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The article considers the toponyms of the Smolensk region as a valuable phenomenon of cultural and historical character, which, being the language of the earth, are able to tell about the ancient and most ancient facts of life of the people of this region on a par with the monuments of material culture. Names belonging to Finno-Ugric and Baltic languages, as well as to West Slavic languages are identified. It is emphasized that names can persist for centuries, losing their connection with the source language and adapting to new language conditions.
V.S. Kartavenko (Wed,) studied this question.