V. Antropomorfnaya i zoomorfnaya metafora v tyurkskikh yazykakh [Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic metaphor in Turkic languages]. In: Sravnitel’no-istoricheskaya grammatika tyurkskikh yazykov. Pratyurkskiy yazykosnova. Kartina mira pratyurkskogo etnosa po dannym yazyka [Comparative-historical grammar of Turkic languages. Praturk basic language. The worldview of the Proto-Turkic ethnos according to the language]. Moscow, Nauka, 2006, pp. 648–659.

Gachev G. D. Natsional’nye obrazy mira: Kurs lektsiy [National images of the world. A course of lectures]. Moscow, Akademiya, 1998, 432 p.

Kamalov A. A. Bashkirskaya toponimiya [Bashkir toponymy]. Ufa, Kitap, 1994, 304 p.

Karabulatova I. S., Sayfulina F. S. Mytholinguistic Interpretation of sacral toponym Astana in sociocultural practice of the Siberian tatars. Asian Social Science. 2015, vol. 11, no 5, pp. 303–310.

Khakimov M. A. Russko-bashkirskiy, bashkirsko-russkiy slovar’ geograficheskikh terminov [Russian-Bashkir, Bashkir-Russian dictionary of geographical terms]. Ufa, Bashgosizdat, 1952, 54 p.

Khisamitdinova F. G. Bashkirskaya oykonimiya XVI–XIX vv. [Bashkir oikonymy of the 16–19th centuries]. Ufa, 1991.

Khisamitdinova F. G. Geograficheskie nazvaniya Bashkortostana [Geographical names of Bashkortostan]. Ufa, 1992.

Kiekbaev Dzh. G. Voprosy bashkirskoy toponimiki [Problems of Bashkir toponymy]. Uchen. zap. Bashkir. gos. ed. in-ta. Ser. Filologicheskaya. Ufa, 1956, iss. 8, no. 2, pp. 231–239.

Konkobaev K. Toponimiya Yuzhnoy Kirgizii [Toponymy of Southern Kyrgyzstan]. Frunze, Ilim, 1980.

Matveev A. K. Geograficheskie nazvaniya Urala: Toponimicheskiy slovar’ [Geographical names of the Urals: Toponymic dictionary]. Ekaterinburg, Sokrat, 2008, 352 p.

Molchanova O. T. Strukturnye tipy tyurkskikh toponimov Gornogo Altaya [Structural types of the Turkic toponyms of the Altai Mountains]. Saratov, Izd. Saratovskogo univ., 1982, 256 p.

Muratova R. T. Simvolika chisel v yazyke i kul’ture bashkir [Symbolism of numbers in Bashkir language and culture]. Ufa, 2012, 180 p.

Murzaev E. M. Ocherki toponimii [Essays on toponymy]. Moscow, 1974, 382 р.

Murzaev E. M. Slovar’ narodnykh geograficheskikh terminov [Dictionary of national geographical terms]. Moscow, Mysl’, 1984, 656 p.

Murzaev E. M. Toponimika i geografiya [Toponymy and geography]. Moscow, Nauka, 1995, 304 p.

Nakhanova L. A. Lexical-semantic analysis of the ancient Turkic place names. World Applied Sciences Journal. 2013, no. 4, pp. 475–483.

Shakurov R. Z. Pamyat’ zemli. Nauchno-khudozhestvennye ocherki i stat’i [Memory of the Earth. Scientific and artistic essays and articles]. Ufa, Bashkir. kn. izd., 1984, 168 p. (In Bashkir).

Shakurov R. Z. Istoriko-stratigraficheskoe i areal’noe issledovanie bashkirskoy toponimii Yuzhnogo Urala i Predural’ya [Historical and stratigraphic and areal research of the Bashkir toponymy of the Southern Urals and Urals]. Abstract of Dr. philol. sci. diss., Ufa, 1998, 38 p.

Slovar’ toponimov Respubliki Bashkortostan [Dictionary of toponyms of the Republic of Bashkortostan]. Ufa, Kitap, 2002, 256 p.

Superanskaya A. V. Chto takoe toponimika? [What is toponymy?] Moscow, Nauka, 1984, 182 p.

Toponimiya Tsentral’nogo Kazakhstana [Toponymy of central Kazakhstan]. Almaty, Ғylym, 1989, 256 p.

Usmanova M. G. Imya otchey zemli. Istoriko-lingvisticheskoe issledovanie toponimii basseyna reki Sakmar [The name of the father of the land. Historical and linguistic study of the toponymy of the Sakmar river basin]. Ufa, Kitap, 1994, 272 p.

Valieva M. R. Bulgarizmy v bashkirskoy gidronimii [Bulgarisms in Bashkir hydronymy]. Problems of History, Philology and Culture. 2014, no. 1, pp. 300–304.

Yagafarova G. N. Issledovanie tematicheskikh grupp bashkirskoy leksiki (onomasiologicheskiy podkhod) [Study of thematic groups of the Bashkir lexicon (onomasiological approach)]. Ufa, IIYaL UNTs RAN, 2008, 127 p.