The concept of “River” as a reflection of the identity of the peoples of the North in the hydronymy of Olenyoksky District, Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Abstract

The relevance of the research lies in the object of research: the toponymy of the Arctic. The Arctic is an important part of a unique space, the interest in which is included in scientific interests of the whole planet. The priority task of the Government of the Russian Federation is sustainable development of the Arctic. This zone in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is rich in cultural heritage, which is reflected in folded ethnocultural texts: toponyms. They contain unique information about the history of the region, cultural traditions, lifestyle of the indigenous peoples of the North, whose language, culture and way of life are inextricably linked with the territory where they live. Cognitive research makes it possible to understand the interaction of genetically different languages. The purpose of the work is to identify the lexical representation of the concept “River”, reconstructed on the basis of the hydronyms of Olenyoksky District of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). This goal involves solving the following tasks: to analyze toponyms of Evenk and Yakut origin, which reflect the way of life and beliefs of the northern peoples; to identify the motivational meanings of toponyms in the linguistic consciousness of informants. Research methods such as a sociological survey (working with informants), areal, descriptive and statistical methods (further analysis of toponyms) were used in the work. The conducted analysis revealed 228 names reflecting the components of the field structure of the concept “River”. As a result, the semantic classification of hydronyms was presented and the main lexical representations of the concept were identified.