MYTHICAL CONTENT OF HYDRONYMS

Abstract

In the article the authors analyze mythical information about the content of hydronyms in onomastic discourse. The aim of the article is to identify mythical information in the content of hydronyms of the Kazakh language, to determine their continuity with other onomastic names.

The scientific significance of the article lies in the fact that the discursive and mythological aspect of hydronyms is studied, the magical character of the words contained in them (the words “white” and “black”) is determined, the differentiation of the concepts of “Zher-Su (Earth-Water)” “mistress of water - Umai ana (Umai-mother), Sutkol (milk lake), the master of the lake - Kok buka (Blue bull) in the Common Turkic myths, systematisation of mythical knowledge preserved in the meaning of the named hydronyms. The practical significance is explained by providing a model for analysing the mythical content of hydronyms.

The methods of discourse analysis, analysis of meaning and etymology of the word were used in the course of the research. The main results of the research work are that the origin of the Turkic names Umai-ana, Mai-ana, Ot ene, Umaiyk and Bai-azhe are variations of the same homonym, Umai/Umaiyk/Mai/Bai/Ot ene/, which constitute “five mothers-in-law (bes ene)”, and that their semantic fields and scope have been expanded. In addition, the mythical texts and etymology of these names related to the hydronyms Arys, Aksu, Karasu, Katynsu, etc. are studied.

Value of the research: analyzing the content of 10 hydronyms in the study systematized the mythical knowledge preserved in their meanings: water is connected with all three worlds: water-God (Umai lives in the mountains // heavenly world), water-connection of two worlds (living and dead) or the border of two worlds: after forty days from the day of birth the infant is bathed in water consisting of forty spoonfuls and after that he is categorized as a human being; and they wash a dead man when he’s being carried off to his final  place, containing the mythical knowledge “to die-water-to resurrect”. The conclusion of the work can be used for practical purposes for researches on onomastics, mythology.