TOPONYMIC LEGENDS OF THE VORONEZH AND CHELYABINSK REGIONS IN A COMPARATIVE ASPECT

Abstract

The article considers different types of toponymic legends that exist on the territories of the Voronezh and Chelyabinsk regions of the Russian Federation. The most archaic motifs of the toponymic legends are divided into three groups, united by a common motif: the motif of the monster, the motif of the founding brothers and the motif of the drowned girl. These motifs are equally characteristic of both the Voronezh and Chelyabinsk regions, despite the different characteristics of the ratio of ethnic and sub-ethnic substrates that influenced the formation of population in these regions. The legends of the Chelyabinsk region are characterized by a high degree of transformation of archaic motifs; the Chelyabinsk legends, which contain similar motifs to the Voronezh, also explain not so much the origin of the names as the peculiarities of the landscape (which is most closely related to the motives of the monster and the founding brothers). A motif of a drowned girl both in the Urals and in the Voronezh region is most closely related to legends that explain the origin of the toponym, and not the peculiarities of the landscape.