Actant Models of Kazakh Anthroponyms-Composites with Substantive and Verb Components

Abstract

The Kazakh anthroponymicon during its centuries-old history did not experience serious pressure from religious and state institutions and therefore is characterized by a high degree of non-formalization. It has preserved the ancient traditions of naming, which are based on cultural and gender stereotypes: firstly, the preference for the birth of a male baby; and secondly, the birth of a boy child that is considered as a gift of higher sacred powers. This article explores a group of male anthroponyms formed as a result of the addition of substantive forms and the verbs tuu ‘to be born’, kelu ‘to come’, and beru ‘to give’. They retain syntactic relations that go back to the original sentence: propositional semantics and actant models. Complex two-part anthroponyms belong to polypropositive structures; the primary proposition for all of them is the proposition ‘A child was born’. Further, depending on the semantics and valency of the verbal component, there are situations of a reward, a birth time with different actants. In the surface structure of the anthroponym, depending on the relevance for those who give the name, in addition to the predicate, actants of various types are verbalized, such as agent, patient, and donor. In addition to the dictum content, the considered names include modal meanings: an evaluative mode, intention, which are expressed implicitly. Names-wishes and names-thanksgiving are distinguished depending on the intention.