What is onomastics in Russian. Lecture Topic: onomastics, the science of proper names. Toponyms as an object of study of onomastics
ONOMASTICS, the science of proper names of all types, the patterns of their development and functioning. Linguistic at its core, onomastics includes historical, geographical, ethnographic, cultural, sociological, literary components that help to identify the specifics of named objects and the traditions associated with their names, which takes onomastics beyond the scope of linguistics itself and makes it an autonomous discipline that uses predominantly linguistic methods, closely related to the complex humanities, as well as earth and universe sciences.
Proper names react vividly to changes occurring in nature and society, therefore proper names can serve as chronologizers of texts, as well as historical and archaeological sites. Due to the special conservatism of proper names, they survive the era in which they were created, preserving evidence of a more ancient state of the language, and contain a large amount of linguistic and extra-linguistic information, which can only be obtained by linguistic methods.
The entire diversity of the world of things (real, hypothetical and invented by human imagination) constitutes the primary basis for names – common nouns as generalizing similar facts and own as highlighting individual objects in a series named using common nouns.
Just as named things are located in earthly (and unearthly) space, the words naming them in the mind of the speaker also have a spatial arrangement, similar for residents of the same area, different for residents of remote territories. It may not resemble the actual arrangement of named objects, but it exists and serves as a framework that supports the denotations of names. Onomastic space- this is a nominal continuum that exists in the minds of people different cultures and in different eras filled in different ways. In the consciousness of every person, onomastic space is present fragmentarily. It is revealed quite fully only with a special study.
According to the Book of Genesis, people themselves, places on earth known to them, animals (domestic and wild) and visible heavenly bodies were the first to receive proper names. These objects and their names filled the onomastic space of ancient man. Over time, this space expanded, and new types of objects received names.
The onomastic space of modern residents of Russia includes: names of people - anthroponyms(Ivan,Marya,Anton Pavlovich Chekhov,Rurikovich); geographical names – toponyms(mountain Elbrus, city Cockerels, mowing Beyond the swamp, The White house ), including the names of water bodies – hydronyms(river Volga, Lake Ritsa, Black Sea); animal names - zoonyms(dog Blot, horse Loud Success, goose Ivan Ivanovich); proper names of individual plants - phytonyms (Tree crying, pine Airplane); names of zones and parts of the universe - cosmonyms(constellation Capricorn, nebula Andromeda, galaxy Big Magellanic Cloud); names of celestial bodies - astronyms(star Vega, planet Mars, asteroid Ceres, comet Galea); names of points and time periods – chrononyms (Petrovskaya era, Varfolomeevskaya night, era Renaissance, New year); names of holidays ( Christmas, Day Victory, Day geologist, Day teachers, Trinity); names of events, campaigns, wars (festival " Russian winter», Russian-Japanese war, Brusilovsky breakthrough, operation " Steel helmet"); names of enterprises, institutions, societies, parties, etc. business associations of people ( Russian state library, Small theater, factory " Sickle And hammer"); names of churches, monasteries ( Trinity-Sergius Lavra, temple Trinity in sheets, church Introductions under pine trees); names of communication routes ( The path from the Varangians to the Greeks,Vladimirsky tract,Minskoe highway); names of vehicles (aircraft) « Motherland», motor ship « Cosmonaut Gagarin», express « Yaroslavl"); names of works of art (painting by V.M. Vasnetsov Three hero, sculpture Let's have a snack swords on plowshares, symphony Winter dreams P.I. Tchaikovsky, opera Troubadour G. Verdi); titles periodicals(newspaper " News", magazine " Science and life"); titles of documents ( Land Law,Treaty of Friendship,Peace Decree,Helsinki Agreement); titles of books, stories, poems, articles ( Monument A.S. Pushkin, novel by A.N. Tolstoy Bread); proper names of individual, especially valuable objects of material culture (gold nuggets " Camel», « bunny ears", diamond " Shah", bells " Goat», « Ram», « Sysoy" In Rostov); names of orders, medals (order " Badge of honor", medal " Mother's glory"); names of natural disasters (hurricane " Flora"); names of varieties of manufactured products and selected plants (vehicle " Volga", cheese " Poshekhonsky", soap " Degtyarnoye", cologne " Lilac", cherry " Beauty of the North", lilac " Lights of Moscow"); trademarks - signs marking goods and service marks, specially preserved and kept from becoming common vocabulary (shampoo " Blue Wave", candies " Gold little key"); names of deities ( Zeus,Perun); names of various spirits (genie Maimun, Daemon, Anchutka); names of various mythological realities (river Summer); names of characters and names of places in literature and folklore ( Eugene Onegin,Sobakevich,Blue Beard, village Dyryavino, city Skotoprogonevsk); names of hypothetical geographical features ( Sannikov Land,Beringia) etc. Depending on the type of names studied, onomastics as a science is divided into special areas, among which the most studied are anthroponymy, toponymy, hydronymy and others. etc. (see ANTHROPONYMY; TOPONYMY).
The names of long-dead people and settlements that ceased to exist fill the depth of onomastic space; however, their place may vary depending on the significance of the denotation. Names Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Nero, Napoleon are still relevant today. Less famous names are significant only for the chronological slice when the named person lived. The names of uninhabited cities become archaeonyms, i.e. names of archaeological objects. Only a good knowledge of history and geography allows us to establish that Antarctica, Tavrida, Tasmania– names of real existing objects, and Atlantis, Pacifida, Beringia– hypothetical. In all similar cases images of named objects, emerging in the imagination of members of a linguistic community, become a kind of denotations, substitutes for actually non-existent objects.
Aspects of onomastic research are diverse. Stand out: descriptive onomastics, which forms the objective foundation of onomastic research, providing general philological analysis and linguistic interpretation collected material; theoretical onomastics, which studies the general patterns of development and functioning of onomastic systems; applied onomastics associated with the practice of naming, with the functioning of names in living speech and the problems of naming and renaming, giving practical recommendations cartographers, biographers, bibliographers, lawyers; onomastics works of art, which makes up the section of poetics; historical onomastics, which studies the history of the appearance of names and their reflection in the names of the realities of different eras; ethnic onomastics, which studies the emergence of the names of ethnic groups and their parts in connection with the history of ethnic groups, the relationship of ethnonyms with names of other types, the evolution of ethnonyms, leading to the creation of toponyms, anthroponyms, zoonyms, the connection of ethnonyms with names of languages (linguonyms).
Modern onomastics is a complex scientific linguistic discipline with its own range of problems and methods. Onomastic research helps to study the migration routes of individual ethnic groups, identify the places of their former habitat, establish the more ancient state of individual languages, and determine the linguistic and cultural contacts of different ethnic groups.
This article will try to answer the question of what onomastics is. Here we will look at its general definition from the point of view of linguistics. Attention will also be paid to defining the directions of this section. Historical onomastics will be studied in more detail.
Introduction
Onomastics - what is it?
This term refers to one of the branches of linguistics that studies any issues related to proper names (s. i.), as well as the history of their origin or transformation due to long-term use in the language from which they were borrowed. In a narrower sense, this concept can be defined as a set for studying proper names that came from another source language. The subject for study is p. And.
Synonymous sections are: onomastics, onomasiology and onomatology.
More details about art and its analysis
Onomastics as the science of one's own name appeared a very long time ago. Translation from Greek defines it as “the art of naming.” In scientific terms, we can say that this section of linguistics specializes in proper names and historical evidence that reveals their essence and meaning.
This section includes several subsections, among which are: toponymy, anthroponymics, astronomy, zoonymics, cosmonymy, chrematonymy, pragmonymy, carabonymy and theonymy. Below we will look at them general description.
Directions
Onomastics is a science that includes the following sections:
- Anthroponymy - a section on the study of people’s own names and surnames, as well as their origin and transformation that occurred as a result of their long-term use, geographic distribution, changes in social function, etc.
- Astronomy is a section that analyzes the names of any celestial objects, as in total number, and individual units (Sun or Moon, many stars and comets, etc.)
- Cosmonymics is the study of the names of objects located exclusively in outer space.
- Toponymy is a section devoted to the analysis of villages. And. objects of geography and its formations. An example would be: the Nile River, Egypt, Mount Chomolungma, etc.
- Zoonymics is the name given to the section that studies p. And. and animal names.
- Chrematonymy is a section on objects related to human culture.
- Karabonymics is a section on proper names that are used to call boats, ships and other vessels.
- Theonymy refers to the section on the proper names of gods and various deities.
- Pragmonymics is a subsection of onomastics that studies the names of products and goods. An example is the concept of “chokonima” - a chocolate type of product.
Purpose
All of the above sections of onomastics create a common basis for the study of one’s own name. Research in this section allows a person to trace the migration route and the places where various peoples settled. This is possible thanks to the analysis of linguistic and cultural contacts tracked in languages, as well as the determination of the specific patterns of storage and transmission of proper names.
The presence of a certain social function - to be an individualizing means of defining and highlighting objects and subjects, as well as cities, phenomena, etc. - allows a proper name to also retain its etymological meaning, which is very often missed and/or overshadowed in the presence of certain reasons. It is important to be able to track such information and use it correctly. S. and. have enormous stability, which remains even during significant revolutionary events.
Historical facts
What is onomastics? The definition of this word came to us from the Greek language. Onomastics gives us valuable information about history by establishing settlement sites, migration routes (especially important for studying peoples that have disappeared), analyzing local myths, etc. The total amount of data allows a person to get an idea of the type of settlement, its social and family structure , as well as relationships.
An example of onomastics, namely its activities, is the analysis of geographers. names, southern section of the East European Plain. It allows us to positively resolve the issue of the contribution of the Scythians to the development of the state language of the Russian Federation. By analyzing the names of cities located on waterways (for example, “Vyshny Volochek”), one can obtain a conclusion about the features of transport used on water. It also helps to recognize the exploitation era and more.
The essence of onomastics
What is onomastics and what is its essence?
The main task of onomastic research, as mentioned earlier, is to identify and understand the migration route of various peoples. Also, this section of linguistics pays a lot of attention to the study of the cultural series of contacts that occurred during the mixing of languages.
Onomastic studies focus on ancient dialects and the original structure and state of language. The most important place among the subsections of onomastics is occupied by anthroponymy.
The studied section of linguistics includes some aspects, among which are: descriptive (analysis of philological and linguistic issues and problems), theoretical (derivation of laws and principles of functioning of any onomastic system), historical (history of names), artistic and ethnic.
Historical section
What does onomastics study, namely its historical section?
The history aspect deals with the analysis of onomastic data. S. and. are part of language and therefore included in linguistics. However, the presence of patterns that are tracked in the development of proper names differs from the “evolution” of, for example, appellatives.
The emergence of And. and their change is subject not only to the phonetic and morphological set of laws and rules, but is also determined by the progress of society or special phenomena in it. An example is the ownership of the throne by three different Alexanders and two Nicholas, which in the future led to a tendency for these names to spread among Russian nobles. Based on foreign policy plans, Catherine II named her grandson Constantine, which corresponds to the name of the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Also, for similar reasons, names were assigned to cities such as: Odessa, Nikopol, Sevastopol, etc. in this case the orientation of the name comes from the geographical location of the city, its population, etc.
Thus, historians can say in response to the question: “what does onomastics study?” that it analyzes proper names through the use of historical facts and uses s. And. as a valuable source of information that can serve additional material for a researcher or scientist.
About patterns
What does onomastics mean for a historian? general outline we already know. However, it is important to understand that this section of science includes laws that divide it into sections. De-etymologization is one of the reasons for such a distinction between subtypes. In the process of using one's own name, the etymological meaning and origin disappears from it. For example, when mentioning Lyubov Lvovna, subjects do not think about the feeling of falling in love or a dangerous predatory animal. Also when we're talking about about Pushkin, we do not remember artillery pieces. A person most often senses etymology when meeting unfamiliar names.
Division of historical function
In the historical aspect of onomastics there is a division into two layers. One of them is pre-onomastic. This is what one of the greatest scientists in the field of onomastic research, V. A. Nikonov, calls it. An example is the name of the city of Paris, the meaning of which indicates that the territory belonged to the Parisian tribe. As you can see, this p. And. serves as a valuable source of information, but determining this can be extremely difficult or impossible.
The 2nd meaning of the layer is onomastic. This “platform” is extremely simple. Let's look at an example: Beijing is the capital of China, Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. Davydov Nikolai Alekseevich is my neighbor, a laboratory assistant in one of my brother’s laboratories.
When answering the question of what onomastics is in historical practice, it is also important to know about the dual purpose of all names.
Firstly, it is necessary to distinguish some geographical objects, people, etc. from others. That is, to single out someone or something from general series. In this case, the name introduces a unit of speech within the boundaries of a certain topic (cities, animal names, names of people, etc.). Conclusions about names are made using various additional funds For example, when learning a person's name, formants are used.
Onomastics.
Lecture plan.
Onomastics as a science. From the history of the development of onomastics.
Classifications of onomastic material.
Methodology and research techniques in onomastics.
Anthroponyms in literary text.
Point 1. Onomastics as a science. From the history of the development of onomastics.
Onomastics is a linguistic discipline that studies proper names; otherwise -onomatology[Linguistic encyclopedic Dictionary]
The term onomastics is used both in the meaning of “a branch of linguistics (a branch of lexicology) that studies proper names” and in the meaning of “a set of proper names”. However, there is reason to think that onomastics should be considered as an independent linguistic science, and not as a branch of lexicology [for more details, see: Matveev, 2004, 87–88]).
Many foreign and domestic linguists made their contribution to the development of onomastics. Of the foreign linguists, first of all we can name A. Gardiner, A. Doza, P. Rene, V. Tashchitsky, A. Bach, W. Fleischer, V. Seibke. From domestic ones - N.M. Tupikov, A.M. Selishchev, V.K. Chichagov, A.I. Sobolevsky, A.V. Superanskaya, V.A. Niknova, V.D. Bondaletov, N.V. Podolskaya , A.N.Antysheva, etc.
In a diachronic context, the formation and existence of onomastics as a science can be represented by thematic blocks, within which priority is given to the consideration of diverse issues:
1. The emergence and history of onomastics as a science and its individual branches (Aristotle, M. Breal, V. Brøndal, A. Gardiner, T. Hobbes, O. Espersen, P. Christophersen, E. Kurilovich, J. St. Mill, Plutarch, B. Russell, L.S. Stebbing and others) (see [Ermolovich 2005 ]).
2. Identification of the peculiarities of the meaning of a proper name, its difference from a common noun (N.F. Alefirenko, V.I. Bolotov, E.F. Danilina, A.A. Reformatsky, A.V. Superanskaya, A.A. Ufimtseva and etc.).
3. Determining the place of onomastic vocabulary in the language system (M.Ya. Blokh, V.D. Bondaletov, V.A. Nikonov, etc.).
4. Description of the similarities and differences between the categories of onomastic nominations, identifying the principles of their classification, defining the boundaries of the so-called “onomastic space” (I.V. Kryukova, A.V. Superanskaya, V.I. Suprun, L.M. Shchetinin, etc. .); contrasting the concepts of natural and artificial onomastic nomination (N.D. Golev, M.V. Golomidova).
5. Field approach to onomastic research (E.L. Berezovich, V.I. Bolotov, A.V. Superanskaya, etc.) with the identification of the nuclear, perinuclear and peripheral zones in the structure of the onomastic field (V.I. Suprun). The concept of “onomastic field” is contrasted with the concept of “onomastic space” and presupposes the presence of systemic-structural connections, acting as an ordered, hierarchized set of proper names.
6. Consideration of the specifics of literary and artistic onomastics (L.I. Andreeva, I.B. Voronova, I.P. Zaitseva, Yu.A. Karpenko, E.M. Levina, L.V. Razumova, O.I. Fonyakova and etc.).
7. Determination of the features of the use of onomastic vocabulary in certain functional styles: in texts of newspaper and journalistic style (L.A. Artemova, L.A. Baturina, M.Ya. Bich, Yu.A. Blinova, N.B. Garbovskaya, N. S. Derenkova, E.R. Yasaveeva, etc.); in a conversational style (V.D. Devkin, I.N. Zaveryukha, E.A. Zemskaya, S.Yu. Potapova, etc.). Among the authors of the most significant studies on the description of informal names of persons in Germany are: P. Braun, V. Zeibike, V. Kani, F. Kiner, G. Koss, H. Naumann.
8. Study of the dynamics of the formation of ethno-lingual anthroponymics (A.N. Antyshev, O.A. Leonovich, A.V. Superanskaya, etc.).
9. Solving onomastic issues of an applied nature: translation and transliteration, normative linguistic, linguistic and cultural, cultural and aesthetic methodological issues (K.V. Bakhnyan, R.S. Gilyarevsky, D.I. Ermolovich, A.A. Reformatsky, B. A. Starostin, V.I. Suprun, etc.).
10. Study of the problems of connotation and precedent of a proper name (E.M. Wolf, D.B. Gudkov, V.V. Krasnykh, E.S. Otin, V.N. Telia, etc.).
11. Analysis of deonymic nominations (T.N. Atarshchikova, A.E. Bizhkenova, V.N. Chizhova, R.Z. Muryasov, A.V. Superanskaya, etc.).
12. Functional-cognitive analysis of onomastic phenomena, integrating semasiological and onomasiological approaches to lexical meaning, bringing together semantics and pragmatics, presenting the language system from a new perspective, refracting it through the prism of human perception and thinking (S.M. Pak, T.N. Semenova ).
The main object of research of onomatologists until the 2nd World War was the search for etymology, i.e. determination of the origin and meaning of those words from which personal names, nicknames, and surnames were formed. The German linguist A. Bach believes that onomastics cannot be limited only to the etymology of names. The range of its tasks is much wider. She is interested in the universal laws of formation, occurrence, and use of names. In this regard, A. Bach identifies the following tasks facing onomastics:
1) purely linguistic questions: phonetics, formation, word formation, syntax, etymology of names;
2) historical issues: age of names and their groups, historical factors creating names;
3) geographical issues: territorial distribution of names and its reasons;
4) sociological issues: participation of various social groups in naming;
5) psychological questions: spiritual factors in the formation of names, a person’s attitude towards a name.
Moreover, the range of these problems is so interconnected that sometimes it is very difficult to separate one from the other [Bach 1978: 5-6 ].
Aspects of onomastic research are diverse. Stand out:
descriptive onomastics , which constitutes the objective foundation of onomastic research, providing a general philological analysis and linguistic interpretation of the collected material;
theoretical onomastics , studying the general patterns of development and functioning of onomastic systems;
applied onomastics , associated with the practice of naming, with the functioning of names in living speech and the problems of names and renamings, giving practical recommendations to cartographers, biographers, bibliographers, lawyers;
onomastics of works of art (literary onomastics), which makes up the section of poetics;
historical onomastics , studying the history of the appearance of names, and their reflection in the names of the realities of different eras;
ethnic onomastics , studying the emergence of the names of ethnic groups and their parts in connection with the history of ethnic groups, the relationship of ethnonyms with names of other types, the evolution of ethnonyms [Superanskaya 1998: 20 ].
Point 2. Classification of onomastic material.
When classifying onomastic material, one can proceed from the affiliation of names to certain languages, territories, chronological periods, social formations, etc. Depending on this, the approach to the material, the methods of studying it, and the depth of coverage will be different. Taking into account the linguistic and extralinguistic characteristics of names, A.V. Superanskaya highlights (without claiming to be exhaustive), following types their classifications:
1) classification of names in connection with named objects;
2) naturally occurring and artificially created names. This classification is closely related to the classification of names according to their purpose and to the dichotomy “names in official and unofficial use;
3) structural classification of names;
4) chronological classification;
5) classification of names in connection with their motivation and the adjacent etymological classification, as well as the division of names into appellative and eponymous, into primary and “transferred”;
6) classification of names in connection with the scope of concepts enshrined in them;
7) classification in connection with the language-speech dichotomy;
8) stylistic and aesthetic classification [Superanskaya 1973: 159].
All these plans are very far from each other and cannot serve as a clarification or ramification of each other. All of the listed aspects (and perhaps others that have not been identified) are inherent in each name and can act as its characteristics. For some types of names one characteristic may be more relevant, for others another. It should be noted that these characteristics are very diverse in their properties; some of them are linguistic, others are logical, others are historical, others are social, others are psychological, but all of them are reflected in onomastics, and it would be a gross mistake to declare proper names to belong to only one of these planes. Of all the possible classifications, the subject-nominative one should be put in first place, since the correlation with the subject, as a rule, determines the “face” of the name and its other characteristics. However, in a number of special studies she may also be a subordinate. For example, for a grammarian or lexicologist dealing with the functions or frequency of proper names, the primary division will be into proper names - non-proper names and special grammatical characteristics of proper names, and then, within certain grammatical headings, division into toponyms, anthroponyms, etc. [Superanskaya 1973: 160].
N.V. Podolskaya gives the following groups of proper names:
1. Names of outer space: cosmonyms (proper names of zones of outer space, galaxies, constellations, parts of constellations: Orion, Orion’s belt, Milky Way), astronyms (proper names of individual celestial bodies: Earth, Saturn, Halley’s Comet), astrotoponym (proper name any relief object on any planet: geonim (Baikal, Caucasus Mountains), selenonym (Lunar craters: Lomonosov, Ocean of Storms), etc.)
2. Names of the earth's space: toponym (the proper name of any, both natural and man-made object on Earth (oronym - relief element: Everest, Andes; horonym - any region, territory: Volga region, Crimea; hydronym - the name of any water body: Lake Peipsi, Pinsk swamps; ecclesion - the name of any place where a ritual or religion is performed: Ignaci Cross, Blue Mosque;
4. Names of living organisms, bionyms: anthroponyms, zoonyms, phytonyms, etc.
However, this classification, in our opinion, is too broad. But definitely worth attention.
Point 3. Methodology and techniques of onomastic research.
The specificity of the subject being studied is that it includes ethnographic, historical, geographical, sociological, and literary components. In addition, onomastic research uses data from archeology, biology, theology, philosophy, and psychology. Gaining autonomy, onomastics continues to be an auxiliary application for historians and geographers.
Modern onomastics is a complex science, it combines the interests and methods of various philosophical, humanitarian and natural sciences; philologists, linguists and literary scholars, folklorists and language historians, sociolinguists and logical philosophers, social scientists, geographers, psychologists, ethnographers take part in its development , mythologists, astronomers and others. But first of all, it belongs to linguistics [Fonyakova 1990: 4]. Onomastics is a part of the vocabulary of any language that is extremely closely related to the needs of society and is entirely determined by socio-historical, socio-economic and socio-cultural facts. However, onomastics does not exhaust its “field of activity” with this. Proper names are given to any geographical objects, not just those created by human hands; names are also given to objects located outside globe. In addition, an indispensable component of onomastic research is logic, which in relation to this complex serves as a research method rather than as an integral part.
Descriptive method
The descriptive method is used in all sociohistorical and natural sciences and stands, perhaps, in first place in terms of breadth of application. This method, like others, requires compliance with a number of requirements: a clear idea of the chosen subject of study (the system of anthroponyms, toponyms, etc.), the sequence of description, systematization, grouping or classification, characteristics of the material (qualitative, quantitative) in accordance with assigned research task.
Initial stage“description” of material is its collection, cataloging, reasonable systematization, allowing one to see its different parts (species, types), the most general relationships between them, as well as their most essential qualities. An example of a primary description, for example toponymic (hydronymic) material, can be lists of rivers, lists settlements, and when studying anthroponymy - card indexes of anthroponyms (surnames, first names, pseudonyms). Often, on the basis of these materials, dictionaries (catalogues, indexes) are created with varying degrees of understanding of the material included in them. Among the publications of this kind, one can name a dictionary of Bulgarian names and surnames (“Rechnik na lichnite and surnames names in bulgarite”, 1969) by Stefan Ilchev, “Dictionary of English personal names” by A. I. Rybakin (1973), etc.
Sometimes the material of one description serves as the basis for carrying out a description in a completely different aspect. Thus, according to the “Dictionary of Russian Personal Names” by N. A. Petrovsky (1966, second edition 1980), it is possible to give a phonetic and morphological and grammatical description of modern Russian names (about 2580 names are recorded here - 1720 male and 860 female).
As an example of such an analysis, we present the results of the phonetic characteristics of male and female names, in which attention is paid to: a) the number of syllables, b) the structure of the final syllable, c) the place of stress in the personal name.
A) Male names in their original form (named singular units) they have from 1 (Lev, Peter) to 6 syllables (Exacustodian), However, the bulk are three-syllables: Alexander, Alexey (47%) and two-syllables: Victor, Oleg (37 %) - names. Monosyllabic names - 6% (Vlas, Zhdan), four-syllable names - 9% (Afanasy, Agricola), five-syllable names - 0.7%, six-syllable names - 0.05%.
And in female names we see from 1 to 6 syllables, but specific gravity The different syllabic patterns here are different: 38% each are three-syllable (Agniya, Nadezhda) and four-syllable (Valeria, Valentina, etc.), 16% are two-syllable (Anna, Vera), 7% are five-syllable (Leocadia, Olympiad), 0.7% - for six-syllables (Apollinaria) and only 0.1% for monosyllabic ones (Ruth).
The descriptive method, like other research methods, is historically variable. It expands the boundaries of its application, the set of research techniques and procedures depending on the development of general linguistic (and general scientific) theory and practice.
Semiotic method
The use of the semiotic method (from the term semiotics - the science of signs, their characteristics and types, systems and conditions of use) is based on the recognition of the sign nature of onomastic units and their systemic organization within anthroponymy, toponymy, etc., as well as within the entire onomastic space of a particular language in a certain period of its existence. The task is to determine a set of signs (onyms), their differentiating features, methods of their linguistic expression (in sounds, morphemes, words, combinations of words), specific types of manifestation of systemic connections, to determine the measure (level) of systematicity of onomastics as a whole, its individual categories , as well as individual sections of these categories (for example, in anthroponymy - consistency in personal names, system organization surnames, nicknames, pseudonyms)
IN Lately The semiotic method began to extend to the analysis of both real and literary onomastics. Toponymic, anthroponymic and cosmonymic material is processed better than others by this method.
The semiotic method, which promises us to understand the structure and functioning of onomastic “information devices,” is very young and does not yet have a rich set of analysis procedures. Its application is usually limited to the consideration of systemic connections, most often in the field of toponymy, in one or another synchronous section. The semiotic aspect of the dynamics of onomastic systems has not yet attracted the attention of researchers. Meanwhile, the emergence, history and interaction of onomastic systems (related and unrelated) in the course of their historical development cannot be truly understood without analyzing them from the standpoint of semiotics.
Linguopsychological method
A hundred years ago, a talented student of I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay, N. V. Krushevsky, wrote: “Due to the law of associations by similarity, words must fit into systems or nests in our minds, thanks to the law of associations by contiguity, the same words must be built in rows.” . Further research showed the diversity of associations between words and their individual categories (parts of speech, semantic groups, stylistic layers, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, etc.), the linguistic and psychological objectivity of associations (despite the individual nature of their manifestation), and their varying strength (stability and frequency of reaction to the stimulus word), as well as the possibility of comparing psycholinguistic data with the results of language learning by other methods.
The most popular method for studying the “elements of linguistic thinking” (Baudouin de Courtenay) is currently the associative experiment. Diverse in specific methods and object of study, it has one essence - the subject is given a stimulus word and asked to respond to it with the first word or phrase that “comes to mind.” The data obtained in the course of such psychological experiments (and they must be significant in terms of the number of subjects) are recognized as objective and are formalized in the form of so-called “associative norms” for native speakers of a particular language. Age, professional, cultural-educational, individual-personal, etc. factors, which certainly influence the “choice” of one or another reaction, are “removed” by mass participation, as well as repeated experimentation. The main associative pattern “breaks through” quite clearly and can be expressed in numerical terms.
Few experiments have been carried out on proper names in order to identify their associative connections with each other, as well as with appellative vocabulary. Linguists and psychologists were and continue to be interested in clearly “conceptual” words - common nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.
There are paradigmatic associations (response to a stimulus word with a reaction word of the same part of speech: table - chair, high - low, talk - say) and syntagmatic (response to a stimulus word with a reaction word of another part of speech, for example: sky - blue, speak clearly).
Proper names, “free”, according to many linguists, from semantics and, as a result, from paradigmatic (usually semantic) and syntagmatic association, are a great temptation for those who, relying on the concept of “sound symbolism”, would like to deal with pure experimental material in which the “objective” meaning (due to the semantic “emptiness” of the proper name) does not overlap the associative-expressive one. Experiments are being conducted to assess the “euphony” of both real and literary onomastics. For example, they try to answer “why is Khaltyupkina a surname with a negative expression for a speaker of Russian speech?”, “why is Svidrigailov an unpleasant surname, Perependeev a funny one? Why is the surname Chichikov close to those indicated, and the surnames Chatsky, Arbenin, Kirsanov, Irtenev and so on. “assessed sharply in contrast to the first group of names?”
Special and popular literature describes experiments indicating different perception of text depending on the variation of proper names in them (see, for example, the article by A. A. Leontiev “Words “cold” and “hot”), to participation in solving linguopsychological problems on onomastics, readers of magazines are invited; in publications devoted to the motives for choosing names, it is almost always noted as one of the significant (and sometimes as a decisive) factor in the euphony of a name. This question is considered important not only theoretically, but also practically (in particular, the foreign trade association “Avtoexport” uses the recommendations of psycholinguists: the Zhiguli car has the export name “Lada”).
At present it is too early to talk about symbolic meaning the sound side of proper names as an undoubted and proven phenomenon. A thorough check of the degree of reliability of the results obtained is required, in particular, a more strict account of the impact on the perception of a word (name) of many factors - structural-linguistic, contextual-speech, socio-cultural, psychological, etc. Evaluate names only by sounds and their combinations (say, in Russian: l - feminine, gentle, kind sound; w - bad, rough, ugly, rough, heavy, dangerous, evil...) without taking into account the above factors means simplifying the research task.
Stylistic method
It may seem that proper names with their “hypertrophied nominativity” are simple signs (labels) and are of no interest to the stylist. However, it is not. It is enough to recall the names of characters in fiction and folklore to imagine a huge “second onomastic space” in size, the analysis of which requires the use, along with other methods, of a special stylistic method with a variety of linguostylistic, literary, and complex philological techniques and techniques. “The question of the selection of names, surnames, nicknames in fiction, their structural uniqueness in different genres and styles, their figurative characteristic functions, etc. cannot be illustrated with a few examples. This is a very large and complex stylistic topic. fiction"- pointed out academician. V. V. Vinogradov.
Onomatologist-stylist is attracted wide circle problems: functions of proper names in work of art(nominative, ideological, characterizing, aesthetic, symbolic), specificity of literary onomastics, dependence of the composition of names and their functions on literary direction(classicism, sentimentalism, romanticism, symbolism, realism, etc.), features of the selection and use of names in prose, poetry, drama (in comedy, tragedy, drama, vaudeville), types of literary anthroponyms, toponyms, etc. ( conventional poetic names, mask names, symbolic names, “speaking” of neutral names, names-hints to anthroponyms of prototypes), their role in the construction of an artistic image, ways and techniques of modifying real proper names to achieve expressive-stylistic and artistic expressiveness, role a proper name in a typified reflection of reality, a proper name as a means of creating satire and humor, as well as many other types of motivated use of all categories of proper names without exception.
To determine the source of a literary proper name (is it real or created by the author), its artistic and figurative purpose, stylistic nuance in each specific use (in context, situation), it is necessary to use additional research techniques (for example: a) comparing the name of the prototype and a literary character: daughter Kochubey's name was Matryona - in Pushkin's Poltava she is called Maria; Shatilov, Griboedov’s colleague in the regiment, became Repetilov in “Woe from Wit”; Rufim Dorokhov (a friend of Lermontov) served as the basis for L. N. Tolstoy’s image and surname of Dolokhov; L.N. Tolstoy's mother Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya - the prototype of Princess Marya Bolkonskaya; b) comparison of several editions of the work (in L. N. Tolstoy’s drama “The Power of Darkness” the names Aksinya, Andreyan were in the original version, Nadezhda, Timofey in the intermediate version, Anisya, Nikita in the final version); c) testimonies of the writers themselves (about the name and surname of Vasily Terkin, for example, see in the book: A. Tvardovsky. How “Vasily Terkin” was written. M., 1952). With method stylistic analysis names in literary texts You can find out more in the articles devoted to the onomastics of the works of A. S. Griboyedov, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, N. V. Gogol, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, L. N. Tolstoy , A.P. Chekhov, as well as a number Soviet writers. See the bibliography of S. I. Zinin and A. G. Stepanova “Names of characters in fiction and folklore.”
However, the stylistic diversity of names in fiction ultimately comes from the stylistic richness of onomastics in life. There is a huge number of so-called “unofficial” anthroponyms (Masha, Mashenka, Mashutka, Mashka, Mashulya...), toponyms (“our own”, unofficial names of villages), folk (dialect) cosmonyms, etc., which differ from the corresponding “official” forms are colloquial, stylistically marked, and have a special sphere of use. All this heterogeneous and extremely subtle (“shaded”) material requires analysis using a stylistic method. In particular, it is relevant to study the composition and stylistic functions of onomastic vocabulary (and more complex onomastic formations - such as “full” names of a person by last name, first name, patronymic or different types“incomplete” names - by last name and first name, first name and patronymic, etc.) in various functional styles of literary language - official business, scientific, journalistic, colloquial. Such analysis can be both synchronous and diachronic. A complete picture of the stylistic possibilities of onomastics of the national language can be seen after studying its functioning in all forms of its existence - in literary language, everyday speech, vernacular, territorial and social dialects. A special area, as we have seen, is the onomastics of the language of fiction.
Bondaletov V.L. Russian onomastics - M., 1983
Point 4. Anthroponyms in a literary text.
Anthroponymy (Greekἄνθρωπος - person andὄνομα - name) - sectiononomastics, studentanthroponyms - namespeople (receiving various shapes, For example:Pyotr Nikolaevich Amekhin, Ivan Kalita, Igor Kio ,Pelé ) and their individual components (personal names, patronymics, surnames, nicknames, pseudonyms, etc.); theirorigin,evolution, patterns of their functioning.
Anthroponymy emerged from onomastics in the 60-70s of the 20th century. Until the 60s of the 20th century, instead of the term “anthroponymy” it was used general term"onomastics". This science studies the information that a name can carry: characteristics human qualities, the person’s connection with his father, clan, family, information about nationality, occupation, origin from a particular area, class, caste. Anthroponymy studies the functions of an anthroponym in speech - nomination, identification, differentiation, change of names, which is associated with age, changes in social or marital status, life among people of a different nationality, joining secret societies, converting to another faith, taboos, etc.
Famous Russian scientist, philosopher and theologianP. A. Florensky, whom contemporaries called the "Leonardo da Vinci of the 20th century" belongs to philosophical work“Names”, created by him at the beginning of the twentieth century. The essence of names is revealed from historical, literary and metaphysical points of view. Pavel Florensky compiled detailed description 16 names, eight male and eight female:Alexander AndAlexandra , Alexei AndAnna , Vladimir AndOlga , Basil And Sfya , Nikolay AndCatherine , Paul , Konstantin , Michael , Elena , Faith , Lyudmila .
The development of the main issues of anthroponymy was carried out by V.V. Bondaletov, A.A. Reformatsky, A.V. Superanskaya and others. Russian anthroponymy in the 1980-90s of the 20th century was replenished with worksM. V. Gorbanevsky, Yu. A. Karpenko, N. V. Podolskaya and others. In recent decades, Russian scientists have been interested in the formation of regional anthroponymy. Only the introduction into scientific circulation of many texts from various territories of our country, including a significant number of personal names and surnames, will help to imagine real picture formation of the anthroponymic system as a whole.
In the wake of interest in personal names, a lot of low-quality reference literature has appeared, giving “descriptions of names” and characteristics of their bearers, including in combination with patronymic, zodiac sign, etc. This fashion has nothing to do with scientific research And philosophical understanding names
Anthroponymy is of two types: theoretical and applied.
Subjecttheoretical anthroponymy are the patterns of the emergence and development of anthroponyms, their structure, the anthroponymic system, models of anthroponyms, historical layers in the anthroponymy of a particular ethnic group, the interaction of languages in anthroponymy, universals. Theoretical anthroponymy applies the same research methods as other sections of onomastics (special conditions, motives and circumstances of naming people are taken into account - social conditions, customs, influence of fashion, religion, etc.).
Applied anthroponymy studies problems of norms in names, ways of transferring one name into different languages; contributes to the creation of anthroponymic dictionaries. The anthroponymist helps in the work of the registry office, in choosing names, in resolving some controversial legal issues naming a person. Anthroponymy is closely related to history, ethnography, geography, anthropology, genealogy, hagiography, literary studies, folklore, and cultural studies.
In the modern Russian anthroponymic system, each person has a personal name (selected from a limited list), patronymic and surname (the possible number of the latter is practically unlimited). There were and are other anthroponymic systems: in Ancient Rome, every man hadprenomen – personal name (there were only 18 of them),nomen – family name, passed on by inheritance, andcognomen – a name passed down by inheritance, characterizing a branch of the family. In modern Spain and Portugal, a person usually has several personal names (from Catholic church list), paternal and maternal surnames. In Iceland, each person has a personal name (from a limited list) and instead of a surname- a name derived from the name of the father. In China, Korea, and Vietnam, a person’s name consists of a one-syllable surname (in different eras there were from 100 to 400) and a personal name, usually consisting of two one-syllable morphemes, and the number of personal names is not limited. A special place in anthroponymic systems is occupied byhypocoristics (petitive and diminutive names– Russian Mashenka, Petya, English Bill and Davy), as well as pseudonyms and nicknames.
These anthroponymics are also important for other branches of linguistics, sociology, and history of peoples.
Anthroponym – a single proper name or a set of proper names that identify a person. In a broader sense, this is the name of any person, both real and fictitious.
From a semantic point of view, among anthroponyms there are :
1. Personal name (name at birth). A sociolinguistic unit, a type of proper name, one of the main personal linguistic identifiers of a person or any animate being.
2. Middle name (patronym - naming after father, grandfather, etc.). Part of the family name, which is assigned to the child by the name of the father. Variations of patronymic names can connect their bearers with more distant ancestors- grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc. In the pre-family period, naming by name and patronymic served the purpose of more accurately identifying a person, that is, it fulfilled the same social function, as modern surnames.
Among peoples who have more than one name in use, middle names often perform the function of patronymics as keepers of information about immediate ancestors (fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers), but this patronymic function is not strictly fixed. Patronymic is a patronymic, an indication of the father's name. In Russian it has the ending -(v)ich, -(v)na; in ancient times also -ov, -in similarly modern surnames(this is preserved in the Bulgarian language). The patronymic as part of the nominal formula performed a triple function: it complemented the name, distinguishing its owner (in addition to the surname) from the namesake, clarified the relationship within the family (father - son) and expressed respect (a form of politeness). However, patronymic forms in -ov/-ev were used only in clerical speech and in official documents. In unofficial situations, in everyday life, Russian people called each other by first names and patronymics in a form that is familiar to us now: the dignification with -ovich, -evich, -ovna, -evna, -ich, -inichna was not limited. Sometimes it was even used instead of a name (as sometimes now), when the speaker wanted to emphasize special respect for a person, to show a shade of affection, love.
3. Last name (generic or family name). A hereditary generic name, indicating that a person belongs to one clan, originating from a common ancestor, or, in a more narrow sense, to one family.
4. Mononym. Full names, consisting of one word (instead of, for example, traditional Russian full names of first name, last name and patronymic), as well as people called by such names. In some cases, this name is taken by the person himself, in others it is determined by the traditions of the people or given to him by other people.
5. Nickname. An informal name for a person, animal, object, etc.
Unlike a name, a nickname, as a rule, reflects not the desired, but the real properties and qualities of the bearer, the origin of their bearers, etc., and thus also captures the special meaning that these properties and qualities had for others. Nicknames can be given at different periods of life and in many cases can be known to a rather limited circle of people.
6. Nicknames (various types, which can be either individual or group). A name used by a person in one or another public activity instead of his real name (given at birth, recorded in official documents). In Western culture, pseudonyms are most often used by literary and artistic figures. In Eastern cultures (especially Chinese and Japanese), the adoption of a new name when changing social status in some eras was almost mandatory for any field of activity; An analogue of this kind of mandatory pseudonyms in Western culture can be considered the mandatory change of name for priests and monks, especially in the Orthodox Church, but it is not customary to call the church names of clergy pseudonyms. With the spread of the Internet, the use of pseudonyms has become more relevant than ever: almost every Internet user has a pseudonym, which is usually called a nickname.
7. Cryptonim (hidden name). A signature under the work instead of the author’s name, which does not imply the possibility of identifying it with one or another specific person; in other words, a name designed to conceal the true author of the work. The cryptonym is usually used when publishing works that are risky in one way or another (“A Romance with Cocaine” by M. Ageev, “The Story of O” by Pauline Reage) and/or in cases where these works differ in one way or another from that creative activity, with which the author’s real name is already firmly connected (the cryptonym B. Akunin, taken by the famous Japanese philologist and translator Grigory Chkhartishvili for the publication of his detective novels). If successful, cryptonyms are often revealed and turned into ordinary pseudonyms or heteronyms (pseudonyms adopted to sign works chosen by the author on any basis (genre, problem, stylistic)).
8. Literary anthroponyms works (literary anthroponymy), heroes in folklore, myths and fairy tales.
9. Anthroponyms - derivatives of ethnonyms (names of nations, peoples, nationalities)
There is also a classification of names according to the role of the character in the work:
Names of the main characters (of one work and passing through the through storyline) (for example, Max or Shurf)
Names of minor characters ( of this work and a cycle of works) (for example, Bubuta)
Names of characters mentioned (for example, Loyso)
Word onomastics comes from a Greek word meaning “name”. As a science, onomastics studies proper names, i.e. names of people, names of animals, nations, geographical objects. That part of onomastics, which is devoted to the study of the names of rivers, mountains, settlements and other things, is separated into a separate science - toponymy.
Proper names cover a significant part of our lives. Names are given not only to everything that a person creates, but also to geographical objects, including those located outside the globe. The origin of names is considered holistically, both from the point of view of etymology and logic.
Among proper names, one can trace the specific features of their preservation and transmission. That is why their research is important from a scientific point of view. The origin of names may be completely forgotten, and the name itself may have no connection with other words of the same language. However, with all this, the proper name retains its social meaning, i.e. serves as a clear indication of a specific subject.
Proper names can be very stable. Often they are not affected by revolutionary changes in language, or even the complete replacement of one language by another. For example, in the Russian language there are still names similar to the names of the Volga or Don rivers, which from the point of view of the Russian language do not have any meaning. However, after etymological clarifications, their Scythian origin can be traced. Thanks to such research, it becomes possible to restore the nature of the language that prevailed at the time of the creation of a name, as well as to clarify many other aspects.
In this way, onomastics collects the most valuable material for history, allowing us to trace the migration routes of peoples and giving an idea of the contribution made to the construction of culture not only by existing peoples, but also by already disappeared peoples. As an example, we can say that an analysis of the origin of the names of Russian cities (for example, Vyshny Volochek) allows us to judge the transport routes that existed in that era, and studies of the names of various geographical objects on the East European Plain show the influence of Scythian culture on the Russian language.
Thus, onomastic research is largely aimed at identifying migration routes and places of settlement of peoples in ancient times, as well as determining the then existing contacts between cultures and the study of ancient languages. Often, only onomastic studies can be used to judge the disappearance of languages and peoples.
However, the field of onomastics does not end there. IN literary works contains very rich material for the study of proper names aimed at reflecting different styles And creative methods. It is enough to mention a whole set of “talking” names and titles, such as Skotinin, Sobakevich or Chichikov, names
