STUDYING KAZAKH NECROTOPONYMS MONGOLIA AND KAZAKHSTAN (SECOND HALF XIX - FIRST QUARTER OF THE XXI CENTURIES)

Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of funeral monuments (nektrotoponyms) of the Kazakhs of Kazakhstan and the western regions of Mongolia, where the overwhelming majority of the Kazakhs of this country currently live. Various kinds of expeditions organized during this period collected extensive material on the history, geography, ethnography, as well as toponymy of Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Moreover, in the context of the topic we are considering, it should be especially noted that scientific expeditions and trips of individual researchers were not of a special toponymic nature, but were carried out as part of a general study of history, geography, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. At the same time, the purpose of this article is to analyze the content and main directions of studying necrotoponyms of Kazakhstan and the western regions of Mongolia. When writing the work, the methods of factor and diachronic analysis, as well as the synthesis method, were used. In the course of studying this issue, the author came to the conclusion that the study of Kazakh necrotoponyms was carried out as part of a study of the traditional culture of the Kazakhs, in particular, funeral rites. The collected material shows that in traditional Kazakh society necrotoponyms performed various purely practical and ethnocultural functions. In particular, we are talking about the functions of preserving the historical memory of the population (memory of historical events), orienting people on the ground during their movement across vast steppe spaces, marking the limits of the ancestral territories of the Kazakhs, etc.