Ethnonym Kamchadal in the linguistic space of Russian north-east

The ethnonym Kamchadal in its contemporary sense denotes a so-called “new” people, the early history of which covers only the beginning of the XVIII century. The Kamchadals appeared as a result of the intermixture between Russian pioneers in Kamchatka and its local dwellers: the Itelmens, Koryaks, and Evens. In earlier ages, the Itelmens, ancient residents of the peninsula, were referred to as the Kamchadals; these two terms were absolute synonyms in Russian language at that time. The intensification of russification processes among some of the population in the North-East resulted in the formation of specific groups of people that differed from “pure” aborigines, thus entailing an objective necessity to distinguish between the ethnonyms. As an outcome, the name Itelmens was retained for those who did not give up Itelmen language and culture, while Russian-speaking dwellers, including those who lived outside the Kamchatka Peninsula, adopted the name Kamchadals. The article deals with the procedure of the change in the meaning of the ethnonym Kamchadal, its place in written and oral speech in the North-East of Russia in the XX century and nowadays, as well as with its difference from the demonym. The author also gives the most probable etymological versions of the word’s origin existing nowadays. This article regards the ethnonym Kamchadal as a regionalism, because it has wide circulation in the Kamchadals’ places of residence, but beyond the Far East it is of little notice.