Introduction

Eloquent witnesses of the past, geographical names take pride of place among the most precious historical monuments, like a living echo of distant times.

V.A. Nikonov.

Language is closely connected with the history and culture of the people, their thinking and worldview, which is reflected on the lexical level. That is why special interest is the appeal to the toponymic system of the region. Toponymy – «a section of linguistics that studies toponyms» [9, p. 841], their origin, development. The formation of toponymic names takes place gradually and is determined by the peculiarities of local dialects, the historical existence of various peoples in a certain territory, the resettlement of people in new territories, the nature of the development of new places, and the development of economic activity. Toponymic names are based on one or another feature of the subject, due to the peculiarities of the geographical environment, socio-economic conditions of the region.

The toponymic system of the Belgorod region was formed over a number of centuries. Each migration wave left toponymic deposits here, created its own toponymic models. Interest in the toponymic system is due to the fact that toponymic realities are the most important linguistic source of information about the spiritual and material culture of the people. One of the most important tasks of linguistics is the study of toponymic units of a certain region, because it is necessary, as rightly points out by А.К. Matveev, «… faster to fix everything that has been preserved, and thereby preserve linguistic values ​​for science» [3, p. 9]. The authors of the work on the toponymy of the Belgorod region are I.G. Dobrodomov, B.I. Osykov, V.A. Prokhorov, M.V. Fedorova, I.I. Zhilenkova. Their works provide diverse approaches to the characterization of toponyms and oikonyms in particular. V. Rubtsova notes that «just as topographic objects are divided into natural and created with direct or indirect participation of a person, the terms that form or accompany the names of populated places can also be divided into landscape and cultural» [13, p.21] .

Materials and methods

In this article, we analyze the oikonyms of the Belgorod region of a cultural and historical nature that are associated with personal names of residents and village owners, with religious and cult lexis, with the material and social life of a person. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved: collection and systematization of existing oikonymic units, their classification. This material allows you to distribute the oikonyms of a cultural and historical nature among thematic groups.

Results and Discussion

The main source of oikonyms are anthroponyms. The names of the settlements, due to anthroponymic origin, are widely represented in the Belgorod region. In this thematic group, several subgroups can be distinguished.

The first subgroup is made up of oikonyms formed from archaic nominal foundations: the village of Belozorovo (on behalf of Belozor), the village of Ladomirovka (on behalf of Ladomir), the village of Svyatoslavka (on behalf of Svyatoslav), the village of Yaropoltsy (on behalf of Yaropolk).

The oikonyms, dating back to the ancient Russian noncanonical names and nicknames, make up the second subgroup of oikonyms formed from anthroponyms. Among them, names can be distinguished that reflect the circumstances of the emergence of a new family member (Zhdanov farm, Nekhoteyevka village, Otradovka village, Sereda village); names according to the appearance of a person (Borodin farm, Gorbunov farm, Nekrasovka farm, Kosukhin farm); names in which the degree of kinship is reflected (Bababino farm, Neznamovo village, Sirotin farm); names reflecting the properties of a person’s character and his inclination (Bessonovka village, Prostakov village, Ostroukhovo village, Smirnov village, Khitrovo village, Khoroshilovo village); names by occupation or profession (Bocharovka village, Bublikovo village, Vorotnikovo village, Goncharovka village, Konovalovo village, Korzhov village, Kuznetsov farm, Kucherov village, Maslovka village, Maslova Pristan village, Ovcharovka village, Strelnikov farm, Shaposhnikov farm, Shubinka farm); names based on the vocabulary of the fauna (Bykov farm, Bykovka village, Volkov farm, Vorobievo village, Grachev farm, Konshino village, Kotov farm, Kotovo village, Mukhin farm, Sobolevka village, Soloviev farm, Somov village, Surkovo village, Tarakov farm, Khorkov farm).

The next subgroup of oikonyms formed from anthroponyms is made up of names based on canonical personal names. These geographical names were formed from canonical names and family names derived from them, from the names of the owners and first settlers of the villages. These names «once served as the primary means of expressing affiliation, forming possessive adjectives. This historical function made them dominant in oikonymy, when the spread of feudal ownership of land became the main sign of naming places — to whom it belongs» [6, p. 69]. 105 canonical names can be singled out as forming foundations in the oikonymy of the Belgorod Region, of which 83 are male and 22 female.

Similar names for settlements are: Alpeev farm — from the canonical personal name Alpey; Aleksandrovka village — from Alexander; Andreevka village — from Andrey; Village Vladimirovka — from Vladimir; Zakharovo village — from Zakhar; Kuzkino village — from Kuzma; farm Makaryevka — from Makar; Nikolaevka village — from Nikolai; Pavlovka village — from Pavel; Petrovsky farm — from Peter; Raevka village — from Raya; Romanovka village — from Roman; Savenkovo village — from Savely; Annovka village — from Anna; farm Ekaterinovka — from Ekaterina; Larisovka village — from Larisa; Elizavetinka village — from Elizabeth.

In the toponymic system there are oikonyms formed from the names of churches or from the names of religious holidays. The names of the settlements by the name of the churches include: the Bogoroditsky farm, the village of Bogorodskoye (according to the church in the name of the Holy Mother of God); Voznesenovka farm (according to the Voznesenskaya Church); Ilyinka village (according to the church in the name of  Ilya the Prophet); Maryevka village (according to a church consecrated in the name of St. Mary); the village of Nikolskoye (in the church in the name of St. Nicholas); Petropalovka village (in the church in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul); Troitsky village (according to the Troitsa Church); Uspenka village (according to the Uspenskaya Church). Among the names of settlements by the names of religious holidays, the following oikonyms are preserved: Verbnoe village, Voznesenovka village, Znamenka village, Pokrovka village, Pokrovsky village, Rozhdestvenka village. This thematic group also includes the names of settlements associated with religious and religious vocabulary. These oikonyms include: the Bogomolovo farm, the village of Bogoslovka, the village of Blizhnaya Igumenka, the village of Dalnaya Igumenka. In total, 46 names of settlements are recorded in the oikonomic system of the Belgorod Region, which are associated with the names of churches or the names of church holidays, as well as other religious vocabulary.

A number of geographical names are associated with the history of the settlement of the territory and official activities of the population. Of course, in any territory you can find the geographical names of various historical eras. One of the most characteristic features of the second half of the XVI-first half of the XVII centuries is the development and settlement of the border areas of the Russian state. With the advent of fortified cities, the border Belgorod territory was populated by various categories of the population, among whom a significant part were service people, who often settled in villages by occupation. Traces of such settlements were reflected in the toponymy of the Belgorod region: the village of Streletskoye, the village of Kazatskoye, the village of Kazachye, the village of Pushkarnoye, the village of Storozhevoye, the village of Porubezhnoye, the village of Rubezhniy Log. The official activities of the population of the region are also reflected in toponymy: the village of Kaznacheevka, the Pisarevka farm, the village of Tolmachev.

Many local geographical names reflect the characteristics of the economic activity of the population of the region or features of life, among which several groups can be distinguished. The first is composed of names reflecting the names of crafts and occupations of the population of our region: Bondari farm, Degtyarnoye village, Pasechny village, Pasiki village, the village of Maslova Pristan. The second group is represented by oikonyms formed from the name of the association of people or the name of agricultural enterprises: Zavodtsy village, Khutor Zavody village, Artelnoye village, Sovkhozny village, Plodovoyagodny village, Sveklovichny village.

Many geographical names in Belgorod Oblast reflect social and ethnic names. So, there are oikonyms that reflect the estate status of village owners: Boyarskoye farm, Generalovka farm, Grafovka village, Mayorshchina village. A number of Belgorod oikonyms are due to ethnic names that are associated with the resettlement of the Ukrainian population: Cherkasskoye village, Khokhlovo village. In addition, we find oikonyms that appeared in connection with the movement of non-Slavic ethnic groups: the Bessarab farm, the village of Vengerovka, the village of Arapovka.

Oikonyms with an abstract ideological meaning are diverse both in appearance time and in the semantics of basic elements. In this thematic group of oikonyms, assessment and metaphorical names are distinguished, which differ in significant stylistic coloring: the village of Blagodatny, the village of Bogatoye, the village of Veselove, the village of Dobroe, the village of Druzhny, the village of Nadezhny, the village of Privetny, the village of Svetly, the village of Khoroshiy. It is important to note that with the metaphorical emergence of oikonyms, their connection with objects is often conditional. In addition, there is a group of oikonyms that reflect memorial names. I.A. Zhilenkova notes that «in the toponymy of the 20th century. this principle of nomination becomes the most active» [2, p.41]. The surnames and names of figures and prominent persons act as production bases in such names: Gorkovsky village, Kalininsky village, Kirovsky village, Leninsky village, Vladimirovka farm, Chapaevsky village, Gubkin city. The third subgroup is made up of names — symbols of the soviet era: Pervomaiskoye village, Maysky village, Zarya Socialism village, Komsomolsky village, Proletarsky village, Krasnaya Zvezda village, Krasny May village, Krasnooktyabrsky village, Krasnosoldatsky village. Oikonyms with abstract ideological significance represent the type of geographical names in which, according to V.D. Belenkaya, “… the social essence of the language is clearly visible, for toponymy, to a greater extent than any other lexical subsystem, reflects the peculiarity of the social life of this human collective” [1, p. 24].

The last thematic group of oikonyms of the Belgorod region is made up of names associated with the migration to our region of the population of their other territories. 20 similar oikonyms were recorded, among which one can distinguish: the Yelets farm (founded by immigrants from the city of Yelets, Lipetsk Region); Kostroma village (Kostroma city); Kursk village (obvious connection with the name of the city of Kursk); Victoropol (Victoropol city in Ukraine); Rylsky farm (city of Rylsk, Kursk region); Sumy farm (city of Sumy); the village of Tulyanka (Tula city); Kharkivske village (Kharkov city).

Conclusion

Thus, we see that the geographical names of cities, villages, farms of the Belgorod region are determined by various factors. An analysis of the oikonyms of the cultural and historical nature of the Belgorod region showed that the historical and socio-economic facts of the development of our region were reflected in these names. These names, being refracted through the consciousness of people, acquire in oikonymy not only a nominative function, but also but also a characterological or evaluative sign.