On the development history of the human names concept in English language and culture

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

UDC 811.111                                       

In the process of communicative interaction in society, proper names have long played one of the most important roles. But the question of the deeper and additional significance of oniums is often underestimated. For the majority of people who are not interested in linguistic research dealing with this topic, anthroponyms (proper names of people (individuals and groups): personal names, patronymics, surnames, patronymic names, nicknames, aliases, pseudonyms and cryptonyms) have only a naming function. This linguistic category makes it easy to name a specific person. It also makes communication easier. And this purpose of onyms, as well as the semantic algorithm for using them, is very similar in different cultures. At the same time, because the interpretation of proper names is based on the origin and historical explanation of the meaning of the name, it depends on national linguistic peculiarities and even on certain traditions established in society, the anthroponymic model of each ethnos remains individual.

In the context of foreign language learning, proper names play a special role. The most interesting thing to analyse is the place they occupy in learning English [1].

Every person who embarks on the journey of life is knowingly given a certain name. The modern world attaches great importance to a name, and this approach has its roots in ancient times.The first written record of a person's name is from the year 3200 BC. However, this does not mean that the first "name" only became invented when writing became widespread. 30,000 years ago, the ancestors of modern man left certain traces and reminders on rocks and cave walls: palm prints of various sizes show that man wanted to be recognised, to leave a reminder of his existence [2].

For many years, linguists have been in search of an answer to the question: "Who was the pioneer in this field that it is difficult for the human race to live without naming itself? Of course, it is difficult to answer this question with a high degree of accuracy, but with reference to the results of the researches of scientists, we can say that the first name that was found belonged to a simple accountant who called himself "Kushim". It is possible that this word was not a name at all, but rather his professional title, an indicator of his public and social status or of his rank. It should not be forgotten that "Kushim" is the first name that has been preserved in writing (the accountant engraved a hieroglyph with his "title" on a clay tablet on which he did his calculations).

Many names were forgotten for a simple reason: at the time of his existence, man had not yet mastered the art of writing. At the time when simple oral communication prevailed among species of the genus "Homo neanderthalisis", for example, the simplest nicknames existed to distinguish one individual from another. Later, as our ancestors moved into the category of Homo sapiens, it took several more stages of development before the first people with an evolving system of thought learned to consciously put their thoughts into connected sentences, and names began to take on a definite and more weighty meaning.

From a historical point of view, our intelligent ancestors began to endow names with a rather deep meaning and to define them in certain respects as a sacred component of human existence. In many cultures, the onomastic component can be traced, or the notion that a proper name acts as a fundamental factor in 'charting' a person's destiny. In primitive tribes, it was believed that giving a name to an individual distinguished him from others and was a kind of symbol linking man to nature. Society's observation of the phenomena around it, the life of flora and fauna, was the only source of knowledge available to mankind in ancient times.

Thus, it was believed that special attention should be paid to these phenomena, that it was necessary to gain experience and wisdom from nature itself, which holds all the subtleties and mysteries of life. Thus a man who was compared to an owl was said to possess such a quality as wisdom; with a lynx, panther or lion he was celebrated for his grace and speed. And a man was defined as a strong man with outstanding physical abilities if he was compared to a bear or a lion [3].

As in the culture of other nations, it is necessary to look at the history of the origins of the English-speaking countries themselves in order to better understand the origin of English proper names. The first settlers of the British Isles are thought to have been the Anglo-Saxons, who inhabited the area between the Elbe and Rhine rivers in the 5th century AD. The Anglo-Saxon anthroponymic system was simple: it had a single component noun, the first name.

The ancient peoples of the British Isles had a belief that names could confer fame on their bearers, act as patrons and 'benefactors' of names in general. The meanings of the components of Anglo-Saxon names have been deciphered as 'gift, favour'- 'gifu' , 'patronage'- 'weaard' , 'protection'- 'wine' , 'warrior, hero'- 'beorn' , 'success'- 'sige', 'virtue'- 'god', 'bravery' -'wig', etc.

The Anglo-Saxon names of the women did not differ in their composition from the proper names of the men. However, they did contain a gender indicator: the generic nature of the second part of the compounded name. In the meantime, almost all Anglo-Saxon names have fallen into disuse.

The Celtic tribes, who invaded the British Isles around 700 AD, communicated in a variety of "dialects". It's worth noting that there was no single language system called "Celtic": it was shared by several tribes of Indo-European origin whose language of communication was Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Gallic and many others.

As the halo of the tribes was quite wide, whole regions have been preserved from ancient times that are called Celtic. These can be attributed to Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Wales. It is in these places that we are most likely to find names of Celtic origin. Male names of Celtic origin include Albion, Anion, Arden, Arthur or simply Artur, Bard, Blair, Breandan, Gilmore, Iden, Kevin, Lee, Lesley, Trevor and many others.

Old English names gradually lost popularity and were replaced by onomastic constructions borrowed from French after the Norman invasion. Names such as Richard, Robert, William, Hugo , as well as names of biblical origin — Thomas, John and Peter - were increasingly common in the name system. It was in ruling circles and the upper classes that the assimilation of names with "Old French" roots was most intense [4].

The Renaissance or Age of Enlightenment is the next period that can be highlighted as a turning point in the history of anthroponymy. The English call it the "Age of Shakespeare". After the dark times of the Middle Ages, this period has been characterised as a process of gradual enlightenment of human consciousness. Some of the most important works in the history of literature were written during this period. It was also the time when anthroponyms, invented by authors specifically for their artistic texts, began to be used in everyday life. Stella and Pamela , and many names in the novels of Walter Scott- Amy, Lancelot, and Nigel — have become popular names for real people.

The artificial origin of proper names is not only typical of the era of "cultural prosperity". In the sixteenth century, Western Europe experienced a period of radical social and political change -the Reformation. The Puritans were forced to flee to the English colonies in America after being persecuted in their homeland.

This was the beginning of the spread of English nomenclature in areas that had previously belonged to people of a completely different linguistic family - the Indians or indigenous peoples of America. The radical Puritans invented "divine" names — Faith, Hope, Ashes, Deliverance, Joy, Praise God — but there were also more melodious and less nominal names - Abraham, Banjamin, Elihu, Isaac, Samuel . The latter group of names is still considered quite common in the United States of America [5].

The modern 'name stock' of the English-speaking world is a combination of historically conditioned onyms and actual anthroponyms that have been invented in our time as a result of various processes of word formation. And it is important to note that changes in the social order and, for example, class structure in the target language countries have also had a major impact on the modern English anthroponymic system.

In a linguistic context, proper names are used quite often. In fiction, for example, anthroponyms account for 2.5-3% of the total narrative. When talking to each other, however, personal names tend to be used more. It is important to note that when anthroponyms are used, a peculiar formula for constructing the nominative is used. For example, some linguists have theorised that the absence of articles in onyms can be seen as their distinguishing feature (which can also be attributed to the rules of naming in English).

In the view of some scholars, the appearance of an article in a pair with a proper name is an indication of the latter's transition into the category of proper names. However, when the role of the referent in the sentence is to be emphasised semantically, the use of the article with proper names is possible from the point of view of English grammar.

An English full name is a compound name. It can consist of more than one component, e.g: Jack London, Rudyard Kipling (full name — Joseph Rudyard Kipling),

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (later Christie — Agatha Mary Clarissa Chrisite) or Francis Scott Fitzgerald (whose full name consisted of four parts, not three as is commonly believed — Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald). In English informal communication (as well as in the construction of communication in other countries), full proper names may be subject to certain modifications and derivatives are in use instead. "Derivatives combine all sorts of names: abbreviations, pet names, diminutives, familiar forms (short forms, pet names, diminutives, familiar forms), which cannot be clearly distinguished from each other.

Abbreviations and affixes are the main forms of name derivation in English, and the most common form of suffixed name derivation is abbreviated names ending in -y: Molly, Billy , etc [6].

When we talk about derivatives in the English language, it is important to note that they are quite stable. The notion of stability here means that in the English system of anthroponymy, a particular person is usually assigned a particular form of a derivative within the functional style of speech used. This derivative is used in its unaltered form in most cases. It turns out that in the paradigmatic system of the English language, diminutives and abbreviations tend to acquire the status of fully used basic anthroponymic forms.

They only lose their standard form of expression when they acquire the emotional and evaluative connotation prepared for them by a particular subject.

In this way, the proper name in English turns out to be an integral part of the language culture, especially in the acts of everyday communication.