Bashkir Family Names Derived from Ethnonyms: a Historical and Etymological Analysis

Bashkir onomastics has experienced a number of stages in its development, and is still of essential academic interest. However, despite the wide range of available works dealing with personal names, the issue of etymology of Bashkir family names remains understudied and requires further consideration. Special attention should be paid to the fact quite a number of them have been derived from ethnonyms, which makes it necessary to analyze ethnonym-stemmed Bashkir family names in historical and etymological perspectives. So, this is what the article actually deals with. The work applies a number of linguistic research methods, such as descriptive, etymological, comparative, and statistical ones. Works by researchers providing insights into the nature of anthroponymic lexis, classification of anthroponyms, and historical-etymological analyses have served as a methodological basis for the study. The paper studies family, clan and clan branch names derived from ethnonyms — names of nations. It is noteworthy that the analyzed family names have been borrowed from the academic publication Documents and materials on Bashkir history (1836–1842): records of service of officials within the Bashkir-Mishar Host between 1836 and 1842. The historical-etymological analysis of family, clan and clan branch names derived from the onyms Kalmak / Kalmyk, Kazakh, Suvash / Chuvash, Tatar, Kungur, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Istyak and compared to respective ethnonyms makes it possible to conclude that historical and cultural ties between the Bashkirs and neighboring peoples largely contributed to the national onomastics (including anthroponymy). For example, our insight into the onym Nogai ‘Nugai’ viewed as a respective stem-word has resulted in a number of versions of its origin, namely: firstly, the wide presence of Nogai-stemmed clan and clan branch names might be due to the fact the Bashkirs lived long under the hegemony of the Nogai Horde; secondly, those might stem from the similar name Nagaibak. The invasion of Tatar-Mongols resulted in the emergence of the family names Kalmakaev, Kalmakov, Kalmakkulov and their phonetic variants (Kalmykov, Kolmakov, Kolmychkov). The paper also accepts the hypothesis set forth by F. G. Khisamiitdinova and suggests the anthroponym might have stemmed from a personal name which is based on historical evidence: the legendary Mamyt was given the name ‘Kalmak’, his ancestors thus being referred to as ‘Kalmaks’; it might also be tied to the Turkic verb ҡалыу ‘stay’ or ‘leave’. Close relations between the Bashkir and Kazakh peoples gave rise to anthroponyms stemmed from the ethnonyms истәк ‘Ishtyak’, ҡаҙаҡ ‘Kazakh’: Istakov (Istӓkov), Istyagulov / Istyakgulov, Ishtakaev, Kazakaev, Kazakbaev, Kazakkulov, Baikazakov. The ethnonym Istyak was widely used by the Kazakhs to denote southeastern, or ‘internal’, Bashkirs who had lived next to them and sustained close contacts. The emergence of family names derived from Suvash / Chuvash, Tatar, Kungur, Uzbek, Kyrgyz are also due to close historical and cultural contacts with respective populations. The investigation of Bashkir family names in this perspective establishes a new trend in terms of history and etymology research. The materials can also be used for further studies of Turkic — including Bashkir — anthroponyms.

1. Аминев 2008 ― Аминев З. Г. Этимология башкирского этнонима «Иштяк» // Национальные и языковые процессы в Республике Башкортостан: история и современность. Информационно-аналитический бюллетень. № 7–8. Уфа. 2008. С. 194–196.

2. ДМИБН 2012 ― Документы и материалы по истории башкирского народа (1836–1842): Формулярные списки о службе чиновников Башкиро-мещерякского войска за 1836–1842 годы: В 2 кн. / сост.: А. Я. Ильясова, З. Г. Гатиятуллин. Уфа: ИИЯЛ УНЦ РАН, 2012. 924 с.

3. Дрёмов 2015 ― Дрёмов И. И. Происхождение и распространение этнонима «калмак» [электронный ресурс] // Primus inter pares: сб. ст. к 175-летию В. В. Радлова. М.: МАЭ РАН, 2015. С. 62–81. Онлайн-библиотека Музея антропологии и этнографии (Кунсткамера). URL: http://lib.kunstkamera.ru/files/lib/978-5-88431-291-3/978-5-88431-291-3_05.pdf (дата обращения: 22.12.2018).

4. Кунгурские татары ― Кунгурские татары [электронный ресурс] // Википедия. URL: http://www.millattashlar.ru/index (дата обращения: 15.12.2018).

5. Кусимова 1975 ― Кусимова Т. Х. Древнебашкирские антропонимы: автореф. дисс. ... канд. филол. наук. Уфа, 1975. 56 с.

6. Кусимова 2000 ― Кусимова Т. Х., Биккулова С. А. Башкирские имена. Уфа: Китап, 2000. 176 с.

7. Рычков 1887 ― Рычков П. И. Топография Оренбургской губернии. Сочинение 1762 го­да. Оренбург, 1887. С. 379–380.

8. Сиражитдинов 2000 ― Сиражитдинов Р. А. Башкирская этнонимия: Семантическо-словообразовательный анализ. Дисс. ... канд. филол. наук. Уфа, 2000. 260 с.

9. Ураксин 1973 ― Ураксин З. Г. Башкирские антропонимы из этнонимов // Ономастика Поволжья. Мат-лы конф. по ономастике Поволжья. Уфа, 1973. С. 86–89.

10. Хисамитдинова 2017 ― Хисамитдинова Ф. Г. Этноним ҡалмаҡ ‘калмак/калмык’ в башкирской ономастике // Вестник Калмыцкого института гуманитарных исследований РАН. 2017. № 5. С. 206–210.

11. Шакуров 1986 ― Шакуров Р. З. Нагайбак: антропоним — топоним — этноним // Башкирская этнонимия. Уфа, 1986. С. 119–127.

12. Aminev Z. G. Etymology of the Bashkir ethnonym ‘Ishtyak’. Natsional’nye i yazykovye protsessy v Respublike Bashkortostan: istoriya i sovremennost’. Is. 7–8. Ufa, 2008. Pp. 194–196. (In Rus.)

13. Dokumenty i materialy po istorii bashkirskogo naroda (1836–1842): Formulyarnye spiski o sluzhbe chinovnikov Bashkiro-mescheryakskogo voyska za 1836–1842 gody [Documents and materials on Bashkir history (1836–1842): records of service of officials within the Bashkir-Mishar Host between 1836 and 1842]. In 2 books. A. Ya. Ilyasova, Z. G. Gatiyatullin (comps.). Ufa: Inst. of Hist., Lang. and Liter (Ufa Res. Center of RAS), 2012. 924 p. (In Rus.)

14. Dremov I. I. Origins and distribution of the ethnonym ‘Kalmak’. Primus inter pares. Coll. papers. Мoscow: Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of RAS, 2015. Pp. 62–81. An Internet resource: see hyperlink above (accessed: 22 December 2018). (In Rus.)

15. Khisamitdinova F. G. The ethnonym Kalmak in Bashkir onomastics. Vestnik Kalmytskogo instituta gumanitarnykh issledovaniy RAN. Is. 5, 2017. Pp. 206–210. (In Rus.)

16. Kungurskie tatary [The Kungur Tatars]. An Internet resource: see hyperlink above (accessed: 20 December 2018). (In Rus.)

17. Kusimova T. Kh. Drevnebashkirskie antroponimy [Ancient Bashkir anthroponyms]. A PhD thesis abs. Ufa, 1975. 56 p. (In Rus.)

18. Kusimova T. Kh., Bikkulova S. A. Bashkirskie imena [Bashkir names]. Ufa: Kitap, 2000. 176 p. (In Rus. and Bash.)

19. Rychkov P. I. Topografiya Orenburgskoy gubernii. Sochinenie 1762 goda [Topography of Orenburg Governorate: a writing of 1762]. Orenburg, 1887. Pp. 379–380. (In Rus.)

20. Shakurov R. Z. Nagaybak: anthroponym — toponym — etnonym. Bashkirskaya etnonimiya. Ufa, 1986. Pp. 119–127. (In Rus.)

21. Sirazhitdinov R. A. Bashkirskaya etnonimiya: Semantichesko-slovoobrazovatel’nyy analiz [Bashkir ethnonymy: semantic and word-formations analysis]. A PhD thesis. Ufa, 2000. 260 p. (In Rus.)

22. Uraksin Z. G. Bashkir anthroponyms derived from ethnonyms. Onomastika Povolzh’ya. Conf. proc. Ufa, 1973. Pp. 86–89. (In Rus.)