Semantics of pre-war names of lviv villas

Background: The names of houses in Lviv, including villas, are still an unexplored niche in Lviv studies. The issue of semantics of pre-war names of Lviv villas is important at the present stage of the development of the onomastic research. It gives the clue of a good house name to modern naming and house-building companies. Purpose: The author put forward the task to acquaint readers with the Lviv’s named villas (ХІХ–the beginning of ХХ century), to describe the specification of naming features and name functions in diachronic cut and to define semantic groups of villa`s names. They appeared in the times when in naming there was no real practical need and became a manifestation of home essence, a mediator in communication between the owner, the host and a passerby, a potential guest. The name of the house emphasized its individuality, charm, created an emotional personal component of the city text. It was associated with its owners and gave an idea of the level of well-being, education, national composition and religious affiliation of the inhabitants. Results: Lviv`s villas were named mostly in Polish by its owners, architects or citizens. Their purposes were to nominate, distinguish (address function), inform, separate from the others, express oneself as an author, as well as to advertise. The nominative field of Lviv`s house names is represented by women’s names and their shorten forms, words with positive associations, sometimes with several meanings, family coats of arms, external characteristics and location of the house. Key words: name semantic, nominating field, dwelling house, villa, L’viv.