Linguistic and cultural features of Moscow toponyms

Kuzemina Yuliya Vladimirovna Postgraduate student; Faculty of Philology; Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) Teacher of Russian language and literature; GBOU School No.2070 117587, Russia, Moscow, Sumy ave., building 2, building 5 yslagrimi@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The purpose of this work is to analyze the linguistic and cultural features of Moscow toponymy, in particular, to identify the existing cultural connotations of a particular toponym, as well as the source of its origin, which may also affect the features of the cultural component of the semantics of this toponym. Despite this, systematic linguistic and cultural studies of the peculiarities of Moscow toponymy have not yet been conducted, as reported in the work of N. Y. Zabelin ^{[1, pp. 3-4]}. For this reason, this study aims to fill in the gaps in this aspect of the study.

The toponymy of Moscow is an organic fragment of its linguistic landscape, representing cultural and axiological values reflected by these toponyms. Among other things, various microtoponyms and names of various geographical objects of Moscow represent evidence of various stages of the historical development of this city (the value of toponyms as a material for this kind of analysis is emphasized in various studies, in particular, in the article by M. N. Gromov and N. A. Kutsenko ^{[2, p. 327]}). S. A. Popov's article rightly states ^{[3, p. 134]} that the toponymy of a certain region reflects its natural geographical features, as well as the linguistic history of the region (in particular, the previous stages of linguistic development) and changes in the linguistic landscape. The territory of the city of Moscow is no exception here.

Geographical names of various types can be attributed to Moscow toponymy: first of all, various urban objects – streets, alleys, avenues, squares, individual buildings and structures, etc., In addition, the names of various geographical objects of the landscape that are located on the territory of Moscow can be attributed here. Toponymy also includes the names of various rivers, ponds, hills, ravines, etc.

It should be noted right away that the Moscow toponymy has several sources, which differ both in the source language and in the time of genesis. The most ancient stratum of Moscow toponyms consists of those that date back to pre-Christian times. As stated in the study by A. L. Shilov ^{[4, p. 52]}, the main sources of toponymic data are the following language groups: Slavic, Baltic and Finno-Ugric.

The following microtoponyms of Moscow belong to this group, such as Kolomenskoye, Mogiltsy, Pani, etc. These names of certain areas of the area, according to A. L. Shilov ^{[4, pp. 53-56]}, go back to various lexical units of the Finno-Ugric languages, denoting various names of sanctuaries, sacred places, pagan places of worship. Assumptions about the Finno-Ugric origins of a number of units of Moscow toponymy are quite reasonable, since the territory of modern Moscow and the Moscow region was inhabited in ancient times by Finno-Ugric tribes, in particular, Meryans.

Orthodox Christianity also had a significant influence on the toponymy of Moscow, which is manifested in the principles of nominating certain geographical objects, in particular, reservoirs, as well as streets, alleys and other similar objects. According to the data provided in the works of a number of researchers, in particular, Yu. V. Koreneva ^[5], about 30% of the godonyms of the center of Moscow are correlated with Orthodox Christianity according to the principle of their nomination.

In the study mentioned above by Yu.V. Koreneva, there is a fairly large number of such toponyms that are associated with the religious sphere of Orthodox Christianity ^{[5, p. 140]}. The following are some of these toponyms with a brief commentary on their history and the specific cultural connotations they contain:

· the street in Ozdvizhenka: its name is associated with the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which is one of the twelve, i.e. the most important holidays of the Orthodox Church;

· Bogoyavlensky Lane: the name of the object is associated with the feast of Epiphany or the Epiphany of the Lord, which is also one of the twelve feasts;

· Pokrovsky Boulevard: the name of the object is associated with the feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is one of the great holidays in the Orthodox Church, and this day is also especially revered in the Russian Orthodox Church;

· Nikolsky Lane: The name of the lane is associated with the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra, who is one of the most revered saints in Orthodox Christianity in general and in Russian Orthodoxy in particular.

Thus, based on the presented material, we can see that toponyms, the semantics of which is related to religious vocabulary, in particular, with the names of Orthodox Christian holidays and Orthodox shrines, belong mainly to the group of urbanonyms, i.e. names of objects of the urban landscape. Among other things, the so-called ecclesionyms belong to the same group, i.e. the names of churches and temples.

Among the toponyms whose semantics are related to the Christian faith, there are a number of toponyms that are not directly related to the names of major church holidays or the names of revered saints, but denote some realities of church life, the names of priests and clergymen, etc. Among such toponyms, one can single out the limnonym Patriarchal Ponds, in which the name goes back to the possessive adjective from the appellative patriarch – the head of the local Orthodox Church. This name itself is associated with the period when the Russian Church gained independence and the formation of the Patriarchate in Russia. A name such as Zvonarsky Lane belongs to the same group. In this name, the onym Zvonarsky is an appellative form of the noun bell ringer, which designates one of the clergy responsible for bell ringing before and during divine services.

Based on the examples presented above, it can be concluded that religious beliefs (both Christian and pre-Christian) had a significant impact on the development of Moscow toponyms. This may indicate religion as an important factor that influences the development of toponymy and its semantics, respectively.

Another significant group that significantly dominates modern Moscow toponymy is the names of the Soviet period, including the renaming of a number of urban objects that occurred during this era. Sovietisms are distinguished as a separate class of toponyms associated with the beginning of a new period in the life of the country after the October Revolution, in particular, in the article by A. V. Barandeev ^{[6, pp. 53,56]}. Despite the fact that large-scale campaigns were previously conducted to restore historical names to streets and other urban objects, a fairly large number of names of objects dating back to the Soviet era can still be found on the map of Moscow. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the establishment of toponyms-Sovietisms, as a rule, was of a political and ideological nature and usually went "from above", as noted in the article by S. N. Folomeev ^{[7, p. 167]} (although, of course, there were campaigns starting from below to change the "old", pre-revolutionary toponymy in Russia). in accordance with the new realities of Soviet power).

One more aspect should be highlighted, related to a number of semantic changes that occurred in toponymy during the Soviet period, which were not reflected in the surface form of toponyms, but were associated with the development or transformation of the semantics of this toponym. As an example of the described phenomenon, we can cite the transformation of the semantics of the well-known toponym Red Square. In the Old Russian and Old Russian languages, the lexical unit red had the meaning 'beautiful'. After the October Revolution, the color red became associated with the revolutionary movement of the Bolsheviks, acquiring, accordingly, additional "revolutionary" connotations. In addition, the red color was also present on the national flag of the USSR. Thus, the name Red Square acquired additional "Soviet", "revolutionary" connotations associated with the victory of the socialist system and the beginning of a new era in the history of the state and society.

Thus, it should be noted that the features of political development and the political history of the state also influence the composition of toponymy, the principles of selecting appellative vocabulary for it, as well as the principles of name change, which is emphasized in the study of I. B. Fomenko and U. Biin ^[8].

Some toponyms associated with the naming of a number of geographical and other objects in Moscow have certain cultural connotations, since, as evidenced in the study by E. L. Berezovich ^[9], Russian toponymy in its certain part has some cultural connotations. Thus, the Kremlin is presented as the center of Moscow, including its historical and spiritual center, and, accordingly, the center of Russia. This is because, as reported in the same study ^{[9, pp. 60-61]}, geographical space in the naive linguistic consciousness is conceptualized in the form of concentric circles, in the center of which some object of sacred significance for a given linguistic culture is localized, and less significant ones are localized on the periphery. Such toponyms, among other things, as indicated in the article by I. V. Bugaeva ^{[10, p. 124]}, are political symbols and symbolically denote state power (among them, the author of this article lists the toponyms Red Square and the Kremlin).

It should be noted that in Moscow toponymy there are also precedent names of Russian culture. A precedent name, as defined by a number of authors ^{[11, pp. 82-83]}, is a special type of proper name that correlates either with some significant text or texts for a given culture, or with a significant precedent situation. Russian Russian toponyms such as Pushkin Street or Turgenevskaya Square are examples of such toponyms, since they relate to the names of the Russian classic writers A. S. Pushkin and I. S. Turgenev, whose works have become widely known in modern Russian linguoculture. Russian Russian culture The texts of these authors can be considered as precedents for the reason that these authors have made a great contribution to the development of the Russian language and literature.

Proper names of a different type are also reflected in the toponymy of modern Moscow. Thus, B. B. Wagner's research cites quite numerous toponyms of Moscow and the Moscow region ^{[12, pp. 84-85]}, which are related in origin to the names of noble estates and ancestral villages. The latter, as a rule, were named after their own owner. The following toponyms can be attributed to such a group of toponymy by origin: Lefortovo (from the surname of Admiral Lefort), Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo (after the surname of the okolnichy R. Streshnev), Petrovsko-Razumovskoye (after the surname of the former owner Count Razumovsky), etc.

Linguistic analysis of Moscow's toponymy indicates that it goes back to various sources. If at the initial stages, as mentioned in the work of A. L. Shilov ^{[4, p. 52]}, Slavic, Baltic and Finno-Ugric languages were such, then at later stages of development, in particular, during the Soviet period, appellatives dating back to the vocabulary of modern languages began to be used as toponyms. In particular, this category includes both the vocabulary of modern Russian and internationalisms. The latter class includes, for example, a name such as highway Enthusiasts, associated with the Soviet period of the development of Moscow toponymy, since the lexical unit enthusiast is found in almost all major modern literary languages, both in Russian and in European.

Thus, in Moscow toponymy, several classes of generating bases can be distinguished: names of religious origin, both Christian and pre-Christian, which have already been discussed above; names related to the occupation of former residents, usually of Old Russian origin: Sokolniki, Chashniki; names related to the origin of residents: Ordynka, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya Street; names related to industrial sites in Moscow: Magistralny Passage, Refrigerating Lane, Promyshlennaya Street, etc. The principles of nominating various districts of Moscow (for example, the name Khamovniki came from the name of the profession of linen weavers who lived in this settlement) for certain social or professional characteristics of residents are mentioned in a study by S. G. Pavlyuk ^{[13, pp. 36-37]}. The same principle of naming, which can be conditionally called "professional", i.e. by the name of the profession of the inhabitants of a settlement, is put forward as one of the basic principles of the nomination of Moscow toponymy in the work of P. Z. Goldin ^{[14, p. 67]}, as well as in the article by B. B. Wagner and T. S. Voronova ^{[15, pp. 72-73]}. The article by T. Lu and G. A. Shanturova presents the following among the basic principles of the nomination of Moscow toponymy ^{[16, pp. 483-484]}: geographical (according to the features of the terrain, secondary name according to the hydronym, etc.), object (according to the name of any notable object, usually a church, monastery or household), urban planning (including by the name of professional settlements), memorial (in honor or in memory of some person). According to the cited authors, the object, urban planning and geographical principles of naming are most often updated among Moscow toponyms. The idea that the object principle of naming (where churches, temples or monasteries are the basic object for naming) is predominant in the toponyms of Moscow is also expressed in the article by R. Razumov and S. Goryaev ^{[17, pp. 95-96]}.

Moscow microtoponymy, as well as a number of macrotoponyms, having a kind of "historical memory", allow us to reconstruct the model of the world of the period when they arose and when they began to be used as proper names. For example, the fact that toponyms are a means of encoding and translating cultural and historical (linguistic and cultural) information is stated in a study by Qu Yue ^{[18, p. 148]}. In a close way, the cultural and historical component of toponyms is directly correlated with their psycholinguistic image (which is presented, for example, in the work of E. L. Diakonova on the example of the analysis of the common toponym "Moscow" ^{[19, p. 24]}).

Thus, it can be noted that the model of the world that is represented in Moscow toponymy is a kind of hybrid phenomenon: it contains both old pre-Christian names and names associated with the spread of Orthodox Christianity in Russia, as well as those toponyms that relate to the new and modern, secular periods of the development of Russian history.

Summing up this research, we can conclude that it is necessary to study the toponymy of Moscow, including in the linguistic and cultural aspect, as this allows us to better understand both the social, linguistic, and cultural history of this city, and through it, the history of our entire country.