COSMONYMIC COMPONENT OF UKRAINIAN ONYMIC IDENTITY

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of the cosmic component of the Ukrainian onymic identity. The concept of identity is just as relevant in the movement as one of the central sources of modern Ukrainian scientific thought. The analysis of the mechanisms of proper names in the context of cultural identity is the task of our research. The purpose of the article is to consider the issue of collective identity and how it is reflected in the field of proper names, namely - cosmonyms. Cosmonyms are one of the peripheric proper names. Their functioning and place in the onymic space of the Ukrainian cultural sphere is still understudied. In our opinion, the associative aspect of the cosmonymic sphere needs further studies, where the main segment should be the concept of cosmonymic space and which segments are the main levers of influence on cultural life and onymic identity. Identity can be portrayed as an ‘individual’ sense of self, defined by a) a set of physical, psychological and interpersonal characteristics that are not fully shared with any other person, b) a range of affiliations (eg ethnicity) and social roles. Onymic identity is based on collective identity as an understanding and isolation of a group in the environment. The vision of the similarity between individual and collective identities is based on the understanding that identity is never exclusively individual. Collective identity is rooted in a number of individual identities, which in turn are chosen by the individual. Thus, a person, based on a set of internal traits and social roles, becomes part of the socio-cultural collective identity, defines it and can influence it. Onymic identity is the realization of proper names in the collective discourse, by means of which a certain group separates itself from a number of other social groups, creates its own socio-cultural identity, which is based on a general ethnic paradigm. Free associative onymic experiment is one of the reliable methodological practices of onomastic search. The experiment was conducted with Ukrainianspeaking informants, a total of 200 people (100 informants each time). The peculiarity of our study is that the experiment was conducted in two stages in 2006 and 2021. Two stimuli were chosen for this study: cosmonyms – proper names for cosmic bodies, Uranus and Pluto. The results of the experiment are summarized in quantitative terms: the total number of all reactions/the total number of different non-duplicate reactions/the total number of anonymous reactions/ anonymous non-repetitive reactions/rejections. The number of all reactions together should ideally be 100, but may be greater if some informants provided more than one reaction, or less if there were refusals. Regarding the repertoire of different types of reactions that were proposed by respondents in two stages of the experiment on the stimulus Uranus, it is marked by a certain stereotype. The most common type of reaction is, as expected, hyperonymic, due to the search for the owner of the mental lexicon of denotation, which is denoted by the stimulus. The total number of such reactions is 109 (52 in 2006 and 57 in 2021). In the second place are meronymic reactions - 23 (9 in 2006 and 14 in 2021). The third place is occupied by qualitative reactions with a total of 16 (13 in 2006 and 3 in 2021). Contiguous reactions were not numerous, but almost always present in the experimental materials - 8 reactions (2 and 6, respectively). Causative reactions took place only in 2006 - 4 times. The repertoire of types of reactions to the stimulus Pluto is very similar. Hyperonymic reactions prevail 113 (51 in 2006 and 62 in 2021), which realize the dominant function of cognition. Meronimic reactions totaling 20 (9 in 2006 and 11 in 2021) and contiguous reactions totaling 4 (2 in 2006 and 2 in 2021), as well as isolated cases of qualitative (1 in 2006) and synonymous (1 in 2021) were also identified. Thus, the analysis of the associative field of the studied stimuli cosmonyms made it possible to establish universal memoplexes as the results of collective creativity and collective experience, which is reflected in the collective memory. The obtained results testify the isomorphism of the dominant domains of the structure of associative fields of the stimuli: COSMOS - CHEMICAL ELEMENT - GOD, which occurs contrary to the theonymic origin of the cosmonyms and the cosmonymic origin of the name of the chemical element. We see further prospects for the study in expanding the repertoire of onymyc stimuli in order to investigate the memopletic nature of their associative fields.