An Onomastic Banquet of Intercultural Relations. Review of the book: Felecan, O., & Bugheşiu, A. (Eds.). Names and Naming: Multicultural Aspects. Cham: Palgrave, 2021. xxx + 490 p.

Abstract

This review critically appraises a weighty, international volume of 29 chapters dealing with the multicultural dimensions of naming practices across four continents drawn up with the collaboration of leading experts and researchers in onomastics. This interdisciplinary work opens new vistas on the complex interaction between toponyms, anthroponyms, and names in the religious, literary as well as commercial sphere in relation to ethnicity, language, culture and politics. It offers an appetizing smorgasbord of informative surveys, intriguing data and stimulating, theoretical contributions to the domain of the newly burgeoning field of socio-onomastics. The reviewer also points to some minor shortcomings as well as to further questions and challenges put forward by the volume under review, especially those related to multiculturalism and multilingualism in both theoretical and areal aspects.

Keywords

• onomastics
• anthroponymy
• toponymy
• brand names
• literary onomastics
• linguistic landscapes
• naming practices
• nicknames
• socio-onomastics
• language contact