Author:
Omrčen Darija,Pečarić Hrvoje
Abstract
Nicknaming of individual athletes and sports teams is a multifaceted phenomenon the analysis of which reveals numerous reasons for choosing a particular name or nickname. The practice of nicknaming has become so embedded in the concept of sport that it requires exceptional attention by those who create these labels. The goal of this research was to analyse the semantic structure of boxers’ nicknames, i.e. the possible principles of their formation. To realize the research aims 378 male boxers’ nicknames, predominantly in the English language, were collected. The nicknames were allocated to semantic categories according to the content area or areas they referred to. Counts and percentages were calculated for the nicknames in each subsample created with regard to the number of semantic categories used to create a boxer’s nickname and for the group of nicknames allocated to the miscellaneous group. Counts were calculated for all groups within each subsample.