Proper Names in the Light of Theoretical Onomastics

Proper Names In the Light of Theoretical Onomastics135tian name or by his or her individual characteristic or by a combination ofboth. These situations can be expressed as the model schemes: K (+ ch…),CH (+ k…). The lexical selection is overburdened in this case. The firstnaming system is an important source for learning about old anthropolexemesand also specifically anthroponymic word-forming procedures.In the binary naming system, the hierarchically basic component, the surname,(k + P ) has become the bearer and symbol of kinship. The combinationof surname and Christian name extends its identification and differentiationcapacities; it names a member of a kinship group. In the class ofsurnames, the set of anthropolexemes and anthropoformants is extendedremarkably. In the lingual construction of surnames, the expressionalspecificity of proper names is demonstrated most distinctly.For the question in hand, a comparison with the Bulgarian ternary systemcan be instructive. The older Bulgarian official system was based onindividual Christian names (a + b + c). It was a combination of the individualChristian name of the named person with the Christian name ofher or his father and grandfather. The components b and c in the form ofthe possessive adjective identified the kinship of a person with the Christianname a (Ivan Christov Petrušov). In this system, a permanent exchangeof individual names was characteristic which required an extensive vocabularyof these names. By contrast with, e. g. the situation in Slovak,Czech, Polish, the forms of names which in these languages would beclassified as hypocoristic with one basic name (compare Dimităr – Mitro,Mito, Mitko), could, as official Christian names, be placed in any positionin the Bulgarian ternary naming system (Vasil Mitov Ivanov, Verin SatirovMitov). Names such as Cano, Boťo, Božko, Duško, Marko etc. are classifiedas official forms. Dating from approximately World War I, the type a + b +C predominates in official contacts. This type, which is similar to Russian,differs from the Western Slavic naming by the obligatory patronymic (b).The process of establishing the third component in the Bulgarian officialsystem as a fixed hereditary surname has taken place gradually. It is notjust a coincidence that the class of Christian names which was, for a longtime, hierarchically basic in the naming model, is substantially richer inBulgarian than, e. g. in Slovak. N. Kovačev found in the Bulgarian language33 488 Christian names (13 770 male and 19 718 female names) in1980 (Kovačev 1995, 20). A complete set of personal names in Slovakiacomprises 8433 Christian names and 230 011 surnames (Ďurčo 1996); insurnames, the basic unit is their graphical form.