Motivational types of nicknames and their linguo-cultural potential (on the example of English nicknames)

The present paper considers motivation as the basis of national and cultural marking of nicknames. Hence the article is aimed at analyzing the main motivational patterns of nicknaming in British and American societies from the point of view of nomination mechanism as well as their linguo-cultural potential. The types of internal and external motivation distinguished in onomastic studies presuppose opposition of descriptive and non-descriptive (antroponymic) nicknames. The division is based on characterizing potential of nicknames. Characterising potential viewed as the ability to reflect the properties of a name-bearer determines linguo-cultural potential of a name, i.e. the ability to reflect objects or phenomena of culture. The results of our analysis show that national and cultural specificity is typical of descriptive nicknames, especially those representing the case of secondary nomination (Ginger