Publications

Publication details [#6262]

Abstract

The metonymic approach to historical linguistics is also relevant to the discipline of onomastics. Jäkel investigates the cognitive motivation underlying naming patterns as evidenced in the etymologies of German surnames. Apart from a number of surnames which are not motivated or whose motivation is obscure, surnames are coined by means of three principal patterns of naming: genealogy, profession and metonymy. Metonymic naming strategies make use of three types of metonymy: utensil metonymy (IMPORTANT UTENSIL FOR PERSON) as in 'Bohnsack' "beanbag," quality metonymy (SALIENT QUALITY FOR PERSON) as in 'Wunderlich' "strange" and location metonymy (PLACE OF ORIGIN OR RESIDENCE FOR PERSON) as in 'Langacker' "long field". (Klaus-Uwe Panther and Günter Radden)