Numbers and Figures in Slavic Urbanonymy: Composition, Symbolics, Functioning Features

Abstract

As part of a general lexical system, urbanonymy reflects cultural phenomena in a broad sense. Alongside often discussed and well-studied lexical units, there are other urbanonyms that have been neglected by researchers for various reasons. Intra-city names containing numbers and figures belong to this neglected category.
The aim of the study is to define the role of numbers and figures in Slavic urbanonymic systems. The research material is comprised of the contemporary urbanonymy of cities in Belarus, Russia, Poland and Bulgaria; toponymic dictionaries, electronic resources, tourist guides, maps and atlases have been used.
The author demonstrates the shared and specific features of the numbers and figures used in the Belarusian urbanonymic system, as compared to that of Russia, Poland and Bulgaria. The symbolic meaning of these figures in the Slavic urbanomasticon is also discussed.
In spite of the existing differences in the use of names with a numerical component, their com¬position can be treated as a universal onomastic process. Street names containing figures are part of national culture, as they call to mind important national events or facts, both past and present. This helps individuals cultivate a personal sense of belonging to their native land, thus contributing to the preservation of tradition.