The city through the prism of names (book review: Urban Toponymy: Modern Naming Policies and Practices: Monograph, by M.V. Golomidova, R.V. Razumov, A.V. Dmitrieva, et al., ed. by M.V. Golomidova, S.O. Goryaev. Yekaterinburg, Ural University Press, 2023, 216 p.)

The monograph by Russian researchers from Yekaterinburg and Yaroslavl, dedicated to the analysis of urban naming theory and the practical implementation of its principles in the formation of Russian urban toponymy in a systematic diachronic perspective from the 18th century to the present day, has been reviewed. For the analysis, material from the toponymy of Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk, the capital cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as Yaroslavl and Rybinsk, cities of the Upper Volga region with a thousand-year history, is used. The peculiarities of toponymy functioning in a multicultural environment are examined based on the linguistic material of the cities of the national republics of Ufa and Kazan. In total, the monograph mentions in various aspects the toponymicon of more than fifty cities in Russia. Beside its theoretical significance, determined by the novelty of approaches to contemporary Russian urbanonymy, the monograph has practical value, as it will be used by individuals who shape and make practical decisions in the field of urban toponymic policy. The book will attract the interest of citizens who love their city and are concerned about its cultural development, as well as in making appropriate decisions regarding the naming of objects in their urban environment.