The publishing house of the Smolensk State Pedagogical University published a book by I. A. Koroleva " The Origin of surnames and patronymics in Russia "(Smolensk, 1999), dedicated to an actual and interesting topic, because today questions about their ancestral roots and family names occupy many people. Proper names, in particular, anthroponyms - first names, patronymics, surnames, nicknames - are developed according to the laws of the language, but, in addition to the lexical component, they include historical, ethnographic, social, and cultural information. Being a part of the lexical-semantic system of the language, functioning within its framework, they simultaneously react very sensitively to any changes taking place in society: "no area of the language activity of the Russian people was so closely and directly connected with its history as the area of onomastics" (Chichagov V. K. History of Russian names, patronymics and surnames. Moscow, 1959). Anthroponymy - the science of naming people-is often perceived as an applied discipline, and many works devoted to the description of names, patronymics, and surnames are considered popular science. Of course, they are needed. But at the same time, the need for rigorous scientific historical research is recognized, where complex and controversial issues of this field of linguistics are considered evidence-based, based on archival materials. It is precisely to such serious monographic studies that the work of I. A. Koroleva should be attributed. The author presents his new concept of the origin of our surnames and patronymics from ancient names named after the head of the family, traces the development of the modern three-term anthroponymic formula for naming a person-surname, first name and patronymic, based on the analysis of a huge factual material of written monuments of various genres and times (from the first Russian chronicles to act texts of the XIX century). I. A. Koroleva quite convincingly argues for the ear ... Читать далее