Onomastic reconstruction: Restoration and location of ancient toponymy according to the names of wastelands, hillforts, ancient settlements (Ryazan region)

Abstract

The article discusses one of the methods of onomastic reconstruction, which allows to restore the region’s early toponymy from the names of medieval mountains, villages and wastelands, as well as to determine the localization of lost toponyms based on the analysis of derived names. Some of these toponyms undergo a “three-step” transtoponimization: first they are stored in the name of the settlement or hillfort (Olpeevskoe selishche / Olpeevsky settlement, Perevitskoe gorodishche / Perevitsky hillfort), then in the name of the village, in a compo-und with the participation of a special term (derevnyа Olpeevskoe Selishche / village of Olpeevsky Settlement), and further in the name of the wasteland («pustosh’, chto byla derevnya Knyazhnoe Selishche» / «the wasteland that was the village of Knyazhnoe Settlement»). The article explores the Ryazan toponymy.