The Great Silk Road As A Historical And Cultural Space And The Semantics Of Its Dromonyms

Abstract

The article examines the Great Silk Road as an integrated historical and cultural space that connected the peoples of Eurasia for more than a millennium. The main object of the study is the proper names of roads, caravan routes, and trade networks, namely dromonyms. Using descriptive, semantic, comparative-onomastic, and historical-linguistic methods, dromonyms are classified according to their semantic features into geographical, functional-trade, ethnocultural, sacred, and complex groups. Their nominative, directional, informative, cultural-historical, and symbolic functions are identified. Toponyms containing the components rabot, guzar, and darband in the territory of Uzbekistan are also interpreted within this classification. The results demonstrate that dromonyms constitute a distinctive linguistic archive preserving traces of population movements, trade relations, and religious practices. Furthermore, it is substantiated that the name “Great Silk Road” itself is a generalizing dromonym created in a later period.