Etymology of meanings. Brief etymological dictionary of planetary toponyms. At the origins of civilization
life, which does not choose long paths, but goes through the mountains…
About the “mountain beginning” say protoroots “ay” [aɪ] and “ya”. They are often found in the names of mountains, ridges or mountain rivers. The combination of the sounds “y” and “a” is formed when we look up. If a person raises his head at the same time when pronouncing any sounds, then the vowels – first of all, the “a” sound come out unhindered. But as soon as the trachea bends, interrupting the air, a “i” sound appears. From this movement of the head two ancient protoroots appeared: “ay” is a movement up, “ya” is a movement down. Or simply: “ay”—at the top, “ya”—from top to the bottom.
There is a beautiful example to understand how words appeared in ancient times – this is the English word “ice”, consisting of two roots: “ay” and “s”. The first signified upward movement, the second is water. Where “above” could there be water? Only in the mountains, on icy snow-capped peaks. Therefore, the word “ice”—even without translation means frozen on the tops of “mountain water”. Protoroot “ay” gave the name of the white color. Where could the ancient people see the white color? Only on the snow-capped peaks of high mountains.
Sorting out such combinations is an exciting, useful, and even unpredictable activity, as we will see more than once. The main thing is to understand that all words have their origin in deep and “common” antiquity, growing out of meaningful sounds that our forefathers exchanged.
Water is a life!
Protoroots in the ancient names of water bodies
If my first significant discovery was the mystery of the origin and main meaning of the sound “l’”, then the next key realization was the idea that language is natural, physiological and firmly woven into the environment. Ancient sounds and ancient toponyms\place names are directly related, so the names of localities are a map written in the primordial language of mankind. These are landmarks of ancient people. Names of the environment appeared long before writing and long before the formation of the languages and peoples known to us. In fact, toponyms\place names are a huge legacy of ancient times, which we own now – and not always consciously.
What have always people needed? The most basic needs are air, water, and food. A person can live without air for several minutes, without water – for several days, and not much longer without food. Therefore, all the oldest names are somehow connected with the sources of life.
However, “to know the taste of water, you need to start drinking”, draw in a handful of spring water and hear the sound “ms”—an ancient root that is easy to find in the names of water bodies. I didn’t even have to go far for examples. In the Chelyabinsk region, there are many hydrological toponyms\place names that go back to this root. First of all, the Miass River. And there is a Lake Misyash (Mises). There is also a swampy place called Mysy (Capes). A little further is Lake Karmyskaly. We found Karamys, Muslyumovo, Lake Machacul, Lake Mysty, Utemis, Lake Mushaykul and derived from this protoroot: the Meseda River, the Lemeza River, and even the Kamyshinka River. The meaning of the word “kamysh” (reed) is understood very simply: “ga” is a way, “ms” is water. So it is “the way to water”. Where does the reeds grow? Such place names scattered across the country: Kamyshly, the city of Kamyshlov, Kamysl, the city of Kamyshin and others. Who “named” the southern Urals? There is a hypothesis that the ancient Aryans migrated to India and the middle East from the Northern territories of modern Russia, and these paths lay through the South Ural lands, which still preserve the “toponymic memory” of the migration of peoples. But I think that the names were given much earlier, when this land was inhabited by very ancient tribes.
Interested to read in the map of Russia: the Mius River, the Meza River, the city of Mezen’, the Mzymsha River, the Mshaga River, the Msta River, Muzga, the Mosha River, the Moshka River, the city of Mozhga, the Masa River. And the city of Moscow, our great capital, which grew up on the banks of the river of the same name, is a toponym\place name that goes back to the protoroot “ms” and once sounded like “Moskov” or “Moskova”. One thing led to another. Several times I rested on the Black Sea coast in the city of Anapa and the city of Gelendzhik, and there, too, I saw some rivers which names are formed by this protoroot. The largest river flows in Novorossiysk – the Tsemes River. In Gelendzhik the main river is the Mezub́ River. There is a river with a funny name near Anapa – the Mozhepsin River. The river is small, so you can understand the meaning of our ancestors laid in the name. It is easy to guess how the name of the Shumay River appeared – literally: “water from the mountains”. And flowing far away from the village Raevskaya the Maskaga River is already a classic of “world” title. The same classic is the name of the Myskhako River, which flows on the Black Sea coast.
Outside of our country, toponyms\place names with the protoroot “ms” are multiplying: in Europe we have the famous Meuse River, the Moselle River flows in the same place, and in England the Thames River flows too. In the Middle East, Lake Mosul is located in the course of the famous Tigris River. The same name is given to the downstream of the city of Mosul. Note that the names the Moselle and the Mosul (Musil’) have the same protoroot: “ms” is “water”, and the soft sound “el’” means “good”, “beloved”, “divine”.
I don’t believe in the coincidences—“divine water” doesn’t just appear. In Libya, there is an ancient city of Al Khoms (Hums). In Syria, there is a large Lake Khoms, on the Bank of which there is the city of the same name is located. And to the South – the Khoms desert, with drying rivers that flowed into the famous Palmyra. How can we explain the origin of these names? All of them have one common meaning—“the way to water”. If you and I wanted to offer the ancient people to go to the water body, how would we say it? There are protoroot “ga”, which designates the way, the movement; also we have our life-giving protoroot “ms”, indicating the water. We would say “ga-ms”, “kho-ms” or “ms-ga”—the way to a place where you can get drunk.
In addition to Lake Mosul and Lake Khoms in the Middle East, there is also the legendary city of Damascus. The name of the ancient capital of Syria contains the same protoroots: “ms” and “ka”, “way to water”. But there is an addition – the name includes the ancient preposition of the location “ta-to”: “ta (eto) -ms-ka”—“that is the way to water”. The city of Damascus is located on the Barada River, where it divides into seven branches: water has always been good in Damascus. If you step back a little and listen to the sound of the names of the Maskaga River and Damascus, then you heard the harmony of the ancient language spoken by our ancestors. According to the same logic, the name of the river “Thames” was formed—“to-ms”—literally: “a place where water is.” I assume that our great rivers Om’ and Tom’ in their names used to have the sound “s”, which was lost later.
Many names with the protoroot “ms” are found in Japan. These are the Mitsuysi, the Misava, and the Matsura rivers. In Japanese, the word “water “sounds like “mizi”, and “water body” is “mizimi”. Our protoroot also lives in America in the names of water bodies and great rivers: the Mississippi and the Missouri. On Lake Ontario is the city of Mississoga, which received its name from the native American tribe of the same name. But how did the Indians become “Mississoga’s”? And what is “so-ga”? The answer is clear…
You can remember the names of other tribes: the Mosquitos, the Muiscas, the Mixtecos, the Tsimshians and others. With all the diversity, these tribes were somehow “tied” to water, to water objects. Listen: the most famous Lake Michigan with its glorious city of Chicago sounds like “ms-mch” (water) and “ga” (way). The ancient preposition “na” (on) in this case can be interpreted in different ways: “on top”, “to be”, “presence” of water, or even its “edibility”, that is, its suitability for drinking. In Russia, this name and its origin are consonant with, for example, the Mshega River.