Viewpoints on the cognitive-pragmatic description of personal names

Abstract

Personal names are characterized both by cultural determination and language taxonomic background. This allows for the comparative study of linguistic and cultural interferences in the composition of different name systems. The realization and extension of this to different languages is hindered by the lack of a unified conceptual framework. To this end, our paper offers an analytic model based on a cognitive-pragmatic approach, which is suitable for the appropriate examination of both linguistic and cultural elements. We illustrate the workability of this model by presenting and interpreting in broad outline the history of Hungarian personal name-giving. We do this in the hope that the extension of the analysis to the name systems of other languages will shed new light not only on the individual name systems themselves, but also more generally on the interplay of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors involved in language change.

Keywords:

• onomastics
• personal name
• name typology
• Hungarian historical linguistics

Acknowledgments

This work was carried out as part of the Research Group on Hungarian Language History and Toponomastics (University of Debrecen –Hungarian Academy of Sciences).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Van Langendonck commented on the general onomastic theoretical basis of the classification of proper nouns in one of his writings, emphasizing that it might be a futile approach if we do not differentiate between the proper noun category (in this case, the personal name category) and the personal name lexeme (in this case, the actual occurrences of personal names) (1997: 37–43).

2. Let us note, however, that certain aspects of the categorization presented here, although outlined as a simpler and less elaborate system, can be found in the earlier writings of Willy van Langendonck (1995a: 487–8, 1995b: 1228, 2007: 259).

3. The shortage of sources in Hungarian language history is well shown by the fact that the charters written during the period between 1000–1301, during the time of the first Hungarian royal dynasty, the Árpáds, number less than 10,000 (Solymosi 2006: 207). We have to note, however, that hardly any charters have remained from the eleventh century, the dawn of Hungarian literacy, which can partly be attributed to the low rate of literacy and partly to the randomness of the documents’ survival.

4. We must note, however, that, although the personal names surviving in the early written sources are hard to evaluate from a name use (pragmatic and social onomastic) point of view, on the basis of the general characteristics of personal name use as well as the experiences of different cultures living together, we can rightly think that a person could have borne more than one name during their lifetime or even at the same time, which could characterize the name use from the earliest times onwards. Therefore, the concept of single names can hardly be proven.

5. Behind the different orthography of personal and place names lie the different norms of charter writing, which set different rules for including the names of persons and places in the text.

6. Naturally, names that settlers speaking other languages brought with them also constitute a part of the Hungarian family name system, so this statement only holds true of family names having developed within the Hungarian language.