Bilingualism and the use of bynames
Keywords:
nicknames, Hungarian minority, Slovakia, bilingualism, Slovakian-Hungarian linguistic contacts
Abstract
Bilingualism and the use of bynames
This paper discusses the relationship between bilingualism and the use of bynames. The author aims to reveal to what extent the Hungarian–Slovakian bilingual surroundings influence the Hungarians’ use of bynames in Slovakia and in what proportion language contact features can be observed in the byname stock. The majority of the inhabitants in the surveyed settlements are Hungarians, which is also reflected in the bynames collected: the corpus is largely of Hungarian origin with rare exceptions of names of Slovakian etymon. Bynames of Slovakian (or other foreign) origin are rarely used by the Hungarians of the region, their use of bynames is predominated by the mother tongue.
