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Students are able to identify the special position of names within the language system and to describe them on a profound theoretical basis. They can name the characteristics of the most important name types, sketch onomastic methods and critically reflect models of classification. They can rudimentally evaluate etymologies from a scientific perspective and they can apply this acquired knowledge to an exemplary field of (synchronic) onomastics in their own paper.

Names are omnipresent, no matter if we name people, animals, plants, parts of the landscape, buildings, products or even events and phenomena. Competing with definite descriptions and indicators they are real sumptuary categories. And yet no language can do without them. In the first part of the course we spend time on this phenomenon by focussing on the special function of names, by learning to understand their position in the language system (especially when distinguishing them from appellatives) and by focussing their special grammar on all linguistic levels. Moreover, we especially get to know toponyms and anthroponyms from a historical perspective by exemplarily research into their naming motives.

In the second part we will apply the acquired knowledge to particular name classes and we will exemplarily work out which processes become apparent in these special lexicological units.

lectures by the course instructor, exercises, discussions, presentations

test on secondary literature, presentation, term paper

Nübling, Damaris/Fahlbusch, Fabian/Heuser, Rita (2012): Namen. Eine Einführung in die Onomastik. Tübingen: Narr.

Further literature will be announced in the seminar.