Cognitive Socio-Onomastics; A New Domain in Interdisciplinary Studies

Abstract

The present paper aimed to introduce cognitive socio-onomastics, an emerging scientific and research interdisciplinary and a branch of cognitive sociolinguistics. Onomastics has interested linguists as well as philosophers, historians, archeologists, anthropologists, and sociologists. Initially, onomastics was a diachronic field and dealt with the etymology of names. However, sociolinguistics, taking a synchronic approach, brought onomastics to the arena of studying contemporary social relations. Since names are linguistic elements in the linguistic knowledge of the individual, formed in the course of his/her social interactions, they are considered vital elements in the study of language and identity. Also, names are part of the cognitive construction of individuals in societies with plenty of social and linguistic variations. Since neither sociolinguistics nor cognitive linguistics can explain the various aspects of names and naming, combining the knowledge of language and the knowledge of society leads to choosing words and linguistic structures in harmony with the social context. The discussion in the paper leads to the conclusion that "cognitive socio-onomastics," as a scientific research interdisciplinary with a mixed approach, account for both cognitive and social aspects of naming.

Keywords

• sociolinguistics
• cognitive linguistics
• cognitive socio-onomastics
• onomastics
• naming