An Onym Portrait of Chernivtsi in 30-40-ies in the Twentieth Century (based on Vasyl Kozhelyanko’s Novel “sribnyi Pavuk” (“a Silver Spider”)
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction. In recent decades, Ukrainian onomastics has seen the emergence of an approach that, alongside studying literary onymy as elements of a literary text and defining features of a writer's idiostyle, also considers real onyms recorded in literature as a valuable source for researching the actual onomasticon. This article provides an analysis of the onymic portrait of Chernivtsi in the 1930s and 1940s, based on Vasyl Kozhelyanko’s novel Sribnyi Pavuk (A Silver Spider). The aim of the study is to describe the onymic portrait of Chernivtsi as an integral element of the city's linguistic image that is based on Kozhelyanko’s novel Sribnyi Pavuk. The object of the study is a number of real names used in the novel that create the linguistic image of Chernivtsi. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of the structure and organisation of the onymic space in the novel as an element of the linguistic landscape of Chernivtsi in the 1930s and 1940s. Research methods. The purpose of the present paper and the specific character of our data stipulate the use of general scientific methods and approaches (analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, observation, and generalisation). Among the linguistic research methods, the descriptive method is fundamental, preceded by the inventory and classification of the onymic material. Additionally, traditional linguistic methods such as contextual-interpretational analysis and the comparative method are used. Research results. The use of real proper names in the analyzed novel as markers of a specific territory and its history, the identity of the language communities residing there, their self-perception, and the status of their languages, among other aspects, has been substantiated. It has been shown that the real proper names in the novel, through their complex interconnections and relationships, together with other linguistic elements, shape the text of the city and its linguistic image. Beyond other functions, these names present the onymic space of Chernivtsi as a linguocultural phenomenon, marking a particular territory and reflecting the cultural and historical memory of its people. Conclusions. Proper names of the novel that are part of the cultural-linguistic matrix of the city, embodiment of its unique language colouring, help to recreate a certain historical context, display the historical dynamics of the city environment, demonstrate the influence of political changes on the linguistic landscape of the city, and show how these changes shape the sociocultural identity of Chernivsi dwellers.
Source: Opera in onomastica
Author: Natalia Kolesnyk
Institution: Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405886612