2022, Volume 19, Issue 2

Back to the Table of Contents

Boskha Kh. Borlykova
Badma V. Menyaev

Kalmyk State University
Elista, Russia

Towards the Study of Oirat Hydronyms of the Ili River

Voprosy onomastiki, 2022, Volume 19, Issue 2, pp. 104–126 (in Russian)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2022.19.2.019

Received on 13 June 2021

Abstract: The paper explores Oirat hydronyms of the basin of the River of Ili (known as Ili, Tekes, Dzhirgalan, Ulan Bulak, Artsata Musar, etc.) recorded in a variety of written and oral sources of the 17th–21st centuries in different graphic and phonetic variants (in the Oirat “Clear Script,” in Latin, and in Cyrillic). Oirat river names are significantly distorted when rendered into other languages, which complicates their etymological interpretation. The material under consideration includes the translation of the 17th century “Biography of Zaya-pandita,” the map of Dzungaria by Ivan Unkovsky (1722–1724), the map of the Dzungar state of 1738 by Johan Gustaf Renat, dictionaries of the Mongolian and Turkic languages, the archive materials of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kalmyk Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as personal field materials of the authors collected in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan (in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021) and the Mongol-Kurya county of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of People’s Republic of Korea (in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021). Geographical names of the Ili River basin are very well preserved in folklore of Sart Kalmyks living in the Tekes River valley until the second half of the 19th century, as well as in the Oirat-Mongolian folklore of Xinjiang. Typologically, Oirat hydronyms of the Ili River basin include: 1) names that can be attributed to both Mongolian (Oirat) and Turkic vocabulary, 2) hybrid names consisting of Turkic and Mongolian words, 3) original Oirat names, 4) names associated with Buddhism. The semantic and etymological analysis of the Oirat hydronyms of the Ili River basin indicates that in past times, seasonal migrations of the Oirats-nomads largely depended on the water landscape, which reflected in the detailed terminology of hydrographic objects.

Keywords: hydronyms, the Ili River basin, maps of Dzungaria, written documents, Sart-Kalmyk folklore, Oirat-Mongolian folklore, geographical terms, etymology.

Acknowledgements

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-012-00537 А Language, Folklore, Historical and Cultural Heritage of Sart-Kalmyks in Kyrgyzstan from the Perspective of Russian Researchers: Historical Background and Current Situation (Based on Archive and Field Materials).

References

Agapkina, T. A., Berezovich, E. L., & Surikova, O. D. (2018). Toponimiia zagovorov Russkogo Severa. I: moria i reki [Toponyms in the Charms of the Russian North: Rivers and Seas]. Voprosy onomastiki, 15(1), 65–114. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2018.15.1.004

Belyaev, A. G., & Shubnitsina, E. I. (2020). K voprosu o proiskhozhdenii russkoiazychnykh gidronimov basseina reki Shchugor [On the Origin of Russian-Language Hydronyms of the Shchugor River Basin]. Voprosy onomastiki, 17(1), 95–112. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2020.17.1.005

Dmitrieva, T. N. (2017). Toponimiia reki Pelym na rukopisnykh kartakh Antala Reguli i etimologizatsiia mansiiskikh toponimov [Place Names of The Pelym River Area on Antal Reguly’s Handwritten Maps and the Etymologization of Mansi Toponyms]. Voprosy onomastiki, 14(1), 35–55. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2017.14.1.002

Do., Mӧngke (2013). Baraqun kiǰaqar-un erten-ü mongγol qaǰar-un ner-e-yin tobči toyimu — kitad surbulǰi bičig-ün ǰisiyen deger-e. ǰokiyaba [A Short Collection of Early Mongolian Toponyms of the Western Territory (Xinjiang), Compiled on the Basis of Chinese Sources]. Urumči: Sinǰiyang-un arad-un keblel-ün yerüngkei qoriya.

Dondukov, U.-Zh. Sh. (1975). O nekotorykh iazykovykh osobennostiakh issyk-kul’skikh kalmykov [On Some Linguistic Features of the Issyk-Kul Kalmyks]. Problemy altaistiki i mongolovedeniia. Ser. lingvistiki, 2, 216–233.

Grekov, V. I. (1960). Ocherki istorii russkikh geograficheskikh issledovanii v 1725–1765 gg. [Essays on the History of Russian Geographical Research in 1725–1765]. Moscow: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

Kara, D. (2012). Sart-Kalmyk — Kalmyks of Ysyk-Köl (Karakol, Kirghizstan). In A. Birtalan (Ed.), Oirad and Kalmyk Linguistic Essays (pp. 197–210). Budapest: ELTE Eötvös Kiado.

Lidzhiev, A. B. (2013). Ob antroponimakh i toponimakh zapadnomongol’skikh narodov [On Anthroponyms and Toponyms of the Western Mongolian Peoples]. Polevye issledovaniia, 1, 127–155.

Menyaev, B. V. (2008). Teksty, posviashchennye kul’tu bodkhisatvy Avalokiteshvary u kalmykov [Texts Dedicated to the Cult of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara among the Kalmyks]. In D. N. Muzrayeva, N. G. Ochirova (Eds.), Buddiiskaia traditsiia v Kalmykii v XX veke: pamiati O. M. Dordzhieva (Tugmed-gavdzhi) [Buddhist Tradition in Kalmykia in the 20th Century: in Memory of O. M. Dordzhiev (Tugmed-gavdzhi)] (pp. 75–89). Elista: KIGI RAN.

Menkhbaiar, Ch. (2019). Renatyn I. G. gazryn zurag dakh’ gazar usny nersiin khar’tsuulsan sudalgaa [Comparative Study of Toponyms Recorded on the Renat’s Map]. In A. Batsuur’, Na. Sukhbaatar, & Ts. Purevsuren (Eds.), Tod үsg — 370. Oirad sudlalyn olon ulsyn erdem shinzhilgeenii VI khurlyn iltgeliin emetgel [Clear Script — 370. Materials of the 6th International Conference on Oirat Studies] (pp. 28–58). Ulaanbaatar: Tod nomyn gerel tev.

Monraev, M. U., & Monraeva, E. M. (2008). Toponimika Sin’tsziana i Kalmykii v sravnitel’nom osveshchenii [Toponymy of Xinjiang and Kalmykia in the Comparative Aspect]. Nauchnaia mysl’ Kavkaza, 4(2), 64–67.

Murzaev, E. M. (1974). Ocherki toponimiki [Essays on Toponymy]. Moscow: Mysl’.

Nadelyaev, V. M. et al. (Eds.). (1969). Drevnetiurkskii slovar’ [Old Turkic Dictionary]. Leningrad: Nauka.

Omakaeva, E. U. (2012). Toponimiia Sin’tsziana kak otrazhenie oiratoiazychnoi kul’tury regiona: etnolingvisticheskii aspekt [Toponymy of Xinjiang as a Reflection of the Oirat-Speaking Culture of the Region: An Ethnolinguistic Aspect]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo instituta gumanitarnykh issledovanii RAN, 4, 162–174.

Pavlov, D. V. (1990). Karakol’skie kalmyki i ikh iazyk [Karakol Kalmyks and their Language]. Elista: Kalmyk State University.

Radlov, V. V. (1963–1964). Opyt slovaria tiurkskikh narechii [Dictionary of Turkic Dialects] (Vols. 1–2). St Petersburg: Izd-vo vost. literatury.

Ramstedt, G. J. (1935). Kalmückisches Wörterbuch. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen seura.

Sanchirov, V. P. (2011). K izucheniiu toponimiki oiratov i kalmykov (XVII–XVIII vv.) [To the Study of the Toponymy of the Oirats and Kalmyks]. Novyi istoricheskii vestnik, 3(29), 67–73.

Tenishev, E. R. (1976). O iazyke kalmykov Issyk-Kulia [About the Language of the Kalmyks of Issyk-Kul]. Voprosy iazykoznaniia, 1, 82–87.

Todaeva, B. Kh. (2001). Slovar’ iazyka oiratov Sin’tsziana [Dictionary of the Oirat Language of Xinjiang]. Elista: Kalmyts. kn. izd-vo.

Volobuev, V. I. (2018). Karta Dzhungarskogo gosudarstva 1738 g. I. G. Renata kak istoriko-geograficheskii istochnik [Map of the Dzungar State in 1738 by J. G. Renat as a Historical and Geographical Source]. Moscow: Probel-2000.