Article

Name: Problematic aspects of the standardization of Altai toponyms in Russian

Authors: Igor A. Dambuev

Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract:

The paper deals with problematic aspects of the standardization of Altai toponyms of the Altai Republic in Russian. The State Catalogue of Geographical Names, legislative acts, topographical maps, and three guidelines for rendering Altai geographical names into Russian were used as research materials. The author considers revisions in different guidelines for rendering Altai geographical names into Russian, namely, the length of Altai vowel sounds, iotated vowels, and compound Altai toponyms. Different considerations are given with regard to the necessity of preserving the length of Altai vowels and on methods of transcribing the iotated vowels. It is noted that the spelling of compound Altai toponyms in Russian was closely connected for a long time with the problem of rendering compound Turkic toponyms into Russian in general. It is also noted that the spelling of compound Altai toponyms in the modern Altai language needs to be clarified. In addition, the author raises a question of the fused spelling of compound toponyms in the Altai language. The paper presents quantitative information about the Russian spelling of Altai toponyms with the phenomena in question. The study of guidelines mentioned above revealed a strong tendency to render linguistic specificity of Altai toponyms in Russian by means of practical transcription. The modern toponymy of the Altai Republic includes numerous geographical names non-compliant with the guideline in force. The spelling of these names reflects the evolving views on practical transcription, the evolution of the Altai alphabet and orthography.

Keywords: standardization of geographical names, Altai toponymy, practical transcription

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