Name as a cognitive category in the English linguistic worldview

Abstract

This project sets out to explore the cognitive underpinnings involved in naming a person in the English language, as well as to investigate the semantic, word-formative, and discursive characteristics inherent in such terms of reference. The concept of “name” stands among the most fundamental ontological categories, on par in importance with categories such as “time,” “space,” and “movement.” Consequently, analyzing how culturally influenced interpretations of a person extend not only to one’s perception of the surrounding world but also to self-awareness is of considerable pertinence.

The present work addresses two varieties of lexical items. The first type includes undifferentiated designations of a person terms that do not convey the referent’s age, gender, intellectual capacity, social standing, professional role, or any other particular qualities, while simultaneously representing a highly abstract notion of a name in modern English-speaking linguistic culture. The second type comprises novel (both established and occasional) lexical items signifying “person.” Even though these newer units are more specialized to some extent, they remain free of explicit gender, age, or occupational markers and have entered the English lexicon in recent decades. Special emphasis is placed on the most contemporary designations that have not yet been documented in leading lexicographic sources. By employing a wide-ranging cognitive-discursive lens to examine this linguistic material, it becomes possible to identify the cognitive processes behind name naming and to trace how linguistic creativity brings new forms into being.