Experimental Study of the Discursive Field of a Proper Name

Abstract

In the article, the proper name is considered as a compressed text that can be expanded in the process of its perception by the recipient. The associative experiment was conducted in order to prove the hypothesis that the proper name contains a multi-layered information that forms the discursive field of the proper name and can be identified through the associative background of the onym. As a result of the experiment, 5500 reactions were received. Among them there are both frequency (stereotypical) reactions that make up the core of the associative field of the onym, and low-frequency (single) reactions that represent its periphery. Nuclear associations reflect stereotypical reactions characterized by repeatability and reproducibility. Individual reactions are connected with the personal meanings of the recipients. The communicative tactics of the recipients were divided into evaluative, attributive, nominative, predicative, locative and propositional. The resulting reactions are the chains of meanings. At this stage, the initial expending of the discursive field of the onym takes place – from the proper name to a set of keywords or elementary statements. The discourse is developed through an associative-verbal network that creates an associative background of the name, and the name itself is represented as a kind of "bundle of meanings" enclosed in a linguistic form. The activity of the perceiving subject can be considered as a speech-thinking activity aimed at expending of the discourse of the onym, and the processes of perception are oppositely directed to the processes of nomination. The movement from the onym to the discourse is gradual. Itstarts from the onym, proceeds through a set of personal meanings – to the associative background of the proper name, then results in dialogical or monological statements that form the discursive field of the onym.