HYDRONYMS IN RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LINGUOCULTURES (THE CASE STUDY OF NAMES OF RIVERS IN VORONEZH REGION AND ZHEJIANG PROVINCE)

Abstract

The article discusses names of rivers of Voronezh Region (Russian Federation) and Zhejiang Province (People’s Republic of China). Depending on the origin, all names are divided into three main groups. It is also concluded that there are similar and distinctive features in each of the groups observed in Chinese and Russian hydronymy. Signs distinguishing Chinese names from Russian include the following signs characteristic of the names of Zhejiang Province (and absent from the names of rivers represented in the Voronezh Region): 1) possibility of origin from personal names; 2) the long-term form of existence of a toponym in writing; 3) the aesthetics of the image underlying the name of the river; 4) the direction of transonymic connections, according to which the names of settlements are transferred to the names of natural objects. All the differences have developed in the hydronymy of the region of China under consideration due to the longer (compared to Voronezh) residence time in this territory of the population with an identical language and culture.