What is onomastics and what does it study?

In the system of philological sciences , different directions are singled out: language theory, applied linguistics, stylistics, dialectology and even onomastics. Today we will talk about what is onomastics, what its subject and object are, and what sections it singles out. Consider its relationship with other disciplines, sources that provide material for study.

Onomastics as a science

Let's start with what onomastics is. The definition says that this is a section of linguistics that studies the proper names or onymes.

Initially, onomastics was an applied science, which was used by historians, geographers, and literary scholars as an auxiliary discipline. Later it was singled out in a separate section of linguistics with its own methods for analyzing linguistic material. The object of the study of science is the history of origin, motives for nomination and the functioning of proper names in the language. The subject is directly onymes, names.

Onomastics studies phonetic, morphological, derivational, semantic and etymological aspects of proper names.

History of development

Speaking about what is onomastics, it is necessary to touch upon such a question as the history of the origin of science.

It is considered relatively young. Officially exists since 1930, when the first in the world International Onomastic Congress was held in France.

Already in 1949 they set up an onomastic committee for UNESCO, publish a specialized magazine Onoma. The peak of onomastics development fell on 50-60 years of the last century.

Russian onomastics begins its history from 1812, when A. Kh. Vostokov published an article "Assignments to lovers of etymology." In 1813 another important work by E. Bolkhovitinov "On the peculiarities of the proper names of the Slavs" was published. For two centuries, science has developed, establishing its own methods of research, collecting factual material, creating a theory by bit. In 2004, the magazine "Issues of Onomastics" begins to appear in Russia.

Components of science

Depending on the language peculiarities, several research areas are singled out. Onomastics of proper names can cover different areas of knowledge, while distinguishing:

• Regional onomastics, which deals with the study of the onomastics of a particular region, studies its onomastic subsystems.
• Theoretical, which studies the general patterns of development and functioning of onomastic systems.
• Applied onomastics is associated primarily with the practice of naming, their functioning in modern language. This includes the establishment of a record and pronunciation of names, the development of normative models for the formation of patronymics and surnames, adjectives to indicate belonging to a particular locality, region of residence, family.
• Descriptive, which deals with the analysis of the onomastic state of a particular territory. At the same time, one onomastic class is considered.
• Poetic onomastics - studies the functioning of proper names in artistic texts, the principles of their creation, functions in the text.

Sections

Depending on the category of studied objects of proper names, the following sections of onomastics are distinguished:

• Anthroponymic - studies the names of people.
• Toponymy - learns the names of geographical objects.
• Zoonimika - studies the names of animals.
• Astronomy - studying the names of stellar bodies - planets, stars, comets.
• Hydronymics - studies the name of water objects - rivers, lakes, seas and oceans.

Relationship with other sciences

Speaking of what is onomastics, one can not but note its connection with other disciplines. First of all, it is closely connected with linguistics. Science uses linguistic methods to analyze the proper names. It is also connected with logic, since the connection between the concept and the word is studied. The connection between onomastics and geography and astronomy is traced. Scientists often turn to onomasts for solving such problems as the correctness of spelling and translation of names.

History, ethnography and archeology provide a lot of useful information to onomast scientists. The same, in turn, helps historians. The value of onomastics for scientists associated with history is invaluable. Thus, onomastics data help to study the settlement of peoples, their customs and rites, since the formation of names, their use, are closely related not only to certain peoples, but also to epochs. With the help of onomastics, it is possible not only to determine the boundaries of the settlement of peoples, but to date various written memos.

Sources of study

We have found out what onomastics is, the definition was given to it, and the main sections were singled out. But one question still remained uninitiated - where do scientists take the actual material for study?

There are many sources. The most used are:

1. Lists of names and surnames.
2. Church books and calendars.
3. Dialectal records and memo.
4. Geographical and astronomical maps.
5. Address books.
6. Earth inventory books.
7. Catalogs of exhibitions of animals.
8. Lists from horse racing.
9. Works of art.

Study

They study this science exclusively in universities at philological faculties. Acquaintance with the section occurs when studying the course "Lexicology" or as a separate special course. In the course of training, students will learn what isomastika is, what methods it uses, and what sections it allocates.

In the school course she is rarely studied, except in senior profile classes. But at the same time acquaintance with science is superficial and gives only basic information about it.

conclusions

Onomastics is one of the linguistic disciplines that studies the proper names and their functioning in the Russian language. She is comparatively young. They study it at the philological faculties.