Methods and motives for nominating geographical sites in the Chinese and Russian languages

Abstract

The goal of this research is to determine the characteristics of methods in nominating geographical sites in the Chinese and Russian languages. Toponyms (geographical names) are a subsystem in the national language lexicon that describes the vast territory of each country, as well as the names of various specific geographical sites recognized in the geographical environment. Toponyms, being proper names, represent not only geographical nomenclature units, but are rich in historical and cultural connotations. The development of toponymy as an independent scientific field has an extensive background. In the course of time, the toponymic research was often reinforced by scientific data in different fields, such as comparative-historical linguistics, history, geography, and other. In continuation of previous research, this article analyzes the similarities and differences between the Russian and Chinese toponyms. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the following: 1) generalization of the data on the semantics of toponyms from linguistic perspective; 2) characterization of language specifics and significance of toponyms in the Chinese and Russian languages; 3) description of toponyms in connotative and linguocultural aspects. The relevance of the selected topic is substantiated by cultural importance of the Russian and Chinese toponyms, which are analyzed in accordance with principle of nominating motives. The comparison of toponyms in the indicated aspect is of particular importance for broadening the areas of research in toponymy and the theory of cross-cultural communication. As a result, the author reveals the similar and different types of the meanings of toponyms in the Russian and Chinese languages.