Functions of ideonyms

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the functions of ideonyms — theproper names of the results of human creative activity that have spiritual, intellectual and artistic value. Due to the peculiarities of ideonyms, their functions are to some extent different from the other categories of proper names. The aim of the article is to outline the functions of ideonyms. English ideonyms are the object of the research, the subject — the functions of English ideonyms. The research material (2000 English ideonyms) was selected from the English media, including electronic newspapers, magazines, and commercial websites, using a representative sampling method. In this study, we adhere to the Eastern European onomatological tradition. An analysis of the functions of names of works of art, films, and hemeronyms was made. It must be noted that the functions of other groups of ideonyms remained outside the scope of previous research, which increases the topicality of this work. Of course, all ideonyms, without exception, fulfill the basic nominative-identifyingdifferentiating function inherent to all proper names, naming an object, pointing to it, and separating it among others. Among the speech functions of the ideonyms, we single out the emotionally-expressive and the aesthetic function. The works of art are predominantly given a genuine name by the author, which is their integral part, as it explicates their deep meaning and creates a unique «emotional halo». Among the extra-linguistic functions of the ideologies, there are the cultural-historical, theprognostic, the advertising, and the influential function. Conclusion: We can conclude that ideonyms perform six functions: in language — the nominally-identifyingdifferentiating function, in speech — the emotionally-expressive and the aesthetic function, as to the extralinguistic functions, there are: the cultural-historical, the prognostic, the advertising, and the influential one.