The designation of the sides of the world in the Mongolian languages
The article deals with the terms reflecting the spatial semantics of the sides of the world in the Mongolian languages. Mongolian languages have a rather wide system of designations of the sides of the world. Each of the names of the sides of the world (north, south, east, west) is represented by numerous terms, many of which coincide in related languages. Some of them are archaic (Old Mongolian) forms. There is a varying degree of use of certain terms denoting the sides of the world in the languages. The authors note that Mongolian peoples, when defining the sides of the world, used southern orientation, where south is the front side, north is the back side, respectively west is the right side, east is the left side. All this is reflected in the names of the sides of the world. Among them there are terms denoting exactly these concepts: өmn үzg 'south' (lit. front side), ar үzg (lit. back side) 'north', barun үzg (lit. right side) 'west', zүn үzg (lit. left side) 'east'. But in some Mongolian languages, for example, in Lower Udinski and Ekhiritski dialects of the Buryat language the eastern orientation of the sides of the world is noted. These terms are reflected in toponymy and began to be used in composite names.