From the Microtoponymic Continuum of the Uzda Region

Abstract

The question of necessity to preserve the names of small geographical sites has emerged in Belarusian linguistics. The main purpose of the article is to identify and analyse the microtoponyms of the Kamenkovsky Village Council as part of the toponymic continuum of the Uzda region. One scientific publication by R. A Filippovich is devoted to the analysis of the microtoponymic units of marked territory, where microtoponyms of the village of Kul of Uzda district are studied.

The author of the article collected the material for the study by talking to the residents of the studied area and analysed it in structural and semantic terms.

Microtoponyms of onym and appellative origin are distinguished. Toponymic names are formed by adjectivation from the names of villages and by direct transferring of the name of a larger site to a smaller one. Anthroponymic units are usually formed from the full name or nickname of the person on whose territory a specific geographical site is located. Microtoponyms of apellative origin are often motivated by the appearance or internal characteristics of geographical items; features of the natural environment; structures towering over the territory; they also reflect economic processes and keep the memory of historical events, people’s occupations, etc.