ONOMASTIC NEOLOGIZATION AS A MECHANISM OF FICTIONAL UNIVERSE CONSTRUCTION IN FANTASY LITERATURE

Abstract

This article explores the role of onomastic neologization in the construction of fictional universes in fantasy literature. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that fantasy discourse is characterized by an exceptionally high concentration of invented proper names which serve not only as nominative units, but also as structural, semantic and aesthetic elements of world-building. The article focuses on authorial onomastic formations that organize the fictional space of fantasy texts, define the hierarchy of characters and places, and encode cultural, mythological and ideological meanings. The study proceeds from the theoretical principles of literary onomastics, according to which proper names in a literary text form an organized onomastic field and function as significant components of the author’s individual style. Special attention is given to the interaction between real names, semi-real names and fully invented names, as well as to the transformation of appellatives into proper names within the artistic system of fantasy.

The analysis shows that onomastic neologisms in fantasy literature are formed through several productive mechanisms: morphological derivation, phonetic stylization, semantic reinterpretation, contamination, transonymization, allusion and intertextual transformation. These mechanisms allow authors to create names that simultaneously identify fictional objects, characterize their bearers, mark ethnic or cultural belonging, evoke mythological associations and support the illusion of the autonomy and reality of the imagined world. The article argues that anthroponyms and toponyms occupy a central position in the fantasy onomasticon, while mythonyms, zoonyms, ideonyms and institutional names expand the semantic boundaries of the fictional universe. The findings demonstrate that onomastic neologization is not a peripheral stylistic device, but a core semiotic mechanism through which fantasy literature constructs narrative space, cultural memory and the reader’s interpretive experience.

Keywords

onomastic neologization; fantasy onomastics; fictional universe; fantasy literature; authorial neologisms; proper names; poetic onomastics; anthroponyms; toponyms; mythonyms; world-building; intertextuality; semantic motivation; literary naming; fantasy discourse.