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Turkic Toponymy of Crimea

The Turkic toponymy of Crimea is a multi-layered system of place names of the Crimean Peninsula that reflects a semantic connection with the relief, the color palette of the natural environment, the character of underground and mountain waters, as well as with the names of ancient nomadic clans and settlements.

Overview

Most Crimean place names of Turkic origin have a clear and unambiguous semantics closely tied to the physical-geographical features of the peninsula. A distinct layer of toponymy consists of color characteristics of landscapes, the semantic distinction between spring and glacial water, and the onyms of nomadic clans, attached to mountain and coastal localities during ancient migrations.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Distinction of water types in the Turkic tradition:
  • Kara-su ("black water") — water that flows out from beneath the earth, from underground springs. Since Crimea has no permanent snows or glaciers, most Crimean rivers are fed by springs (for example, the fullest-flowing river Biuk-Karasu — the Great Black Water, and the town of Karasubazar / now Bilohirsk).
  • Ak-su ("white water") — water that flows from mountain glaciers and melting permanent snows (not used in the geography of Crimea due to the absence of glacial massifs).
  • The color palette of place names:
  • Kara (black): Kara-Dag (Black Mountain), Kara-tau (Black Peak), Kara-deniz (Black Sea).
  • Ak (white): Ak-kaya (White Rock above the Kara-su river).
  • Sary (yellow): the Sary-su river ("Crimean Yellow Waters").
  • Kok (blue): the rock Kok-tash (Blue Stone), Koktebel (from Kok-tepe-el — "land of blue peaks").
  • Kyzyl (red): Kyzyltash near Sudak and Kyzyltash near Yalta (from which the wine "White Muscat of the Red Stone" derives its name).
  • Yeshil (green): the poetic name of the peninsula Yeshil-ada ("Green Island").
  • Relief and settlement types:
  • Yayla — a mountain pasture, a highland plateau covered with alpine meadows and groves (the Ukrainian equivalent is plai). Example: Karabi-yayla.
  • Kapu — gate (Yani-Kapu — New Gate / Perekop).
  • Koy — village (Dzhan-koy: "Dear Village", or from the steppe pronunciation of "yani" — "New Village").
  • Kurt — wolf (the village of Kurtluk — "Wolf Village", later Bdzholyne).
  • Buz — ice (the Buzluk cave on the Karabi-yayla).
  • Clan names of nomadic tribes: a layer of ancient untranslatable onyms associated with the proper names of nomadic clans that claimed lands during their migrations (Karabi, Tuak, Kanaka, Arpat, Kotur).