Distinctive Onomastic Features in Kazakhstani and British Discourse

The current paper analyzes the linguistic features of onomastic units such as homoanthroponyms, toponyms, and homonyms in the news discourse of Kazakhstan and the UK. The source of data used in this analysis includes headlines, news articles, and briefs by reputable mass-media organizations like “Khabar”, “24 Kazakhstan”, “KazTAG”, “The Times”, “The Guardian”, “The Independent”, “The Daily Telegraph”, and “The Observer”. In particular, the paper analyzes the way onomastic units help to fulfill certain pragmatic purposes under socio-cultural and linguistic context conditions. Several findings have been reached during the investigation. First, in news discourses of Kazakhstan and the UK, polysemantic items (onomoanthroponyms, onomotoponyms, and occasionally onomophytonyms) are employed to develop language games in order to enhance the stylistic impact and pragmatic function of the text. These differences demonstrate that name structures differ substantially; where Kazakhstani mass media use formalistic and explicit multicomponent naming systems with the usage of markers of professions and adjectives, British analogues show preferences for concise twocomponent structures and apply different types of nicknames, metaphors, and symbols, including derogatory political ones and cultural signs. Findings also indicate that in Kazakhstani and the UK news discourses, polysemantic onomastic units such as proper names, anthroponyms, and occasionally toponyms are used to create language games that enhance stylistic expression and pragmatic function. Notably, Kazakhstani media tend to favour formalistic, multicomponent naming systems with markers of profession and adjectives, whereas British media prefer concise, two-component structures, employing nicknames, metaphors, and symbols including derogatory political references and cultural signs. These findings show the significance of the use of toponymic and political names as cultural symbols, carrying with them meanings relating to power, nationalism, ideologies, and politics. The authors conclude that this helps not only in linguistic analysis but also in intercultural communication studies and the development of toponymic dictionaries.

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