LINGUOCULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF ANTHROPONYMS

This article provides a consistent and systematic analysis of the issue of linguocultural interpretation of anthroponyms (personal names). Along with belonging to the nominative system of language, anthroponyms are regarded as cultural signs that reflect a society’s historical memory, traditions, value system, and socio-psychological stereotypes. The study examines the etymological layers of anthroponyms, semantic-motivational factors, pragmatic functions, as well as traditional and modern naming tendencies from a linguocultural perspective. In the process of analysis, the role of such categories as concept, cultural code, symbol, stereotype, and evaluation in identifying the cultural meaning layers of anthroponymic units is demonstrated. The findings show that anthroponyms embody the social experience, aesthetic ideals, communicative norms, and mechanisms of identification of an ethnos. Their linguocultural interpretation makes it possible to perceive personal names not merely as “names,” but as “cultural texts.”