The subjects of my examination are samples of Silesian surnames derived from the dialectal words determining objects of an animate and inanimate nature. The names of animals were more often used as a base to create the surnames derived from nicknames (derived from appellatives). They were more expressive due to their metaphoric meaning reflecting specific features of people and their evaluations. The signification of botanic (inanimate) nouns used within names was less transparent, however they are thought to refer to an anthropomorphic view of plant behaviour, e.g. dialectal woska/osika [aspen] — trembling. The belief that specific phenomena in nature have supernatural, magic or demonic powers, as well as other difficult to grasp factors, played a very important role in the creation of nicknames and later surnames for the Silesian population. The dialectal “nature” appellatives, which were the source for surnames derived from nicknames, also show that the same dialectal lexeme can have a different meaning in different Polish regions. On the other hand, dialectal lexemes which sound identical in specific Polish regions but differ semantically determine the cultural identity of the micro-speaking country. The same phenomenon can be observed within surnames.

The aim of the article is to bring closer a part of the world’s image that is characteristic for the rural community and the richness and variety of the folk culture inscribed in the proprial structures. As a result, this subject requires an integration of different research methods elaborated within the fields of onomastics and dialectology, including linguistic methods of researching a lingual image of the world. The onymic material is as follows: appellative surnames, originating from nicknames formed from dialectal lexemes, surnames motivated by nominal, dialectal hypocorisms, and finally, surnames formed from matronymic phrases (female names), which are an example of an aberrance of the patriarchal family model. Phonetic and formative phenomena should also be focused upon. These are crucial for certain social micro-communities, and are inscribed in the dialectal inflexions of anthroponyms (which function as separate surnames) and marginally in the female surnames with dialectal formants. Onyms with dialectal motivation refer to, and indirectly point, to the contemporary user, the past realities of living in the village community and the lingual and cultural background.