Reflection of the processes of resettlement in the Upper Amur Region in “mirror of oikonymy”: historical and cultural overview

Abstract

The names of settlements (oikonyms) of the Upper Amur Region are studied. The development of this region began in the second half of the 17th century by Russian Cossacks. Nevertheless, in the following years (especially after the “Aygun treaty”), the oikonyms of this region began to acquire their own specifics. It is to these problems that research is turned. A number of researchers used to address this problem, but the relevance of the work presented is to generalize and present a holistic “oikonymic portrait” of the relocation of human groups and communities from other regions of the Russian state. Equally important is the application of the combined approach to the history of the development of Upper Amur region: geographical, historical and linguistic. The analysis of geographical names, formed in the 17-20th centuries and preserved on the map of the 21th century, is carried out. The isoglossar approach and the “level method”, which was previously developed by us, are partially used. The use of the analysis of toponyms for the history of the development of the Far East (and in particular of the Amur region) was not used so often. However, the names of settlements carry not only “ideological coloring”, but also features (aspects) of the movement of groups of people united by a single goal or common common residence. There are other sides in the history of settlement of the Far Eastern region. As a result of the analysis, the peculiarities of the distribution of toponyms of the “resettlement type”, the main periods of their appearance, the dynamics of distribution were revealed. The main reasons for the appearance of oikonyms “transferred” from the western regions of the state are indentified, and the imperative of problems in the study of the oikonymy of areas of late settlement is revealed. In addition, the relationship between the number, prevalence of oikonyms of “overpopular” this or that character and the national composition in the Upper Amur region is revealed.