Life for onomastics: A scientific portrait of Iryna Mykhailivna Zhelіezniak

Abstract

The article characterizes the scientific achievements of the famous Ukrainian linguist I. M. Zheliezniak (April 25, 1932 — June 24, 2020) in various areas of national onomastics — anthroponymics, oikonymics, hydronymics, microtoponymics. The focus is on the multifaceted interests of the scientist: structural and semantic features of Old Slavic composite names, the origin of Ukrainian surnames, the etymology of Ukrainian and non-Slavic potamonyms, oiko nyms, oronyms, the formation of the Kyiv microtoponymicon, Ukrainian-non-Slavic (Ukrainian-South Slavic) hydronyms parallels, the problem of Slavic ethnogenesis through the prism of pro per names. The works of Iryna Mykhailivna, important for domestic onomastics, from various onomastics branches are described. Her organizational activities are outlined, in particular, as the head (1985—2002) of the first group of onomastics within the dialectology and onomastics sector of the Potebnia Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and later the Department of Onomastics within the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Iryna Mykhailivna was the inspirer and organizer of onomastic seminars at the Potebnia Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, she was a scientific editor of collections of scientific works, known not only in Ukraine, but also abroad, and the author of onomastic articles in three editions of the Ukrainian language encyclopedia. The article emphasizes the importance of the scientific ideas of I. M. Zheliezniak for modern and future scientists-onomastics. The scientist’s contribution to the formation of Ukrainian onomastic science is updated. Keywords: anthroponyms, hydronyms, onomastics, onomastic studies, I. M. Zheliezniak