The renaming of oikonyms in the toponymic system of Artsakh is a multilayered process shaped by the interaction of historical, linguistic, cultural, and political factors. The renaming causes changes to the semantic content of an oikonym, the perception of its historical biography, and its symbolic value in public consciousness. The renaming is grounded on administrative-territorial restructuring, socio-economic relations and the ideological changes that reflect them, linguistic contacts, as well as requirements of written documentation and cartographic representation. In different historical periods, translation, phonetic transformation, calquing, reinterpretation, transliteration, literary normalization and standardization have served as mechanisms of oikonymic changes.

KeywordsArtsakh place name oikonym renaming toponymic system historical memory administrative-territorial restructuring socio-economic relations language standardization identity cartography