THE FUNCTIONS OF TOPONYMS IN THE EPIC “YEDIGE” (ON THE MATERIAL OF KAZAKH, KARAKALPAK AND TATAR NATIONAL VERSIONS)

This paper identifies the artistic features and functions of toponyms as a historical fact in the epic “Yedige”. The materials of the study are the Kazakh, Karakalpak, and Tatar national versions of the epic poem “Yedige”, which are the carriers of the historical memory of the Turkic peoples. The purpose of this study is to consider toponyms in the epic “Yedige” not only as witnesses of historical events but also as landmarks in time and space. The main methods of research are descriptive, comparative, and comparative-historical methods. It was revealed that the names of real geographical objects are used in the epic “Yedige”, the description of which still corresponds to reality. This indicates that most of the events that are described in the studied national versions of the epic are to a large extent echoes of actual historical events that took place in the distant past of the Turkic peoples in the era of the Golden Horde. On the other hand, the names of geographical objects in the epic can also have a mythological basis, sometimes the fruit of the imagination of the storytellers themselves. The study of the connection between toponymy and folklore, which contains historical realities, cultural values, and national originality of the Kazakh, Karakalpak, and Tatar ethnic groups, allows us to discover a unique worldview in the folklore and linguistic picture of the Turkic people.