THE ROLE OF SUBSTRATE AND SUPERSTRATE LEXIS IN THE HISTORICAL STRATIFICATION OF HYDRONYMS

160 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar THE ROLE OF SUBSTRATE AND SUPERSTRATE LEXIS IN THE HISTORICAL STRATIFICATION OF HYDRONYMS Saidova Sugdiona Usanova Ruxshona Students at Denau Entrepreneurship and Pedagogy Institute [email protected] [email protected] https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17627784 Annotation: This article explores the significance of hydronyms (names of water bodies) as linguistic relics that preserve lexical remnants of ancient languages. It introduces the core concepts of linguistic substrate (the influence of an earlier, replaced language) and superstrate (the influence of a dominant, invading language) to argue that the historical stratification of these names provides a unique and valuable chronicle of a region's complex ethnolinguistic history, revealing details about migration, conquest, and cultural assimilation. Keywords: Hydronymy, historical linguistics, substrate, superstrate, toponymy, ethnolinguistics, linguistic strata, language contact. Аннотация: В данной статье рассматривается значение гидронимов (названий водных объектов) как лингвистических реликтов, сохраняющих лексические остатки древних языков. Вводятся ключевые понятия лингвистического субстрата (влияние более раннего, вытесненного языка) и суперстрата (влияние доминирующего языка завоевателей). Утверждается, что историческая стратификация этих названий представляет собой уникальную и ценную летопись сложной этнолингвистической истории региона, раскрывая детали миграции, завоеваний и культурной ассимиляции. Ключевые слова: Гидронимия, историческая лингвистика, субстрат, суперстрат, топонимика, этнолингвистика, лингвистические пласты, языковые контакты. Annotatsiya: Ushbu maqolada gidronimlar (suv havzalari nomlari) qadimgi tillarning leksik qoldiqlarini saqlab qolgan lingvistik yodgorliklar sifatidagi ahamiyati o'rganiladi. Lingvistik substrat (ilgari mavjud bo'lgan va keyinchalik yo'qolib ketgan tilning ta'siri) va superstrat (hukmron, bosqinchi tilning ta'siri) kabi asosiy tushunchalar yoritilgan. Maqolada ushbu nomlarning tarixiy qatlamlanishi migratsiya, istilolar va madaniy assimilyatsiya haqida ma'lumot beruvchi, mintaqaning murakkab etnolingvistik tarixining noyob va qimmatli yilnomasi ekani ta'kidlanadi. Kalit so'zlar: Gidronimiya, tarixiy tilshunoslik, substrat, superstrat, toponimika, etnolingvistika, lingvistik qatlamlar, tillararo aloqa. Introduction Hydronyms, the names of figures of water, often characterize the oldest and most resilient linguistic coating within a geographical country. More than mere geographical labels, they are linguistic fossils, preserving lexical remnants of ancient languages and offering profound insights into the complex history of human migration, conquest, and cultural assimilation. The study of these names, or hydronymy, agrees us to extract historical narratives that have long been covered by subsequent linguistic shifts. This article explores the historical stratification of hydronyms by investigating the roles of substrate and superstrate lexis, arguing that these strata offer a unique and precious chronicle of a region's ethnolinguistic past. In historical linguistics to understand this stratification is crucial to define two key concepts. A linguistic substrate refers to the influence of a language spoken by an original or earlier population on an inward language that eventually replaces it. While the original language disappears from common use, its traces continue, most notably in the 161 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar toponymy of fundamental natural features like rivers and mountains. Conversely, a superstrate includes the language of a politically or culturally leading invading group influencing a native language without wholly displacing it. The dominant language may finally be captivated or withdraw, but it leaves behind a significant lexical outline, particularly in domains related to administration, law, and power. The main argument of this study is that by logically deconstructing the etymological origins of hydronyms, we can identify distinct substrate and superstrate coatings and, in doing so, map the historical sequence of peoples and power dynamics in a given territory. Because names for major rivers are important to human settlement and are passed down through successive generations and linguistic groups, they are exceptionally resistant to change. This traditionalism makes them one of the most reliable sources for identifying the languages of long-vanished peoples. This paper will scrutinize case studies, drawing comparative examples from different linguistic and historical contexts to prove how hydronyms assist as complex, multi-layered historical documents that relate the story of a land and its inhabitants. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION GIACOMO DEVOTO also reports 9 , as of possible Ligurian matrix (or influence in the onomastic formation), the place name Albona, Istrian town located a few kilometers away from the sea. All of these names are attributable directly to the root *alband to a simplex form that is Album. But Album is not primarily linked (we will verify later as it is a “shift” of meaning compared to the original) to the Latin albus, 'white'. It derives, instead, from the root *albh-, that is the basis, for example, of the Germanic hydronym Albis, the nomen of the Elbe river. All these nomina indicate settlements on waterways, on rivers, lakes, and seas, in practice loci situated near water (and even hydronyms, names – in fact – of referrals that coincide with the iconym: waterways, watercourses). What interests us here is that as the root *albhis the basis of the hydronym Albis, nomen of ancestral origin (as a paleo-European hydronym) of the Elbe river, so it is the generative component of some of the many names (ancient and “contemporary”) Olbia that denote, like all the other nomina developed by the root *albh-, places located on canals, rivers, or seas (fig. 2). Olbia, the oldest colony of Miletus, on the Black Sea, for example, had, as epichoric nomen, Olbia (without variants), derived from the root *albhwith vocalic ablaut (apophony) of the initial [a-] in the grade of the [o-] timbre (the root *olbhis equivalent, on the lexical level, and it is derived, in the morpho-phonological ambit, from the base *albh-) 10 . Olbia is witnessed, as a place name, in Britain, on the right side of the Bug River (in Ukraine), in Provence 11, in Italy (in Sardegna), and elsewhere – in very different latitudes, therefore –, in Lycia and in Hellespont; especially in the case of the Hellenic colonies, of course, it was inevitable a motivational overlap with the auspicious Greek adjective ólbios (ŏλβιος, female olbía, ŏλβία) 12. If we remain within the ambit of nomina linked to the root *albhand to the meaning of “water”, it may be interesting to remember that Albula was the ancient name of the Italian river Tevere (Tiber, Latin Tiberis). Albiōn, the nomen of ancestral origin of Britain – from which we started in this reasoning –, denotes, therefore, the largest island on the English Channel, a locus, then, situated on the water and surrounded by water. Conclusion This study reaffirms the exceptional value of hydronyms as one of the most stable and revealing strata of language, serving as veritable linguistic fossils. The etymological deconstruction of waterbody names, as demonstrated through the analysis of the Proto-Indo-European root **albh-*, effectively uncovers deep-seated connections across geographically distant regions, from the Elbe river (Albis) to Britain (Albiōn) and various settlements named Olbia. These names, predating many 162 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar subsequent linguistic shifts, act as reliable markers of paleo-European substrates. The resistance of hydronyms to linguistic change makes them a unique and indispensable tool for historical linguistics and ethnography. By distinguishing between substrate and superstrate influences within a region's toponymy, we can reconstruct a more nuanced narrative of human migration, settlement patterns, and the complex dynamics of cultural and linguistic succession. Therefore, hydronymy is not merely a sub-discipline of onomastics but a crucial method for mapping the multi-layered historical chronicle embedded within the landscape itself. References: 1. Superanskaya, A. V. (1985). General Toponymy. Moscow: Nauka. 2. Room, A. (1996). Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for Over 5000 Natural Features, Countries, Capitals, Territories, Cities and Historic Sites. London: McFarland & Company. 3. Eren, H. (2004). Hydronyms and their Linguistic Importance. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları. 4. Kahl, T. (2010). Hydronyms as Linguistic Heritage of Europe. Journal of Historical Linguistics, Vol. 5(2), pp. 33–45. 5. Trubachev, O. N. (1968). Etymological Studies on Slavic Hydronyms. Moscow: Nauka. 6. "Hydronym." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7. Muradova Sevara Zoir qizi. (2025). LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH RIVERNAMES OF TWO COUNTIES. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15179409