Animal name

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In onomastics , animal names ( zoonyms ) are proper names given to (individual) animals . Contrary to the colloquial usage, however, breed names such as Jack Russell , Irish Red Setter etc. are not considered proper names from an onomastic point of view, as they do not refer to a single animal but to a class of living beings.

Animal name research

The principles of animal naming have so far only been rudimentary researched, but are of great interest from a cultural-scientific perspective, as they directly reflect the relationship between a culture and the animal. Animal name research, including zoonomastics ( gr. Ζῷον [ zóon ], "animal" and gr. Ὄνομα [ ónoma ], "name", also: "proper name"), has developed in northern and eastern Europe since the middle of the 20th century , established as a sub-discipline of onomastics, but many works are exhausted “in mere (often qualitatively questionable) collections of names”. Only recently have systematic empirical studies on the assignment of animal names been increasingly undertaken.

Animal name classes

Animal names can be subdivided into names of zoo, domestic, farm / breeding and wild animals, whereby this classification reflects the relationship between humans and animals. Whether an animal is given a name at all depends on the class it belongs to: while farm animals are only named occasionally, pets are almost always given a name. Overall, the decisive factors for naming are the contact frequency between humans and animals, the intensity and duration of their bond, the type of husbandry ( individual husbandry vs. herd animals ), the plan for death (animals that are kept for slaughter usually remain unnamed) , the similarity to humans and high phenotypic differentiation (not given e.g. in fish and bees). These factors, in turn, correlate with the different types of names: farm animals, breeding animals and wild animals are mostly not perceived individually due to the low contact frequency and emotional connection, but are at most identified (e.g. by numbers); Pets, on the other hand, which often have the status of “family members”, are perceived as human-like, individualized and therefore usually named.

Pets

When it comes to pet names, “a high degree of onymic individualization can be expected”, which is confirmed by initial empirical studies in this area. For example, a questionnaire study on German dog names shows that the assignment of names is extremely individual: 538 of the 1000 dog names analyzed were only given once. Females are named more individually than males. Other proper names (72%), usually personal names ( Ben , Paula ), and more rarely appellatives (13%) such as Kaiser or Socke are used as the name base . The study also shows a tendency towards sex marking in dog names, whereby human first names and surnames of famous people are assigned sexually compliant ( Paula for bitches, Lagerfeld for dogs) and there is an appellative gender-sex congruence ( muffin , nacho for dog, turnip , onion for Female dogs). A questionnaire study on cat names also shows a high degree of onymic individualization. Among the 650 names analyzed, there are 229 different names for 325 male cats, and even 244 names for the 325 female animals; d. H. here, too, more males share a name than females. In 72.5% of the cases, a proper name forms the name base, with personal names such as Felix and Charlotta dominating again; in 18.5% of the cases, appellants such as tigers or socks serve as the basis. In 30.2% of the cases, the respondents gave renaming (e.g. after a fictional character, Garfield ) as a motive for naming, in 23.8% of the cases naming according to external features or character traits of the animal (so-called nickname, e.g. Speedy ). 23% gave statements such as “I liked the name very much”, in 13.1% of the cases a previously assigned name was retained, and 6.6% of the respondents stated that they had named the animal ad hoc (“I remembered the name spontaneously ").

Zoo animals

Names of zoo animals can make a significant contribution to their publicity (cf. Eisbär Knut , Krake Paul ). However, not all zoo animals are given names: A survey of six smaller zoos in Germany showed that a total of only 14 percent of the animals living there were given a name, with the vast majority of cases being mammals (30.7%), much less often birds (4.4%), reptiles (4.0%) or fish (0.1%). The survey also shows that personal names (such as Knut and Paul ) dominate among the zoo animal names given (37.7%). The names are usually assigned by the zoo keepers, but in some cases the public is also B. involved through competitions.

Breeding animals

Breeding animal names are mostly subject to strict regulations that differ between individual breeding associations, for example in the field of horse breeding. A foal is often named after the first letter of the father's or mother's name, or the breed association specifies a letter with which all names of the respective year of birth must begin. The assignment of names to breeding dogs is similarly strictly regulated. An empirical study on the diachrony of naming in horses shows a shift from previously more appellative- based to onymic- based names. In the case of the names of recreational and competition horses as well as the names of breeding horses, there is currently a predominance of personal names ( Elsa , Wilhelm Busch ), followed by product and place names ( Tabasco and Woodstock ).

Farm animals

In the field of livestock, there are clear differences between cattle, which i. d. As a rule, cows are slaughtered after one year of fattening, and cows that are usually milked for 10–15 years before slaughter: the former are rarely individualized by name, but identified by numbers. Strict identification rules apply, which are based on the European Animal Traffic Regulations (VVVO). Cows, on the other hand, often have a name in addition to the mandatory identification number, especially in smaller farms, whereby in the vast majority of cases, women's call names are used.

Wildlife

Wild animals are rarely given names: "Similar to natural events [...] they only get a name when they act as an agent forcing people into the role of patient, that is: they are dangerous." Prominent examples are "problem bears" Bruno and "Killer Catfish" Kuno. Systematic studies on the naming of wild animals are not yet available.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Animal name  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 17.
  2. ↑ a b c cf. Antje Dammel, Damaris Nübling, Mirjam Schmuck: Tiernamen - Zoonyme. Research yields and research perspectives on a scientifically neglected class of names. In: Antje Dammel, Damaris Nübling, Mirjam Schmuck (Ed.): Tiernamen - Zoonyme. Volume 1: Pets. Heidelberg 2015, pp. 1–36.
  3. ↑ a b c cf. Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 191.
  4. ↑ Cf. Friedhelm Debus: onenology and name history. An introduction. Berlin 2012, p. 191
  5. ↑ Cf. Antje Dammel, Damaris Nübling, Mirjam Schmuck (ed.): Tiernamen - Zoonyme. Volume 1: Pets. Heidelberg 2015.
  6. ↑ Cf. Johann Kirchinger: "Because there should be a difference between humans and animals." On the current use of proper names in animal husbandry. In: Johann Kirchinger (ed.): Between feeding trough and commercial. Agricultural animal husbandry in society and the media. eurotrans-Verlag, Weiden et al. 2004, ISBN 3-936400-08-3 , pp. 89–140.
  7. ↑ a b cf. Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 192.
  8. ↑ See Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 194.
  9. ↑ Cf. Eva Schaab: From “Bello” to “Paul”. On the change and structure of dog names. In: Contributions to name research. Vol. 48, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 131–162.
  10. ↑ Peter Maximilian Kraß: From Felix, Lilly and Karl-Doris. About naming motifs and the structure of cat names. In: Contributions to name research. Vol. 49, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 1–26.
  11. ↑ Cf. Petra Ewald , Christian Klager: Names of zoo animals. On the nature and use of a neglected class of names. In: Contributions to name research. Vol. 42, Issue 3, 2007, pp. 325-345.
  12. ↑ See Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 199.
  13. ↑ Judith Schwerdt: Hipponymie. On motifs for naming horses in the past and present. In: Contributions to name research. Vol. 42, Issue 1, 2007, pp. 1-44, here p. 15.
  14. ↑ Edeltraud Dobning-Jülich: names of pets and farm animals. In: Ernst Eichler , Gerold Hilty , Heinrich Löffler , Hugo Steger , Ladislav Zgusta (eds.): Handbooks on language and communication studies. Volume 11: Ernst Eichler (Ed.): Name research. An international handbook on onomastics. = Name studies Teilband 2. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1996, ISBN 3-11-014879-X , pp. 1538–1589.
  15. ↑ Judith Schwerdt: Hipponymie. On motifs for naming horses in the past and present. In: Contributions to name research. Vol. 42, Issue 1, 2007, pp. 1-44.
  16. ↑ See Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 202 f.
  17. ↑ See Hermann Bausinger : Animal breeding and naming. About the proper names of the breeding cattle. In: Maria Bindschedler, Rudolf Hotzenköcherle , Werner Kohlschmidt (eds.): Festschrift for Paul Zinsli. Francke, Bern 1971, 170-184 ( digitized version )
  18. ^ Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 204.
  19. ^ Damaris Nübling, Fabian Fahlbusch, Rita Heuser: Names. An introduction to onomastics. Tübingen 2012, p. 205.