DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2663-4619/115/17-21
Arzu Abbasova
Nakhchivan State University
PhD in Philology
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3264-9538
arzu088@gmail.com
Toponyms of Western Azerbaijan in Ancient Turkic Sources and
Their Armenianized Versions
Abstract
One of the most intriguing groups of words in the language's vocabulary are toponyms. Toponyms hold special significance in the history of every nation. That is why, within the onomastic structure of a language, toponyms are considered among the oldest lexical units. The origins of many toponyms from various languages date back to times much earlier than the written monuments of those languages.
Toponymic research based on ancient Turkic sources reveals that the historical toponyms of Western Azerbaijan contain words from the ancient dialects of the Azerbaijani language. Some of these words are still in use today, while others have changed in meaning and continue to exist in the language as dialectisms.
Toponymic studies show that although the majority of toponyms from Western Azerbaijan — including Nakhchivan and its surrounding areas, which are mentioned in Ottoman sources as integral parts of a unified Azerbaijan — have been preserved to this day, it is unfortunate that, as a result of historical processes, many geographical names in the lost territories have been altered or completely erased for political and ideological purposes.
Keywords: ancient Turkic sources, Western Azerbaijan, toponyms, lexical unit, Ottoman sources