PHONETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION OF ZABOLOTNYE TATAR OIKONYMS IN WRITTEN SOURCES (17TH–21ST CENTURIES)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the examination of the phonetic and morphological adaptation of settlement names of the Zabolotnye (Eskalba/Yaskalba) Tatars in printed and handwritten sources of the 17th–21st centuries. The novelty of the research is determined by the involvement of material in the Old Tatar language-namely, Muslim metrical books (vital records) of the Eskalba Volost of the Tobolsk Governorate (1838-1862), which contain records of oikonyms in the Tatar language. The author establishes that the phonetic adaptation of the Zabolotnye Tatar oikonyms was non-linear and unstable, whereas the morphological adaptation followed a consistent sequence of stages-from the mechanical transfer of Turkic structures through suffixal unification (using the formant -sk-) to contemporary stabilization. At the present stage, some oikonyms have lost their suffixes and transitioned into the category of nouns, while others have retained their adjectival form. Despite grammatical assimilation, the Turkic root of the names has been preserved, which indicates the resilience of the substrate during prolonged language contact. The research findings can be utilized in further studies on historical toponymy, Turkic-Russian language contact, and linguistic source studies, as well as in the development of training courses on regional toponymy and the history of the Tatar people.