Hydronymic Space of Adygea: Structural and Semantic Organization

Abstract

The paper deals with the actual issues of regional onomastic space. The names of linear hydro objects – rivers flowing through the territory of the Adyghe Republic are in the focus of consideration. The variety of Adyghe stems and formants, which constitute hydronyms, is represented. The models of such nominations coining are characterized, their productivity is identified. The analysis of etymological, cultural, and ethnolinguistic aspects has enabled the author to conclude that the Adyghe toponyms mostly retained the internal form and connection with the objects that served as the source of nominations. The semantic types of designations, including "nature", "man", "landmark in space" have been identified. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the hydronyms of Adyghe Republic represent a certain system of names that reflected the ethnolinguistic picture of the world and the place of a person in it. A comprehensive analysis resulted in structuring the hydronymic space of the region, taking into account systemic relations and interrelations within the subsystem. All hydronyms are combined into a toponymic field, the core of which is topobases, the most frequent in hydronyms and oikonyms derived from them and having the widest semantics. In the center there are units formed according to three semantic types and to productive word-formation models. On the periphery of the field under consideration, there are hydronyms formed on the basis of archaic derivational formants, roots according to unproductive derivational models, but their reference to the selected semantic types is preserved. The suggested approach to the study of hydronyms is applicable to other classes of toponyms, which include the names, traditionally associated with the regional landscape and comprising the regional onomastic field.