Linguoecological Aspect of Studying the Toponimic Lexis of the Baikal Region

Abstract

The article is an attempt to examine data from toponymic studies of the Baikal region from the linguoecological point of view. Geographical names of the region are of considerable interest in various aspects of linguistic knowledge, but have not yet been considered in the linguoecological context. This determines the relevance of the study. To demonstrate the main ways of developing regional toponymy in the linguoecological aspect, we bring a classification of the corresponding approaches. This classification includes interpretation of four research lines: the symbolic ecology of language, the natural ecology of language, the sociocultural ecology of language and the cognitive ecology of language [1]. Having presented this classification, we trace the ideas of ecolinguistics on aforecited lines in the data of regional toponymic material research. Identified within the framework of the article the thesis of the systemic toponymy, the idea of the coexistence of languages within a certain geographical area, explicated toponymic appellatives of the appropriate lexis, require a comprehension in the linguoecological aspect. The main conclusion of the article is that regional toponyms are ecologically significant linguistic objects. The article can be of wide interest while investigating issues of journalistic practice in the context of the modern media environment formation.