Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• Shima Jaafari Dehaghi

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Velayat University

Abstract

Abstract
Onomastics is the study of personal names and has long been common in Iranian language research. However, social onomastics is a relatively new concept. This term is used both in sociolinguistics and in other fields such as sociology, anthropology and geography. So far, most researches have dealt with the etymology of personal names in these inscriptions. The purpose of this research is to investigate the onomastics of some personal names in Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions based on Van Langendonck's theory. According to this theory, four categories of ethnicity, nationality, religion, and transnational affairs are considered in the selection of personal names. In this research, considering the nature of names, in addition to the mentioned categories, the category of mythological names was also added to this division. First, a selection of personal names in Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions was collected and then classified according to the mentioned categories. The research results showed that mythological names had the highest frequency in these inscriptions. Then, in the order of national names, religious names are used the most. This shows that according to one of the most important theories of social nomenclature, myth played a significant role in the Sasanian society.

Keywords

• Onomastics
• Van Langendonck’s theory
• Iranian Languages
• Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions
• Sasanian society
• Sociolinguistics

Main Subjects

• Sociolinguistics