The article contains an analysis of the word formation of proper names which are used in the texts of advertisements. The analyzed examples are drawn from the texts of advertisements found on television, radio, press, the Internet etc. which were produced at the end of 20th century and the beginning of 21st century. The article analyses two categories of these proper names: word formations which are used in contemporary Polish language (f.e. Robuś, Marysia, Stefcia, Kasia, Jasio, Krzyś, Rozalka, Basia, Bartuś, Sabinka, Julka, Karinka, Tomek, Adaś, Goździkowa) and neologisms f.e. Zapobiegalska, Zarażalski, Kichalska, Krzywonogi, Przyklapiusz, Musztarderowie, TurboDymoMan, SuperEs, Zozolka, Łazienkowo). The analysis conducted in the article proves that both types of proper names, which are word formation derivatives, appear relatively often in the texts of advertisements. This is the case since they are easy to form (advertisements take the majority of them from usage) and can perform many functions, which advertisements willingly use for their own needs. Proper names that are word formation derivatives and just proper names serve mainly as an assessment as they connote the values appreciated both culturally and socially and the values attributed to proper names are carried on the advertised products. Proper names which are derivatives create a desired picture of advertised products more expressively than other proper names, thanks to their clear word formation structure. Moreover, they expose their commercial assets so they fully use and at the same time cocreate the system of values of consumption culture.

The article aims to demonstrate the role of chrematonymy in a broadly understood contemporary (modern) world culture. The author identifies possible chrematonimic categories and subcategories, discusses their formal and functional properties, and the methods and conditions involved in their creation. The paralexical and communicational phenomena associated with this general class of onymy (e.g. the use of logotypes and extralinguistic signs as well as letter and numeric codes in chrematonymic function) is also discussed.

The study aims to contribute to research on the onomastic-stylistic diversity of Polish prose in the late 20th century. In focus are those onomastic properties of literature that reveal connections between names and language in the process of creating non-mimetic, literary-style fiction. These properties also point to the nature of proper names as they function in a literary work of art — that work being a post-modern intellectual-literary game. The names used in the novel (anthroponyms, toponyms, chrematonyms, also zoonyms) mainly derive from the author’s linguistic creativity: they contribute to the world-view projected through the text. That world-view is “purposefully and totally unusual”, different from the real world.

This article addresses the issue of the interpretation of proper names in poetry. The state of research on the functions of proper names in literature is well described, but it is possible to note the lack of a fixed interpretation strategy in poetry which means that, despite little interest in poetry, its researchers often try to propose their own methods of analysis. The authors of the article, who tackle onyms in the poetry of Bruno Jasieński, present their own methodological approach to the matter, based on B. Waldenfels’ concept of the “phenomenology of the alien”.

In this paper, the issue of the correlation between the status of the onymic object, its social range and the general rules used when naming is considered. The author proposes to distinguish two basic levels of where the proper names function: a local one and a global one. Then, two particular patterns of naming are connected with these levels: an innovative pattern and a conservative pattern. The conservative names mostly refer to objects that are of social importance and have a general, wide range of functioning. On the other hand, innovative names generally refer to unstable objects that have a rather low social position, and a restricted, narrow range of functioning. Examples of both levels are analyzed, particularly the anthroponyms, toponyms and chrematonyms. The paper contains the argument, that more known conservative names have provided the characteristics of the prototypical proper name in general, and these characteristics are usually expanded to all proper names in their theoretical approaches.

This article deals with the function of proper names in Olga Tokarczuk's novel Anna In w grobowcach świata [ Anna In in the Tombs of the World] and the short story collection Opowiadania bizarne [ Bizarre Stories]. In either case we are confronted with a stunning diversity of imaginary worlds described with erudite care and, by implication, a high level of strategic control. While drawing on a vast pool of well attested names from both Western cultural history and non-European mythologies, she also creates apellatives based on attributes highlighted in the storytelling (the stories themselves are often the product of her magical imagination). Invented or real, all proper names in Tokarczuk's narratives are handled in such a way as to display to the full their semantic, pragmatic and aesthetic qualities. Also, it seems, their placement in the text and their effect on the reader's reactions during the process of reading are carefully planned. what this article tries to demonstrate is that in Tokarczuk's art of fiction the creative transformation of proper names, their reinterpretation and contextualization functions as a complement to the imaginary worlds, rooted in bizarre, meta/genre creativity.

The article expands and modifi es the contexts in which literary onomastics currently operates. This strictly interdisciplinary field of research, primarily originating from linguistics, has sought out the contexts that triggered non-obvious meanings of names readable in the artistic work from the outset. The references were varied – stylistics, textology, philosophy, structural poetics. All of them significantly enriched onomastic analyses, leaving some fundamental sense of insufficiency at the same time. That is the reason why we propose the project of the connection between literary onomastics and — now extremely extensive — theoretical thought. The article is not the end of this discussion, but rather an exploratory study and the beginning of scientific research. Consequently, there is no one ordering and chronological concept with a clear conclusion, but the main aim is to show the analysis of the claims relevant for further research. Therefore, several concepts of theoreticians interested in proper names in literature were discussed (far from a common phenomenon in this case). From the research projects analyzed, including among others: U. Eco, J.F. Lyotard, P. de Man, there emerges a clear conviction of the need to end the search for a referential, texted name. In this place it refers, on the one hand, to itself, establishing its own unreal meaning (image-forming, phonic, intertextual); on the other, it concerns the author’s system of naming (and beyond), which is also an epistemological concept. The starting point of these diagnoses was the thoroughly interpreted self-analysis of artistic works made by Marcel Proust; for further analysis, the thesis of Walter Benn Michaels was also employed, which brings interest in proper names from literature to the domain of artistic experiences. The conducted analysis (designing future literary onomastic research) leads to the fi nal conclusion that the proper name indicates the essence itself, the arche of our existence.

This descriptive review presents proper names from the perspective of brain science. It contains the characteristics of individual groups of proper nouns (and common nouns for comparison) and takes account of their neurobiological background. This makes it possible to confirm many opinions on the status of proper names reported by linguists. The Baker and baker paradox and the so-called double dissociation in the search of proper names and common names are discussed in order to confirm (at least in part) the thesis that proper names and common nouns are searched for in the mental lexicon independently of each other. The author also presents the characteristics of proper names to make a thesis about the uniqueness of this class of lexemes. It becomes clear that they are more difficult to learn, especially in patients with neurological deficits, and it takes healthy individuals longer to recall them than to search for common names. Moreover, the recollection of names is associated with more phonological mistakes and is often accompanied by the tip-of-the-tongue syndrome (TOT syndrome), which becomes most evident in elderly patients. The article also presents individual adaptive compensation techniques in impaired naming of objects and faces (e.g. aphasia), which facilitate the recreation of categories within the mental proper name lexicon.

The article focuses on the translation of non-literary Chinese proper names, a subject which to date has not enjoyed much research interest as a result of the common belief that proper names are untranslatable. The article discusses techniques used in the translation of Chinese anthroponyms, toponyms and brand names into Polish and English. The author refers to the strategies used in the process of transferring names to the target language and presents the consequences of applying given techniques from the cognitive perspective, which entails analysing the names in terms of their structure and meaning. Particular attention is paid to the connotations of the names, the impact they have on the speakers of a given language, as well as the mental images that can be derived from their structure. In the contrastive analysis of the names of tourist locations in Beijing and their Polish and English equivalents, the author applies the cognitive grammar approach as developed by Ronald W. Langacker. The image schemas of the names are used to present the distinct conceptualizations embodied in the names with the same references in diff erent languages. One of the chapters describes how European names are adapted into Chinese. The study also provides an overview of the characteristics of the Chinese onomasticon, a factor which makes translation from Chinese to European languages particularly complicated. The observations made in the course of the analysis permit conclusions to be drawn on the linguistic worldview created by Polish, Chinese and English propria.

The aim of the paper is to present the theory of meaning formulated by Roman Ingarden in the Controversy over the Existence of the World, The Literary Work of Art, and in The Cognition of the Literary Work of Art. When this has been done here, I test Ingarden’s theory by applying it to selected problems of contemporary philosophy of language. These problems include the semantics of empty names, the controversy between Millianism and descriptivism over the nature of proper names, the problem of substitutability in intensional contexts, meaning holism, compositionality, and the boundary between semantics and pragmatics. My analysis of these problems within the framework of Ingarden’s theory and my presentation of their solutions as delivered by G. Frege, K. Ajdukiewicz, W.V. Quine and D. Davidson shed interesting light on this extremely complex and ‘fine‑grained’ theory based on Ingarden’s original ontology. Although Ingarden’s theory does not fall within the dominant current of language philosophy, it offers a solution to the problem of empty names, the relation of proper names to definite descriptions, and substitutability. The theory is not holistic nor does it blur the distinction between semantics and pragmatics. Unfortunately, Ingarden’s theory is not compositional and reifies meanings, which may be seen as a serious objection to it. Therefore, the assessment of this theory cannot be unequivocal.

In the paper I present the famous argument between Peter F. Strawson and Bertrand Russell on definite descriptions. I do not go into details of the two rival solutions to the problem of definite descriptions. Instead I present the controversy against the background of two traditions within analytic philosophy, i.e. the philosophy of natural language (Strawson) and the philosophy of ideal language (Russell). In consequence, the aim of this paper is to sketch the principal features of the two traditions and to indicate their influence on the argument. In the first paragraph I discuss Russell’s theory of descriptions and present it as a result of dramatic changes that he had made in his philosophy before he finally presented them in On Denoting in 1905. The second paragraph deals with the two traditions within analytic philosophy after the linguistic turn and underlines the role of Strawson in the philosophy of natural language. In the third paragraph I analyze in detail Strawson’s arguments against the theory of descriptions and I focus on some details that are usually omitted in standard presentations. The fourth paragraph discusses Russell’s response to Strawson’s objections, i.e. the counter-arguments formulated from the standpoint of philosophy of ideal language. I end with some suggestions about how to reconcile both approaches.