Regional Peculiarities of Glorification and Deglorification in South Ural Commemorative Names

Abstract

The article presents the results of cognitive, language-and-cultural and sociolinguistic analysis with the goal to distinguish the markers of regional identity in commemorative names, viewed as heroic ideologemes that help in actualizing ideological and axiological ideas of community. The empirical material, that was collected through upstanding sampling from regional web sites and survey, includes region commemorative names represented by nominations of outstanding people and historical events that took place in Chelyabinsk region. Considering cultural history of the territory, the commemorative names could remain in the regional consciousness for a long time without changing the original content. However, the original forms might either be simplified without losing the heroic sense or in the process of transonymization they might fail to keep it in folk naming, undergo renaming, or disappear from the local language landspace. Deglorification may be presented as complete or partial loss of heroic connotations in commemorative names. Heroic meaning of a toponym or microtoponym is kept on in cases of partial deglorification, though being specified by some positive connotations associated with the attitude of the local people to the commemorative name. Heroic meaning of commemorative nomination is faded out in cases of complete deglorification, thus reflecting ironical or contemptuous attitude of the South Ural people to transformed toponyms or microtoponyms. Commemorative toponyms and microtoponyms demonstrate reference to folk nomination; whereas recurrent usage of the same folk names in the answers to the survey is viewed as a reliable proof that regional place names and minor place names are markers of regional identity in the language consciousness of the South Ural people. The results of the study are supposed to be included in the Dictionary of Chelyabinsk regional lexicon.