Asadi, Bahram

"A Study of the Meanings of the Geographical Names Yekan and Dürgə" Abstract************** "Yekan və Dürgə coğrafi adlarının mənalarının araşdırılması" Azərbaycan Ədəbiyyatı və Folkloru Tədqiqatçısı

Document Type : Original Article

Author

bahram asadi

Retired education

Abstract

This article examines the etymology and meaning of two geographical names in Azerbaijan: "Yekan" (a village in the Marand district of East Azerbaijan) and "Dürgə" (a village in the Sulduz district, south of Lake Urmia).

The author first rejects the view that "Yekan" has Persian roots and is the plural of "Yek" (one), citing historical evidence that Persian-speaking peoples never lived in this region. Then, drawing on historical Turkic linguistics, he presents two meanings for "Yekan":

First Meaning: "Yek/Yeg" in Turkic means "good," and "-an" is an ancient plural suffix in Turkic languages. Thus, "Yekan = Yeg + an" means "the good ones" or "place of the good ones."

Second Meaning: "Kan/Ken/Gan" in ancient Turkic means "village," "settlement," or "habitation." Therefore, "Yekan = Ye (good) + Kan (village)" means "good village" or "fine settlement."

In the second part, he traces the root of the name "Dürgə." Referring to a couplet by Ashig Gurbani (a 16th-century Azerbaijani poet and ashug):

"The diver goes deep and roams / There is a deep, a Dürgə, and a shallow"

He concludes that "Dürgə" means "mid-water," a place that is neither deep nor shallow. Given the geographical location of this village between two settlements called "Göl" (Lake) and "Ada" (Island) near Lake Urmia, it appears that the lake's waters once reached this area. As the waters receded, "Dürgə" emerged as a zone of medium depth and was named accordingly.

Keywords

Yekan, Dü

rgə, Soldoz, Toponym, Etymology

Subjects