Urbonnymy of new towns in Transbaikalia (case-study of Severobaikalsk)

Varfolomeeva Yuliya Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0003-2914-5804 Doctor of Philology Associate Professor; Institute of History and Philology; Buryat State University named after Dorji Banzarova 670000, Russia, Rep. 24a Smolina Street, Sovetsky district, Ulan-Ude, Buryatia yulvar83@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Baikalov Nikolai Sergeevich ORCID: 0000-0002-2511-9003 Doctor of History Director; Institute of History and Philology; Buryat State University named after Dorji Banzarova 670000, Russia, Rep. 24a Smolina Street, Sovetsky district, Ulan-Ude, Buryatia baikalchik@yandex.ru

Introduction

The relevance of this work is related to the attention of modern linguistics to the problems of learning the language of the city ^{[11, pp. 22-30]} - a multifaceted phenomenon studied today from linguistic, historical, cultural and other aspects ^{[4, p. 7]}. Urbanonymy, which acts as a system for nominating urban objects ^[8], includes godonyms - street names, which are among the most stable elements in onomastics, and ergonyms - names of organizations and institutions ^{[12, p. 151]}, which are perhaps one of the most mobile. From the synthesis of the concepts ergonym and urbanym, R.I. Kozlov ^[9] creates the term ergourbonym, used in linguistic practice ^{[4, 5]}. Ergourbonyms are the names of commercial urban enterprises localized on the territory of a particular urban settlement ^{[4, 5]}. The growing number of different commercial enterprises (hairdressers, hotels, shopping malls, etc.) At the end of CC and the beginning of CCI, V. led to a real boom in nominations. Unlike godonyms, ergourbonyms very quickly "respond" to the economic and image changes of the city, therefore, the study of these two layers of the onomastic system is an urgent linguistic task, which helps to identify the unique linguistic environment of the city.

Godonyms carry information about the history and culture of the territory, its geographical location and features. Godonyms contribute to the formation of the image of the city and the collective identity of the inhabitants ^[3]. Ergourbonyms perform many functions, including image and navigation, consisting in shaping the image of the territory and contributing to orientation in urban space ^[5]. Ergourbonyms reflect the culture, history, traditions, and geographical location of the served area.

Onomastic theory is currently developing quite actively: first of all, we can single out the works of the Ural onomastic school ^{[6, 7]}. The study of the field organization of toponyms should be recognized as new in the field of onomastics ^[10]. In the presence of works in the field of toponymy of Transbaikalia ^{[13, 14]}, it should be noted that the urban name of Severobaikalsk has been little studied. Some works relate to the study of the hodonomy of the Bamovsk settlements ^[3] and the toponymic space of the new cities of Transbaikalia ^[2].

The main theoretical basis of the research is the works of R.I. Kozlov ^[9], Yu.V. Vairakh ^[4], R.M. Amirova ^[1], who introduced the term "ergourbonym" and described the specifics of the ergourbonymy of Irkutsk and Kazan, M.V. Golomidova ^{[7, 8]}, who studies the urban name of a modern city, etc. The object of this work are godonyms - the most stable and ergourbonyms - the most mobile elements of the onomastic structure.

The empirical research base consists of cartographic materials: 2GIS maps and diagrams ^[15], the MapData resource ^[16] listing all streets of the settlement, as well as personal observation data.

Discussion and results

In this work, the new cities of Transbaikalia include settlements formed during the Soviet period in a sparsely populated area, which are being transferred to the status of cities. One of these is the city of Severobaikalsk, which arose as a tent camp in 1974 and was transferred to the status of a city of republican subordination in 1980. The city is an important settlement, the emergence of which is inextricably linked with the construction of the Baikal-Amur railway.

As of February 2025, there are 177 streets in the city of Severobaikalsk. Godonyms are classified on different grounds: historical, word-formation, semantic. This paper presents a thematic classification.

The first group of godonyms in Severobaikalsk consists of names that contain an appeal to the Soviet past, for example, streets 18 of the Komsomol Congress, October, 60 years of the Komsomol, Prospekt 60 years of the USSR, Pervomaiskaya, Sovetskaya, 25-letiya BAM Street, Bamovskaya Street, Bamovsky Lane, streets Locomotive and Magistralnaya, Stroiteley,Mostostroiteley, lane Builders and others.

The second group includes godonyms due to the geographical location of the city, associated with existing hydronyms and names of other natural objects: Severnaya, Yuzhnaya, Zarechnaya, Sibirskaya, Olkhonskaya streets (named after the largest island of Lake Baikal), Baikalskaya, Baikalsky Lane, kilometer Baikal highway 4, Kichersky Lane (named after the village in the North-Baikal region), Niyskaya Street (named after a river in the Irkutsk region), Rodnikovy Lane, etc.

Some street names look unmotivated, however, their existence is historically determined. So, during the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, workers from all over the Union flocked to the city of Severobaikalsk, for example, from Leningrad, which resulted in the emergence of Leningradskaya Street and Leningradsky Prospekt. In addition, the city has Moskovskaya, Uralskaya, Kamchatskaya, Krymskaya, Vladimirskaya streets, Volgogradsky, Volzhsky, Uralsky, Baltiysky, and others. This category also includes names related to the oikonym: kilometer of the Severobaikalsk-Baikalskoye 3 Road, Kilometer of the Severobaikalsk-Nizhneangarsk 5 Road, etc.

The third group includes names that refer to the names of famous figures, these are, first of all, revolutionaries, politicians, pilots, aircraft designers, cosmonauts, writers: Lenin Streets, named after Krupskaya, Dzerzhinsky, Chkalov, Tupolev, named after Tupolev, Sukhov, Cosmonaut Volkov, Volkov Lane, Namsaraev Street, named after Rich Vladimir Romanovich, Stepan Razin, and others.

The fourth group consists of names created on the basis of metaphorical or metonymic transfer, and most often dating back to Soviet rhetoric: streets of Peace, April, Spring, Star, Green, Friendship, Labor, Freedom, Jubilee, Pionersky, May, April, and others.

The fifth group is represented by names characterizing the social structure of society. Since the BAM was driven primarily by young people, this is recorded in the street names: Molodezhnaya, Studencheskaya, Komsomolskaya, Sportivnaya, Yunosti Avenue, etc.

The sixth group includes godonyms – the names of professions, these are primarily the names of those who built the BAM: Proletarsky alleys, Tunnel alleys, Tunnel streets, Builders, Signalmen, Tunnellers, Workers, Bridge builders, Geologicheskaya. There are godonyms referring to the professions and activities of people living in this territory that were popular in Soviet times: Cosmonauts, Trade Union, Agrarian, Polygraphists, Hunter, Sovkhozny lanes, Hunter.

The seventh group contains navigation godonyms that help to navigate in space, since they "describe" the position of the street relative to infrastructure facilities: Vokzalnaya, Zheleznodorozhnaya, Zavodskaya, Magistralnaya, Warehouse streets, Zheleznodorozhny, Club, Beach Passage, School, etc.

The eighth group contains ethnic names, it is worth noting that the city in question does not have names that appeal to the indigenous peoples living in this territory, but only those that refer to Slavic peoples: Slavyanskaya Street. This circumstance is explained by the "youth" of the city and its emergence in connection with the construction of the BAM during the Soviet period.

The ninth group consists of plant names, mainly references to trees and shrubs growing in the area: the Spruce quarter, Malinovaya, Ryabinovaya, Sosnovaya streets, Lilac Lane, etc.

The tenth group consists of names containing the characteristics of the area: Linear, Spacious, Light, Bypass, Nagornaya, Seismic streets (the city is located in a zone of high seismic activity), Bypass, Sunny lanes, etc.

Numbering names in Severobaikalsk are significantly common: 1st quarter, Quarter 1/2, 2nd quarter, 3rd quarter 4th quarter, 5th microdistrict, 6th block, 7th mkr 3 Line Street, 7th microdistrict, 8th microdistrict, Veteran 14th line – there are 28 items in total.

The boundaries between the groups are quite vague, so the names of the streets of the 18th Congress of the Komsomol, October, 60 years of the Komsomol, Prospect 60 years of the USSR can be attributed to both Soviet and numbered, Zelenaya Street to metaphorical and characterizing the area, etc.

The percentage distribution of godonyms by group is shown in Table1.

Table 1. Groups of godonyms of Severobaikalsk, %.

As can be seen from Table 1, geographical and numbering ones are "confidently leading" among the godonyms. Ethnic, social, and plant groups are the least represented. In general, different groups of godonyms contain references to Soviet history, which can be traced both in geographical and metaphorical godonyms, as well as in memorabilia, social and professional names.

The ergourbonyms of Severobaikalsk are also quite diverse. Continuing the thematic classification, the following groups of names can be distinguished.

The first group consists of ergourbonyms that contain references to the Soviet past, such as the name of the pharmacy Sovetskaya or cafe USSR. There are names referring to the construction of the Baikal-Amur mainline: BAM grocery store.

The second group consists of geographically determined names, in Severobaikalsk these are, first of all, those related to Lake Baikal (cafe Olkhon, clinic Baikal, restaurants Baikal, Barguzin, Center of Baikal hospitality souvenirs of Baikal, supermarket Northern Baikal) or more broadly - to Siberia, Asia: cafe Siberian gourmet, Asia, PanAsia store, Sayans.

The third group is represented by names, and not only by Greek-Slavic ones: Ruslan grocery store, Albina's posnaya, Victoria, Elena cafe, Margarita grocery stores, Natalie, Nadezhda, Vika, Honey Glebushka, but also Buryat (Dari posnaya, Gayane cafe), Turkic (Nazir cafe). Among other things, names referring to literature, mythology, and history appear among the names: Hermes grocery stores, Jupiter, Pegasus bar, Helios cafe; Ruslan and Lyudmila barbershop, Genghis Khan cafe.

The fourth group is formed by metaphorical ergourbonyms: April stores, Fragrance, World of childhood, Economy, Grocery basket, Catch (everything for fishing), Druzhok pet store, Guests restaurant, Bee hairdresser, Dobraya canteen, Elite bar, Trucker canteen, Planet shops, Mayak, Well-fed dad, Bread and salt. Most of these names are motivated.

The fifth group includes navigation names: Central Pharmacy, Prospect sales hall, Boulevard store, etc.

The sixth group consists of foreign-language or transliterated names: DIGIS service center, STENDERS natural soap store, Aura resto club, GARDEROB, BurgerFamily cafe, SuperBurger, ECOLAND travel agency, Rassvet cafe, Wi-fi, Sportcity store, MODISTA atelier, ULTRA store, Buzanoise, Sagaan dali. As can be seen from the names, English-language versions dominate, there are Buryat ones.

Names referring to animal or plant themes make up the following group: Apple stores, Mango stores, Flamingo cafes, etc.

The following are groups of ergourbonyms that have no parallels in the godonymic classification.

The eighth group contains functional ergourbonyms that were in demand during the Soviet period and are still actively used today: Lawyer, Stationery store, Canteen, Groceries, Cafe, Computers, Grocery store, Buffet, Flowers, Cheburechnaya, Jewelry, Bags, Belts, Shopping Center, Sporting goods, German shoes, Newspapers, Pharmacy, Barbecue, Vegetables And Fruits, Carpets, Car Service, Gasoline Tools.

The ninth group consists of diminutive names that characterize mainly children's objects: baby shop, Bee kids. In other cases, similar names may raise questions: cafe Baikalochka, the Severyanochka chain of stores, the Grocery House, the Ostrov grocery store, the Pugovka atelier. As a rule, there is an explanation for such names, for example, the Grocery store has an extremely small area, etc.

The tenth group consists of brands: DNS, Traffic light, MTS, WILDBERRIS, OZON, KARI, etc.

The eleventh group consists of names based on a language game or rhyme: mini-market Beer fish and tequila, fishing shop Klevaya dot, supermarket Meat sausages and whiskey, cafe Miracle+Dish, Myasnoff's store, etc.

The most popular groups of ergourbonyms are geographical, containing names, functional, foreign-language or transliterated, and metaphorical.

As can be seen from the material, in comparison with conservative godonyms, ergourbonyms respond quickly to socio-historical changes.

Conclusion

The conclusions of the work include the following: despite the fact that godonyms are the most conservative component of the onomastic system, the godonymy of Severobaikalsk is quite diverse, as a result of the study, eleven thematic groups were identified. The Soviet heritage plays a great role in street names: godonyms referring to the Soviet period of history, Soviet symbols, memorabilia of the Soviet era, metaphorical names, professions in demand during the Soviet era.

The ergourbonymy of Severobaikalsk is also represented by eleven thematic groups, which indicates a sufficient variety of names. In addition to the traditional methods of nominating, similar to those used in the formation of godonyms, modern ones appear: calculus, the use of foreign words, brand names, language games, mixing Latin and Cyrillic letters, etc. Ergourbonyms are much more mobile, changeable, and reflect modern trends in society. In general, urban names help to orient oneself in urban space, form an idea of a settlement, reflect the history and current trends in the development of society.

With further research on the topic, it will be possible to trace changes in the nomination system due to various events in society, etc. For example, it will be interesting to analyze the system of new nominations after the "departure" of brand names. In addition, it is interesting to identify localities with more conservative trends in the development of urban names and those that reflect current trends to a greater extent. The study of not only ergourbonyms and godonyms, but also the names of other objects of the urban environment is a promising research perspective.