Toponymic Legends of the Perm Region: Motivating Basis and Groupsof Plots (on Materials of XIX-XX Centuries)
In this article we try to describe, characterize and classify toponymic legends that were recorded in the territory of Perm region during expeditions of the Philological Faculty of Perm State University. The primary classification is based on motivational model proposed by the informants.One of the largest groups of toponymic legends consists of legends where the toponym is con- sidered derived from the name of the pioneer (or, rarely, another person). Regional specificity manifests itself in the characteristics of the founders of the settlements: e. g., people from Velikiy Novgorod, runaway peasants and soldiers, developers of minerals. Another large group of legends connects the toponym with the terrain features: landscape, flora and fauna, etc. The peculiarity of the region is not the focus of these texts, instead, their distinctive trait is the lack of subject, the simplicity of construction. Third group of legends consists of legends that refer to events of local history, the ones that are basing on the internal form of the toponym, or offer variants of the folk etymology of non-Russian names.