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7THE CATEGORY OF SPACE IN THE OIKONYMIC PICTURE
OF THE WORLD
Choraqulova Dilnora Zokirjonovna
Lecturer at the Department of Russian Linguistics, Faculty of Philology, Bukhara State University
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7534932
Abstract. The category of space is a universal category in conceptual and linguistic world-views. This article considers Turkic oikonymic system in terms of the national specificity of space perception, which is determined by various extralinguistic factors. The conclusion is made that the formation of an oikonymic world-view is influenced by the natural surroundings of an ethnic group and that this landscape space is axiologically marked in the consciousness of the people belonging to the ethnos.
Keywords: space, concept, oikonyms, ethnonyms, toponyms, space category, ethnogenesis, hydronyms, oronyms, microtoponyms.
The development trends and the emergence of new research directions in modern linguistics, studying the relationship between language and culture, allow us to assert that the specifics of the semantics of natural language units, the linguistic picture of the world of its speakers, determines the national-cultural component. As the researchers note, the units of language "reflect and convey the way of life and way of thinking characteristic of a given society (or linguistic community), and represent invaluable keys to understanding culture." [1]. The semantics of the words of each language reflects the historical, social, cultural, and economic changes taking place at different stages of the development of society. Language acts as a keeper of information about the world, which is obtained by all members of a certain ethnolinguistic, cultural and linguistic community of people [2]. In accordance with this provision, the study of oikonymic units in terms of the content of national and cultural information is relevant. The results of the study of toponymic systems of various territories indicate the indisputability of this phenomenon. For example, the well-known onomast Sattarov notes that "the transformation of personal names, nicknames and surnames (i.e. anthroponyms) into names of settlements (into anthropoiconyms) and other geographical objects is known as a typical and universal phenomenon" [5],
The study of the problem of perception and interpretation of fragments of reality verbalized by proper names is an urgent task of modern linguistic research. Acting as an integral part of the overall picture of the world, proper names also serve for the nomination of so-called geographical fragments of the world. In this regard, it is interesting to describe and interpret the knowledge represented by proper names from the standpoint of linguistic consciousness, the language system and the linguistic picture of the world in their interrelation. The process of cognition of reality and the mental associations arising in this process, accompanied, in turn, by such processes as conceptualization and categorization, are associated with linguistic consciousness, in which reality is reflected. A person perceiving the surrounding objects tries to organize them into a cognitive system corresponding to certain realities. Reality is reflected in a person's consciousness not through direct and direct perception of external events and facts, but through transformed images actualized due to their axiological significance. At the same time, the process of structuring knowledge in human consciousness and language occurs through universal
concepts (concepts). One of the most important universal concepts that give an idea of a person's perception of the world is space. Space is the fundamental concept of the linguistic picture of the world, including toponymic, which is interpreted as "spatial reality, represented in the linguistic consciousness and framed as the concept of "place" (in all modifications of spatial orientation)." [1]. The concept of spatial concept, the problem of representation of space in the toponymic picture of the world are considered by many researchers (M.V.Golomidova, Y.L.Berezovich, L.M.Dmitrieva, S.P.Vasilyeva, etc.). The interest in this problem is due to the fact that it is the main one in the system of relations between a person and reality. The economic picture of the world is understood as the mental existence of the system of names of settlements existing in a particular language, formed under the influence of both linguistic and extralinguistic factors. The initial premise in the study of the economic picture of the world from the perspective of the linguistic consciousness of the individual is the understanding of natural language as a certain way of perceiving and conceptualizing the world. This thesis assumes that the category of space is conditioned by national perception of the world and territorial specifics. The interpretation of the concept of space in such a proprietary fragment of the linguistic picture of the world as the oikonymic picture of the world gives answers to the following questions: how a certain people represents spatial relations; how this understanding is reflected in oikonyms; what is reflected first of all; what are the pragmatic attitudes of the members of a particular language collective.
Oikonyms, being the names of objects created by man and becoming part of the world around him from the moment of their appearance, contain an internal connection with natural objects that form a kind of natural background for them due to the primacy of their existence. Oikonyms are formed on the basis of spatial-event descriptions, since the objects they call are included "in the zone of the inhabited territory and the current life activity of its inhabitants... The called object is thought of not only as belonging to the natural world, but also as a place where the events of human life take place. The toponymic "distinction" of an object is made in relation to those who inhabit or use it in their economic and other activities, in relation to its individual types and results, in relation to those incidents, events that took place in this place, etc.". [2].
The main vector of the study of the economic picture of the world in this regard is determined by the relevance of existential values for a person. Traditional worldview can be understood as the basis of social consciousness. As a result of the long-term residence of the people in one territory, a socio-historical environment is gradually being formed, which is closely related to the natural landscape and climatic conditions. The geographical environment and climatic conditions largely affect the way of human economic activity. At the same time, the peculiarities of economic activity are reflected in the parameterization of space, in the way of mental arrangement of surrounding objects.
Geographical and climatic conditions also have an impact on ethnic culture, on the formation of national character. This is what L.N.Gumilev says in his fundamental study "Ethnogenesis and the Biosphere of the Earth", noting that the national character is formed "in specific landscape and climatic conditions with a unique combination of ethnic substrates and the presence of various traditions." [3]. The peculiarities of the psycholinguistic and national-cultural perception of the surrounding reality in various linguistic pictures of the world are determined by the existence of a perceptual space: "Mastering and classifying the world, a person proceeds from himself as a reference point." [4]. According to this thesis, oikonyms, denoting an object relative to the location of a person, reflect the physical space of the locality and the natural objects closest
to it that are of existential value to a person. According to Suprun, in the field structure of toponyms, and oikonyms represent their variety, "an important indicator of nuclear attribution" is "the size of the designated object". [5]. This factor is determined by the obligatory regularity of nuclear-peripheral relations in the toponymicon: "the larger the physical-geographical object, the more likely it is to be included in the onomastic core." [5]. With regard to oikonyms, it is necessary to note such an indicator as the significance /value for a person of a particular natural object. Oikonymy reflects the egocentric position of space exploration: the core is the place of residence of the subject (collective). The near-nuclear zone, or the near remote zone, is represented by the names of the nearest objects that are important for life, less significant objects belong to the periphery. Here it is also necessary to note the openness of the structure of the oikonymic field and the mobility of the units that make up this field. The nomination in this type of toponyms is largely related to the existential and value role of natural objects.
To convey spatial relations in oikonymy, the following are used:
- substantive units with spatial meaning that characterize the concept of "residence" (city, village, village, village, station, etc.);
- ottoponymic units (hydronyms, oronyms, micro- and macro-toponyms);
- subjective units (old - new, near - far, upper -lower);
- quantifiers (numbering units - first, second, etc.; one, two, etc.).
The nuclear group of means of implementing the concept of space in oikonymy can consist of names with economic terms and toponymic units, the peripheral zone is represented by names with subjective and numeral units. As it was noted, the concept of Space has a national specificity, since its multidimensional volume contains one of the important categories of the objective world - people's ideas about the world around them. Traditional ideas about the structure of the world and the meaning of surrounding objects are not just reflected in the language, but affect the ways of nominating objects and ways of expressing relations between them. People brought up in different national cultures perceive space differently. Let's consider this thesis on the example of the Turkic oikonymy. Man and nature are perceived by the Turks, as well as by many other peoples, in an indissoluble unity. In this regard, it is important to appeal to the worldview of nomadic peoples. In the conditions of a nomadic lifestyle, as A.V.Superanskaya notes, the established system of world perception played the role of a kind of "certification" in the Turkic society and served as a way of securing the names of clans and tribal divisions for individual natural and material objects. This was due to collective ancestral property and collective ownership of pastures, water sources and other lands that supported the viability of the genus. During the transition of the nomadic population to settlement, land plots were assigned to individual clans, and the names of the clans began to form the names of lands, and later settlements. [6].
The desire to explore space, to gain a foothold on it is primarily connected with the physiological need of a person for security, which has its origin in the instinct of territoriality. By giving a proper name to an object, a person (ethnos) outlined the zone of his living space. There are various options for structuring space and building a toponymic picture of the world. The interpretation of the cognizable space depends on the level and aspects of its comprehension. According to Y.L.Berezovich, the system of basic parameters of the description of space includes the following indicators: "1) localization of the object; 2) coverage of the terrain; 3) extent; 4) livability of the space. The first of them makes it possible to determine the point of view of the
nominee in relation to spatial objects (localization is always carried out in the presence of a certain coordinate system); the second and third - to characterize the nominee's field of view; the fourth -to give a qualitative characteristic of the space mastered and not mastered by man." [8].
In the spatial characteristics of Russian toponymy, there are: 1) the sides of the horizon; 2) localization in space; 3) top - bottom. [9]. In microtoponymy, according to Klimkova, the following parameters are relevant: 1) location, degree of remoteness; 2) direction, vector; 3) size, extent; 4) shape, configuration. [10]. In our opinion, localization in space and the habitability of space were important factors in the formation of the Turkic oikonymy. The characteristic of an artificial object by localization in space is expressed in the choice of natural objects as landmarks. The transfer of the name of a well-known natural object to the name of a locality is explained by the desire to keep in touch with the surrounding world, harmony with nature. Nomadic and semi-nomadic methods of cattle breeding, due to the seasonal use of pastures, constant movement in space, contributed, on the one hand, to a deep understanding of nature, and on the other -facilitated the development of the space itself. This is reflected in toponymic names formed from the designations of natural objects (hydronyms, oronyms, microtoponyms). For example, the city of Irtysh received its name from the Irtysh River, the city of Temirtau - from the Temirtau Mountain, the city of Zhezkazgan - from the Zhezkazgan locality, etc. The results of studies of Turkic names of settlements in most cases confirm their toponymic nature. In addition, the analysis of the Turkic names of settlements shows that among the toponymic names, the otgidronymic ones predominate (from the names of rivers and streams, springs, lakes, wells): Aksu, Karasu, Ainakol, Zhaltyrkol, Akbulak, Akkudyk, Zhalgyzkuduk, Kokozek, Mynbulak, etc.
In the structuring of space in the consciousness of a toponymic personality, two levels are distinguished: route and radial. With the route type, the reception of space is carried out as the subject moves forward in the direction of the river flow or along sequentially located objects. With the radial type, the subject, taking a nuclear position in relation to the objects of the surrounding world closest to him, acts as an evaluator of the suitability / unsuitability of objects of reality for habitation. The perception of space in this case goes through a "series of concentric circles". Accordingly, these "concentric circles" represent two zones, two levels of space: vital, or being-value, and peripheral. [11].
The Turkic language picture of the world reflects the horizontal model of space. "This is due to the fact that the development of living space for the Turks was directly related to nomads, that is, moving along a horizontal plane. Their living space was located in the horizontal direction, and the vertical was comparable to the invasion of other non-human spheres of the world." [12]. The movement of nomads in space was not limited to the direction "along the river" (route type), it covered the entire visible space, which, in our opinion, corresponds to the radial type of perception of the surrounding world. The Turks led a nomadic lifestyle, assuming unlimited horizontal movement. Oikonyms containing correlating units big - small, old - new, reflect spatial-temporal relations. For example: Kazaly - Zhanakazaly (New Kazaly), Talap - Zhanatalap (New Talap), Enbek - Ulken Enbek (Big Enbek). At the same time, it should be noted that in such names there is an existing tendency in the language to save means of expression, manifested in an ellipsis, in the truncation of affixes or even whole words, which is confirmed by studies on the toponymy of Central Asia [13].
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