International Congress of Celtic Studies, Glasgow, July 13-17 2015

5156859128_62b1bca836_mRegistration closes today for the 15th International Congress of Celtic Studies, taking place from the 13th to the 17th of July 2015 at the University of Glasgow. Among the many outstanding presentations to be given are several papers on onomastics.

 

 

Three examples include:

  • Timothy Bridgeman (Binghamton University), “Names and Naming Conventions of Celtic Peoples in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia”
  • M. Joseph Wolf (University of Glasgow), “Exploring Manx Saint Dedications and Place-Names in the Wider Irish Sea Context”
  • Ken George (Cornish Language Board), “Assibilation and palatalization in Cornish: the evidence of place-names’

Click here for more on the congress and registration.

Workshop on Surnames, University of Leipzig, July 1 2015

filed under Conferences

On the 1st of July 2015, the University of Leipzig will be holding a workshop on onomastics. The topic of the workshop will be on Leipzig Surnames which originate in a romance language (e.g. Italian, Spanish, French, etc.). The workshop will be held in German. The primary lecturer for this workshop will be Professor Dieter Kremer.… Read More

Funded PhD at the University of Glasgow: ‘Protocols for the use of name evidence in lexicography: comparative analysis of onomastic and non-onomastic data for historical and contemporary Scots’

17101840068_4796d8a18f_mSubmit your application for a funded PhD on the use of name evidence in lexicography, based at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

The studentship is offered under the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award program with Scottish Language Dictionaries (Edinburgh) and will be co-supervised by Professor Carole Hough, Dr Wendy Anderson (University of Glasgow), and Dr Alison Grant (Scottish Language Dictionaries).

The studentship is funded for three years, beginning in October 2015. The deadline for applications is Monday, 29 June 2015. Interviews will be held on Thursday, 23 July 2015.

Click here for more information and to apply.

“My Treasure” is the most popular pet name among German couples

8460805431_fb29465f5a_mIn a representative nationwide study conducted in Germany, researchers have identified the top ten pet names which couples use to call one another behind closed doors:

 

 

“My Treasure” takes the top spot, with about 35% of Germans using a variation such as:

  • Treasure (Schatz)
  • Little Treasure (Schatzi/Schatzlein/Schätzle)
  • Big Treasure (Riesenschatz)
  • Cuddly Treasure (Schnuckelschatz)

 

Animal names account for second through fifth place. In order, these zoonymic names of affection are:

  • Mouse (Maus)
  • Hare (Hase)
  • Bear (Bär)
  • Sparrow (Spatz)

 

In tenth place is the now internationally recognized onomastic evergreen Liebling.

Here is a list of other favorite German nicknames for your sweetheart.

Online Workshop: Methodology for Terminology Work, Sept. 2-3 2015

8166397343_5f2f62c0a2_mFrom the 2nd of September to the 3rd of November 2015, the University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain will be holding an online lexicography and language documentation workshop on “Methodology for Terminology Work”.

The focus of the workshop is on carrying out terminological projects based on the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CTT). All the phases of carrying out terminographic work will be presented, from project conceptualization to database construction and management. The minimum level of education required for participation is a MA.

Click here for more information.

Video: cross-correlations of American baby names

filed under Name News

Check out these videos that analyze baby names to demonstrate the changing cultural areas within the United States over time.

These videos are provided by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The following description comes from their website:

“For each year, we assigned colors to the states according to the method explained in SI Text, Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering.

… Read More

Onomastics and Terminology 4: Personal Names and Public Administration, Budapest, July 17 2015

8130435985_d99d647d2c_mOn July 17th, 2015, the fourth annual interdisciplinary workshop entitled “Onomastics and Terminology 4: Personal Names and Public Administration” will be held in Budapest, Hungary. Dedicated to Hungarian-related legal issues of personal names, the workshop is being co-sponsored by the Terminology Council of the Hungarian Language, and the Society of Hungarian Linguistics, among others.

Topics include the basics of the Law on Personal Names, regulations governing Christian name choice and family name changes, the use of personal names in minority communities. Talks will be given by academic scholars and executives of public administration.

The language of the workshop is Hungarian. Click here for the conference program in Hungarian.