This article considers one of the most important aspects of the intangible cultural heritage of Kazakhstan, which is expressed in traditional knowledge and customs related to nature and the universe. The study of toponyms as part of the intangible cultural heritage, a folded linguistic and cultural text or cultural code is part of the training course «Intangible Cultural Heritage of Kazakhstan», implemented as part of the training of undergraduates in the specialties of culture and art at the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University.

At the moment, the scientific community offers several models/ways to preserve the intangible heritage, which is often called «living heritage». In the context of the proposed measures, the main one is considered to be its transfer to the younger generation in both formal and informal contexts. In this article, the authors reveal the content aspects of the considered training course in the field of traditional toponymy of Kazakhstan, which are presented as part of the educational materials tested in practice.

In the opinion of the authors of the article, the view on toponymy as a science developing at the intersection of linguistics, history and geography prevails in modern science. But, in our opinion, toponymy has a much larger resource and can be studied from the standpoint of a cultural and semiotic approach, the foundations of which were laid by the famous Kazakh scientist M. Sembi.

The purpose of this study is to reconstruct the semiotic and symbolic meaning of Kazakh toponyms on the example of toponyms containing numerals and color designations.

The article was prepared within the framework of the project of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan AR09259280 «Languages of Kazakh culture as the basis of ethnic identity: semiotics and semantics».

Keywords: «living heritage, training course, master’s degree, toponyms with numerals and color designations