ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Larisa M. Sapozhnikova
Tver State University
Tver, Russia

The Cultural Component in the Semantic Structure of Monoreferential Proper Names: The Case of the German Language

Voprosy onomastiki (Problems of Onomastics), 2015, Issue 1 (18), pp. 175–185 (in Russian)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2015.1.009

Received 18 January 2015

Abstract: The article deals with culturally relevant information that is represented by proper names commonly known in the German language community and with the place of this information in the semantic structure of monoreferential proper names. The author argues that, within a concrete linguo-cultural community, well-known proper names are characterized by an unambiguous referential correlation, i. e. they possess a monoreferential status in the respective language. The semantic structure of such proper names includes an identifying kernel (an initial reference to the referent and well-known basic information about it), extensive semantic periphery (diverse information about the referent) and associative “aura” (emotional and evaluative associations connected with the referent). The cultural component of the meaning of a proper name embodies specific features of the material and spiritual culture of a concrete linguo-cultural community and can be localized in any of these structural segments. The author defines the cultural component of the meaning of a well-known proper name as a semantic microcomponent which reflects the complex of the nation-specific knowledge (concepts, connotations and associations) connected with the original referent of the name and its dynamics.

Key words: German language, onomastics, proper names, monoreferential proper names, semantics of proper name, cultural component of meaning, theoretical onomastics

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