Detoponymic Names of Ural Minerals: Word-Formation Patterns

The article examines the names of minerals derived from toponyms found in the Urals. The material for the study was sourced from specialized works on the mineralogy of the region, Russia, and the world. The aim of the research is to analyze the word-formation patterns characteristic of detoponymic mineral names, both in motivational and formal terms. The detoponymic pattern ranks as the second most frequent for mineral names, accounting for 21% of the total number of Ural mineral names (with the most frequent pattern being the deanthroponymic one). Given the diversity of the mineral nomenclature in the Urals, it can be inferred that this ratio is applicable to official scientific mineralogy in general. The most common way of forming a detoponymic mineral name involves using the name of a place directly associated with mining as the base lexeme, typically in its full initial form, followed by the addition of the typical mineral name suffix -it. The name of a man-made object (such as a mining site) is most frequently used as the donor token. In the motivational aspect, deviations from this pattern are rare, occurring when the mineral is named not after the place of discovery, but a neighboring object. Additionally, several minerals are named after celestial bodies. In the formal aspect, deviations manifest as various modifications of the base lexeme (often through truncation), which results in the formation of a compact and user-friendly term. These deviations, both motivational and formal, are linked to the desire to create a euphonic term that fits into the scientific terminological system and avoids ambiguity. The mineral names examined reveal a tendency to associate the resulting term with a significant place for the name-giver and the professional community. Moreover, naming based on mining enables specialists to draw conclusions about the mineral’s characteristics from its name.