ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Elizaveta Olegovna Borisova
Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia

TO THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL NICKNAMES WITH SITUATIONAL MOTIVATION IN RUSSIAN FOLK DIALECTS

For citation
Borisova, E. O. (2024). To the Study of Individual Nicknames with Situational Motivation in Russian Folk Dialects. Voprosy onomastiki, 21(3), 156–177. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2024.21.3.036

Received on 15 May 2024
Accepted on 20 July 2024

Abstract: This article investigates a specific naming pattern found in traditional individual nicknames, where the internal form of the nickname references a particular episode in the individual’s life. This pattern is proposed to be termed nicknames with situational motivation. The study is based on field recordings from the Toponymic Expedition of Ural University, conducted in the Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kirov, Kostroma, Chelyabinsk, and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in the Perm Krai. Many of the nicknames discussed are being introduced into academic discourse for the first time. The first part of the article examines how specific situations are encoded in the internal form of nickname anthroponyms, as recounted in informants’ stories. The most frequent patterns involve references to notable details of an event or to remarks made by participants, such as humorous or uncharacteristic phrases, slips of the tongue, speech errors, or self-referential remarks. The second part of the article attempts to establish criteria for evaluating the reliability of situational explanations provided by informants. The analysis shows that the stories behind nicknames are generally well-preserved in collective memory and are easily reproduced, albeit with occasional variations in detail. A nickname’s deviation from productive formal or semantic patterns can serve as indirect evidence of situational motivation. Additionally, it is suggested that situational motivation may sometimes be secondary, with another characteristic forming the nickname’s primary basis. However, the clarity of the situational naming pattern often encourages informants to construct or adapt explanatory contexts to fit the pattern.

Keywords: anthroponymy; motivational pattern; narrative; individual nicknames; Russian folk dialects; Russian North; Ural

Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant number 23-18-00439 Onomasticon and Linguocultural History of European Russia, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-18-00439/).

References

Balov, A. (1899). Materialy po narodnomu iazyku, sobrannye v Poshekhonskom uezde Iaroslavskoi gub. [Materials on Folk Language Collected in the Poshekhonsky District of Yaroslavl Province]. Zhivaia starina, 2, 277–283.

Borisova, E. O. (2024). Otetnonimicheskie prozvishcha v govorakh Russkogo Severa [Ethnonymic Nicknames in the Dialects of the Russian North]. Ural’skii istoricheskii vestnik, 2(83), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.30759/1728-9718-2024-2(83)-34-42

Chaiko, T. N. (1971). O printsipakh nominatsii v narodnykh prozvishchakh (na materiale govorov Kirovskoi oblasti) [On the Principles of Naming in Folk Nicknames (Based on Dialects of the Kirov Region)]. Voprosy toponomastiki, 5, 150–153.

Chichagov, V. K. (1959). Iz istorii russkikh imen, otchestv i familii: Voprosy russkoi istoricheskoi onomastiki XV–XVII vv. [From the History of Russian Names, Patronymics, and Surnames: Issues in Russian Historical Onomastics of the 15th–17th Centuries]. Moscow: Uchpedgiz.

Denisova, T. T. (2007). Prozvishcha kak vid antroponimov i ikh funktsionirovanie v sovremennoi rechevoi kommunikatsii: na materiale prozvishch Shumiachskogo i Ershichskogo raionov Smolenskoi oblasti [Nicknames as a Type of Anthroponyms and their Functioning in Modern Speech Communication: Based on Nicknames from Shumyachsky and Ershichsky Districts of the Smolensk Region] (Doctoral dissertation). Smolensk State University, Smolensk.

Florovskaya, V. A. (1971). Prozvishcha v russkih govorah Kubani [Nicknames in the Russian Dialects of the Kuban]. In V. A. Nikonov (Ed.), Etnografi ia imen [Ethnography of Names] (pp. 141–145). Moscow: Nauka.

Guznova, A. V. (2016). Prozvishchnaia nominatsiia v arzamasskikh govorakh (chasti nizhegorodskikh) [Nicknaming in the Dialects of Arzamas (Part of Nizhny Novgorod)] (Doctoral dissertation). N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Arzamas.

Kokareva, I. P. (1998). Onomastikon odnogo iaroslavskogo govora: sela Isakova, dereven’ Miatsevo i Pustyn’ Pervomaiskogo raiona [Onomasticon of one Yaroslavl Dialect: The Villages of Isakovo, Miatsevo, and Pustyn in the Pervomaisky District] (Doctoral dissertation). V. V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

Kushkova, A. N. (2009). Derevenskie prozvishcha: k voprosu o kharaktere, bytovanii i sotsial’nykh funktsiiakh (po polevym materialam Belozerskogo r-na Vologodskoi obl.) [Village Nicknames: Their Nature, Usage, and Social Functions (Based on Field Materials from Belozersk District of the Vologda Region)]. Antropologicheskii forum, 11, 1–32.

Popova, E. Yu. (1999). Etnonimiia Russkogo Severa [Ethnonymy of the Russian North] (Doctoral dissertation). Ural State University, Ekaterinburg.

Porotnikov, P. T. (1970). Zhenskie prozvaniia na -ikh(a) v govorakh Talitskogo raiona Sverdlovskoi oblasti [Female Nicknames Ending in -ikh(a) in the Dialects of the Talitsky District of Sverdlovsk Region]. Voprosy toponomastiki, 4, 54–70.

Porotnikov, P. T. (1975). Otprozvishchnye antropotoponimy iuzhnoi chasti Talitskogo raiona Sverdlovskoi oblasti [Nickname-Derived Anthropotoponyms in the Southern Part of the Talitsky District of Sverdlovsk Region]. Voprosy onomastiki, 10, 88–99.

Selishchev, A. M. (1968). Izbrannye trudy [Selected Works]. Moscow: Prosveshchenie.

Syanova, E. I. (2007). Onomasticheskii kod v mental’nom prostranstve dialektonositelei: na materiale govorov Voronezhskogo Prikhoper’ia [The Onomastic Code in the Mental Space of Dialect Speakers: Based on the Dialects of Voronezh Prikhoperie] (Doctoral dissertation). Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, St Petersburg.

Vizgalov, P. I. (1971). Sootvetstvie prozvishcha ob”ektu [The Correspondence of a Nickname to its Object]. In T. A. Isaeva, & V. A. Nikonov (Eds.), Onomastika Povolzh’ia: materialy II Povolzhskoi konferentsii po onomastike [Onomastics of the Volga Region: Proceedings of the Second Volga Conference on Onomastics] (pp. 90–95). Gorky: [s. n.].

Yarkov, A. (1902). Prozvishcha krest’ian iuzhnoi chasti Cherepovetskogo uezda Novgorodskoi gub. [Nicknames of Peasants in the Southern Part of Cherepovets District, Novgorod Province]. Zhivaia starina, 1, 126–128.