LINGUOCULTURAL SPECIFICS OF TOPONYMS-COLORONYMS IN THE EPICS OF TURKIC PEOPLES

Abstract

This article examines the national and cultural uniqueness of color designations found in the toponyms of Turkic epics. The toponymy of folklore is an important source for studying the ancient cultural heritage, ideological beliefs, and spiritual values of peoples. An analysis of toponyms containing color components reveals the symbolic perception of color and its role in shaping the national and cultural worldview of Turkic peoples.

The aim of this study is to analyze color components in the epics of Turkic peoples to identify their semantic features, establish similarities and differences in the use of color designations, and determine their role in reflecting common ideological beliefs and spiritual values. The study focuses on comparing color components in the toponymy of Azerbaijani, Yakut, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh epic folklore. The study utilized component analysis to identify the semantic structure of linguistic units, a distributional method to study the contexts of coloronym use, and contrastive and comparative-historical methods to identify similarities and differences between coloronym toponyms in Turkic languages. The factual material was collected using a continuous sample of Turkic myths and epics, followed by an analysis of their semantics and etymology using an ancient Turkic dictionary and modern online dictionaries.

The study found that toponyms with a coloronym component are actively used in various types of geographical names: oikonyms, hydronyms, oronyms, and, in a single case, drimonyms. The symbolic nature of the use of color designations is revealed, and quantitative data on their frequency is presented. The conducted analysis revealed significant similarities in the semantics of color-related toponyms in the myths and epics of the Turkic peoples, indicating close historical, cultural, and linguistic contacts and the formation of a common linguacultural space. The scientific significance of this work lies in expanding our understanding of the linguacultural characteristics of the Turkic languages and identifying the symbolism of color designations in the toponymy of epic texts. The practical significance of this study lies in the potential application of its results in linguistics, folklore studies, cultural studies, comparative linguistics, and the comparative study of Turkic myths. The findings contribute to the development of research in the fields of Turkic toponymy, linguacultural studies, and mythopoetics.