Abstract
The history, origin and etymology of place names is one of the most difficult problems in the field of toponymy. When it comes to a single name, ten or perhaps twenty different scientific conclusions and analyses are proposed. There is so much data that the analysis of the word "Kazakh" alone has more than a hundred, and even one separate book is devoted to the etymology of the word "Kazakh". About a dozen scientific opinions and conclusions have been expressed regarding the hydronym Alakol itself, the meaning of which seems quite understandable. All the presented analyses are diverse and the conclusions do not coincide with each other. According to the most popular theory, "ala" is associated with the name of the color "mottled", while another group links it to the word ala, meaning "great", which is derived from the word uly. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the data on Alakol, evaluating the scientific validity of the findings through additional examples and available facts. Furthermore, the article explores the semantics of colors, including many meanings of the color "ala" in Turkic languages. New hypotheses on the origin of the name Alakol are also presented.