CHANGE OF THE NOMINATIVE PARADIGM IN THE ERGONYMIC SPACE OF THE MODERN CITY

Abstract

The names of urban objects that form the ergonymic space of a modern city represent an inexhaustible source of material for research. The interest in this layer of vocabulary is explained by a phenomenon common for cities in the post-Soviet space, which in literature referred to as the “onymic explosion”. The essence of this phenomenon lies in the fact that a large number of new names of enterprises have appeared in a relatively short period of time. The number of city objects’ names has increased, on the one hand, because existing enterprises were renamed, and each store, hairdresser, cafe acquired its own unique name. On the other hand, in a market economy, a large number of new organizations with new names have appeared. This trend continues at the present time, and the ergonymic space of the city is characterized by great dynamism: new enterprises are constantly emerging, for various reasons enterprises cease their existence. At the same time, not only the number of names is changing, new techniques and methods of nomination are constantly emerging. These factors explain the high attention of researchers to the issues of ergonymy. This article attempts to consider what methods and principles nominators employ at the present stage to create the names of organizations, mainly commercial ones. The author draws attention to the fact that there has been a certain shift recently in the field of nomination, which is manifested in a decrease in the number of names formed by the "traditional" methods (noun, adjective + noun, numeral + noun, etc.), in favor of new ways, such as imperative forms, over-phrasal unities. In addition, the article examines new motivational grounds used in the nomination process, that reflect the current aspects of modern society and word formation.