Вопросы ономастики (Dec 2019)
Substrate Toponymy of the Arkhangelsk Pomorye (Materials for an Etymological Dictionary)
Abstract
The paper presents an excerpt from the upcoming etymological dictionary of substrate toponyms of Finno-Ugric origin attested in the territory of the Arkhangelsk Pomorye, a large region of northern Russia close to the White Sea coast within the modern Arkhangelsk region. According to the author’s intention, the dictionary is less intended for professional use and rather aimed at the general public, primarily those residents of the White Sea region interested in the history of their land and, particularly, in the linguistic affiliation and the meaning of “local” pre-Russian geographical names. The introductory part of the paper comments on a number of toponyms analyzed in the dictionary (more than 1,500), the principles of data presentation, and the structure of etymological articles. It is particularly noted that the dictionary includes not only substrate toponyms of Finno-Ugric origin, but also Russian-based names containing Finno-Ugric anthroponymic components. The inclusion of these names in the dictionary is due to the fact that they (as the substrate itself) are etymologically opaque, yet clearly testifying to the Finno-Ugric roots of the Pomorye population. The main part of the paper contains materials of the dictionary’s first section containing the toponymy of the lower reaches and the delta of the Northern Dvina, the central subregion of the Arkhangelsk Pomorye populated by many Finno-Ugric communities in the pre-Russian era. The substrate toponymic data relating to this territory are very extensive, therefore, the publication does not present the entire section, but only its part: etymological articles for names in letters A – K. These include the oldest substrate names of the Lower Dvina, mentioned already in historical documents of the 14th–15th centuries (Bat’yurmola, Vozhdoroma, Kurghiya, Kurostrov, etc.) as well as the later toponymy of Finno-Ugric origin.
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