Вопросы ономастики (Dec 2023)
“Finnish”-Saami Flood in the Toponymy of Karelia and Russian North
Abstract
The article analyzes four toponymic stems with the meaning of ‘flood, overflow of water’ that have Balto-Fennic and — more broadly — Finno-Ugric origins and are attested in the toponymy of Karelia, as well as beyond its southeastern borders — in the Russian North. The materials were retrieved from of the Card index of toponyms of Karelia and adjacent regions, as well as the Toponymic card index of the Ural University (data related to Russian North). By virtue of semantics, the toponymic stems under consideration primarily occur in the names of water bodies, as well as flood lands. The analysis shows that all stems have verbal nature and thus are deverbal names. For two of them (Tulv- and Pais-/Paiž-) etymons (tulva, paise) are found in modern Balto-Fennic languages. For the third stem — Kost- (Kosht-, Kust-, Kusht-), which is traditionally associated with Balto-Fennic adjective kostea ‘wet,’ the author suggests the possibility of a ‘flood’-related interpretation. This proceeds, on the one hand, from the fact that the waterlogged places during the flood can be characterized as damp, wet, on the other hand, from the meaning of return movement inherent in the verbal stem kosta-. The latter reflects the characteristic movement of water back and forth. Finally, the fourth toponymic stem is based on the Saami linguistic data and their proto-linguistic reconstruction *pēnte- ‘overflow, rise (about the water level)’ which is presumably present in a number of place names. The analysis makes it possible to revise or at least offer new possibilities for the etymological interpretation of some landscape terms (e.g. pendus), as well as toponymic stems that are substratal for the Russian North and toponyms formed from them (Kushta, Pazha, Pindusha). It ultimately advances us in our search for the origins of the substrate toponymy of the Russian North.
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