LEXICAL-SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NON-TURKIC ORIGIN NAMES IN AZERBAIJANI TOPONYMY

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 112 LEXICAL-SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NON-TURKIC ORIGIN NAMES IN AZERBAIJANI TOPONYMY Aygun Jafarova Senior Lecturer, Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts PhD Candidate, Azerbaijan University of Languages ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9396-5148 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17791954 Abstract. The mutual influence of various ethnic groups and languages has played a significant role in the formation of Azerbaijani toponymy. As a result of the centuries-old political and cultural history of our territory, numerous geographical names of non-Turkic origin have become widespread in our language system. These toponyms are valuable both as carriers of historical events and as elements of the ethnic memory of the people. Studying their structural and lexical features makes it possible to identify the ancient layers of our linguistic history and to trace ethno-cultural connections. Keywords: Azerbaijani toponymy, non-Turkic origin names, onomastics, lexical-semantic method, ethnolinguistics. One of the interesting aspects of non-Turkic toponyms is their structural characteristics. Structurally, such toponyms may be simple, derived, or compound. Quantitatively, simplestructured non-Turkic toponyms are fewer than compound ones. It should be noted that many toponyms that appear to have a simple structure in modern Azerbaijani, upon historical examination, turn out to be complex, consisting of multiple components. For example: Abjit (Balakən – of Iranian origin); Avdur (Khojavend – Persian); Ambu (Lerik – Talysh); Amsar (Quba – Arabic); Arvan (Julfa – Arabic); Bili (Astara – Talysh); Biu (Astara – Talysh); Qeskon (Lerik – Talysh); Ərəb (Aghdash – Arabic); Zeyd (Quba – Arabic); Kalva (Aghsu – Tat); Katex (Balakən – Avar); Nic (Qabala – Udi) — and hundreds of similar examples may be cited. Although these non-Turkic toponyms appear simple in form, many are actually of compound structure. For instance, Abjit seems simple but derives from the Iranian words ab (“water”) and jət/jit (“bitumen”). Avdur is formed from Persian ab/av (“water”) and duru (“clear”), meaning “pure water.” Ambu comes from Talysh ambu (“pear”) and honi (“spring”). Bili derives from the Talysh bil (“marsh, wet place”) and the suffix -i. Biu consists of the Talysh elements büy (“smell”) and ov (“water”). Qeskon in Talysh means “joined houses.” Kalva is from Tat kələ (“large”) and ova/oba (“settlement”). Katex comes from the Avar kats (“pass”) and xe/ex (“water”). In contrast, some toponyms are genuinely simple in both form and historical development, such as: Amsar (Quba) – the plural of Arabic misr (“city”); Ərəb (Aghdash) – a simple Arabic-derived form; Arvana (Julfa) – from Arabic arvana (“two-humped camel”); Bist (Ordubad) – from Persian bist/bəst (“valley”); Zeyd – a phonetic variant of Arabic sayyid; Nadil (near Ganja, modern Goygol district) – meaning “land share,” from the Russian period term Nadel, referring to plots of land granted to peasants after the abolition of serfdom. Considering their formation methods, the grammatical features of non-Turkic toponyms can be studied in several directions. Since toponyms are linguistic units, they follow linguistic INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 113 laws. If these toponyms are historically ancient, they allow us to trace archaic features of our language. The study of the formation and development processes of both Turkic and non-Turkic toponymic units is therefore among the main objectives of our research. Accordingly, nonTurkic toponyms that have entered our lexical system may be classified by formation method as follows: 1. Formed by lexical means; 2. Formed by morphological means; 3. Formed by syntactic means. 1. Toponyms Formed by Lexical Means Just as ordinary words can be created lexically, onomastic units can also arise through the same process. Not all common words in a language participate in toponym formation — some appellatives are more productive than others, and this phenomenon extends across all categories of onomastic names. In linguistic theory, lexical word formation is considered one of the oldest derivational processes. It occurs without the use of additional grammatical means: words expressing general notions become fixed as names of geographic locations. This method has been widely employed in the naming of toponyms. Lexical formation generally includes simple and sometimes compound words that do not break down into smaller parts, e.g., Ərəb, Kalva, Nic, etc. In S. Jafarov’s “Modern Azerbaijani Language” [1, pp.125–152], the process of lexicalsemantic word formation is also described. Within our onomastic system, lexical-semantic name formation has always occurred alongside other methods, and it has been widely used in toponymy. It should be noted that some seemingly simple onomastic units may historically have been derived or compound words. Such cases will be explained throughout the study. This group also includes geographical names formed with archaic suffixes no longer productive in the modern literary language — e.g., Amsar, Ərəb, Zeyd, Çərəkə, etc. Some onomastic units are created through conversion, that is, by semantic shift — when a word belonging to one part of speech transitions to another, typically becoming a noun and thus a toponym. Based on V. Aliyev’s classification [2], when examining toponyms of nonTurkic origin in Azerbaijan, several cases of conversion can be identified: Anthroponyms becoming toponyms: Zamanpəyəsi, Zamanlı (Gədəbəy), Zeynəddin (Yardımlı), Zeynəddin (Babək), Zərqulu (Kəlbəcər), Zərbəli (Cəlilabad), Ziyadlı (Samux), İbrahimkənd (Şəki), İdrisoba (Xaçmaz), etc. Ethnonyms becoming toponyms: Daşveysəlli (Cəbrayıl), Eyvazlı (Qubadlı), Əvcədulan (Yardımlı), Əmirvarlı (Cəbrayıl), Əmirzeyidli (Beyləqan); and those formed with the ethnonym Ərəb – Ərəb (Ağdaş, Laçın, Masallı, Xaçmaz), Ərəbbəsrə (Yevlax), Ərəbqardaşbəyli (Neftçala), Ərəbqədim (Qobustan), Ərəbqubalı (Kürdəmir), Ərəbya-tağı (Cəbrayıl), Ərəbyengicə (Şərur), Ərəblər (Bərdə, Dəvəçi), Qrız (Quba), etc. Hydronyms becoming toponyms: Qudyal (Quba), Katex (Balakən), Jiy (Yardımlı), etc. Zoonym-based toponyms: Düldül (Şəmkir), Əngəvul (Şamaxı), Kaftaran-dağ (Qobustan), etc. Plant-name-based toponyms: Əbilə (Lerik), Zalqarağac (Sabirabad), Zəfəran (Baku), Ziring (Qabala), Girik (Qusar), Andurma (Lerik), etc. [3] INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “INTEGRATION OF MODERN LINGUISTICS WITH SCIENCE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION: NEW APPROACHES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”, DECEMBER 4, 2025 114 Non-Turkic toponyms in Azerbaijan thus exist in simple, derived, and compound forms. Many seemingly simple names — Abjit, Avdur, Ambu, Bili, Qeskon, Kalva, Katex, etc. — are actually complex in structure and traceable to Persian, Arabic, Tat, Talysh, and Avar languages. In contrast, names like Amsar, Ərəb, Arvana, Bist, and Zeyd are simple both in origin and structure. Toponyms have been created using lexical, morphological, and syntactic methods. Those formed lexically or lexico-semantically (e.g., Ərəb, Zeyd, Çərəkə) reflect ancient layers of the language. Many other toponyms arose through conversion the substantivization of anthroponyms, ethnonyms, hydronyms, zoononyms, and plant names. Conclusion. The study demonstrates that the presence of non-Turkic toponyms in Azerbaijani geographical nomenclature is a natural outcome of the country’s multilayered ethnolinguistic history. These toponyms emerged primarily as a result of historical contacts, migrations, and cultural influences, later integrating into the Turkic linguistic system. Examining their structural and lexical characteristics contributes significantly to identifying ancient strata of the language and enriching national onomastic traditions. REFERENCES 1. Jafarov S. Word Formation in Modern Azerbaijani Language. Baku: ADU, 1960, 204 p. 2. Aliyev V. Azerbaijani Toponymy. Baku: ADPU, 1998, 278 p. 3. Ahmadova E. Azerbaijani Ethnonyms. Baku: Nurlan, 2007, 128 p. 4. Huseynova H. Some Theoretical Problems of Toponymy. Baku, 2006, 153 p.