Variations of female surnames in online media: a pragma-stylistic point of view

Abstract

In regard to feminine surnames, the relations between the linguistic and extralinguistic conditions are formed, determined, and communicated at the intersection of the variant (unique) and invariant (general) factors occurring in the onymic sphere of the language in question. When assessing the legitimacy, effectiveness and appropriateness of the application of a feminine surname in communication, the ontological essence, the conceptual basis of the propria and the individuality of the proper name´s bearer/user with the inherent right to exist with her “proprial logotype” in diverse languages are activated. In doing so, the depicted object also predetermines a socio-cultural, pragma-stylistic and practitioner space for the proprium analyses, comparisons and interpretations, with implications for the concrete linguistic-communicative rendering of the proper name. The aim of this paper is to approach the conditions of variant deployment of feminine propria in communicative events that occur in the communicative sphere of online journalism. A contrastively constructed study, supported by the software analytical tools, outlines the conditions and limits the space for the use of feminine propria in languages characterized by diverse structural possibilities of inflection. The material basis and argumentative platform are provided by the news found in Slovak, and partly Czech print-type online periodicals.