Abstract
The article examines the lexical-semantic, word-formation, and ethnocultural features of regional toponyms of North Kazakhstan Region formed with components denoting colour and animal coat colour. The study aims to determine the motivational function of colour components in place names, to reveal their semantic shades and structural models. The research material comprises 92 toponymic units of North Kazakhstan Region containing components denoting colour and animal coat colour: «white», «black, dark», «yellow», «red», kоk «blue/green», «light grey, pale», ala «variegated», tory «bay», «reddish-bay», «dun», «brown, dark chestnut», and «spotted, mottled». These units were identified from regional toponymic dictionaries, reference works, and scholarly studies on the toponymy of North Kazakhstan Region. The research applies descriptive, semantic, word-formation, ethnolinguistic and comparative methods. The findings show that colour components in toponyms denote not only the external colour of an object, but also landform features, water quality, vegetation, pastoral experience, and traditional ideas of purity, sacredness and fertility. The results are systematised in tables that present the main semantic groups and word-formation models of toponyms with colour components.