IX Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2017

Culture and cultural relations of the world countries arouse great interest for development of cultural links among the peoples with different culture. Moreover, while studying the English language we can’t help learning cultural peculiarities and traditions of the English. Proper names, especially the names of streets, pubs, cult buildings, parks, bridges, the tallest buildings in Great Britain, which present great interest as proper names of these places and objects, really are part of the English cultural traditions, displaying the English peculiarities.

In English there are words which, while expressing concepts, indicate a particular object out of a class. In other words, these units of the English language serve the purpose of singling out one singular and one definite object out of a whole class of similar objects. These words are classified in grammar as proper nouns (Half Moon Cottage, York Minster, King’s Road, Waterloo Bridge and others).

The function of proper names in general is to have nominal meaning as Smith, Longfellow, Everest, Black Sea, Thames, Byron. Most proper names have nominal meaning which may be regarded as homonyms of common nouns with their logical and emotive meaning as Hope, Browning, Scotland, Boston and Chester.

As for the UK proper names they have not only nominative meaning, but also reflect cultural peculiarities of Englishmen, their way of life, customs and traditions, mores, and attitudes. So, proper names of houses, cult buildings, pubs and streets, names of London Bridges, personal names are also the properties of the English culture.

They say, English life is full of traditions and the English are known to be conservative. They accept things which are familiar and they are suspicious of anything that is strange and foreign. Let’ refresh some British national character traits. First of all the English are the nation of stay -at -homes. There is no place like home, they say. The Englishman is master of his own house which he calls his castle. It is a well-known fact that houses in London, as well as in other European cities, have no numbers and they are private property. The house with its proper name is a phenomenon which is widely spread in England. In England, it is prestigious to have one’s own house. An Englishman considers, if he has bought the house, he has a great advance on the social ladder. He gives the name to his house to demonstrate his well-being. If you ask an Englishman, why he has given this or that name to his house, he will probably answer that he has chosen the name to distinguish his house from other ones (Little house, Police House, Nurse’s Cottage; The Hovel, The Hut, The Haunt, The Hole, The Den, The Shack, Crazy Chimney and others). Hence, the names of English houses have a long ago history, they are a vivid reflection of the British cultural traditions, which distinguish the British nation from other nations and show their love and care to their dwellings. A house for an Englishman is the object of a national pride, tradition and mores.

The English prefer small houses built for one family, perhaps with a small garden. Englishmen love their garden, that’s why they give names of flowers to their houses: Buttercup Cottage, Forget-Me-Not, The Lilacs, Iris, The Violets, Rose Cottage, Red Roses, Rose Dale, Rose Villa. We can suppose why the English use the name “rose” more often, because the rose is the symbol of England. The names of trees are often used in the names of the houses too: Apple Trees, Cedars, The Furs, The Chestnuts, Big Oak, Little Oak, Sleepy Oaks and the Oaks.

English people show great love for animals. Pet dogs, cats, hens, canaries and many other animals have a good life in England. «Love me - love my dog» is the English saying, therefore the names of birds and animals are seldom used, especially the names of domestic animals: Sweet Cygnet, Crow House, Dovedale, Hawk Bungalow, Little Goslings, The House of the Owl, The Sparrows, Wake Robin, Bears House, Cats House, White Houses, Lion House, Wild Cats.

It is a well-known fact that the weather is a constant topic for conversation as the weather in Great Britain is rather changeable. So, there is a variety of names connected with weather and climate: Sunbeams, Sun Dawn, Moon Rise, Morning Star, All Winds, Freshwind, South Wind, Windy Side. The last subgroup is names having the elements “sea”, “spring”, “river”, “stream” as many people live near the sea or river, stream: By the Sea, Sea Echo, Sea Rapture, River Mist, Riversdale, Silver Spring, Goldstream.

While speaking about traditions dealing with proper names, we should mention pub’s names. Many Englishmen call pubs the second home as they spend a great deal of time there. Going to the pub is the most popular leisure activity outside the home. Pubs are an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. Names of English pubs including proper names are words whose principal function is nominative. The most frequent names are one, two, or three component names of pubs. British pubs have their special character appealing to the idea of tradition. Each pub has its own name painted on a signboard hanging outside. As a rule, this sign is made in a certain old-fashioned style. British pubs usually bear the names relating to their location: The Three Arrows, The Cross, The Railway, The Church. It may be ironic description of the pub itself: The Nutshell. They may be named after a noted individual (The Lord Nelson, The Emma Hamilton); after an aristocrat or a monarch (The King's Head, The Queen Victoria, The Duke of Cambridge); literary personages (the Gatsby’s, the Peggotty’s), geographical names (the Nelson’s Quarterdeck, The North Pole, the London, the Manchester), their names may relate to the names of some animals (The Red Lion, The Unicorn). Some pub signs are in the form of a pun or rebus.

The names of pubs present themselves structurally-united units. They are easily remembered, the most of the pub names are used with the definite article which serves as a “filler” of the defined construction, the article loses its grammatical meaning.( The Aldington, the Albert, the Burns, the Chaucer).

In one word - British are extremely reserved people. In fact they are rather conservative and love familiar things and values. They got a lot of culture behind them and they stick to their customs and traditions.

So except for proper names, cultural characteristics of English nation make the English character. The main quality of it is snobbery, stiffness, conservatism, domesticity, individuality.

It can be said that the personal qualities of the British appear in proper names of houses, cult buildings, pubs and streets that are saved from generation to generation and reflect the culture, history, and personality traits of the British people.

LITERATURE

1. Л. Ф. Артемова, О. А. Леонович «Названия английских домов» ИЯШ №8, 2006

2. Т. И. Арбекова «Лексикология английского языка», М. Высшая школа, 1977

3. Рум А. Р. «Великобритания. Лингвострановедческий словарь», М. Русский язык, 1978

4. И. В. Подольская «Словарь русской ономастической терминологии», М. Наука, 1989

5. А. В. Суперанская «Структура имени собственного. Морфология», М. Наука, 1989

6. London: Tourist Guide (Michelin Green Guide series), 1980

7. Great Britain and Irland : A Phaidon cultural guide, Oxford: Phaidon, 1986

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