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Friday, April 11, 2025

Report on the 5th Czech Onomastic Conference

 


Overview

The 5th Czech Onomastic Conference, organized by the Czech Language Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, took place from April 7 to April 10, 2025, at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Národní 3, Prague. The event gathered a diverse international group of scholars and experts in onomastics (the study of names), covering a wide range of topics such as orthography, etymology, dialectology, socio-onomastics, and name policies across languages and regions. The main theme of the conference was interdisciplinarity and cooperation of onomastics with other disciplines and other areas of linguistics. During the four days, 72 interesting papers and 2 plenary lectures (by Christian Zschieschang and Katalin Reszegi) were presented. The event was attended by delegates from Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, and Lithuania.

Key Highlights

Opening and Plenary Lectures

  • The conference began on Monday, April 7 with an opening session and a plenary lecture by Christian Zschieschang (Bautzen/Budyšin; Cottbus/Chóśebuz), titled "Onomastics and Interdisciplinarity: Practical Experiences and Theoretical Positions."

  • Another plenary lecture on April 10 was delivered by Katalin Reszegi (University of Debrecen) on “Polysemy and Synonymy of Proper Names from a Cognitive Perspective.”

Conference Sessions

The academic programme was organized into parallel thematic sessions, each chaired by domain experts. Here are some key tracks and presentations:

Onomastics and Orthography

  • Tamás Farkas (Budapest): Onomastics and the Development of the Rules of Orthography

  • Annika Hussar (Tallinn): Orthographic Variability of Estonian First Names

Name Policy

  • Peeter Päll and Tiina Laansalu (Tallinn): Names and Politics – Who Makes Decisions in Estonia

  • Liudmyla Kravchenko (Kyiv): Renaming of Ukrainian Villages Due to Decommunization

  • Ki Hauber et al. (Budapest): Legal Aspects of Choosing Names in Modern Hungary

Jewish Anthroponyms

  • Monika Kresa (Warsaw): Cultural and Linguistic Sources of Jewish Names in Stoczek

  • Henryk Duszyński-Karabasz (Bydgoszcz): Jewish Names in 19th-Century Nakło

  • Aleksandra Żurek-Huszcz (Warsaw): Jewish Children’s Names in Łódź (1826–1867)

Surnames and Grammar

  • Klaudia Abucewicz (Warsaw): Surnames in the Northern Borderlands of Poland (1800–1847)

  • Thomas Stolz and Nataliya Levkovych (Bremen): Special Onymic Grammar (SOG) in Romanian

Excursion

Participants enjoyed a sightseeing cruise around the Charles Bridge and Kampa Island, including a visit to the Charles Bridge Museum on April 8.

Onomastics and Etymology

  • Ilona Janyšková and Helena Karlíková (Brno): Etymological Dictionaries and Proper Names

  • Jiří Rejzek (Prague): Contested Old Czech Reconstructions in A. Profous’ Work

Urban and Family Names

  • Michaela Boháčová (Brno): Urbanonymic Systems in Brno

  • Karl Hohensinner and Stephan Gaisbauer (Linz): Surname Distribution in Austria and the Czech Republic

Dialectology and Socio-Onomastics

  • Tereza Slaměníková (Olomouc): Far Eastern Restaurant Names in Prague

  • Katarzyna Skowronek (Kraków): Onomastic Methodologies and Societal Definitions

  • Halyna Zymovets (Kyiv): Street Names and National Identity in Kyiv

Onomastics and Politics, Law, and Media

  • Žaneta Dvořáková and Andrea Baráková: Legal History of Personal Name Expertise in Czech Courts

  • Rafał Mazur (Kraków): Toponyms in Media Discourse on the Russia-Ukraine War

  • Halszka Górny (Kraków): Ideonyms in Contemporary Polish Media Titles

Names in Literature and Translation

  • Mariann Slíz (Budapest): Proper Name Types and Translation Strategies

  • Raluca Giurgiulescu (Baia Mare): Onomastic Valences in Romanian Literature

Conference Closing

The conference officially concluded on April 10 with a closing session in room 206. A conference buffet dinner was held at Café Louvre, Prague, bringing together participants in a relaxed and collegial setting.

Conclusion

The 5th Czech Onomastic Conference successfully fostered interdisciplinary dialogue, international cooperation, and in-depth research discussions among scholars in the field of name studies. The range of topics and the diversity of linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the presenters underscored the vibrant nature of contemporary onomastics.


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