What Is a Name? Reflections on Onomastics

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LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS 4.4:669-681, 2003 2003-0-004-004-000059-1 What IS a Name? Reflections on Onomastics* William Bright University of Colorado Onomastics, as the study of proper names, has been of concern to many branches of scholarship, including philosophy and history. The present paper takes the viewpoint of anthropological linguistics, as applied especially to personal names and place names among North American Indians. The question is raised as to whether terms which embody a DESCRIPTION can be considered proper names, e.g., whether a term meaning literally ‘man living by the stream’ can be a personal name, or whether a term meaning ‘rock standing by the stream’ can be a placename. Grammatical peculiarities of placenames are also considered, and examples are given from Karuk (California), Creek (Oklahoma), and Nahuatl (Mexico). Key words: onomastics, toponyms, anthroponyms, North American Indians “You are sad,” the Knight said in an anxious tone: “let me sing you a song to comfort you.” “Is it very long?” Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day. “It’s long,” said the Knight, “but very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it—either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else—” “Or else what?” said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause. “Or else it doesn’t, you know. The name of the song is called ‘Haddocks’ Eyes’.” “Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?” Alice said, trying to feel interested. “No, you don’t understand,” the Knight said, looking a little vexed. “That’s what the name is called. The name really is ‘The Aged Aged Man’.” “Then I ought to have said ‘That’s what the song is called’?” Alice corrected herself. * This paper was delivered as a lecture at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, on 24 February 2003. I am grateful for helpful comments from my audience, especially from Dr.
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