Cartographic analysis of the historical transformation of hydronyms (a case study in the Crimean Peninsula)

Abstract

Scientific support for the reconstruction of historical transformation and recreation of lost geographical names (toponyms) makes it possible to form a spatio-temporal toponymic system, which can be considered as part of the intangible cultural heritage. One of the effective approaches to these problems can be the Application of the historical and geographical approach in toponymy, in particular, the historical and cartographic method based on the comparison of maps of different time periods. The territory of the Crimean Peninsula has long been distinguished by the multi-ethnic composition of the population, but the regional toponymy has been decisively developed from the 13th to the 18th centuries and has a Turkic basis. Mass renaming of settlements on the Crimean Peninsula (as a result of four waves of renaming in 1944–1949) was reflected in deturkification, which affected the change in the names of rivers and lakes, although to a lesser extent. The aim of this work was to establish a list of renamed (modified) autochthonous hydronyms and their transformation over two centuries by historical and geographical periods, using cartographic data. The author compiled a regional database of names of rivers and lakes (potamonyms and limnonyms), which includes 214 rivers and 42 lakes. The author also analysed the Slavic-Turkish hydronyms with their multidirectional transformations over a long period of interaction, which were reflected in cartographic sources. As a result, 68 potamonyms and 26 limnonyms were identified from the pool of proper names of rivers and lakes on the Crimean Peninsula, which from 1774 to 2000 had 77 variants of stable—less often short-term—renamed indigenous (mainly Turkic) hydronyms according to cartographic sources. Five major renaming periods reflected on the maps (1790–1800 and 1918–1945 (by 5.8 % of the total), 1841–1864 and 1956–1964 (by 4.5 %), 1953–1955 (13 %)) have been identified. The information basis (more than 90 lost hydronyms and their variants) for further toponymic (etymological, lexical, etc.) interpretations was created by using the results of a historical and cartographic study covering more than two centuries of the history of creating maps of the Crimean Peninsula.