Аңдатпа
The article deals with the general Turkic toponymy of the Kyzylkum region, in particular, the folk geographical terms present in the topography of this territory. Despite the harsh climatic conditions of the desert, this territory has been developed by man since ancient times, which proves the presence of historical toponyms and ethnonyms. The toponymy of the region is characterized by the active participation of various folk geographical terms in the structure of landscape names. Folk geographic terms kum, tau, bulak, kol, sai, aryk, kudyk, suat, ozen, keshu, oi, boget, ashy, kesik, and others were an inexhaustible source for designating orographic, hydrographic and other objects. The richness and diversity of the region’s toponymic system was directly related to the economic activities of its original inhabitants. Transhumance of the desert natives required a detailed knowledge of the features of the physical and geographical structure of their own habitat, taking into account the natural and climatic conditions and landscape specifics of the entire territory of animal pasturing, i.e. deserts, mountains, rivers, lakes, springs, watering holes, fords and crossings, as well as the exact language designation of these objects. Thus, economic activity contributed to the fact that a nomadic tribe knew its territory thoroughly, down to small objects, and created a developed toponymic system. The collected toponymic material is considered in the lexical-semantic, etymological and linguo-geographical aspects in order to identify specific units that are generally characteristic of common Turkic folk geographical terms. In the process of studying a number of oronyms, hydronyms, dromonyms, gephyronyms, it was established that, in this territory, despite the flatness of the terrain, there were many oronyms with components tau (mountain), tobe (hill). In addition, contrary to logic, a significant number of hydronyms was found in the desert with components, kudyk (well), suat (place of watering hole), bulak (spring). The term kesik, literally “cut”, which was used to designate barchans with sharp, as if cut edges that one can meet in the sandy desert, was described for the first time. Also, common Turkic structural formations were identified that arose according to the type: numeral + term. The use of sacred numerals in the structure of toponyms with folk geographical terms denoting the conditional meaning of plurality was established. In the etymological aspect, special attention was paid to the consideration of the dromonym Yassykeshu, which correlates with the name of the medieval polysonym Yassy, an important city on the segment of the Great Silk Road passing through Kyzylkum. Its scientific etymology has not yet received a positive decision. A substantiated etymology was proposed, which allows to clarify the lost history of origin and the obscured semantics of the polysonym Yassy.