PSYCHOMENTAL ASPECT OF THE MOTIVATIONAL ORGANISATION OF ENGLISH PICTONYMS

Abstract

The article focuses on the psychomental aspect of the motivational organisation of English pictonyms. The motivational analysis was conducted using a cognitive-onomasiological approach. The purpose of the study is to explore the motivation of English pictonyms, specifically the proper names of paintings. The object of the research is the motivational peculiarities of English pictonyms, the subject is the motivational relationships between pictonyms, their semantics, and the signified. Motivation is understood as the study of the causes underlying the emergence of the names. The research employed a descriptive method to analyse the selected material, a sampling method for selecting the data, and a qualitative method to calculate the number of analysed units. A total of one thousand English pictonyms were selected from the catalogues of the National Gallery (London), the Royal Gallery (London), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Ferens Art Gallery (Kingston upon Hull), the Princeton University Art Museum (Princeton), the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Southampton City Art Gallery (Southern England), the Yale Center for British Art (New Haven), the Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool), and various specialised art websites. The results of the motivational analysis show that propositional motivation (using motivator signs in their direct meanings) predominates among painting titles. Associative (determined by the choice of metaphorical motivators) and modal (based on a person’s evaluation of the motivator in relation to sensations, feelings, etc.) motivations are also relatively common. Conceptual-integration motivation , which involves the formation of a new sign and concept, occurs rarely. The mixed type of motivation, which combines motivators representing different fragments of knowledge about the subject, is the least frequent. Future studies may consider the psychomental aspect of the motivational organisation of other classes of onyms.