İnsanoğlu var olduğundan beri önce kendini daha sonra da kendi gözüyle gördüklerini, bazı özelliklerini ön planda tutarak adlandırma yoluna gitmiş ve yaşamı kolaylaştırmaya çalışmıştır. İnsanın dil malzemesiyle oluşturduğu, doğadaki bütün canlı, cansız varlıkları ve kavramları karşılayan bu sözcükler ad olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Buna göre dil dizgeleri içinde öncelikle adların ortaya çıktığı söylenebilir. Günümüzde de konuşulan dillerin söz varlığının büyük bir bölümünü adlar oluşturmaktadır. Bugün evrende görülen ve algılanan her şeyin adını çalışma konusu yapan ad bilimi (onomastik), özellikle de kişi adları ve soyadları ile yer adları üzerine çalışmaktadır. Bu bilim dalının yer adlarını adlandırılmaktadır. inceleyen kolu toponomi "yer adı bilimi" olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Tunceli'nin en eski yerleşim merkezleri Pertek, Hozat, Çemişgezek ve Mazgirt ilçeleridir. Yöre tarihte genellikle Dersim olarak bilinmektedir. Bugün Tunceli iline bağlı yer adlarının çoğu, cumhuriyetin kuruluşundan sonra Türkçeleştirme yönünde değiştirilmiştir. Buna rağmen yörede Türkçe olmayan yer adlarına da rastlanmaktadır. Yöredeki yer adlarının geneline bakıldığında bunların coğrafi özelliklerle ve doğa ile ilişkili oldukları görülmektedir. Genellikle yörede öne çıkan bir tabiat özelliği o yöredeki yerleşim yerinin adı olmuş ya da ad o özellikle ilişkilendirilmiştir. Ayrıca yöredeki yer adlarının hangi dile mensup olduklarına bakılarak yörede hangi etnik grupların yerleşmiş olduklarına dair veriler de elde edilebilmektedir. Alana katkı sunmak için tarafımızdan yapılan bu çalışmada, ilk çağlardan bugüne, Tunceli yöresine verilen adlar toponomik olarak köken, yapı ve anlam bakımından değerlendirilecektir.

Since the time of their existence, human beings have attempted to name themselves, their self-perceived things through their own eyes by keeping some features into the foreground, and thus tried to make life easier. All these words that are formed by the language and that refer to the living and inanimate beings in nature are defined as names. According to this, it can be said that the names first appeared in the language system. Today, most of the vocabulary of spoken languages consists of names. The onomatology (onomastic), which is the study of what is seen and perceived on earth in the present day, is particularly concerned with the people’s names, their surnames and the names of the places. The branch of the science that examines the names of the places is called “toponomy”. The oldest settlements in Tunceli are Pertek, Hozat, Çemişgezek and Mazgirt. The region is generally known as Dersim in history. Today, most of the names of places related to Tunceli have been changed as a result of translating into Turkish after the establishment of the Republic. Nonetheless, local names are also found in the region. When we look at the names of the places in Tunceli in general, it is seen that they are related to geographical characteristics and nature. Generally, the quality of nature that stands out in the region gives its name to the settlement in that region, or the name is associated with that quality in particular. Besides, it is possible to obtain data on which ethnic groups have been settled in the region by looking at which langauge the names of places in the region belong to. In this study which aims at making contribution to the field, the names given to the Tunceli from the first ages to today will be evaluated in terms of origin, structure and meaning. most of the names of places related to Tunceli have been changed as a result of translating into Turkish after the establishment of the Republic. Nonetheless, local names are also found in the region. When we look at the names of the places in Tunceli in general, it is seen that they are related to geographical characteristics and nature. Generally, the quality of nature that stands out in the region gives its name to the settlement in that region, or the name is associated with that quality in particular. Besides, it is possible to obtain data on which ethnic groups have been settled in the region by looking at which langauge the names of places in the region belong to. In this study which aims at making contribution to the field, the names given to the Tunceli from the first ages to today will be evaluated in terms of origin, structure and meaning. The names of Tunceli and its environs from its foundation to the present day that have been recorded in historical sources are Daranis, Daranalis, Daranati, Dersim, Mameki, Kalan and Tunceli. Daranis, which is the first recorded name, was used after the Persian king Darius conquered the region. The name Daranis was formed by adding the plural suffix –(i)s in western languages to the word Dara-y-an (Darius’ subjects) and was first recorded by the westerners. Since the oldest meaning of the word was forgotten over time, the Persian word Daranis was turned into dara nali (trees in a brook) and it was recorded as Daranalis by the Since the time of their existence, human beings have attempted to name themselves, their self-perceived things through their own eyes by keeping some features into the foreground, and thus tried to make life easier. All these words that are formed by the language and that refer to the living and inanimate beings in nature are defined as names. According to this, it can be said that the names first appeared in the language system. Today, most of the vocabulary of spoken languages consists of names. The onomatology (onomastic), which is the study of what is seen and perceived on earth in the present day, is particularly concerned with the people’s names, their surnames and the names of the places. The branch of the science that examines the names of the places is called “toponomy”. The oldest settlements in Tunceli are Pertek, Hozat, Çemişgezek and Mazgirt. The region is generally known as Dersim in history. Today, most of the names of places related to Tunceli have been changed as a result of translating into Turkish after the establishment of the Republic. Nonetheless, local names are also found in the region. When we look at the names of the places in Tunceli in general, it is seen that they are related to geographical characteristics and nature. Generally, the quality of nature that stands out in the region gives its name to the settlement in that region, or the name is associated with that quality in particular. Besides, it is possible to obtain data on which ethnic groups have been settled in the region by looking at which langauge the names of places in the region belong to. In this study which aims at making contribution to the field, the names given to the Tunceli from the first ages to today will be evaluated in terms of origin, structure and meaning. The names of Tunceli and its environs from its foundation to the present day that have been recorded in historical sources are Daranis, Daranalis, Daranati, Dersim, Mameki, Kalan and Tunceli. Daranis, which is the first recorded name, was used after the Persian king Darius conquered the region. The name Daranis was formed by adding the plural suffix –(i)s in western languages to the word Dara-y-an (Darius’ subjects) and was first recorded by the westerners. Since the oldest meaning of the word was forgotten over time, the Persian word Daranis was turned into dara nali (trees in a brook) and it was recorded as Daranalis by the western geographers. Later, Armenians adopted and changed this word into their language as Daranati (salt mine). During Akkoyunlu and Karakoyunlu periods, the old names such as Daranis / Daranalis / Daranati was persianized as der-i sim (silver gate) as a result of the migration of Shiite groups from İran to the region and due to the fact that the Persian language was effective in the region. The –i suffix in der-i sim dropped and the word became Dersim as is the case with other compounds beginning with der. The name Mameki means Mahmuts or little Mahmuts. It is thought to originate from an Armenian prince, Vartan Mamigonian, who lived in fifth century AD. The name Kalan that is also used for the region means ‘the elderly’. The region was named Tunceli, which means the land of bronze, in the Republican period. Nearly all of these names are related to İranic languages in terms of origin, formation and meaning. They emerged in accordance with the rules of Persian, Kurdish and Zazaki languages in terms of formation and their meanings. The name Daranis, which was named after a noteworthy ruler of the region in the beginning, gained new meanings concerning prominent features of the landscape and underwent certain phonetical changes and surviveed to the present day as Dersim / Dėsım. Taking the languages these names originate from into consideration, it can be claimed that the ethnic composition of the region was related to Iranic tribes from the early first century AD., and the names the region was given were associated with the languages of these tribes. When these names are investigated in detail, the existence of Armenian and Turkish communities in the region is revealed.