Scholarly record

PALEOASIATIC TOPONYMS OF LANDSCAPES OF NIZHNEYA KOLYMA REGION OF YAKUTIA (HYDRONYMS AS A CASE-STUDY)

V. Filippova, A. Savvinova, M. Zakharov

Abstract

The term Paleo-Asiatic peoples (Paleoasiatic) was proposed by the Russian scientist L. I. Strencom in the middle of the 19th century to refer to a number of indigenous peoples of the North and North-East Siberia with the archaic features of culture, characteristic of the Neolithic stage of development. The basis for selection of these people in a special group was that their languages are not connected with large language families of Northern Asia. This is the reason that they are preserved in the place names of their places of residence. To Paleoasiatic peoples living on the territory of Yakutia the Chukchi and the Yukagirs, living in Kolyma group of districts are included. In the context of working on the RSF project No. 15-18-20047 we studied the place names of the Lower Kolyma river, where the tundra (Nizhnekolymskiy) Yukaghirs (vaduly) live whose main occupation is reindeer herding, hunting and fishing, and the Chukchi -tundra reindeer-herders. As the majority of the paleo-Asiatic place names are hydronyms, we decided to perform hydronyms of the Nizhnekolymsky district. Names of hydronyms (965) have been revealed, including 135 names of the rivers, 27% of which belong to the paleoasiatic and 830 – lakes (15% - paleoasiatic). The predominance of limnonym due to natural features of the territory, Nizhnekolymsky district is situated on lowland with numerous lakes. Nizhnekolymskiy the Yukaghirs were originally semi-settled hunters and fishers, their habitat is closely associated with river systems major rivers, more gravitated to the river valleys, they settled on the tributaries of the Kolyma river. The Yukagir and the Chukchi hydronyms indicate profound and close relationship of the Northern nature. As expected, in the names of rivers the Yukagir toponyms dominate, 39% of names, followed by the Chukchi 32%, quite a lot of names consisting of two or three words from different linguistic background, such as Kuchchuguj-Oler-Sjane - Kuchchuguj (Yakut) - small, little; oler(Uluru) - Uul, Uu (Yukaghir) – "movement and eternity", Sjane (sien, sjen) (Even) - head, flow, river flowing from the lake into another lake or from the lake into the river. For the etymology of most names there are rivers water-related – 31%, relief – 23%, human 20%, with vegetation, animals and birds 9%. In the names of lakes the absolute majority occupied by the Chukchi names– 61%, Yukagir – 17%. Also there are mixed toponyms – 22% (Yukaghir-Chukchi, Yukagir-even, Even-Chukchi, Russian-Chukchi, Chukchi-Yakut). There is also the presence of the Chukchi-Koryak, Chukchi-eskimo place names, due to the proximity of the Chukotka region, where the Koryak and the eskimo live. Thus, the study of hydronyms of the Lower Kolyma river, points to the preservation of archaic paleoasiatic toponyms, etymology most of them are connected with hydrological features and natural features of the territory. And available the Yakut and Russian place names are translations of Paleoasian toponym.

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