Structural models of the names of Galician enterprises – on the basis of press advertisements published at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Abstract

The purpose of the present article is, firstly, the documentation of the names of enterprises operating in Galicia in the era of autonomy, and secondly, determination of the productivity of the structural models of names functioning at that time. The analyzed material covers over 400 notations, listed from three Galician periodicals: Kraków-based “Czas”, “Gazeta Lwowska” and “Głos Rzeszowski”. The analysis showed that for the entrepreneurs of the Galician era, the information content of ergonyms was of great importance. It resulted, firstly, from the needs (pragmatics of the message), and secondly from the fact that this category of onyms was coming into existence and it stemmed from defined descriptions. A company was associated primarily with its owner - almost 86% of the collected names perpetuate the anthroponym signing the owner. In almost half of all of the names in this group, the owner’s name appears in the genitive (genetivus possesivus), emphasizing the importance of ownership. Over 44.5% of notations mention the name of the owner in the nominative, which would suggest the extension of the personal name to the name of the company (“my company is me”). Only slightly more than 6% of records introduce - next to an anthroponym - the name of the company in today’s meaning. Only slightly over 14% of the names of companies (more or less every seventh) do not contain information about the owner. Most of these notations are of half-apellative, half-proprial character (63% of names in this group), but every third name was created as a result of an onymic creation, and its formation was certainly accompanied by the act of nomination.