2016, Volume 13, Issue 2
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Roza Yu. Namitokova* On the History of the Name Ruslan
Voprosy onomastiki, 2016, Volume 13, Issue 2, pp. 162–168 (in Russian) Received 25 September 2015 Abstract: The authors postulate that there exists a common stock of Russian personal names resulting from a partial blending of national anthroponymicons. The main part of the paper focuses on the history of the personal name Ruslan which has etymological ties with the widespread Turkic name Arslan having the pre-onomastic meaning ‘lion’. The authors study the variation of the name in Russian folklore and in the 15th–17th centuries documents and historical sources. They also pay particular attention to the role of Pushkin’s poem Ruslan and Ludmila in the formation of the associative background of the studied name and to various onomastic derivatives, the latter include patronyms, surnames and the female name Ruslana. The author conclude that the name Ruslan became especially popular in Soviet and post-Soviet periods when it acquired a specific “semantic aura”, namely, in Caucasus where Ruslan became a kind of mark of Russian identity and, thus, contributed to the unification of the anthroponymic space. This conclusion was verified in the course of a survey done among 40 respondents representing different peoples of Caucasus. For most respondents the name has positive connotations and is associated with the Turkic name Arslan and the name of Pushkin’s character. However, some respondents consider it as a “non-Muslim”, Russian name and point out that it is often perceived as such outside Russia. The history of the name Ruslan and the ways of its transonymisation can be an interesting object for further research, especially due to the emergence of new communication technologies and onomastic discourses. Key words: Russian anthroponymicon, names in text, names in discourse, onomastic space, precedent-setting name, semantic aura of a name, Ruslan References Dushechkina, E. V. (2004). Imia docheri “vozhdia vsekh narodov” [The Name of the Leader of All Peoples’ Daughter]. Voprosy onomastiki, 1, 100–107. Dushechkina, E. V. (2007). Kulturnaya istoriya imeni: Svetlana. [The Cultural History of a Name Svetlana] (pp. 323–360). In T. M. Nikolaeva (Ed.), Imya: Semanticheskaya Aura [Name: A Semantic Aura]. Moscow: Iazyki slavianskikh kul'tur. Edidzhi, B. (2013). Obshchnosti sotsialnoi organizatsii nartov i cherkesov [Common Features in the Social Organization of Narts and Circassians]. Maikop: Pashtov. Fedosyuk, Yu. А. (1996). Russkie familii [Russian Surnames]. Moscow: Russkie Slovari. Gafurov, A. G. (1987). Imia i istoriya [Name and History]. Moscow: Nauka. Gorkin, A. (Ed.) (2001). Novaya illyustrirovannaya entsiklopedia [A New Illustrated Encyclopedia] (Vols. 1–20). Moscow: Mir knigi; Bol'shaia rossiiskaia entsiklopediia. Kalmykova, M. (2014). Aslan prevrashchaetsa v Lva [Aslan Turns into Leo]. Gazeta Yuga, 37 (1018). Retrieved from http://www.gazetayuga.ru/archive/2013/37.htm. Kesheva, Z. M. (2011). Dokumenty po istorii adygov 20–50 godov XIX v. [Documents on the History of Adyghes in 1820s–1850s]. Nalchik: Izd. otdel KBIGI. Nikonov, V. A. (1974). Imia i obshchestvo [Name and Society]. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russian). Pushkarev, L. N. (1980). Skazka o Eruslane Lazаreviche [The Tale about Eruslan Lazаrevich]. Moscow: Nauka. Superanskaya, A. V. (2005). Sovremennyi slovar’ lichnykh imen [A Modern Dictionary of Russian Personal Names]. Moscow: EKSMO. Tikhonov, A. N., Boyarinova, L. Z., & Ruzhkova, A. G. (1995). Slovar’ russkikh lichnykh imen [A Dictionary of Russian Personal Names]. Moscow: Shkola-Press. Toropitsyn, I. V. (2007). Institut amanatstva vo vnutrennei i vneshnei politike Rossii v XVII–XVIII vv. [The Custom of Hostages (Amanats) in the Domestic and Foreign Policy of Russia in the 17th–18th Centuries]. Kavkazskii sbornik, 4 (36), 59–80. Vasmer, M. (1987–1987). Etimologicheskii slovar’ russkogo iazyka [The Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (Vols. 1–4). Moscow: Progress. Veselovskii, S. B. (1974). Onomastikon [Onomasticon]. Moscow: Nauka. |
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