THE FOLK GEOGRAPHICAL TERMINOLOGY OF THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC OLD RESIDENTS’ PATOIS AS AN OBJECT OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE

The folk geographic ARCTIC al terminology is a component of the folk geography and a significant part of the cultural (linguistic) heritage of the Russian old-resident population in the Arctic.
The folk geographic terminology is considered in close connection with the geographical objects involved in the process of language nomination. For the purpose of the comprehensive study of the term and the territorial object the author applies the concept “linguotope” as a “common ground” for the language and geographical spaces. Any base object of the geospace (a drainage junction, a settlement, a sacred center, etc.), that organizes the territorial system and simultaneously acts as the core of the concentrated linguistic information, can be regarded as the basis of a linguotope.
To detect linguotopes that appeared in the process of exploring the Arctic, the comparative analysis of the folk geographical terminologies, existing in the region of the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina, the Pechora, the Indigirka, is applied. Dictionaries of certain patois, multidialectal dictionaries and topographic maps served as the primary source of information.
The key linguotopes for the Russian North and Arctic Siberia, where the riverside development of areas was predominant, are associated with the river valley. The pattern of the riverbed determines the localization of settlements, separate buildings, affects the geometry and the quality of the land, the organization of the space in the adjacent strip of the interfluve.
Identification and exploration of linguotopes, map-creation reflecting the language images of the folk culture, are of great theoretical and practical importance. The preservation of linguistic and material components of linguotopes is not less important than the protection of typical and unique objects of nature, cultural landscapes. The system of identified linguotopes can be used for creating the ethnic-and-nature network of protected areas in the habitats of the Russian old-resident population in the Arctic.