Original scientific paper
Female Nicknames in Old Dubrovnik
Slavica Stojan
Abstract
Unlike personal names, nicknames render an affected and generally pejorative meaning. A brief survey of women’s nicknames, traced in the archival sources of Dubrovnik and in literature, leads to the assumption that the nicknamed women belonged to the marginal social groups, and as such were often seen at court, accused of scandal, brawling in the streets or slanderous behaviour. Others, however, earned their nicknames by working in public places, streets or city stores, as maids, shopkeepers, bakers, innkeepers etc. In view of motif, female nicknames do not range widely, but are lavish in metaphor. Their meanings, explicit or ironic and metaphorical, may be divided into those which allude to the woman’s sexual misconduct, defamation, inclination to filth, gluttony, witchcraft, physical appearance, evilness, motherless origin etc., and the ones operating as topical or functional nicknames. Persons were usually nicknamed in their early age. While most of the male nicknames ran in the family, eventually becoming surnames and as such hereditary, women’s nicknames, however, were to disappear with the death of their bearers. The nicknames of both men and women seem to have outlived their anonymous authors. There is no doubt that there were individuals to whom the coining of nicknames was a habit or entertainment they approached with a lot of symbolism, wit, but ridicule, mockery, and contempt as well. Female nicknames are not only a very interesting socio-linguistic subject matter, but can also be used as a valuable source for the study and interpretation of the woman’s position in and outside the family.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
11707
URI
Publication date:
23.5.2003.
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