Synchronous analysis of plateonyms – a proposed method

Abstract

This article explores a new method of onomastic research that bases its assumptions on the trichotomy: language-culture-cognition. The proposal is part of the research tendency of synchronic linguistics and divides plateonyms into synchronic dead names and synchronic living names. The analysis is carried out from the point of view of the interpreter, not the creator, and the result is supposed to be a quantitative representation of the belonging of onyms to past or present times. The main purpose of the paper is to present the assumptions of the method, while the indirect purpose is to present sample results of the research conducted on material consisting of Krakow streets. The article has a theoretical and material character.