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Social and Behavioral Sciences
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 112 (2014) 465 - 471 ^^
International Conference on Education & Educational Psychology 2013 (ICEEPSY 2013)
Proper name as a clue symbol of Identity
Assem Aksholakova*
_Al-Farabi KazNU, al-Farabi avenue, 71, Almaty 050000, Kazakhstan_
Abstract
Proper name is very important for identification of an object or person. If a name is mispronounced or written incorrectly, it can be considered as the distortion of an identity in the sense of personality of a man. The aim of this article is to reveal the reasons of name distortions (negligence, lack of language, bilingualism, intercultural communication, mutual influence of Kazakh and Russian nationalities) which lead to various kinds of serious consequences such as complication of identification of a name bearer. Restoration and recovery process of historical names, fixing of unified rules for transferring of Kazakh proper names into other languages in Kazakhstan, proves the growth of ethnic self-consciousness of Kazakh people, the formation of value system and understanding of their national identity. While naming children, modern Kazakh families now give preference to attraction of national elements -uly/-kyzy or using non-affix instead of Russian suffixes -ev,-ov,-in, -eva, -ova,-ina in the formation of Kazakh patronymics. Proper names, as it is known, have a complex semantic structure, unique particularities in the form and etymology, ability to modify and formation of word in their target language. Ignoring these features while transferring them into another language can bring to some kinds of misunderstanding and dissatisfaction. That is why we need the lexicographic resources containing all Kazakh proper names (though in the sense of quantity, proper names are huge corpus of lexis) which Public Service Centre workers will take into account.
© 2013 The Authors. Published by ElsevierLtd.
Selection and peer-reviewunderresponsibility of Cognitive-counselling, research and conference services (c-crcs). Keywords: Kazakh proper names; identification; mispronunciation.
1. Introduction
The concept of "Identity" (Identification) is actively developed in recent studies by representatives of various branches of science - Psychologists, Sociologists, Culture Experts, Ethnologists, Philosophers and many others which gave a reason to mark out the corresponding kinds of identity, namely: linguistic, cultural, social, religious, ethnic, age-related etc. For example, in Sociology the concept of "Identity" is defined as "awareness of a man that
*Assem Aksholakova. Tel.:+7 777 238 8660. E-mail address: askazhan.051 @mail.ru
1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Cognitive-counselling, research and conference services (c-crcs). doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1190
he belongs to some kind of group, which allows him to determine his place in the social and cultural space and orient easily in the world around" (Grushevitskaya T.G., Popkov V.D., Sadokhin A.P., 2002, pp. 53-54).
American scientists J. Martin and T.K. Nakayama stand out three approaches in defining the notion "Identity", there are sociopsychological, communicative and critical: "Identity is the concept of who we are. Characteristics of identity may be understood differently depending on the perspectives that people take. ... The social psychological perspective emphasizes that identity is created in part by the self and in part in relation to group membership. ... The communication perspective emphasizes that identities are not created by the self alone but are co-created through communication with others. ... The critical perspective is the attempt to understand identity formation within the contexts of history, economics, politics and discourse" (Thomas K. Nakayama, Judith N. Martin 2000, pp. 111-116). Accordingly, the identity of an individual is created by language, culture and society.
It is necessary to note that the issue of identity became a subject of research in Linguistics relatively short time ago. In Kazakhstani Linguistics Suleimenova E.D., Shaimerdenova N.J., Smagulova J.S. were the first scientists to highlight the issue of Linguistic Identity. Named scholars have submitted the project "New language identity in a transforming society: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan" in the framework of INT AS (International Association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists from the NEW Independent States of the former Soviet Union) which was devoted to the development of a methodology in identifying the linguistic, ethnic and state identity.
According to E.D. Suleimenova (2006) "linguistic identity ... is not an attributed and inborn, but an interiorized feature of a man that can be chosen by expressing in language and socio-cultural behavior, or that can be changed depending on the social, political and ideological context" (p. 16). In witness of the case that identity can change, E.D. Suleimenova takes an example of an ugly duckling which was born as a duck, changed its belonging to others passing through the painful process of reidentification to its own group in the new flock. This example is applicable to the linguistic situation that took place in the territory of Kazakhstan. After the Kazakh language was given the status of the state language, language identification became more complicated for citizens of Kazakhstan who faced the problem of choice between one of co-functional languages, more acceptable in accordance with the specific socio-cultural and political circumstances. This fact has led to an emerged crisis of identity, which is comparable to the effect of the ugly duckling mentioned by E.D. Suleimenova.
2. Proper name and Identity
The Identification can be performed with the help of proper names as well. Thus, in modern countries it is compulsory to register the birth of a child and to get a birth certificate with the given name, surname and father's name which allows the child to become a part of a community as an individual and to enjoy all social welfare provided in this society. That is why to the concept of identity, following by T.A. Komova (2003), we include "the name that is given to us from our birth" (p. 4), as the absence of a name means the absence of an identity. This idea can be supported with an extract from the book "Understanding identity" by K. Woodward (2002), where it is written that 46-year-old Christina Wipp finds out that she was born in the a result of artificial insemination: "I was 40 when I found out that my father was a glass with a blob of sperm in it . My father doesn't have a face or a name and he wasn't even a one night stand. ... My parents never even met. I still feel like a freak? A fake. I don't feel I know who I am any more" (p. 24).
This passage is interesting for a number of reasons: the heroine is concerned with the definition of her identity as her attitude to herself is broken because she has no name, and, accordingly:
• no language she uses;
• no culture she belongs to;
• no society she lives in.
Consequently, the heroine does not have an identity at all: "Name, it is a personal name of a man given to him at birth; it is a sign that allows a person to belong to a particular social class, ethnic group and sex (Mukhina V.S. 1978, p. 15).
Name, as well as language, clothing, emblems, gestures, flags, artifacts etc. is a "clue symbol" of identity. G.W. Allport (1961) notes that "The most important anchorage to our self-identity throughout life remains our own name" (p. 117). Name symbolizes the identity of an individual, i.e. a man states about his identity with the help of a name. Name often reflects the personal qualities and character of a person, evokes certain images associated with its bearer. Name gives an opportunity:
• to confirm the existence of a person and recognize the duty of this man;
• to differentiate a man, consequently, the society will be able to mark him out and to deal with an individual, with his needs and feelings which distinguishes him from other people;
• with the help of a name, person becomes a part of the community history, and due to the name his activity will be existing separately from activities of others (Madiyeva G.B. 2006, p. 54).
Due to the fact that the name is, above all, the element of language and culture, it is important to determine what do "Linguistic identity" and "Cultural identity" mean, how do they coincide with and differ from each other?
According to M.N. Guboglo (2003) linguistic identity is "a set of linguistic characteristics of a man or a group, consisting of proficiency in a language or languages (language competence), linguistic performance (verbal behavior), attitude to languages (language settings)" (p. 39). T.G. Grushevitskaya, V.D. Popkov and A.P. Sadokhin (2002) define cultural identity as "a conscious acceptance of a man the corresponding cultural norms and patterns of behavior, valuable orientations and language, understanding of his "I" from the position of those cultural characteristics accepted in the given society, in the self-identification of himself with the cultural patterns of this particular society" (p. 54). Analysis of these definitions, as well as various studies of a language and culture, lets us to state that a language and culture are inseparable from each other, as the language is a part of a culture, while the culture is a phenomenon in a wider meaning that covers almost all social spheres of a man. In its turn, name is a part of a language, consequently, names are a kind of reliable material for studying both history, culture of certain lingvocultural society and for studying history of the language itself.
Each man's name functions as a "folded-text" that marks linguistic, cultural, national, ethnic and religious belongings, family relationships (John E. Joseph 2004, p. 176). In addition, it can also indicate a professional position of a man, his status and character. Passing long historical period, Kazakh names reflect all aspects of material and spiritual life of Kazakh people: animal husbandry, natural phenomena, place names (toponym), moral and ethical qualities of people and many others. Kazakh names, unlike European models of name forming, as well as Russian names, are different. Among Kazakh names we can find "bird": Karlygash (Swallow), Bulbul (Nightingale), Burkit (Eagle) or "animal" names: Zholbarys (Tiger), Maral (Lion), Arystan (Lion) as Kazakhs believe that such names are associated with qualities such as bravery, courage, ability, intelligence. There are also names with an abstract semantics: Maksat "goal", Arman "dream", Zhibek "silk", Mahabbat "love" connected with beauty, tenderness and grace. The names of precious stones, plants and flowers: Meruert (pearl), Raushan (rose), Gauhar (diamond), Altyn (gold), Marzhan (coral) are also the basis for formation of Kazakh names.
Close contacts with Russians, to some extent, influenced on the formation of proper names of Kazakhs. That is why we can meet borrowed Russian names among Kazakh names: Daria, Rosa, Svetlana, Mira, Lena, etc. It should be noted that reverse effect is also observed: the analysis of Russian onomastic dictionaries revealed borrowed Turkic names among the Russians, including Kazakh names, for example, women's names: Aina, Amina, Asiya, Galia, Dinara, Leila, Fatima, Zarina, Madina and men's names: Damir, Murat, Omar, Rinat etc.
Here, we would like to note the strong influence of the Russian language on pronunciation of Kazakh names. At present, the youth tend to pronounce their names in accordance with Russian model, for example, in oral speech girls add to their names ending -a,-ya: Aigul(ya) Aigerim(a), Gulnar(a), Ayan(a), Kamar(a), Zhannur(a), etc.) by analogy with the female gender of Russian language which allows to identify the female sex. Despite the
fact that it is considered to be a deviation from the norm of written fixation of Kazakh women's names, it can be found among Internet users, in particular, the social network Moimir@Mail.Ru. However, these deviations are fixed in various identity documents as well.
Identification process in onomastic system of Kazakh people is being observed in Kazakhstan. A period in the formation of onomastic system of the Kazakhs characterizing a new concept of name has been defined: the rebirth of old and national names, creation and distribution of names associated with the historical, national personalities, activation of euphonious names are on. Therefore, in accordance with this concept, the modern Kazakh families prefer to name their children in honor of outstanding historical figures, writers, scientists, warriors, heroes, epic and literary characters (Togzhan, Mukhtar, Aigerim, Farabi Alpamys etc.) with positive semantics, as well as the names with a negative meaning, so-called "repulsive, protective" names (Zhaparov Sh. 1989, p. 287), which gives ground to state the growth of the ethnic self-consciousness of the Kazakhs, the formation of value system and understanding of their national identity.
The following fact can provide examples of identity: rejection of Kazakh surname formations with Russian suffixes (-ev,-ov,-in, -eva,-ova,-ina). In the formation of names and patronymics instead of Russian suffixes -ev, -ov,-in, -eva,-ova,-ina national elements -uly/-kyzy are being attracted or non-affix patronymics are being practiced. It indicates the manifestation of the ethnic self-identity of the Kazakhs and the renaissance of national self-consciousness.
The idea of identity appears when a name or a surname is mispronounced or written incorrectly. Unfortunately, the distortion of names is often observed occurring by negligence or lack of language. Distortion of person's name leads to various kinds of serious consequences which are considered as the distortion of an identity in the sense of personality of a man, because name has a special function in identification and differentiation of a man in a society. According to D.I. Ermolovich (2001) name performs "the function of legal identity" (p. 15). For example, if a person's name in one document is written Suyundik, in others as Suyunduk, or Suyyndyk, it can give rise to doubt whether all three variants belong to the same person or not. If variants of names are significantly differ from each other, they are no longer taken as the same name and for that reason they can function as different names. For example, officially registered surname of a student from Almaty secondary school № 124 Akulova at first sight has no distortion, and it can be assumed that it came from the word "akula" (shark). However, all members of her family bear the surname Akylov as it comes from the word "akyl" (intellect) in Kazakh language (Madieyeva G.B. 2006, p. 55).
In daily life the fact that people are offended by mispronunciation (writing) of their names is evident. For example, Kazakh student Laura from Russian department prefers the pronunciation of her name as LaUra with stress on the second syllable, while a student from Kazakh department with the same name prefers following the Kazakh pronunciation with the stress on the last syllable: LaurA (informant of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University).
Here are more examples taken from internet-forums:
- My friend's family consists of four people, and they all have different surnames. His father was Dzhanbulatov, now he is he Zhanbulat, his wife remained Dzhanbulatova. The eldest son is Zhanbulatov, the youngest one is Zhanbolat.
- The surname "Qantore" became as "Qantorin", "Kengshilik" which means "space, wide" in Kazakh turned to "Kenchilikov" word for word means "wide bucket".
- The name of my father-in-law according to his passport is Dzhambul. In honor of him my son's surname is Dzhambul. He will be 8 soon. His surname is fixed as Zhambyl at school and sport school documents according to the Kazakh spelling which in fact is correct. But the Public Service Center has refused me three times to
correct the surname. They offer as in the market "to replace —u to equivalent letters in Kazakh language. As for the letter "d" they are not intended to remove it at all.
- Our Kazakh fellows who returned from abroad to their historical homeland suffer hardship even in their land, because they are Kazakhs. They get the citizenship of Kazakhstan at president's request. But their nationality and names in passports are constantly distorted. For example, there are repatriates from Mongolia with purely Kazakh names: Ingirqozha, Aqerke, Onesh. In Mongolian passport these names are written as Inerhoozh, Aherhee, Onech in English: Ynirchozha, Acherche, Unesh. Russian-speaking officers of police under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, reading their names in English, fill in the Kazakh passports as Inirhozha, Aherhe, Unesh. Here we take completely distorted names which do not correspond to the norms of Kazakh language.
- Kazakh name Moldir stands for "clear, clean ". A shame for the Nur team who managed to make so many mistakes in the text, even the name is misspelled... (They say that a music video of Almas came out very good. By the way singer's wife Mol'der starred in it).
The examples which are taken from various resources indicate a very serious problem of spelling of Kazakh names which affect not only the external form of a name, but also internal. K. Rysbergen emphasizes, it is "a very serious social and psychological problem which hurts the national feelings of our citizens, and creates array of legal problems related to the identification of the same surname during the registration of real estate, retirement ...". Therefore, people address the Public Service Centre to correct one letter in the document, as even one mistake can be considered as a distortion of a man's identity. At present a group of scientists and specialists of the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Justice are engaged with the question of correct spelling of Kazakh names and surnames. Unfortunately, departments of the registry office is still making gross mistakes in writing of names, surnames and patronymics of newborns. Children have to bear distorted names and surnames due to specialists, as well as applicants (parents) themselves. This fact confirms the need of a modern reference for the registry authorities, passport offices regulating the spelling of Kazakh names and surnames.
2.1. Place name and Identity
In such a way the Russian language influenced the system of another large onomastic category, that is Kazakh place names. While using unpronounceable Kazakh toponyms, Russian people adapted them according to their toponymical structural and word-formation models: Karasevka from Karasu, Karaguzhiha from Kara Kozha, Kutiha from Kutty, Maraliha from Maraldy, Shemonaiha from Shomanay, Chebendovka from Shybyndy etc. In the result of all these kind of transformations some Kazakh place names changed their original phonation and lost their meaning. And unfortunately, such distorted Kazakh place names, became "conventional" and appeared on the pages of world maps and atlases, in official international documents and, consequently, ceased performing their identifying and address function.
During the settlement of Russians in the territory of Kazakhstan, many place names were immigrated together with immigrants. New inhabitants named places typical for those areas, where the relocation started from. The new place names replaced historical Kazakh names. Therefore, one of the language policy trends in the Republic of Kazakhstan is the restoration of the original forms of distorted Kazakh place names in Russian transcription, and normalization of the following toponymical groups:
• The place names reflecting the ideology of the pre-revolutionary Tsarist Russia;
• Sovietisms, place names reflecting the ideology of the Soviet system;
• The place names that reoccur within one administrative and territorial unit, so called "duplicated" place names;
• The place names which were given instead of previous autochthonous place names (Madiyeva G.B. 2008, p. 48).
The concept of normalizing place names of state and administrative-territorial units, renaming of populated places and restoration of historical geographical names in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic states: "Taking into account the increasing demands of general population of Kazakhstan on normalization of geographical names, renaming and restoration of historical place names, as well as state and administrative-territorial objects of the republic, in which serious violations of the historical, linguistic and scientific principles of onomastics are seen, State Onomastic Commission under the Cabinet of Ministers of Kazakh SSR considers that it is necessary to consider the issue on eliminating illegal and unjustified renaming of original Kazakh historical geographical objects, limiting the duplication of same place names in the territory of the republic and unification of their writing in Kazakh and transcribing in Russian language" (KT, 20.09.1991).
After gaining the independence, the process of renaming in Kazakhstan has covered all categories of proper names. William Fierman (2006) notes this fact: «This same period witnessed the beginning of widespread renaming of streets, squares, and other geographical points» (p. 310).
According to the Committee on Languages of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, during the period between 1991 - 2005 the followings were renamed: 3 regions, 12 cities, 53 district areas, 7 city districts, 43 railway stations and crossing loops, and 957 small populated places. Transcription of 3 regions, 12 cities, 14 districts, 76 railway stations, 22 small populated places, 890 educational, culture, health, sports, physical and geographical institutions have been changed.
The following major cities of Kazakhstan were codified in their historical form and presented below in their chronological order:
• 1991 - a city in the south-western of Kazakhstan Shevchenko was renamed to Aktau;
• 1992 - Tselinograd renamed to its historic name Akmola;
• 1998 - "considering the request of the local executive and representative bodies, the wishes of Akmola community and on basis of the State Onomastic Commission decision under the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan" Akmola city was renamed to Astana;
• 1993 - Alma-Ata was officially named as Almaty: "Another symbolically important change was the modification of the official Russian spelling of Kazakhstan' s capital conform with the Kazakh spelling, "Almaty." This was written into Kazakhstan's constitution adopted at the end of January 1993" (Fierman W. 2006, p. 310);
• May 4, 1993 - Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Kazakhstan the transcription of name of Dzhambul was changed to Zhambyl, then to Taraz;
• October 7, 1993 - Kokchetav was renamed to Kokshetau;
• June 17, 1997 - Kustanay was renamed to Kostanay;
• March 11, 1999 - Aktubinsk was changed to Aktobe, which means in Kazakh language "white hill";
• June 21, 2007 - Semipalatinsk city was renamed to Semey, the reason for it was the "strong association of the city name among investors with the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site".
3. Conclusion
With the adoption of the Law "About languages in the Republic of Kazakhstan" (from July 11, 1997 № 151-1) the country started activities to develop standards for transferring proper names from Russian into Kazakh or vice versa, creating a normalized, canonical, a consistent set of toponyms that could be used by state and municipal services as well as the institutions of communication, transport, mass media and others.
D.I. Ermolovich (2001) fairly points out that proper names help to overcome the language barriers, but in their original language environment they have a complex semantic structure, unique particularities of form and etymology, ability to modify and word formation, with numerous bonds with other units and categories of language. While transferring a name to another language most of these features are lost. If you do not know or
ignore these features, then transfer the name to another linguistic soil can not only ease, but also complicate the identification of the name bearer (p. 3).
There is no doubt that the proper names are huge corpus of lexicon, which is impossible to fix in lexicographical sources at all. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to fix basic, widely known place names, correct transfer patterns of sound combinations and their graphical transferring.
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