Novye Issledovaniâ Tuvy (Sep 2018)
Toponimic Legends of South-Eastern Tuva
Abstract
The article analyses the local uniqueness of plots and motives in toponymic legends of south-eastern Tuva: Tes-Khem, Erzin, and Tere-Khol kozhuuns (rayons), also considering the context of ethnocultural contacts between south-eastern Tuvans and their Mongolian neighbors. South-eastern Tuva is a territory of Tuvan-Mongolian bilingualism which has become ingrained in local culture. The materials for the study are the legends published in various collections of Tuvan folklore, as well as field records of the joint Tuvan-Mongolian research expedition in Erzin district in 2011 wherein the author was involved. South-eastern Tuva is inhabited by houses (clans) of Kyrgys, Soyan, and Choodu, all of which exhibit various degrees of Tuvan-Mongolian bilingualism. The use of Mongolian language amongst them is a cultural relic. In oral tradition of south-eastern Tuvan legends (toolchurgu chugaa), historical narratives (toogu chugaa) and spoken stories (bolgan tavarylga) are widespread. Toponymic legends or stories explaining origin of names of various geographical places are a big part of them. Their typical features are absence of well-defined composition structure, a single episode, localization of place and time of the event, a reference to specific witnesses or participants, focus on historicism and authenticity of information. A common plot of toponymic legends involves a territorial argument between Tuvans and Mongolians about pasture grounds. Typical plots can be found in the legends of the origin of the names of local mountains Ulug-Khaiyrakan, Kyrgys-Tei, Kezhege, etc; names of lakes Tore-Khol and Tere-Khol. The toponymic legends covered in the article are important for the preservation of the ancient names of numerous geographical places, mountains, rivers, lakes and nomadic territories which now are located on the territory belonging to a foreign state where they have probably been forgotten or renamed. Recording such legends is important both for the oral history of some Tuvan clans and as an illustration of tight historical contacts in the borderlands between Tuva and Mongolia.
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