Etymological information about the origin and meaning of the name. Origin of names
The branch of linguistics called onomastics deals with the study of proper names. The term "onomastics" is derived from Greek word onomastike - "the art of giving names."
Onomastics is traditionally divided into sections in accordance with the categories of objects bearing proper names. Onomastics includes: anthroponymy, which studies the names of people; Zoonymics - studies the names of animals; astronomy - studies names celestial bodies.
A distinctive feature of proper names is that in their modern use they, as a rule, do not name concepts, but serve only to designate specific objects. We can fairly firmly determine the difference between a seamstress and a milkmaid, a doctor and an accountant, but no one can say, based only on a person’s name, how Marina differs from Valentina, Sasha from Boris. Proper names have only a denotative meaning (denote a specific object) and are devoid of significative (conceptual) meaning. However, when they arose, all proper names were used as ordinary nominative lexemes. Restoring the original meaning of a proper name is one of the tasks of modern onomastics.
The origin of anthroponyms - first names, patronymics, last names, nicknames, pseudonyms, etc. - Quite an extensive literature is devoted to this. These are the works of A. V. Superanskaya and A. V. Suslova, E. N. Polyakova and L. V. Uspensky, V. A. Nikonov and Yu. A. Fedosyuk, M. A. Gorbanevsky and N. A. Petrovsky.
Working with anthroponyms always arouses interest in children's (as well as in any other) audience: every person has a name, and everyone wants to know what it originally meant. Perhaps it is with clarification of the original semantics of names that it is worth starting work on etymology in elementary school.
How can you find out most of names came to Rus' from other languages: Greek, Latin, many ancient names Jewish origin, and only a relatively small part of anthroponyms have Slavic origin and borrowed from the Old Church Slavonic language.
Before the adoption of Christianity, there were no canonical names in Rus', and a newborn could be named whatever the heart desired: “Whatever word came to mind, that’s how the baby was awarded. This is how Wolf, Ravine, Dobrynya, ... Kislitsa, Failure, ... appeared. Crane, Neumyvaka... etc." And only after 988 they began to name babies according to the calendar. At the same time, the evaluative, conceptual character of the name disappeared. It is interesting that a peculiar return to the pagan principle of choosing a name occurred after 1917. It was then that the names Vladlen and Vladlena (Vladimir Lenin), Maren (Marx and Engels), Istalina (Joseph Stalin), Gertrud and Gurtrud (hero or heroine of labor), Idea, Iskra, Electrification, Tractorina, Oktyabrina and the like appeared.
Fortunately, this anthroponymic anarchy did not last long. “Fortunately” - because, according to psychologists and neurologists, people with dissonant, “provocative”, rare and funny names are much more prone to cardiovascular diseases than others, nervous disorders. Canonical names that have become traditional and familiar to us, even in their original meaning, most often could not evoke negative emotions in a person, because for the most part they were associated with the concepts of goodness, luck, beauty: Alexey - “protector”, Arseny - “courageous”, Valentina - “strong, healthy”, Grigory - “cheerful”, etc.
At the same time, there were names whose original meaning could be perceived in different ways: Arthur is translated from Celtic as “bear”, Vlas in Greek is “fat man”, Taras (Greek) is “troublemaker”, Wanda (Old Slavonic) is " "argumentative."
It is probably worthwhile to welcome the fact that a modern name does not characterize a person!
It should be noted that in modern usage personal names have lost not only their conceptual content, but also their stylistic coloring. Back in the 19th century, one name could have different variants, which were used to name various persons: George - the name of a saint, Yuri - the name of a prince, Egor - all others (George, Yuri, Egor - this is a modification of one name); John - priest, king; Ivan is the name for all other classes. During the time of Pushkin and even at the beginning of the 20th century, different versions of the same name had different social implications.
Famous interesting fact, when it was the social differentiation of names that helped to establish the falsification of literary documents: a whole chest (!) with manuscripts, the authorship of which was attributed to A. S. Pushkin, was found in the Moscow region. However, in the letters contained in the sensational discovery, the following was repeatedly repeated: “Ekaterina Andreevna Karamzina,” and any literate person of Pushkin’s era knew that the name Ekaterina was applicable only to the queen.
The loss of stylistic coloring of a proper name does not give us the opportunity to adequately understand some literary works. So, Chekhov's heroine ("The Lady with the Dog") calls her husband Dimitri. We cannot understand all the nuances of such treatment without knowing the differences between Dmitry and Dimitri. The same thing happens when we perceive the title of M. Bulgakov’s comedy “Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession”: only the house manager changes his profession, and the tsar is not a profession, it is a way of life and worldview, and Ioan Vasilyevich does not change his profession.
If the etymology of canonical names can be considered quite complete and unambiguous, then the etymology of surnames is a much more complex matter. The surname, as an inherited official name indicating a person’s belonging to a particular family, did not immediately begin to be used in Rus'. First names appeared among the representatives high society, and the bulk of the population even in the middle of the 19th century made do with their first name and patronymic in the form of a short possessive adjective on -ov, -in: Evgeniy Vasiliev in the middle of the 19th century did not mean a first and last name, but a combination of a first and patronymic. Patronymic names in -ich were allowed only to the highest ranks.
The etymology of surnames is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. So, for example, the surname Shchukin seems to be derived from common noun- pike, however, language historians have established that this anthroponym came from a non-church male name Shchuka, and for the first time Shchukin - a patronymic in the form of a possessive adjective, which answered the question “whose?” As scientists have established, the vast majority of Russian surnames come from patronymics. When establishing the origin of an anthroponym, it is necessary to take into account in what social environment, in what territory it was widespread, since completely different principles for creating surnames operated, for example, among peasants, clergy, and seminaries.
Toponyms - the names of various geographical objects - contain great potential opportunities for work. "It is impossible to imagine the life of modern society without geographical names. They are ubiquitous and always accompany our thinking from childhood. Everything on earth has its own address, and this address begins with the place of birth of a person. His native village, the street on which he lives, the city, country - everything has its own name. Daily newspaper reading, classical literature, the study of cultural history and the development of science lead to a new, ever-expanding stock of geographical names in our language."
Based on the nature of objects, the following main types of toponyms are distinguished: oikonyms - names of settlements (Moscow, Tver), hydronyms - names of water bodies (Volga, Seliger), oronyms - names of relief features (Alps, Ural Mountains).
Toponyms can arise as a result of natural historical development (Kyiv, Smolensk, Paris) or be created deliberately (Petrozavodsk, Washington).
Toponyms, as a rule, are more closely associated with named objects than anthroponyms, and therefore they have a greater connection with the concept than other proper names. In their lexical meaning includes an address-pointing component. We name: Alps, Paris, Baikal - and immediately imagine what the word means, where the object is located.
The semantics of the names of geographical objects is often motivated. The original value of a toponym may contain information about the topographical features of the object (Staritsa, Krasnoyarsk, Goritsy), indicate its connection with socio-historical conditions and facts ( Vyshny Volochek, Torzhok, Tsaritsyno, Patriarche, St. Petersburg, Kuznetsky Most), reflect the originality of flora and fauna (Seliger, Dubovka, Alupka).
However, one should not confuse the word-formation analysis of toponyms with their etymological interpretation. In word-formation analysis, the motivation of the analyzed toponym by the generating word is obvious, the toponym is built according to the word-formation models operating in the modern language, and there is no work for the etymologist here. For example: Volgograd, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Rostov-on-Don, Pyatigorsk, Zaporozhye (beyond the Dnieper rapids), etc.
However, many toponyms, and especially those that have existed for a long time, are most often unmotivated for modern native speakers. Reconstructing their original meaning has proven difficult, and many of the most famous place names retain the mystery of their name, despite the intensity of etymological research. Nevertheless, research continues, and their results make a certain contribution to the study of the history of the language (since toponyms may contain roots that have already disappeared from the language), the history of the country (for example, it was with the help of toponyms that it was possible to establish the prehistoric areas of distribution of the Sami tribe, Lithuanian tribes, Radimichi and Vyatichi).
For some toponyms, there are several etymological versions, but none of them is fully proven. Thus, regarding the word Moscow, etymologists have proven with complete certainty only that the hydronym (the name of the river) is older, and the city received its name from the hydronym. The origin of the name of the river is associated with Finno-Ugric roots: moska - “bear”, ava - “female” (i.e. Moscow - “bear”). This version is confirmed by the presence of an image of a bear in the coat of arms of Moscow.
According to another version, the word Moscow comes from the Finnish “musta” - “black” and “va” - “water” (that is, Moscow - “black water, black river”, and indeed, the Moscow River flows through peat areas, and the color water appears black due to the characteristics of the bottom). It is also believed that the name Moscow came from the Scythian language, where it meant “strong racer, huntress” (which indicates the relatively fast flow of the river). There is also an assumption that the toponym arose as a result of combining the words “mosk” - “flint” and “khov” - “shelter”. Total number There are more than a dozen versions, and etymological research continues.
However, even in cases where the original meaning of a toponym is established absolutely precisely and unambiguously, for most native speakers the geographical name remains unmotivated. For example, it has been established that the hydronym Neva originated from the Finnish languages, where neva means “swamp”. At the same time, we must take into account that Nevo is an old name Lake Ladoga, after which the river could be named. Etymologists have given an unambiguous “translation” of the oikonym Sevastopol: this is an artificial name given to the city by Potemkin in 1783. The word is formed from two Greek roots: “sevastos” - “glorious” and “polis” - “city”.
Working with the etymology of toponyms will not only increase interest in the Russian language, but will also expand knowledge in the field of history, culture, and geography.
For example, when explaining the original meaning of the oikonym Staritsa as “a city located in the old riverbed,” it would be nice to clarify where this regional center of the Tver region is located. The definition of the hydronym Yauza as a “connecting river” (from the prefix “ja” and the root “university” - “knot, knit”) will also force one to turn to a geographical map.
Turning to the history of the meaning of toponyms can be fraught with mysteries and sometimes even curiosities. Thus, for several decades, Japan owned the original Russian island of Sakhalin. In 1945, Sakhalin again became part of Russia. However, geographical names appeared on the map of the island that could not be explained either from the point of view of the Russian language or based on the Japanese roots of the words: Moruji and Mauraefuesiki. Scientists struggled for a long time to solve these names until they decided to take the old Russian geographical map Sakhalin, where the names were found: Morzh (in place of Morudzi) and the village of Muravyovskoye (instead of Mauraefuesiki). These turned out to be old Russian names, but transmitted in “Japanese transcription”.
The literature on toponymy is quite extensive. These are the works of M. N. Melkheev and V. A. Nikonov, M. V. Gorbanevsky and V. P. Neroznak, L. V. Uspensky and A. V. Superanskaya, V. D. Bondaletov and E. M. Pospelov.
Sometimes the term "onomastics" is used as a synonym for the term "anthroponymy" - from the Greek antropos - "man", and ynyma - "name".
The origin of names goes back to ancient times and is covered with a layer different legends. The exact time when the group “proper names” began to be identified is not known, but already in the 3rd century BC the philosopher Chrysippus classified them as a separate group of words.
Imagine a time when people lived in caves, farmed together, and knew nothing about medicine and the world outside their settlements. When a person just began to give names to the things around him, he was surprised and studied the nature of being.
The first names were not invented specifically to designate specific person, people used various words for this: names of animals, natural phenomena, plants, seasons, celestial bodies, gods, etc. (Willow, River, Wolf, Rain). But the ancients mysterious names quite often given to people based on character traits, appearance, lifestyle, characteristics, behavior, etc. (Nose, Talker, Wanderer). So, the tallest person in the settlement could be called Rock, and the quietest one could be called Mouse.
Even in ancient times, people began to understand that the name given to a person, can influence his fate in various ways. Then they began to choose names that would stand for something good. In African and Indian tribes children were named so that the name sounded repulsive, scaring away evil spirits and evil spirits.
Also in history, it was quite common for a child to have two names: one that only he and his parents knew, and the other a common name that everyone could call.
Few people know that in China, a child received his first name at birth, his second when he entered school, and his third (adult) after he came of age.
IN ancient Greece parents named babies after heroes, gods and important figures in history. They believed that then the child would inherit their greatness, strength and the qualities that the heroes possessed. But people, calling the child as one of the gods, often feared the Almighty. Therefore, to address the gods every day, they used various epithets, from which some of the names we know came from: Alexander - “defender”, Victor - “winner”, Laurus - “in honor of Mars”, who wears laurel branch, or Stefan, in Slavic languages turned into Stepan, which means “crowned”, since many gods wore wreaths.
Sometimes children were named the same as the gods, but not the main ones, but the secondary ones: Aurora, Muse. Superstitious pagans hoped that best qualities and the abilities of these gods will pass to their child along with the name. And perhaps they hoped that the gods would even bring a gift to their family in the form of a good harvest or good health.
The history of the origin of names is not always as simple as it seems. We don't always know where a given name came from. Even if we ourselves are its carriers.
Many people think that names such as Maria (Masha), Ivan (Vanya) are originally Russian. This is a misconception, because they, like many others familiar to hearing, came from other languages and peoples.
Among the commonly used names are many that have Greek, Scandinavian, Hebrew, Latin and other roots.
After the adoption of Christianity and the departure of paganism, more and more foreign names with deep meaning began to penetrate into our culture: Nikita - “winner”, Alexey - “defender”, Elena - “bright”, Eugene - “noble” and so on.
Perhaps we consider them originally Russian, since they are often used in folklore, fairy tales and legends that are familiar to us from childhood.
But there is also a wide variety of original Russian names that have survived to this day: Lyudmila - “dear to people”, Yaroslav - “glorifying Yarila”, Vladimir - “owning the world”, Vsevolod - “owning everything”, Zlata - “golden” and more great amount Such examples can be found by studying the history of Rus'. Today these names are gaining popularity again, because many want to return to authenticity family values and the history of their people.
It is interesting and important to know that people with strange or very funny names more often than others suffer from various mental illnesses.
Remember: it will always be useful to find out the origin, meaning and secret meaning of the nickname. Knowing historical names may help you understand yourself a little better. You will know what you are capable of, and, most importantly, you will be able to choose a name with a good story for your child. Do not forget that by naming a child, you endow him with certain qualities, so you should carefully choose a name and figure out where it came from.
Every person has a name. Linguists call people's personal names anthroponyms. A Russian person, in addition, has a patronymic and a surname. Calling each other by name and patronymic, we cannot even imagine that it is possible to call other adults by any other name. However, in many countries the middle name is like special type There is no naming. In most Western countries, people, regardless of age, simply call each other by their first name, and in more formal cases, by their last name, preceded by the words you senor, señora, sir, madam, etc. Many peoples of the East do not have surnames. On special occasions, long phrases are used, including not only a personal name, but also nicknames that characterize a person, and words such as boy, youth, man, old man, uncle, aunt, grandfather, mother, father, the name of the family to which this person belongs, the names of his relatives, the name of the area from which he comes.
Russians, as a rule, receive one name at birth. It is very rare for a Russian person to have two names. In many Western countries, a child is given two or three names, for example, Jose Raul. Initially, this was dictated by the desire for him to have not one, but several patron saints. Then it became a tradition. Most often, children in Spanish-speaking countries are named after relatives, usually grandparents. In addition to the name received from their parents, Spaniards have names received at baptism from the baptizing priest and godparents. Most of the names received by the Spaniard are not used, but only one or two names are used, for example, the current king of Spain has five personal names - Juan Carlos Alfonso Maria Victor, but all his life he uses only two of them - Juan Carlos. This is a common case.
In some countries, in Spain and Portugal, tradition requires that a person have not one, but several surnames. Here the father's surname is recorded as the first surname, and the mother's surname as the second. Many people add their grandfather’s surname as a third name. Some use the surname of a grandmother or another grandfather as the fourth, etc.
Origin of proper names
Every person lives somewhere, and whether it is a city or a village, a mountain or a river, any point on the earth’s surface, if it is notable in any way, has its own name. Linguists call the names of cities, rivers, lakes, and localities toponyms. Where, how and why geographical names came from is a question no less interesting than the problems associated with the origin of names and surnames. On globe There are more than 250 places named Switzerland. This is explained by the fashion for this proper name. If an area in any way resembled European Switzerland, it received this name. Today there is Switzerland in Europe, and it is also in New Zealand.
In my everyday cognitive activity a person constantly discovers, creates, constructs something new. These can be new lands, new qualities and properties of previously known things, machines, mechanisms, parts, devices. Every day children are born, new people who will eventually take their place in life and begin to create and create. And everything new needs names. And they are created every day: common nouns - to designate classes of objects, proper names for each individual individual object. In the 20th century, the common nouns computer, cybernetics, space, etc. appeared. These concepts are associated with the development of science and technology, the emergence of new branches of knowledge. Name city near Moscow, where astronauts live - Zvezdny. Given name its own comes from the word star and people live here, striving for the stars.
Development information technologies led to the formation of new common nouns. Today, a new category of proper names is emerging, which may include such names as Internet, Yandex, Runet. What other similar names can be considered proper names? What are their signs? I believe that if they are written in Russian with capital letters, there is reason to classify them as proper names.
Proper names and common nouns are full-fledged words of each specific language, but common nouns serve us with their meaning, and proper names serve us with their sound. I would like to suggest that proper names have always existed, because it is impossible to imagine a language in which there would be no proper names. Scientists believe that they have existed since man began to recognize himself as a human being and use language as a means of communication. He began to give nicknames to pets, name rivers, lakes, and the area in which he lives. In ancient times, deities, heroes of fairy tales, tales, and epics received their names.
We can ask the question, what came first, proper names or common nouns? Perhaps they were created simultaneously, borrowing linguistic material from each other. Here it is necessary to note the complexity and originality of the transition of common nouns into proper ones, so it is often difficult to determine when and from what word a particular name originated. For example, the Russian surname Sundukov comes from the word chest. But between the chest - household utensils and the surname Sundukov there are a number of intermediate forms. The word chest itself is borrowed from Turkic languages. But the surname Sundukov cannot be considered Tatar or Nogai, because the entire path from word to surname was carried out according to the norms of the Russian language. First of all, the word chest became the name or nickname of a person - Chest, and only then a full-fledged surname. Why this happened is difficult to say.
It is even more difficult to judge the origin of traditional Russian names. After all, almost all of them came to us from Byzantium along with Christianity. They were included in calendars, dedicated to certain days of the year and were called calendar ones. All of them are very ancient and served as names long before their arrival in the Russian language.
It is important to note that having separated from a common noun and becoming a proper name, the name develops regardless of the meaning of those elements that form the meaning of the common noun. For example, we put the surname Bryullov in a row not with Eskin, Morkovkin, but with the surnames of artists Levitan, Repin, Petrov-Vodkin, Vasnetsov; the name of the German philosopher Fichte - in a row with the names of Feuerbach, Kant.
I think there are a number of universal factors that people have turned to and continue to turn to when creating names. First of all, then appearance, image of a person. Compare the ancient Russian names Bolshoy, Dolgiy, Malysh, Fatty, Khudyshka, the Greek Plato, the Latin Longinus. Character traits influence: Old Russian names Kind, Generous, Stingy and Arabic Rahman. When naming people in all eras, they turned to the names of animals, although the reasons for this were different.
IN individual eras Representatives of different nations develop unique traditions associated with names. For example, in some historical periods there was a tradition of naming a person after low-value items “from the evil eye” in order to protect the child from damage. At other stages of development, societies turned to complex, pompous names in order to glorify a person through his name. There is a fashion for names.
The desire to ennoble one's name and surname was noted among many peoples. An interesting fact is given in the book by A.V. Superanskaya. The first Russian herald, Kolychev, whose family descended from a man named Kobyla, complained that the scribes allegedly distorted the name of his ancestor, who was actually called Kampila and came to the royal service from foreign lands.
Our names are unique and amazing signs that help to highlight each individually. Living being. They serve us by their sound, and not by the common meaning of the words from which they were once created. It is especially important to emphasize the legal significance of proper names and the need to write them uniformly in all documents, maps, and books.
The English love to repeat the phrase: “What’s in a name?” What is really in your name and mine? What's in a city or street name? What's in the name of a ship and a planet? The answers to these questions are given by onomastics - the science of proper names. She studies the formation, development, distribution of names, the features of their borrowing into other languages, their amazing transformations in new historical and cultural conditions.
Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation
Federal state budget educational institution
higher vocational education
"Ryazan State University named after S.A. Yesenin"
Origin and meaning of personal names
Performed:
student
institute foreign languages
Linguistics profile
Feoktistova Dina Olegovna
Ryazan 2014
name rus culture soviet
Introduction
Traditions of choosing a name for a child
Origin of names in Rus'
Conclusion
Introduction
A person's name is the first thing that identifies and distinguishes him from other people.
Proper names were highlighted in ancient times. Even the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (3rd century BC) classified names as a separate group of words. Today, anthroponymy (Greek anthropos - person, nimis - name) is studying the patterns of their origin and development, their structure, functioning in society, and distribution.
The origin of names is associated with various legends and guesses, but it is quite obvious that the totality of the names of each civilization, each people is closely connected with its historical path, cultural and everyday traditions, beliefs and a certain era.
Nowadays many are interested different interpretations certain personal data, and the name comes first here. There are even specialists who can predict a person’s fate, character, and qualities by name. Therefore, many become interested in the history of the origin of names, their original form and subsequent transformation over time.
1. Traditions of choosing a name for a child
Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to the name. It has always been a significant part of a person’s personality and its content correlated with inner meaning carrier. Our ancestors believed that a name had some power over a person’s fate, so they treated its choice with extreme caution.
The first names were not invented on purpose. On initial stage development of society, when people realized that it was easier to survive by uniting in communities, the need arose for names in order to call out one person, and not the whole tribe. It was not always possible to come up and knock on the back asking for help, and at that time the vocal abilities were successfully developing. To designate people, they used any “available” names for phenomena in the surrounding world, for example, animals, plants, celestial bodies, bodies of water, seasons. Another source of the origin of the names of ancient people were the characteristic features of a person, the peculiarities of his natural data, behavior, and lifestyle. For example, Molchan, Razumnik, Ryaboy.
As mentioned earlier, even then people believed that a personal name had power over the fate of the owner. Therefore, they began to choose and subsequently come up with names that meant something good, the best qualities that would help them find good luck. For example, if the name of an animal was used as a name, then it had to be a strong, dexterous, brave animal. Many ancient names consisted of several words and were similar to peculiar “spells”, wishes, and such a tradition existed among a variety of nationalities, for example, among the Semites, Slavs, and Sumerians.
In many cultures, newborns are given two names. The first was considered real and was known only in a narrow circle of the family, and the second was for general use, so that no one could harm the child by knowing his true name.
Indian tribes gave repulsive names to ward off evil spirits. The young man learned his real name only on the day he was recognized as an adult through meditation and communication with spirits and did not tell anyone else. The old shamans believed that this name was impossible to pronounce with normal human sounds, it existed only in a mixture of images and sound.
The ancient Greeks named their child in honor of gods and heroes, hoping for the favor of the Almighty. But calling children by similar names was considered tactless, since the inhabitants of Olympus might not like such familiarity. Therefore, various epithets with which the gods were usually addressed were transformed into names. For example, Victor (winner), Maxim (greatest). Zeus was addressed with such epithets.
Origin of names in Rus'
Nowadays, dozens of Russian personal names are not originally Russian in origin. Many names included in the Russian name book were brought by Christianity to Rus' from Byzantium. Therefore, they go back to Greek, Latin and other languages.
IN Slavic culture there was a tradition of a double naming ceremony. The first took place a few days after birth. Most often, this Slavic name was deliberately unattractive (Zloba, Nemil, Nekras, Kriv). The second was given to the child upon reaching twelve years of age. Slavic names abounded in their diversity. There were various groups names:
· Dibasic (Svyatoslav, Dobrozhir, Tihomir, Ratibor, Yaropolk, Gostomysl, Velimudr, Vsevolod, Bogdan, Dobrogneva, Lyubomila, Mirolyub, Svetozar, Miloneg, etc.) and their derivatives (Dobrynya, Tishilo, Rat (i) sha, Putyata, etc. .P.);
· Participle names (Zhdan, Nezhdan, Khoten);
· Names from animal and flora(Pike, Ruff, Hare, Wolf, Eagle, Nut, etc.);
· Names by birth order (Pervusha, Vtorak, Tretyak);
· Names by human qualities(Brave)
It is easy to follow the process of creating a two-base name. The second part of the word is cut off and a suffix or ending is added (- neg, - lo, - ta, - tka, - sha, - yata, - nya, - ka) For example, Svyatoslav - Svyato + sha = Svyatosha.
Many two-part words have their own meaning. For example: Bazhen is a desired child, a desired child. Bogdan - given by God, a gift from God, a child given by God. Bogomil - gifted by God, dear to God. The name Bohumil has the same meaning. Velimudr - knowledgeable. Vsevolod is the ruler of the people, who owns everything. Dobromil is kind and sweet. Dobrozhir is kind and rich. Dobrogneva - strong in anger. Gostomysl - thinking about another (guest). Peaceful - peace-loving. Peresvet - fighting for the light. Rostislav - growing glory. Svetozar - illuminating with light. Svyatogor - indestructible holiness. Tihomir is quiet and peaceful. Tsvetana - like a flower. Yaropolk is an ardent (powerful) army, the leader of the solar army. Yaroslav - possessing ardent (powerful) glory, glorifying Yarila
Borrowing names from other cultures
As far as we know, the presence of contacts between cultures of different peoples is also reflected in the creation of names. The processes of borrowing and adaptation have been going on for centuries and have given such bizarre results that sometimes they can only be understood on the basis of deep scientific research - if it is possible to give an unambiguous answer at all. The Slavic people can serve as an example of such influence. The most popular, beloved names turn out to be in the vast majority of cases “foreigners”, having Greek, Latin, Jewish, and Scandinavian roots. For example, the names Ivan and Maria came into our everyday life from the Hebrew language, becoming unique symbolic names of the Russian people.
Borrowed foreign names are a reflection of some historical periods, trends, events. For example, large groups of Greek and Jewish origin came to us along with Christianity, thereby pushing aside the original Slavic names. In the first centuries of Christianity (X-XIII centuries), Slavic names were used in everyday life in Rus', while baptismal names were used only in the church. However, from the 14th century, the main name became Christian, and people continued to have nicknames, no longer traditional, but usually associated with one or another human trait and defined in living language (Wolf, Stick, Big, etc.). From them, along with baptismal names (Ivanov, Petrov), Russian surnames (Volkov, Palkin, Bolshov, etc.) later began to be formed. Of the Slavic names, only those that were borne by canonized saints survived in use - thus these names began to be given in baptism (Vladimir, Vsevolod, Boris, etc.).
Also, many of the names that Russian people are accustomed to are borrowed from the Scandinavian language. All this is due to the fact that the Scandinavians were long-time northern neighbors of the Slavs. The Scandinavians fought with Russia, and served as warriors for the Russian princes, and traded with it, and went to trade through Rus' to other countries, which was reflected in famous expression"The path from the Varangians to the Greeks." Of Scandinavian origin, the proper names Askold (golden voice, wielding a spear), Gleb (pleasing to God, favorite of the gods), Oleg (sacred), Igor (warlike), Olga (sacred, great), Rurik (glorious king). Borrowing occurred through direct communication (orally) of the Slavs with Scandinavian merchants and grand ducal warriors - Scandinavians who served with the Russian princes. The signs of borrowed Scandinavian words have been erased.
Names of Soviet origin
The trend towards creating unconventional names continued during Soviet times. Unusual names appeared after the October Revolution during the heyday of the fashion for neologisms and abbreviations in the Soviet Union. The destruction of previous social foundations and traditions of naming, associated primarily with the obligation to choose a name for a newborn according to the calendar during the baptismal ceremony, gave parents greater freedom to choose names for their children. Various common nouns began to be used as personal names: names of plants (Birch, Oak), minerals (Ruby, Granite), chemical elements(Radium, Tungsten, Iridium, Helium), toponyms (Volga, Himalaya, Kazbek, Onega), technical and mathematical terms (Median, Diesel, Combine, Railcar), professions (Tank Driver), and other words colored by revolutionary ideology (Idea, Decembrist, Comrade, Volya, Zarya, Atheist, Freedom). Derivative forms were also formed (Noyabrina, Tractorina). This kind of name creation is sometimes called semantic anthroponymization. A large array of personal names-neologisms was formed from revolutionary slogans, the names of some organs new government, as well as from the names and surnames of revolutionary leaders and communist figures (Vladlen, Damir, Kim, Roy).
Names of Soviet origin also include many borrowed names. It was after the October Revolution that there was a significant influx of foreign names into the Russian language. Some of them were directly associated with figures of the international communist movement (Rosa - in honor of Rosa Luxemburg, Ernst - in honor of Ernst Thälmann), some were associated with the heroes of "progressive" translations literary works or historical figures (Jeanne, Eric, Rudolf, Robert). Some were known among other nations, but received new transcript(Gertrude - hero of labor, Elina - electrification, industrialization, Elmira - electrification of the world, Zarema - for the revolution of the world, Renat - revolution, science, labor). Special place takes the name Svetlana, which, although it was known earlier, gained popularity precisely in the 1920s.
In the post-revolutionary era, non-canonical (not noted in the church calendar) Old Russian and ancient Slavic names, as well as names existing in other Slavic languages (Svetozar, Peresvet, Mstislav, Miloslava, Lyubomir, Wanda, Vladislav)
Most names of Soviet origin - especially newly formed ones - were rarely used and did not take root, remaining rather a historical and linguistic curiosity; Many bearers of exotic names, having reached adulthood, applied for a name change. However, some of these names, composed successfully - for example, Vladlen, Damir, have survived and become quite widely known.
Some interesting names and their meanings:
Avxo ?ma - from the reverse reading of the word Moscow
Arvi ?l - from the abbreviation of the phrase "Army of V.I. Lenin"
Bestreva - from the abbreviation of the phrase "Beria - Guardian of the Revolution"
Bolzhedor - Bolshevik Railway
Valterperzhenka (Vaterpezhekosma) - from the abbreviation of the phrase “Valentina Tereshkova - the first female cosmonaut”
Vydeznar (Hold the banner of the revolution higher)
Dazdranagon - from the abbreviation of the slogan "Long live the people of Honduras!"
Dazdrasmygda - from the abbreviation of the slogan “Long live the bond of city and countryside!”
Dazdraperma - from the abbreviation of the slogan “Long live the First of May!”
Kukutsapol - from an abbreviation of the slogan during the reign of N. S. Khrushchev “Corn is the queen of fields.”
Pofistal - from the abbreviation of the phrase “the winner of fascism/fascists Joseph Stalin.”
Uryurvkos (Urayukos) - from the abbreviation of the phrase “Hurray, Yura in space!”
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to note that most of the male and female names that we encounter every day are so familiar and familiar to us that we perceive them as Russian names, especially without thinking about their origin. In fact, the original Russians of them are modern society There are literally only a few left. Really Russian names that have Slavic roots, turned out to be supplanted over time by names of Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Scandinavian origin. This process has been going on for centuries and today most of the names borrowed long ago from other nations are considered Russian, although in fact they have foreign roots.
It is practically impossible to determine the origin of the name and its roots intuitively, because in our perception the names are Ivan, Peter, Fedor, Stepan, Mikhail, Vasily, Anna, Anastasia, Maria, Ekaterina, Varvara, Polina, etc. must have Russian roots, but none of the above are Russian or Slavic in origin. They, like the vast majority of other modern male and female names, came to Russian culture from other nations, respectively, they all have foreign roots.
List of used literature
1.Veselovsky S.B. Onomasticon. Old Russian names, nicknames and surnames. - M.: Nauka, 1974. - 382 p.
2.Mokienko V.M., Nikitina T.G. Dictionary language of the Council of Deputies. - St. Petersburg: Folio-Press, 1998.
3.Petrovsky N.A. Dictionary of Russian personal names. - M.: AST, 2000.
4.Rospond S. Structure and classification of ancient East Slavic anthroponyms (names) // Questions of linguistics. - M.: Nauka, 1965. - No. 3. - P. 3-22.
.Suslova A.V., Superanskaya A.V. About Russian names. - L.: Lenizdat, 1991. - 220 p.
.Toporov V.N. Proto-Slavic culture in the mirror of proper names // History, culture, ethnography and folklore Slavic peoples. XI International Congress of Slavists. Reports of the Russian delegation. - M.: Nauka, 1993. - P. 3-119.
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Let's consider the question of the origin of human names.
Proper names were identified in ancient times. Even the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (3rd century BC) identified names as a separate group of words. Today, the study of people's proper names, the patterns of their origin and development, their structure, functioning in society, and distribution is dealt with by anthroponymy (“anthropos” - person, “onima” - name).
People have always been given names. There are many legends and traditions about how they arose. Here is one of them. In a distant time, when Higher intelligence gave people speech, there was one language. Each word reflected the inner essence of things. Anyone who knew a word gained power over what it meant. Chaos arose in the world because people could not decide who would govern and who would obey. Then the priests came up with other words for everything in the world in order to prevent the uninitiated from using true names things for evil. Higher knowledge turned out to be beyond the reach of man. As a result, different languages evolved and the true language was hidden and then almost completely lost. This is what is said about language, words and names in the legends of many nations. The same thing happened with people's names.
People now had to come up with names themselves. Moreover, in many cultures, a child was given two names - one close to his real name and a second one, for general use, so that no one could harm the child by knowing his real name. Our distant ancestors understood that a name is not just the name of a person to distinguish him from others, but a kind of verbal formula that is somehow connected with the fate of a person and power over him. They tried to use it in different ways.
Baby name traditions
In Indian and some African tribes They gave repulsive names in order to ward off evil spirits. Once upon a time it was believed that only the person himself and his parents should know his real name. In Indian tribes, a young man learned his real name only on the day he was recognized as an adult through meditation and communication with spirits and did not tell anyone. Old Indian shamans say that often this name could not be pronounced with normal sounds, it existed only as a mixture of image and sound.
The ancient Greeks gave a child the names of gods and heroes, hoping that the child would enjoy their favor and inherit their qualities and destiny. But calling children by similar names was somehow tactless, and even dangerous - after all, the gods of the Hellenes lived very close - on Mount Olympus, were very similar to people and often communicated with them. They might not like such familiarity. Therefore, for everyday reference to the gods, various epithets were used, which were also transformed into names. For example, - winner, - greatest. These epithets were used to call Zeus. Mars carried a laurel branch, hence the name Laurus. Many gods wore headdresses such as crowns or tiaras. This is where the name Stefan - crowned - comes from.
However, the tradition of giving children direct names of gods, although not supreme ones, has also been preserved, in order to avoid their anger for such impudence. The names Muse, Apollo, Aurora, Maya are still in use. Later, this desire became a Christian tradition of giving names in honor of righteous people canonized as saints.
In Rus' there was another tradition: which was real - it was known to parents, godparents and especially close people. It combined the wishes for the baby, the hopes and aspirations of the parents, it reflected love for the child and the desire for his happiness. Then the child was wrapped in a matting and carried out of the threshold, as if demonstrating evil spirits, that they found an abandoned baby who was not particularly needed. And they called him a name that would scare away the evil spirits and lull their attention. "They call me Zovutka, but they call me a duck." This means what to call given name to a stranger was considered dangerous. What if the stranger was a sorcerer who could use knowledge of the name for evil. By giving the child a dissonant and repulsive name, they hoped that evil forces would not bother themselves with causing harm to the unworthy, and also that a nondescript name would not arouse the envy of the gods. The ritual of naming a second name was performed in adolescence, when the main character traits were formed. The name was given based on these features.
However, the tradition of such naming did not take root. And a person who was constantly called not by his real name, but by his real name, often acquired all the qualities characteristic of this nickname. In such a situation, the name-amulet protected the person from unknown reasons. Since the name was not spoken out loud, it had no internal connection with its bearer.
Names in Rus'
The influence of a name on a person and his fate has been noticed for a long time. It has always been believed, and quite rightly, that a word chosen for a name with love will help in life. But at the same time, giving a name, naming it means gaining secret power. IN different languages does not change emotional coloring words, and that which means something pleasant has a sound that is pleasant to the ear, and vice versa.
Thus, the origin of the name has a long history.
Before the adoption of Christianity in Rus', original names were used, created on Slavic soil by means Old Russian language. The Slavs chose to name their children any words that reflected:
- various properties and qualities of people, features of their character: Smart, Brave, Kind, Cunning;
- features of behavior and speech: Molchan;
- physical advantages and disadvantages: Oblique, Lame, Krasava, Kudryash, Chernyak, Belyai;
- the time and “order” of the appearance of a particular child in the family: Menshak, Elder, First, Second, Tretyak;
- profession: Villager, Kozhemyaka, etc.
Similar names were also used by other peoples; it is enough to recall the names of the Indians, which characterized the characteristics of a particular person: Eagle Eye, Sly Fox, etc. We had several other names, which later, with the adoption of Christianity and the consolidation of names in church calendars, turned into nicknames. Some of these nicknames have come down to us in the form of surnames: Cat, Beetle, Wolf, Sparrow. It should be noted that these surnames are quite common.
The influence of Christianity on naming
From the 11th to the 17th centuries, native Slavic names fade into the background, and Byzantine-Greek ones come to the fore. With the advent of Christianity, a two-name system began to develop. In order to protect a person from evil spirits, he was given one name and called a completely different one. This period is characterized by social stratification. At this time, Old Russian names were common, which consist of two roots and contain the root -slav. These are names such as Vyacheslav, Svyatoslav, Yaroslav, Borislav, which were joined by Byzantine-Greek names with the same root: Bronislav, Miroslav, etc.
WITH early XVIII century until 1917, canonical names dominated, a three-part formula for naming a person (last name, first name, patronymic) developed and spread, and a pseudonym appeared.
After the revolution they became very popular. The formation of new names especially affected girls. So, they were called Idea, Iskra, Oktyabrina. There is evidence that one girl was even called Artillery Academy. It was fashionable to call twin boys and girls Revo and Lucia; the names of the boys are known: Genius, Giant (it is noteworthy that these names did not always correspond to reality, and often completely contradicted). However, at this time names appeared that continue to live now: Lilia (it is similar to the Russian name and is very euphonious), Ninel (reading the name Lenin in reverse order), Timur, Spartak.
The modern Russian name book includes many names with different origins. But still, names that we can now rightfully call Russian have a huge advantage. Although there is actually very little left. Over time, the original meaning of names was forgotten, but historically each name was a word or phrase of some language.
Almost all modern names came to us from Byzantium and have Greek roots in origin. However, many of them were borrowed from other ancient languages, or were simply borrowed from ancient Roman, Hebrew, Egyptian and other languages, and with this method of borrowing they were used only as a proper name, and not as a word denoting anything.