Історичні документи — важливі джерела фіксації назв зниклих поселень (на матеріалі ойконімікону Тернопільщини)

The article deals with the names of settlements of the historical Ternopil region within the former Volyn, Ruthenian and Podolian voivodeships (Vyshnivetsk, Zbarazh, Terebovl, Ternopil and Chervonohorod counties) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The object of the study is the oikonyms Vybranivka, Hermentsi, Huhny, Lyubachiv, Malativtsi, Mylokiv, Pronyatyn, Shepelivka. They were known in this region in the 15th, 16th–17th, 18th –– first half of the 20th centuries, then disappeared for various reasons, mostly due to external influences. The history of the area confirms that the negative factors that influenced its depopulation in the period from the 15th to the 17th centuries were frequent Tatar raids, the Turkish occupation of the region during 1672–1699, and the military actions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which tried to return Podolia to its rule. The disappearance of settlements in the Ternopil region in the 1st half of the 20th century is associated with other factors, primarily related to the administrative reforms of the then authorities. The paper studies the word-formation structure of of these oikonyms, clarifies the motivation of the semantics of their formative bases, and establishes etymons. The author concludes that a thorough study of historical sources, primarily lustrations, conscription registers, etc., from different regions of Ukraine will make it possible to identify disappeared settlements and introduce their names into scientific circulation.