Names of Artificial Objects of the Ilmen State Reserve of the First Period of its Development (1920–1930s)

Abstract

The paper considers the names of artificial objects of the Ilmen Nature Reserve during the first period of its development (1920–1930s), namely, the names of mines, cordons, roads, and other local objects associated with the extraction of minerals, as well as related to development of the territory. The works of geologists of the corresponding period were used as a source of toponymic material. A significant part of the objects and their names refers to the 18th–19th centuries when the reserve began to form itself, while some of the onomastic units appeared later. The purpose of the study is to identify the motivation behind the names of artificial objects of the reserve and to trace the internal systemic relations between these names. The total number of nominated objects amounts to 155 units, and the number of names slightly exceeds this figure, since some objects have more than one name. The largest group of names are the names of mines. It is found that this name system shows the highest degree of artificiality expressed in the abundance of genitive and descriptive constructions. This is due to the need to identify, inventory and provide scientific description of a large number of objects at a time. In parallel, this system inherits the tradition of naming such objects in which the key element indicates to the person developing the mine and the main mineral extracted from it. Other objects’ names are quite few, which can be explained by the insufficient economic development on the territory. In most cases, these are derived from toponyms, correlating the named items with lakes as the most noticeable objects on the territory of the reserve and in the vicinity of it.

Keywords

• ilmen mountains
• ilmen reserve
• mining
• motivational pattern
• names of industrial facilities
• names of mines
• onomastic system
• toponymy