Происхождение этнонима цонгоол

Abstract

The article deals with the origin of the tribal name Coŋgōl or Tsongool, in other orthography. It also known as Soŋgōl or Songool in Buryat pronunciation, where the Written Mongolian [č] developed into [s] through the step [ts] in position before a vowel other than [i]. We argue the connection of the word with the ethnic name Čuŋul ~ Čumul, attested in different spelling forms in Chinese, Old Turkic, Khotanese Saka and Persian texts, in connection with the history of Eastern Turkestan and Gan-su Province of China, at least from the of the 7th to the 11th centuries A. D., and also preserved now among the ethnonyms of the Sarïg-Yogur people as Čoŋïl ~ Čuŋïl. In the latter case, the fact of historical continuity cannot raise any doubts. According to the results of this research, it is possible to argue that the community arrived to territory of modern South Buryatia to become subjects of the Russian Tsar at the end of the 17th century had already pronounced the name Tsongool (< WMong. Čongγol) in the variant Tsoŋgol, taking into account the fact that the designation of a vowel in the second syllable as a long one is a later orthographic phenomenon in Buryat. In other words, they were attested the resulted phonetic development [č] > [ts] and consistent vowel labialization in both syllables of the word, regardless of the peculiarity of the Tsongol dialect of Buryat language, where the development of WMong. [u] > [o] is observed. In this manner it can be interpreted the form of the tribal name known among the Barguzin Evenks čåŋgå̄lʹi̯r as reflected the first mentioned process. This point can also be confirmed by the data on onomastics of the persons associated with the Tsongols, attested in the later 17th century, where it can be found the development [č] > [ts] > [s]. It is discussed the problem of correlating two phonetic forms in connection with the chronology of the appearance of Tsongols in the territory of modern Buryatia. Despite the absence of any earlier information about the existence of a group with this name in the region, they are known the legends according to which the territory of origin of the Tsongols is localized in the valley of the Kuda River (in modern Irkutsk region), where a small group with the name Songool (Tsongool) was recorded back in the 19th century. Explaining the chronology of phonetic changes in a historical context requires future research.