This article examines the godonyms and agoronyms of Sofia that reference Russian-Bulgarian cultural and historical relations and function as integral elements of the urban semiosphere and the symbolic space of memory. The empirical dataset comprises 47 place names, representing 1.77% (out of 2,662) of the total number of urbanonyms constituting Sofia’s onomastic landscape. Despite their relatively limited number, these units are of considerable analytical significance, as they make it possible to reconstruct stable patterns of symbolic representation of intercultural contacts within the urban environment. The study explores the specific features of Russian-Bulgarian relations as reflected in urbanonymy and proposes a typology of place names associated with Russia and Russian culture, taking into account their semantic and motivational characteristics, as well as the historical and cultural principles underlying their naming. The findings indicate that, in the construction of the urban space of memory, priority is given to names associated with the figures and events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, which perform explicit commemorative functions and contribute to the consolidation of historical narratives. By contrast, ideologically marked names tend to receive negative evaluation, as they no longer align with contemporary values and are perceived as outdated and externally imposed. Their gradual disappearance from the urban onomasticon reflects broader processes of reinterpreting historical experience in contemporary Bulgarian society.
The contact details of authors:
Masalskaya, Maria Mikhaylovna – Candidate of Philology, Lecturer at the Department of European Languages of Higher Foreign Languages Courses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8431-7299, marima94@yandex.ru
