Abstract:
The article considers regional issues of the Kazakh transtoposystem.
There are a number of problematic issues related to cross-border Kazakh
toponymy. The article analyzes only one aspect – the status of binary names in the
cross-border toposystem. The goal is to study how obvious the binary opposition is
there, considering the etymology of toponyms based on semantic opposition. The
toposystem of the Northern and Western regions bordering Russia was used as the
empirical material for the study. According to the border administrative-regional
division, a number of districts of such regions of the country as North Kazakhstan,
Pavlodar, Kostanay, Western Kazakhstan, Aktobe, and Atyrau border with Russia.
In the article, a series of binary names along the toponyms of this cross-border zone
is formed. In particular, Úlken-Kіshі (Big-Small), Aq-Qara (Black-White), Qara-Sary
(Black-Yellow), Jaqsy-Jaman (Good-Bad), Jyly-Sýyq (Warm-Cold), and Ashy-Tushy
(Bitter-Fresh) are analyzed. The difference between toponymic binary names
and lexical antonyms is considered. We discuss the fact that the contradiction in
lexical antonyms is clearly expressed, but in binary opposition along toponyms,
the contradiction may not be complete. It is reported that the contradiction of
toponyms is recognized only in the toponymic context, and sometimes it is even
possible to form a related pair, rather than a semantic contradiction.
