THE INFORMATION COMPONENT OF TOPONYMS' OF GUINEA-BISSAU AND CAPE VERDE

The article deals with toponyms of West African States, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. The relevance of the research is due to the importance of understanding the hidden information, which a toponym carries as well as insufficient study of toponyms of Portuguese-speaking Africa. It is known that the nomination of geographical features, continents, cities, natural features is closely linked to the history and culture of the peoples living in the area. In this connection it is interesting to study the reflection of the cultural component in the names of Guinea- Bissau and Cape Verde, which, despite the geographical proximity and shared linguistic history and similarity in the civilizational development, demonstrate a significant difference in representation of names of various kinds. The aim of the research is to study toponyms in the etymological aspect. The article also analyzes toponyms using descriptive, comparative and structural methods. Etymological analysis of toponyms involves studying them in terms of their Portuguese-non-Portuguese origin, The paper proposes a classification according to the semantic criterion: toponyms of anthropological origin, toponyms describing flora and fauna, toponyms represented by a compound geographical name which includes a common name, transferred toponyms, toponyms represented by a geographical name describing a landscape. The research is based on toponyms of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau [1; 2], selected by the method of continuous sampling, however, the article basically describes examples of oeconyms, oronyms, actionyms, choronyms as bearing the universal or national-specific information about the nomination. The research findings on general and specific characteristics of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau toponyms are analyzed and stated in the conclusion of the article. The research and conclusions may be of interest to journalists working in West Africa.