Article

Name: Anatomical vocabulary in the Yakut oronymy

Authors: Yana V. Struchkova

Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract:

The article focuses on orographic appellatives and oronyms derived from anatomical terms in the Yakut language through metaphorization. Given that the Yakut oronymy is endangered due to several sociolinguistic and socio-economic reasons, collecting, systematizing, studying, and preserving this specific layer of the Yakut toponymic lexicon in linguistic databases is relevant. We have identified more than 80 anatomical terms that contributed to the Yakut oronymy development. We divided the Yakut anatomical vocabulary used as orographic appellatives into two groups: 1) lexemes denoting the external parts of human and animal bodies and 2) lexemes denoting the internal organs of humans and animals. The comparative analysis covered the following anatomical terms: atax ‘leg’, bas ‘head’, sürex ‘heart’, tumus ‘nose; beak’, kulgaax ‘ear’, töbö ‘head’, meyii ‘brain’, emiy ‘udder’. The comparison has demonstrated a substantial similarity in the anatomical vocabulary used as orographic appellatives in the Turkic languages. However, some Turkic languages feature divergence in terms of content, possibly resulting from the influence of contact languages (related and unrelated). The abundance and variety of metaphorical anatomical terms in different Turkic languages may also be due to the physical and geographical features of the terrain on which they function. Given the above, the anatomical vocabulary can be considered an additional source for understanding the formation patterns and features of the Turkic-Mongolian geographical vocabulary of Siberia.

Keywords: anatomical vocabulary, orographic terminology, orographic appellative, orographic meaning, oronyms, oronymy, somatism, Turkic languages, Yakut language

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