# The Origin of the Planet’s Toponyms

Alexander Tokiy

What secrets do the ancient names of mountains, reservoirs and settlements keep? What do our Moscow and Scottish Glasgow have in common? The author reveals the historical essence of the appearance of geographical names and their true meaning, determines the pattern of semantic combinations. A fundamentally new approach to understanding the science of etymology is presented on the pages of this publication in an accessible form and with a large number of examples.

Polina Mozzhukhina Translator

Olga Vasilenko Editor

Maria Vedishcheva Cover designer

© Alexander Tokiy, 2023

© Polina Mozzhukhina, translation, 2023

© Maria Vedishcheva, cover design, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0060-7673-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system


Dear friends,

Since your childhood, studying geography, you probably have noticed that many geographical denominations are very similar to each other.For example, the rivers or the lakes. There are the Miass, the Masa, and the Lake Misiash in the Urals; the Moscow, the Msta and the Mius in the center of Russia; the Meuse, the Moselle and the Thames in Europe; the Mosul and the Homs in the Middle East; the Mississippi and the Missouri in the USA.In another case, the denominations of rivers are similar to the “d” and “n” sounds. For example, the Don, the Danube, the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Jordan, the Medina, the Aberdeen and others. However, these are only the most famous rivers.The names of the mountains have their own peculiarity: Ai-Petri, Ai-Foka, Aigir, Aikuaivenchorr, Aino, Aizu, Iowa, Idaho, Altai and Sinai. Therefore, there are many of such repetitive, similardenominations. How did such a similarity develop? Is it randomness or a regularity? Scientists often try to explain the origin and meaning of toponyms through the local languages of peoples who live in these areas now or lived in the past. This is a deeply wrong approach. Toponyms appeared much earlier, in very ancient times.Thousands and thousands of years ago, our ancestors marked the habitat depending on the features of the landscape, and marked it in that ancient language, which has changed significantly over thousands of years of its developing. Geographical objects were given names strictly corresponding to these very features, laying in them a semantic meaning explaining what kind of object it is. Then, migrating and settling new territories, they marked the new area in the same way, assigning names to new geographical objects in the established semantic paradigm.

Is it difficult for an ordinary reader to understand the intended meanings, which were put into different groups of toponyms? Not at all. At first glance, someone may be afraid of intricate scientific terminology, obscure scientific words, and confusing logical conclusions. Donot be afraid! The Russian language, truthful and faithful to the nature, will help you. The Russian language is the science that we all study equally from infancy, where we are all equal, regardless of our education, degrees or titles. On the contrary, improving the form of the language, placing it in the rigid Procrustean bed of grammar, sometimes distorted the language to such an extent that its semantic conception was lost, and “obscuring” the connection between form and semantic meaning or content. Scientists call this process deetymologization, which often misleads us. Once, a few years ago, on a direct line, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked a question: why korova’s (cow’s) meat is called “govyadina” (“beef”). The President forwarded it to the Minister of agriculture A. Gordeyev, but the Minister honestly admitted that he did not know. It was partly sad. Recently, many people have been talking about various types of “spiritual bonds”, although it is obvious to me that such bond is Russian language, “great and powerful”, as I. S. Turgenev said. Nevertheless, we hardly hear our own language. Improving the form of language, we forget about its content, about its meanings.The incident that had happened on that television program made such a strong impression on me that, not being a scientist and not having great talents as a non-fiction writer, I ventured to write a small book “Etymology of Meanings”. I sent it to the country’s leaders, scientists and many other famous people. In addition, I sent English version to foreign universities, heads of state and royalty. There were many positive and even enthusiastic responses, but the book did not receive wide public recognition. Nothing surprising.It is difficult to change the ideas that have developed over many centuries. Moreover, my ideas about the origin of words, which during their history have changed and lost their original meanings, in many ways seem very doubtful to the modern reader. Moreover, official science treated my conclusions very cautiously. Therefore, to be more convincing and I decided to write a book only about the toponyms of the planet.Toponyms are an amazing legacy, which was left to us by ancient ancestors. This legacy is visible, clear and, as my first editor Vyacheslav Lyutov said, rough to the touch. Toponyms are the key to understanding the development of language, the keepers of ancient meanings that are difficult to dispute. The patterns of language development began with these names, with the first principles that I discovered throughout my life in the course of independent searches and which I will try to share with readers very briefly and in the simplest and most accessible form. I hope you will be interested.


## Ancient protoroots that formed modern languages

Before proceeding to the story about toponyms, we need to try to understand what were the first sounds that a person heard and reproduced, what meanings he/she endowed them with. Without knowing the alphabet, it is impossible to learn to read. Without understanding the meaning of the spoken words, it is impossible to comprehend the truth. This is how the name of the science “etymology” is translated from Greek as the doctrine of truth. Unfortunately, modern science considers etymology only as a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words, which is fundamentally wrong. Nevertheless, we will not avoid in debates, we will recall the injunction attributed to Socrates: “I know that I know nothing” – and in search of the truth, we will take a trip to the very origins of human civilization.

Probably, our young ancient ancestor began his life in some underground shelter, in the arms of his/her mother. What could he/she hear? How did he/she breathe and how did his mother breathe? How did his/her lips smack when mom fed him/her? How did a light breeze make a noise when mom blew dust particles off and touched him/her with warm lips? Well, if he/she had to move to another place, he/she could hear the slapping of bare feet, the rustling of leaves, the crunch of broken branches and the rumble of thunder. When a stream or river suddenly met on the way, he/she heard the murmur of water. He/she heard how his/her mother greedily sucked in water with her lips, quenching her thirst, and giving him/her plenty to drink. If was suddenly a menacing growl heard from the bushes and everyone was terrified? Many different sounds surrounded our ancestor, but we will start with one kind amazing, pleasant and most beloved sound that accompanies us throughout our lives.

### 1. The sound “l’”

Once, in 1971, I had returned from the army and got a job at Chelyabinsk television. I had met a TV journalist, Samuel Gershuni. We had gone to the city of Zlatoust to shoot a video about the local watch factory. We had lived in a hotel and spent long evenings talking about various topics. Samuel Matveyevichhad been a sociable man who had liked to talk about his front life.

One day the conversation had turned to the popular variety ensemble “Ariel’” (“Ariel”), where we had had mutual friends of musicians, and Samuel Matveyevichhad said that “Ariel’” is a Hebrew word, and the soft sound “el’” means “god” like in other Jewish names: Samuel’, Michael’, Gabriel’, Israel’ and others. Then Ihad immediately remembered the name of the Spanish artist El’ Greco and the proud statements of my Greek grandmother: “We are Hellenes!” From the Hellenes, we had moved on to the solar deity Helios, to other words, and this soft “l’” had interested me so much that after that conversation I constantly thought about it, looked through textbooks, immerse in encyclopedias, but could not find anything, until one day I accidentally saw a little girl eating a chocolate bar.The chocolate was melting in her mouth, dripping on her bib, and she was laughing, trying to say something, and I distinctly heard that soft sound “el’”. I tried to collect my own saliva, but I could not make the “el’” sound. Then I realized that it is not important the amount of saliva for this sound, but its release is. I filled my mouth with chocolate and waited for my mouth to drool, but it did not work either. Then the next day I ate nothing, drank only water, and, being hungry, put the chocolate back in my mouth and the sound “el’ " took place!

This small discovery led me to believe that the first sounds that a person began to utter were related to his physiology. The state of pleasure, in which saliva is released and the sound “el’” appears, is remembered, fixed in memory or at the genetic level, and in the future, people transmitted the pleasure of life with this sound. The soft sound “el’” is a natural sound that was formed involuntarily, meaningless and thoughtless, expressing pleasant moments of eating. So it was remembered once and the soft sound “el’” became stronger, “matured” and sounded like our usual “l”, although the meaning of pleasure, enjoyment remained for it. On its prehistoric “base” appeared a huge number of words, the meaning of which can somehow be reduced to the “common denominator” – joy, pleasure, delight, euphoria. What words could form this sound, this protoroot? Probably, the word “lubov” (love) comes to mind immediately— and quite justifiably! Laska (caress), ulybka (smile), lest’ (flattery), l`zya (to allow), legko (easily), lizat’ (to lick), l`nut’ (to cling)—all go back to pleasure and delight. Including when the image of the highest bliss discloses a person. Hence the concept of divinity in different languages: this is Helios, and the Bible, and Israel, and Arabic word Allah, where the sound “l’” has not lost its softness.

It became clear to me that the soft sound “el’” is an involuntary sound, which was born in the depths of human feelings. The usual “l” is the sound is already meaningful, introduced into the ancient communication system. This meaningful sound formed the proto-root, which combined with other sounds to create words. Knowing the semantic source, it is easy to understand how later meanings appeared.

The soft sound of “l’”, of course, was not the only one that participated in the multi-faceted “meaning-making”. However, after that, it was easier for me to understand how other meaningful sounds developed. It was a matter of logic.

### 2. The growling sound of aggression “r”

If there is a sound of something extraordinarily pleasant, there must be an opposite sound – unpleasant and frightening. The opposite of the soft “l’” sound is the aggressive, growling “r” sound. It is no coincidence that children begin to pronounce it after their teeth grow. Growling, as a rule, was accompanied by a demonstration of teeth, and the sound warned that the enemy will stratch. Hence the whole galaxy of “rvanyh” (torn) words: “rychat’” (to growl), “ristat’” (to run), “rvat’” (to tear), “rubit’” (to hack), “rezat’” (to carve), “rana” (injury).

### 3. “Ra” is the sun, “ar” is the earth

Even the most ancient protoroots “ra” and “ar” are associated with the aggression of the mercilessly scorching sun, charring the skin and burning all living things, from which it was possible to hide only in the ground. In this way the ancient meanings appeared: “ra” with the meaning “the sun” and “ar” with the meaning “the earth”.

### 4. The sounds of breathing: “kho”, “go”, “kha”, “ga”, “ka”, “aga”, “po” and others. “Ego” and “echo”

Language was born out of feelings and meanings. The sense organs gave a person a multi-colored palette of such creative associations. “Everyone hears how he or she breathes”– it is not surprising that the sounds of breathing became the foundation of a number of protoroots and formed a variety of words. Even in the very word “dykhanie” (breath) this ancient semantic intuition remains. Really, what do we hear when we breathe? The natural, independent of our will, breathing sound is the sound “kh”, combined with various vowel sounds: “kha”, “kho”, “khe”, “khi”, “akh”, “okh” and “ukh”. The sound “kh” has become a language protoroot with common meanings related to breathing.

Since ancient times, the sounds of breathing have become associated with the human soul. Breathing means that you are alive. If he\she does notbreathe, it means that his\her soul has left. For example, when I was a child, my mother would often tell me when she was buttoning the top buttons of my clothes: “You are open-hearted.” I knew that “soul” is my breathed chest and to give up the ghost means to lose the “kho”, the air. You can easily remember the words formed by the simplest sounds of breathing: “dykho” (“trachea”), “tikho” (quiet), “ukho” (ear), “ekho” (echo), “likho” (evil, trouble). Even God—“bhoga”—grants breath. This group includes interjections: “akh”, “okh”, “ukh” and “ekh”. Even the particle “ish” has its physiological origin in the respiratory.

However, everything evolves and in the process of evolution, protoroots found new meanings. There is a simple example. At rest, a person breathes easily, freely: inhale and then exhale. Sounds are simple, ordinary. If a person moves for a long time, and even uphill, and even with the luggage, and even in the “formation” of his fellow tribesmen, who set a certain rhythm – what happens to the breath? There is not enough air. Breathing becomes “heavy”. The sounds of breathing also change – instead of a light sound “kh”, you can already hear a heavy, slightly “hoarse” combination of sounds “kh” and “g”.

Let us complicate the situation. Imagine that our ancient ancestors were walking along the mountains and valleys, and suddenly the path ends – where must they go next? Tired and out of breath, people started looking around and presumably showing each other where to go. What sounds would they use to support their gestures? It is clear – sounds of “heavy” and “open” breathing, with sound “ga” at the base. This sound, mixed with hoarseness and fatigue, formed one of the most significant protoroot “ga”, received the meaning of the way\path, movement and direction.

As a rule, the protoroot “ga” marked ways, paths, roads, trails, passages, that is, those places where people could move. It is included in the names of many rivers, because rivers are natural roads where it was possible to move along the shore and along the water surface. It is enough to recall the names of the rivers: Volga, Riga, Onega, Selenga, Koelga, Angara, Ganges, Pinega, Daugava, Siuga, Galis and hundreds of others. Somewhere, roads and rivers have given names to cities: Gaaga (The Hague), Malaga, Gava, Gannover (Hanover), Gamburg (Hamburg), Kaluga, Praga (Prague), Pariga (modern Paris), Vichuga – and many more places where people have moved for thousands of years.

In colloquial speech, the first words that come to mind are “noga” (leg), “dogora” (road), “telega” (cart), “gat’” (the way through the marshes), “pogano” (lousy) and even “gad” (bastard).

With the vowel “a”, the oldest “aga” (aha) formed. Aga is the way back and forth. Gradually, the meaning of “return” acquired the meaning of “confirmation” and even “consent”.

However, the evolution of breath sounds did not end with the meaning of “way” or “direction”. Gradually, the sound “ga” became associated with those who lead the way, with those who go ahead – and therefore know where to go. The leading becomes the knowing. Next comes a reinterpretation of protoroot – the basis remains the same, but the pronunciation from the sounds “kh” and “g” become closer to the consonant “k”. New diverse meanings of this sound appear “leading”, “knowing”, “main”, “smart”, and “thinking”. Although these meanings may seem varied at first glance, they all indicate the ability to think. What words formed with protoroot “ka” in its various shades? First, they touched the head. For example, “kapusta” (cabbage)—in Russian it means “an empty head”, “kaun” (melon), “kachan” (head of cabbage), “kalgan” (head), “kapa” (kind of hat), “kapyushon” (hood), “kepka” (cap) and others. The words “khalif” (the khalif), “kagan” (a title of imperial rank in the Turkic and Mongolic languages), “kasta” (caste) and the Capitol have the same protoroot. In Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, you can find the same root word “kapata”, which has the meaning “trick”, “deception”, but comes from the same meaning: “the ability to think.” The myth of the sisters Kapata and Opata, where, on the contrary, Kapata was a deceiver, and Opata was deceived herself, preceded the ancient Greek myth of Apata, the goddess of lies and deception. Maloyanisol dialect of my ancestors has a word “gaka”, which means “big brother”. How could such word appear? I think that this is “the first-born”, “going ahead”. Moreover, there are many of such interesting phenomena in the language.

There is another meaning derived from the sounds of breathing – the Greek word “ego” (εγώ), which translates as “I”. In maloyanisol dialect, the word “I” sounds simpler—“go” [gɔ]. Moreover, my grandmother did not pronounce a solid “go”[gɔ], but again mixed sounds “g” and “kh”, closer to “kho”. The “e” sound in the Greek word “ego” is the sound of “belonging”. And the “o"sound, unlike the open “a”, in addition to the meaning of “around” also has a selective function. Therefore, the word has the meaning: “this is my soul, this is me.” If we compare the Greek “ego” and the Russian word “ekho” (echo), it will be clear that they are the same. The echo is a returning sound of my voice, “it is me.”

You can recall another sound formed by breathing. If you hold the air slightly with your lips, and then open your lips, then the sound “p” formed. Relatively speaking, the sound of “puffing”, the sound of “zapiraniya” (locking) the lips while breathing and then releasing air with little effort. This is either puffing, or blowing something off the surface, blowing hot food, or the banal “pukanie” (farting). Over time, this sound has grown more complex meanings, has passed through centuries of evolution and now it denotes what surrounds The meaning of “po” (along) appeared in those days when people lived in burrows, when it was necessary, for example, to blow away sand, leaves or insects stuck to food, and the preposition “po” had a very modest scale. Over time, during the numerous journeys of ancient people, the meaning of “po” expanded, but remained the same: “along and around something”.

### 5. The sounds of food: “m” and “n”

All the basic sounds and protoroots associated with human physiology and its primary needs. You donot have to go far – just remember your basic needs. What is the most important thing for a person? He/she needs air to breathe, food to keep from starving, and water. In addition, he\she needs to continue the family line, needs security, a roof overhead, and other needs that reflected in the language. Therefore, it is objective that besides the sounds of breathing, the first roles in the meaning-making had the “sounds of food”.

Man is a mammalian creature, breastfed. This is why, from infancy, from unconscious memory, we reproduce this deep key sound of the compressed lips —“m” and the following sound of the opening lips—“ma”. In almost all languages, the word “mama” (mother) includes this ancient, imbibed with mother’s milk, protoroot.

In the words “mammoth” and “Mammoth” that came from antiquity, the sound “m” also speaks of food – prey, which our ancient ancestors fed on until quiet recently. The habitation of “mammoths” also reflected in ancient place names: Magadan, Macedonia, Kema, Kama and others.

But with feeding, the child uses not only the lips, but also the tongue. The tongue presses the nipple of the breast to the palate, and the milk under pressure falls on the taste buds of the child’s tongue. What sound formed when the tongue pressed to the roof of the mouth? It is a sound “n”. In some languages, this sound forms the word “nana” with the meaning “mother”. In the Ukrainian language there is a word "nenka".Nurses are traditionally called “nyanyas” (wet-nurses). The famous “nyam-nyam” (yum-yum) is just a fusion of two feeding sounds “n” and “m”. By the way, when it is especially delicious, children like to click their tongue and pronounce the famous children’s word “naka”, which means “nice” (here in English this word sounds a little different). Among the Greeks, this word has undergone multiple remelting and sounds more complicated – “nostimo” (vόστιμο), although it has similar protoroots and the same meaning of “nice”.

### 6. The sound of food “n” as a negative sound

However, the sound of eating “n” has another meaning – the meaning of negation. When a child or even an adult did not want to eat, he/she pressed tongue to the roof of the mouth, closing the passage for food, and shook his/her head to turn away from the nipple of breast or food brought to his/her mouth. Therefore, the “n” sound and the shaking of the head acquired the meaning of negation. In the modern Russian language, the sound “n” in combination with different vowels has generated a whole palette of meanings: “na” is an offer to accept (food), “no” (but) is objection or denial, “ne” (not) is evasion, “nu” (well) is coercion, etc. The sound “n” has the meaning of negation in many languages, including the Maya language deciphered by Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov.

### 7. The sounds of water: “s” and others

The currently accepted “voicing” of water by the famous “bul’-bul’” was not popular in ancient times. Our ancestors were closer to household sounds, the murmur of a brook, flowing rivers and even the sounds of defecation. The “whistling” sounds “s”, “ts”, “z” and the sound “zh” speak about water more often. Sometimes “hissing” sounds – “sh”, “ch”, “shch” – do the same.

### 8. The sounds of contact, knocking. and “poking”: “t” and “d”

Another palette of sounds is the sounds formed by contact with obstacles. The simplest and most common is the sound of “poking” or knocking. The “t” sound is clearly heard at the base of the knock, and with a harder contact, we hear the ringing “d"sound. The sound “t” acquired the meaning of an obstacle that could meet anywhere. It was possible to stumble over a stone, run into branches or tree trunks, or fall, hitting the ground.

In combination with various vowels, the sounds of “poking at obstacles”, like other protoroots, acquired different meanings. If the simplest sound of “poking” is heard with the simplest “t”, “tuk”, then with the vowel “o” it is an obstacle with some boundaries. In the modern language, protoroots “to” [tɔ] and “do” [dɔ] are attributed to the ancient prepositions, although this classification is rather conditional. If the voiceless “to” is the indication of a certain place where an obstacle is, then the voiced “do” is already a more serious obstacle, restriction, “Pillars of Hercules”, beyond which movement is impossible. The meaning of these prepositions has survived to the present day, although during the evolution it has expanded and received different shades, but the original meaning – “obstacle, restriction and poking” – has been preserved in it. Other vowels create different meanings, where the meaning of a certain place remains the main one. Many different derivative combinations have appeared from the original forms of these ancient prepositions. The language was filled with various “to” (that), “ta” (that), “te” (those), “tam” (there), “do” (before), “da” (before). The last “da” is especially interesting. The sound of poking and the obstacle “d”, touching the open vowel “a”, completely changes – like Cinderella after the wave of a magic wand. The vowel sound “a” indicates that the insurmountable obstacle, as it seemed at first, is no longer an obstacle, and dirty rags have been replaced with a ball gown.

“Da” is consent, the abolition of borders, the abolition of obstacles. You can not, but you can! This root was of great importance and was very common in the everyday life of our ancestors, having the meaning of “consent” in sexual relationships. “Da” is a permission for sexual contact. Already in those ancient times, the meaning of “consent” began to be associated with the possibility of coition, that is, access to a woman’s genitals, and later with the female genitals themselves. For the ancient man, “da” was more significant than for our contemporaries, also because not everyone managed to survive in those distant times, and procreation was the main goal, the main meaning of life. The meaning of “possibility”, “consent” and the name of the female genital organ formed many words that have survived to our time, but which modern ethics tries not to mention. If we resort to a metaphor, then “da” is the process of defloration, deprivation of virginity and the possibility of procreation.

The semantic paradigm of “procreation” is also reflected in female names: from Russian Lada to Nayada (Naiad), Esmeralda, Svanilda, Nemezida (Nemesis), Andromeda, Jagveda (Iohaveda) and hundreds of others. The root of “da” formed a witty word “erunda” (nonsense), and even the surname Hakamada, where “da” is a rice field flooded with water and designed to give birth to a new crop.

### 9. The sounds of drinking: “ms”

Another palette of protoroots formed the sounds of drinking. In ancient times, there were no glasses and mugs, so our ancestors either drank from the reservoirs, or get running water into the palm of their hand; they drew it in, as sometimes, children or tourists do. What kind of sound is produced by such drink? Only the sound of “ms”. “M” is the sound of food, but in this case, it is liquid food, the consumption of which is accompanied by a “whistling” sound – the sound of “s”. It formed protoroot with the meaning “drinking water”. It can be found everywhere in the names of localities where water is suitable for drinking. There are many of such toponyms\place names on the planet, I found more than three hundred of them on the map, although I assume that there are many more. This is our Moskva-reka (Moscow river), the Mississippi, the “Temza” (the Thames), and Lake Michigan. This root has been preserved in various languages – for example, in Japanese, where there is still the word “mizi” with the meaning “water” and there is the word “mizimi” with the meaning of “lake”.

The protoroot “ms” formed the Russian word “mezhdu” (between). The origin of the meaning is understandable: any body of water, and especially a river, always divides something: the left bank of the river, the right bank… The river seems to be “mezhdu” (between). In the Greek language, the single root word “meso” (μέσος) – has the meaning of “middle”, “the middle”. From this understanding came the meaning of the word “mezha” (boundary-line), “meso” (meso, mezzo) and the case form “midas” (median, medium, and others).

At some stage, the sound “ms” began to be included in the names and titles of rulers: Ahura Mazda, Gilgamesh, Masra (in Hebrew Mizri or Michri), Ramses, Ahmose, Thutmose, Messiah, Mashiach, Moses, and Monomakh. More recently, the word “tomos” – a verdict, a decree of the ruler, has become popular. There are several versions of how the root “ms” came to mean power. The key to this solution can be the ancient Greek word “pyramis” (πυραμίς) and its case form “pyramid” (πυραμίδος).

### 10. The protoroots “ai/ay” [aɪ] up. and “ia/ya” down

About the “mountain beginning” say protoroots “ay” [aɪ] and “ya”. They are often found in the names of mountains, ridges or mountain rivers. The combination of the sounds “i” [j] and “a” is formed when we looking up. If a person raises his head at the same time when pronouncing any sounds, then the vowels – first, the “a” sound come out unhindered. But as soon as the trachea bends, interrupting the air, a “y” sound appears. From this movement of the head two ancient protoroots appeared: “ai” is a movement up, “ia” is a movement down. Or simply: “ai”—at the top, “ia”—from top to the bottom.

There is a beautiful example to understand how words appeared in ancient times – this is the English word “ice”, consisting of two roots: “ai” and “s”. The first signified upward movement, the second is water. Where “above” could be water? Only in the mountains, on icy snow-capped peaks. Therefore, the word “ice”—even without translation means “mountain water” frozen on the tops. Protoroot “ai” gave the name of the white [waɪt] color. Where could the ancient people see the white color? Only on the snow-capped peaks of high mountains.

For some peoples, “ai” is the moon. When our ancestors looked at the moon with their heads up, the same “ai” sound was heard. The moon has been worshipped for thousands of years. It may be recalled that the biblical Sarah, born in Sumer, was named Sar-Ai, which meant “the earth watered with water, fertilized under the moon.” Subsequently, in Egypt, Sarah changed her faith, and they began to call her Sar-Ra, where “ra” is the sun.

Toponyms also tell us about the downward movement, when it is a descent from a mountain or deep hollows on the surface of the ground. It is because of the property of swamp bogs to suck people. Because of that the name of Baba Yaga appeared. “Yaga” is “ya-ga” – the way down. Our fabulous grandmother used to be a grandfather – an elder of the tribe – “baba”, whose duties included making a sacrifice. It was one of the oldest traditions of natural (or rather artificial) selection, when sick and unviable tribesmen were sacrificed to swamp fires. Therefore, the ancient Indo-European word “agni” has two meanings: both fire and sacrifice at the same time. Thousands of years later, the familiar “grandchildren” of Baba Yaga, “yag-monas”, “hegemons”, “igimons” and unscrupulous “maniacs” appeared. The name Yahweh also comes from very ancient beliefs, when sacrifice was not so much a cult rite as a condition of survival.

Protoroot “ya” formed words such as yama, yasnyi (clear), yakor’ (anchor), yati (clear), yamega (seam in a sheepskin coat or fishing nets), and others. This protoroot found in the names Yokohama or Rambouillet, but more often simultaneously with protoroot “ay/ai”. For example, Sayans (s-ai-ya-na), Hawaii (ga-v-ai-ya) or our Crimean Aya (ai-ya), literally “up and down”.

### 11. The most popular ancient protoroot: “kale”, “gale” and “liga”

With the development of language, people have learned to supplement the meanings of individual sounds with other sounds that complement, explain and expand their meaning. This is how stable combinations appeared, forming complex protoroots. Let us consider the combination of the sounds of breathing “ga-ka” – path-road and the soft sound “l’” – beloved, pleasant, comfortable, desirable and even divine.

The combination of “ka-l’” and “ga-l’” meant a favorite, desired, convenient way and marked thousands and thousands of convenient roads, directions and passages. We can see it from Kiel, Calais, Caledonia, Gulf Stream and Calcutta to Baikal and Oklahoma. The toponym was so popular that its meaning “beloved” and “pleasant” began to refer not only to the convenience of roads, but also to other phenomena of life. In the languages of many peoples, you will find an incredibly large number of words forming other, “related” meanings, from the Greek “calligraphy”, “kallistrat” and “kalliope”, the Jewish “kagal”, “Halakha” and “Holocaust”, European “Gauls” and “Celts” [kelts], Asian “Mongols”, “kalmyks” and “karakalpaks” to modern “hall”, “zerkalo” (mirror), “globe”, “klizma” (enema) and “steklo” (glass). Even the name of the famous Huckleberry Finn includes an understanding of the “favorite way”. Special attention can be paid to such ancient word formations as “sickle” (si-kale) – the movement of water, and subsequently grain as a measure of value, the related “shekel” (she-kale) – the movement of grain, and the oldest “gold” – formed from both the measure of value and the secret “da”. Later, “gold” has been the circulation of a yellow metal, gold. Well, the most beautiful, preserved from ancient times, for me is the ancient Greek greeting “kali mero”, which has made its way from the meaning of “good way” to the modern “good afternoon”.

Reading the sounds “ga” and “l’” in reverse order formed the word “liga” (league) with the meaning “the way of the beloved and binding”, “connection/union”. Combining sounds in this order has not lost its participation in the movement. For example, a soldier’s boot with ties in Ancient Rome was called “kaliga”, and the emperor with the nickname “kaliga” was named Caligula. With a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that the word “igo” (yoke) is a distorted word “liga”. A yoke is a rope that binds livestock. It is the same meaning as in the word “liga”. The Tatar-Mongol yoke, or rather (this is my point of view) the “Tartar-Mongol igo” is an association linking farmers (to-ar, to-ar) and nomads (mono-gale). The syllable “go” [gɔ] in the word “gosudarstvo” (in English the word “government” with the same protoroot exists, and in Spanish – “gobierno”) also has the meaning of “unification”, and the Chinese game “Go” is an ancient art of control or government. According to the sinologist Andrey Devyatov, “go” in Chinese means “gosudarstvo” (state). Moreover, in Japanese, the game of “Go” is still called “I-go” [ɪ-gɔ].

### 12. A combination of breathing sounds. and an aggressive “r” sound: “kr-gr”, “rk-rg” and “pr-rp”

Not all roads were convenient and beloved for our ancestors. There were also difficult and dangerous areas, which, unlike the soft “l’” sound, were marked with an aggressive “r” sound. Why were such roads inconvenient? For example, sharp stones that cut bare feet and broke bones. These were roads littered with broken trees or fallen boulders. It could be a swamp, mountain peaks or hills. Apparently, the protoroots “gr”, “kr”, “rg” and “rk” appeared in such way.

These protoroots formed many toponyms from Greece, Georgia, Crimea and Gurzuf to the usual words: “kremen’” (flint), granite, “krepost’” (fortress), Riga and even “krov’” (blood). I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in the explanatory dictionary of Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl, along with the modern meaning of the word “riga”, the old one has also preserved, “riga” is an inconvenient, dangerous and bad way. For a long time I could not understand how the name of the city of Paris (Perigee) appeared, but everything turned out to be quite simple.

However, what would happen if forest fires blocked the way? How could our ancestors have designated their aggressive and fiery breath? This is how the aggressive protoroot “pr” appeared. It formed the basis of the word “ogon’” (fire) itself. In ancient Greek, πῦρ means fire. Now few people remember this, but this root has preserved many words. What are these words? Pyrotechnics, Prometheus, pyramid, “pir” (feast) and, of course, our “pirozhok” (pie). The words “rapier”, “shampur” (skewer) and “pirate” also be relevant to fire. Who, when and for how long mastered the fire, we will never know. Archaeologists call different dates of the beginning of the use of fire by ancient man. From a million years to seventy thousand. However, it is one thing to learn how to use the fire forest fires, to learn how to keep it, and it is quite another thing to learn how to extract it yourself and use it in production. It is interesting that Russian word “ogon’” goes back to the fires of the swamp, but the root “pir” (πῦρ) was also used.

### 13. The sound of food “m”. and the aggressive protoroot “r”: “mr” and “rm”

There is no need to talk about delicious and pleasant food. The food is always pleasant. Probably, it is possible to enhance its taste with a soft sound “l’” – “ml’”, “ml`eko” (an ancient form of the word “moloko” – “milk” ), “molot’” (grind), “mal`en`kiy” (small), but there is no great need for this. Although were found many “sacred stones” on which grain was ground.

However, there is a need to protect people from trouble and aggressive danger that food can bring. Therefore, two combinations of protoroots: “mr” and “rm” appeared. Despite the fact that they are based on two roots: “m” for food and “r” for aggression, their meaning is markedly different.

The protoroot “mr” – “aggressive food” – has the meaning “mertviy” (dead). Perhaps, “food that carries aggression, trouble, pain and death.” It formed a large number of words: “mor” (pestilence), “mertviy” (dead), “smrad” (stench), “merzost’” (abomination) and others. This is the “moroz” (frost) that kills all living things. This is also the “more” (sea), the famous “mertvayavoda” (dead water), unsuitable for drinking, but having healing properties, water which has retained its name in Russian folk tales about “living” water and “dead” water. This is the Greek god of dreams Morpheus, and even the science of “morphology”. Surprisingly, this root also forms the word “mir” (peace). However, the interpretation is a little creepy: peace (mir) came after the last warrior died. There was no one to fight. Then came “mir” – eternal rest. “Zamirenie” (from Russian archaic verb “usmirit’” which meant, “to make piece”). Over time, the meaning of the word expanded, but the original meaning “absence of war”, or “to replace war” remained.

The protoroots “m” and “r” in reverse order form a protoroot that has a completely different meaning. “Rm” is aggression that prevents access to food. It is easier to understand its meaning if we consider the word “rama” (frame) formed by this root. Russian Dictionary by Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl or the etymological dictionary of the Russian language by Max Fasmer is enough to hear the whole palette of meanings of this ancient protoroot. Moreover, both Fasmer and Dahl explain this word in exactly the same way. Only Fasmer believes that this word is German, and Dahl writes that the Germans borrowed it from the Slavs. The word “ramo” has quite a lot of meanings, from the concept of “plecho” (shoulder) to a variety of meanings: “buiniy” (violent), “sil`niy” (strong), “ogromniy” (huge), “krepkiy” (hard), “dremuchiy” (dense), “kray” (edge), “granitsa” (border). It even reaches such meanings as “chudo” (miracle) and “chudovishche” (monster). Such were the obstacles that a person had to overcome in order to get food and survive.

### 14. The sounds of contact, “poking” and the aggressive sound “r”: “tr” and “dr”

Any contact is always dangerous because it can damage the arm, leg or even the head. Even a random hit a rock, a sharp twig, or an unsuccessful fall. What about a non-random hit? The stronger the hit, the more pain it causes. This is how the aggressive touch protoroots “tr” and “dr” formed. These protoroots were the basis of a large number of words that have the meaning of aggressive contact, causing pain and damage. The simplest word is “dira”. Its basis has been preserved in many languages: in Russian – “dira”, in English – a tear, in French – un trou, in German – durchbruch, in Greek – τρύπα, in Latin – foraminis.

A strong hit always damages or pierces something. The smoke outlet tear is a “truba” (pipe), (protoroots: tr-po). The hole for the air outlet is the “trahea”, (trachea) (protoroots: tr-ho). A hole from a blow is a “travma” (injury) (protoroots: tr-v-ma). A hole in the skull during surgeryis “trepanachiya” (trepanation) (protoroots: tr-panachiya). Quarrel and striking is a fight (“draka”, protoroots: dr-ka), that is, a dira/tear in the head. Oven with a hole is “tandir” (tandoor) (tan-dr). An open hole in the sky is atrium (protoroots: a-tr). An open “dira” to the gods is “teatr” (theater) (protoroots: teo-a-tr). Even the word “trusi” (drawers)is also “holes made in the skin where the legs were inserted”. The British also have underpants with “dira” – drawers, and clothes with “dira” – dresses. The dress code is also about drawers.

In ancient Greek the male name Peter had the meaning “stone, rock” (πέτρος). How could it have appeared? The protoroots forming it: “po” is “along” and “tr” is “dira”, originally spoke of a rocky terrain with sharply protruding stones that wounded, pierced the legs. Later sharp stones were used as tools, preserving both the protoroots “po” and “tr”, and the semantic meaning of “stone”. For example, we can compare it with the name of Khan Giray. “Gr-ay” is “strong as a rock”. The word “geroy” is in the same logic. Strong people were compared to the fortress of a stone or a rock.

There are a huge number of words of the same root. There are also many toponyms that formed these protoroots. We will review some, but among them there is the most famous and oldest toponym —Troy. Troy is a “dira”, a passage to other seas, which the Trojans fiercely defended and for which they extract tribute. Until now, the passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits is regulated by various conventions, and wars were fought for this right before.

### 15. Ancient prepositions

In any textbook of the Russian language there is a section telling about prepositions called ancient or the most ancient. We have many scientific works about prepositions and their properties and we will try to understand how these prepositions appeared and what meanings they were endowed with. Someday, ignorance of these basics put one of the leaders of the Institute of the Russian language in an awkward situation. Therefore, understanding the meaning of ancient prepositions should be treated with great attention.

It is believed that there are quite a lot of prepositions. One scientific work quotes the figure 127. But usually the following prepositions are included in the textbook list: (in/into), (without), (before), (from), (to), (on/onto), (along), (about), (from), (in front of), (near), (through), (with), (near/next to), (for/behind), (over), (about), (under), (about) and (for). I think that readers who have read the previous pages will immediately determine that prepositions are protoroots, some of which we have already considered. “v” “bez” “do” “iz” “k” “na” “po” “o” “ot” “pered” “pri” “cherez” “s” “y” “za” “nad” “ob” “pod” “pro” "dlya”

For example, the simplest ancient preposition is “k” (to). If the sounds “x”, “g” and “k” went back to human breathing, then the ancient preposition “k” belongs to this group. Its meaning is close to the meaning of “way” or “direction” – where to go, what we will come to.

The ancient preposition (protoroot) “o” and its sound most likely got its meaning from the shape of the lips. It is a circle, around. It is that surrounds something.

There are a number of prepositions, phonemes, protoroots that are associated with a person’s action, with his contact with the environment and his/her penetration into it. In this regard, the preposition “v” is interesting; it denotes effort, tension, desire to get inside something. It is directly related to the extraction of insects or small animals from hidden places: whether it is the stem of a plant, or the trunk of a tree, or a hole in the ground. An ancient man needed not only to look for food, but also to be able to extract it by looking inside. This explains why both in the Russian word “zhivot” (belly) and in the Latin word “vita” the sound “v” is the main one.

We can make out one of the forms of the preposition “v” (in) – the basic word “vnutr’” (inside). The sound “n” denotes the taste of food, the protoroots “tr-dr” go back to “aggressive poking”, or, in other words, piercing something/making a hole. The root “dr” is a hole in which delicious food is hidden and which you need to get to.

For a long time, I could not determine how the sound “s” got the values “vmeste” (together), “soedinyat’” (connect), “sootnosit`sya” (relate) and others. The assumptions were different. However, as a result I concluded that the meaning of the ancient root “s” comes from the properties of water to “razmyahchat’” (soften), “rastvoryat’” (dissolve), “skleivat’” (stick).

The ancient preposition “u”, being the sound of breathing, had a special connotation – it attracted the attention of tribesmen to some circumstance, phenomenon or object. It is the sound of moaning, the sound of crying. This is an “invitation” to come closer, to share your pain. Its later meanings are “vozle” or “okolo” that somehow denoted “souchastie/complicity”, closeness, belonging to someone, involvement. It was impossible to go far from the place where the children were, where there was a hearth that needed to be guarded. Therefore, the ancient protoroot “du” (do-u) is the limit beyond which it was impossible to move away. Duga (arc), a curve, a habitat around a house. How do people check how far they have moved away from home? You can remember what they are shouting: “A-u!”

Some prepositions are paired. For example, the prepositions “ot” and “to” [tɒ]. “Ot” is a kind of space in the circle of the place “t”, the starting point. “To” not only indicates this place, but also speaks about its boundaries. The ringing “do” is especially significant; it is the limit beyond which it is impossible to go. Therefore, it turns out that you can only move “ot and do”.

In a pair of “po” (along) and “ob” (about) are the same principle. “Po” is along and “ob” is what this “po” surrounds.

The pair “nad” (over) and “pod” (under) is also quite understandable. “Pod” is along the “do”. Along some limit or obstacles. For example, if a city was built on a hill, the district around the city was called “podol”. The ancient preposition “nad” has a different meaning. Literally from above “do”, beyond the limit. Overcoming some obstacle. In English, the word “need” has retained the full range of meanings, but the spelling and pronunciation were distorted.

In the pair “an” and “na”, the proroot “an” is almost lost. Although sometimes you can hear a phrase: “an net” (Russian exclamation with the meaning “no”) “An” is what should appear and “on” is what is already there.

In the same way as in the pair “az” and “za” (for). To better understanding the meaning of these roots, imagine a stream. What floats from above and should come to you is “az” or “as” – before. But when it comes level with you and swims on – it’s already “za” or “sa”. “Z” (s) is water. “Za” is something that has already floated or flowed away.

Anticipating and waiting for the sunrise and its appearance is “raz” (ra-az). Then the sun has already appeared, it is “za – ra” or “zarya” (dawn). Everything is extremely simple. It is surprising that the heads of the Institute of the Russian language, who have all kinds of academic degrees and titles, do not know such simple things. I happened to meet the rising of the sun on Shamanka (Shaman Rock) in the ancient settlement of Arkaim on the day of the summer solstice. It is an extraordinary feeling when it is already light, but the sun is not visible. And suddenly the first ray, and hundreds of joyful people which hands are raised. It is not bad that the ritual of meeting the sun has been revived, even in such a modest form.

The preposition “s” (without) indicates the absence of something. It is not easy to determine how this preposition appeared in colloquial speech. There is a version that the preposition “s” is related to the roots “bezh” and “beg” (running). Could it be related to hunting when the prey ran away? Of course, the version is not very convincing. There is also a regular version. The preposition consists of two protoroots: “po” and “za”. In this case, we are talking about something unattainable, which is “za” (beyond) the limits of the possible.

The preposition “cherez” (through) can help us to understand the meaning of the preposition “s”. Despite the apparent complexity, it is quite simple to understand. Let us divide the preposition into protoroots: “che-re-za”. “Che” is “water”, a slightly modified protorootroot of “s”. The aggressive root “r” is what cuts. For example, “reka” (river) is a way cut by water: “re-ka”(ga), “bereg” (shore) is “po-re-ga”, “along the river”. Well, we already know the preposition “za” (behind). What happens? Something and somewhere, behind something cut, separated by water? Something beyond the water, beyond the river, beyond the puddle? Moreover, the ancient preposition is constructed in the same way as the word “seredina” (middle). Only in the “seredina” instead of the “za” root, the “dono” root. “s” is water, “re” is to cut or divide and “dono” is a deep channel or depth. The seredina (middle) is a synonym for the words “mezha” and “messo” and appeared with the participation of the same “voda” (water). If you think a little, you can understand that the whole line of single-root words: Greek “καρδιά”, Latin “cordia”, English “heart”, German “Herz” – it is all from our “seredina”, from our “serdtse” (heart). Even when we are idly strolling along Jerusalem’s Cardot Street, we can remember that the origins of the name are in our great and mighty, amazing and native Russian language.

However, such a seemingly simple preposition “pered” (in front of) is both easy and difficult to explain. I can assume that the meaning-forming ones are the protoroots “po”, “p” and “do”. “Pr” is “along some kind of aggression.” For example, the thresholds in the toponym Dnipro (dono-pr). “Do” is a kind of insurmountable obstacle. That is, “pr-do” is “along an aggressive and insurmountable obstacle.” But that would be too easy. It is impossible not to take into account the combination of the roots “re” and “do”. To cut, “redit’” or “ryadit’”, “to row”, divide into parts. Therefore, I can propose the following version. “Pr-do” is overcoming an obstacle. If “to-do” is overcoming the obstacle “from above”, then “to-do” is “aggressive overcoming”. The words “predshevstvuushchiy” (preceding), “perviy” (first) and others are of the same root. The one who paves the way. The one who follows, he already passes through the punched dyru (hole), “v-tr”. He is the second. It is a very curious version. Moreover, in terms of meanings, it is completely consistent with the ancient Indian vitaras – “leading on”. But, as the outstanding Russian linguist Alexander NikolaevichDragunkin once wrote to me, we can never be absolutely sure that this is how the language sounded thousands of years ago. However, do not be discouraged. At one time, Titus Lucretius Kar in the book “De rerum natura” also operated with guesses, but the desire to understand the processes of being, to establish cause-and-effect relationships was very useful for those who followed, for the “second”. Therefore, I suggest readers to think independently at their leisure about the meaning and origin of the ancient preposition “pered”.

Well, the preposition “dlya” is a combination of the words “do” and the soft “l”. “Do-lya” is the distance to something desired, loved or moving towards it. The Russian word “dolya” (fate) came out of this ancient notion.

### 16. The combination of protoroots (ancient prepositions) “do” and “no”: “dono”

Let us imagine that our ancient ancestors, traveling, came to a deep river. The leader wanted to wade through it, poked a stick into the water, but the stick did not rest anywhere. There is no stop, there is no limit. There is no “do” – deep down to it. He looked back at his fellow tribesmen, threw up his hands and said: Do no [dɔnɔ]. May be he spoked differently, but the combination of the protoroots (ancient prepositions) “do” and “no” formed a complex protoroot “dono”, which explains that there is no limit (dnois bottom). It is deep. Now the simplified word “dno” has the opposite meaning: a certain surface, a rest under water. However, this meaning became “dno” when deep rivers seemed to be an abyss bezdna (without a bottom). It is interesting to trace the way of protoroot from the understanding of “glubina” (depth) to the name Abadonna, personifying the diabolical power, the image of which Mikhail Bulgakov borrowed from ancient religions, for example, the Hebrew ǍḇaddōN – death, decomposition, annihilation, cessation of being. Probably, it seemed like hell for our ancestors when the waters of the Don River absorbed an unlucky tribesman and he could not get out of this abyss – dno. Understanding the “glubina” (depth) created not only the terrible word “ad” (hell) – “a-ba-ad-do-no”, but also popular now “Armageddon”, the meaning of which is the flooding of the earth – “ar” – with water: the same world flood that happened, happens and will happen in the future. Someday compatriots will learn to understand our great language and they will discover the innermost secrets lying on the surface.

### 17. Protoroots “kov”, “sak” and “skvo”. in the names of the locality

The root “kov” (gov) is quite common in geographical names. This is our Moskva (Moscow) (Moskov), and Koblenz, and Kovel, and Spanish Covadonga, and hundreds of others. What does the root “kov” mean? If we look into the English dictionary, we will see that the word “cow” has several homogeneous meanings. “Cov” is primarily a female. Moreover, a female elephant, and a female whale, and a female seal, and a female rhinoceros, and in general a female of all more or less large animals, and, of course, a female cow. What does this “cov” mean? Let us look at the protoroots: “ko” is both something round and some kind of movement. “V” is both “vnutri” (inside) and “zhizn’” (life). How did ancient hunters distinguish males from females? Well, first on the genitals. “Kov” is the name of the female’s sexual organ, literally: “circle giving life” or “circle of life”. The values could expand, change, but for our ancestors it was clear that the female, unlike the male, could reproduce offspring. The protoroot “kov” has been preserved not only in the English word “cow” – a female of a large animal, but also in the words: cavalier, podkova (horseshoe), govyadina (beef), in many other words and most accurately in the Ukrainian word “kovbasa” is a dish from the head of a female animal.

We have puzzled out the protoroot “Kov”. What is “sak”? It is clear that males do not have “kov”. In addition to phallic strength, they are distinguished from females by the scrotum, a pouch with seminal fluid. In the ancient language, the bag was called “sak”. In Latin – “sacculi”, in English – sac; in Greek, the word sounds a little different, but the root basis was preserved: askos – a bag, a scrotum. Hence is the word “sex”. This short word, however, has retained two protoroots: “sk” and “s”. The first means “a bag”, the second means “water”, and “liquid”. In other words, we are talking about the seminal fluid of male animals, and the word itself was originally used as a term in cattle breeding, denoting the male sex. Later, they began to call the process of mating animals, when bulls were brought to cows. Well, nowadays people have dragged this word on themselves. How could the word “sak” appear? “S” is water, and “ak” is from the protoroot “yag” or “ya-ga”, it is “the way down”, which received the meaning of “sacrifice”. Baba Yaga is the one who sacrificed to the swamp fires, the swamp. What could “water sacrifice” mean? Water could not flow out from this cavity. The “imprisonment” of water in some kind of stone bag that people could use as a vessel. Therefore, the word “sak” got the meaning of “bag”, which is still used today. For example, the word “sakvoyazh” is a bag for “voyage”, travelling bag.