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Part of
Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society
Edited by Hans-Georg Wolf, Denisa Latić and Anna Finzel
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 14] 2021
► pp. 151–184

Correspondences between Hungarian women’s marital names and the traditional family schema

| Széchenyi István University

A marital name makes a statement about women’s cultural values with respect to their family schemas. In Hungary, adopting the husband’s full name by marriage is no longer required, thus women have the opportunity to choose from seven different name structures. The paper aims to uncover the motivations behind women’s preference for marital name structures as influenced by the traditional family schema that they maintain in their background. Data for this analysis is extracted from a questionnaire distributed to 533 women, which seek to obtain information on key elements of the traditional family schema. Results do not reveal a direct correlation between the selection of marital names and any single component of the traditional family schema; however, overall the results of the survey outline a systematic correspondence between marital names and women’s conformity or non-conformity to the traditional family schema. In conclusion, the various marital name structures reflect diverse family schemas, in particular, they are representatives of Hungarian women’s different extent of adherence to the traditional family schema.

Keywords: cultural conceptualizations, traditional family schema, Fuzzy Signature Model, marital name, name structure
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The practice of marital name changing
    • 2.1Marital names in Hungary
  • 3.The traditional family schema in the Hungarian context
    • 3.1The background of the traditional family schema in Hungary
    • 3.2The traditional family schema in the Hungarians’ present cultural cognition
  • 4.The survey: Questions and methodology
  • 5.Single component analysis of name structure vs. components of the traditional family schema
    • 5.1Family structure
      • A.Number of children
      • B.Number of siblings
    • 5.2Division of labor
      • A.Women’s share of housework
      • B.Husbands’ share of housework
    • 5.3Motivation of name changing
      • A.Influential factors
  • 6.Linkage between marital name structure and overall traditional family schema
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 8 September 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.14.08koc
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