ON HORSES

This paper represents a section of a neglected area of onomatology: the research of names given to animals. It discusses special manners of animal naming, focusing on name giving in horse-breeding establishments. The general principles of horse name giving in Hungary are made clear first; then, the naming habits of Somogysard, a settlement in Southern Hungary are discussed in detail. From among her investigations of the body of names she collected, the author highlights a novel analysis of name semantics by way of which she circumscribes the notional areas that emerge from the meanings of the names and describes the semantic interrelations among the names discussed. The aim of the paper is to complement traditional onomatological research and compare it with a new way of analysing names, the conclusions of which may facilitate research on other types of names, as well.