Учебное пособие 1715

[5**] Slovari. Jenciklopedii, URL: endic.ru>epithet> Medved-156 (vremja obrashhenija

– 25.05.20).

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[9**] Kartaslov.Ru — karta slov i vyrazhenij russkogo jazyka, URL: https: // kartaslov.ru> znachenie-slova (vremja obrashhenija – 25.05.20).

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UDC 81’373.2

THE ROLE OF CHARACTONYMS IN THE ONOMASTIC SPACE IN THE NOVELS ABOUT HARRY POTTER BY J. K. ROWLING

S.Yu. Kapkova, E.N. Miroshnichenko, V.P. Frolova

____________________________________________________________________________

Voronezh State Pedagogical University,

Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Chair of English Language Svetlana Yurievna Kapkova

e-mail: kapk@list.ru

Voronezh state University of engineering technologies,

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages

Elena Nikolaevna Miroshnichenko e-mail: emirosh79@gmail.com

Voronezh state University of engineering technologies,

Candidate of Philology, associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages Vera Petrovna Frolova

e-mail: verairafrolova@mail.ru

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement of the problem. The tasks of this research include etymological analysis of charactonyms, interpretation of the meaning of the personal charactonym and / or the charactonym of a character based on the material of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Moreover, it is supposed to classify the charactonyms that occur in the work taking into account gender characteristics. The third task is a functional analysis of charactonyms to identify positive or negative personal characteristics or occupation of a particular character.

Results. The article provides a brief overview of the functions of charactonyms described in modern linguistics in the onomastic space of the novels about Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Further, charactonyms are classified according to 12 gender criteria; an etymological analysis of charactonyms and surnames is given, thanks to which the content of charactonyms in the literary text is decoded; positive or negative qualities of the characters, their occupations, given the decoded charactonyms and the functions of appropriate names are identified and described in this work.

Conclusion. As the result of the research the classification of charactonyms of the onomastic space in the novels about Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling was presented based on gender criteria; the meaning of the analyzed charactonyms and surnames was revealed and four functions were given: identifying, characterizing, symbolizing and genre-forming.

Key words: onomastics, onym, anthroponym, charactonyms, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, fantasy.

For citation: Kapkova S.Yu., Miroshnichenko E.N., Frolova V.P. The role of charactonyms in the onomastic space in the novels about Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling / S.Yu. Kapkova, E.N.Miroshnichenko, V.P. Frolova // Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-didactic Researches”. – 2020. - № 2 (29). – P. 85 - 96.

Introduction.

Many writers use charactonyms with specific goals, aimed at the comic effect creation, and direct or indirect character-drawing in their work; the charactonym application is a component of the author's style. There are a number of scientific papers devoted to charactonyms translation and their functions.

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© Kapkova S.Yu., Miroshnichenko E.N., Frolova V.P., 2020

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M.G. Chabanenko identifies five functions of nickonyms in his research: self-representative, discursive, contact-setting, emotionally expressive and gaming [1, p. 4-5]. However, only a few scientific works deal with the onomastic space study in modern fiction for children. This article continues the cycle of our research in the field of anthroponymy based on the material of modern children's English literature with comic and eccentric elements [2, 3].

The purpose of the study is to describe the functions of the charactonyms in a series of novels about Harry Potter.

Research methodology.

The object of the study are the charactonyms in the texts of the novels by J.K. Rowling. The subject of the study is the decoding of the charactonyms.

The material of the study is an illustrative material of 24 samples of the heroes’ charactonyms in the onomastic space in the novels about Harry Potter by of J.K. Rowling.

Some elements of etymological, descriptive, lexico-semantic and functional analysis, observation, interpretation and quantitative calculation methods were used to achieve the goal.

Research results.

In our study we follow the “charactonym” definition given by A.P. Skovorodnikov in his reference dictionary: “charactonym is an artistic technique in which the name and / or surname directly and unequivocally characterizes a person (usually an artistic character) or indicate his moral and ethical qualities. Such names have two main functions: to identify the object and describe its properties” [1**]. In anthroponymy personal, nicknames and canonical personal names are distinguished. Moreover, the same name can have several different forms including official or unofficial, literary or dialect.

We share S.D. Kamalova's point of view that onomastics is an auxiliary historical area of knowledge. The author believes that “a historian is looking for information about society in the onomastic material, a philologist is mainly interested in onomastics in the terms of language development” [4, p. 632]. A.D. Pastukhov and I.B. Kositsyna, the researchers of personal names in the novels about Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling distinguish the following groups of anthroponyms: Germanic, Norman, Celtic, Greek and Latin, Biblical, mythological, historical, fictional and existing [5, p. 632]. M.V. Kuznetsova in her work on anthroponymic construction and their functions in the novels about Harry Potter classifies charactonyms according to semantic attributes: 1) the nicknames by their appearance and physical properties; 2) the names denoting color; 3) the names of animals; 4) the names of the positions of bodies in space; 5) the nicknames denoting the state of a person’s soul [6, p. 8]. A.G. Sluzhbina pays a great attention to the study of the names’ etymology in the cycle of novels and emphasizes that hidden in personal names “between the lines is the most important in the book and reveals most of its secrets” [7, p. 1331]. In our study we will consider charactonyms based on gender criteria.

The charactonyms in the onomastic space of the novels about Harry Potter belong to adult and children's characters as well as fabulous and mythical creatures and animals [1*, 2*]. All human characters can be divided into two large groups: adult characters and child characters. Adult characters whose personal names carry a certain semantic meaning can be divided into two groups: magic school teachers and ordinary people, either men or women. Among the teachers’ charactonyms we can distinguish the founders of the Hogwarts school of wizards and its leading teachers who are all the wizards. Thus, we identified eight groups of personal names in the work that can be classified as:

1)adult characters,

2)teachers the founders of the magic school,

3)leading teachers,

4)child characters,

5)ordinary people,

6)fairy creatures,

7)mythical creatures,

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8) animals.

During the process of examples selection “floral names” were identified which include a certain part of the charactonym gender categories mentioned above. Besides, we will consider examples of charactonyms in accordance with the selected categories. We make a reservation that all male and female characters in the novels have charactonyms, but not all of them are presented in the text of the article. The examples selected cover only two novels about Harry Potter. The charactonyms were chosen to illustrate positive and negative meanings for each gender category.

First, we analyzed personal names of the adult characters. At Hogwarts where young wizards study its four departments are named after their founders. More than that, their charactonyms are also alliterative. Perhaps this is also a certain intention of the author, and the combination of letters has a certain significance for the narration, but neither the readers nor the linguists have guessed this riddle, perhaps without having paid attention to it, and therefore have not turned to the author for explanations. There is practically no information about the nature of these characters in the text but according to the etymology of their names and interpretation of the symbols of the faculties emblems we came to the following conclusions:

Godric Griffindor [1*] is the founder of the Hogwarts school and the first Dean of the faculty bearing his name later. In his name there are two foundations god and rich meaning the lord or power of God in translation from the Old English. The surname consists of a combination of two foundations: the English word griffin and the French word d'or (golden). The golden griffin on a red background is depicted on the coat of the faculty emblem. The griffin being a mythical creature in the form of a half-eagle-half-seam with a long snake tail symbolizes dominance over the earth (the lion is the king of animals on the earth (strength, courage)) and air (the eagle is the king of birds in the air (speed, vigilance)). The combination of the qualities of the two main animals indicates the noble nature of the creature so the griffin represents strength, fearlessness, vigilance, retribution and power. The character possesses the same qualities: he was an ardent fighter for the rights of half-blood wizards [3*].

Rowena Ravenclaw [1*] the owner of this name is the founder of the Ravenclaw faculty and its first Dean. The name Rhonwen has the meaning of "mother of the English people" and represents Anglo-Saxon treachery and paganism in Welsh triads and medieval Welsh poetry. It is possible a Latinized form of a Germanic name, derived from the elements hrod (glory) and wunn (joy, bliss). According to the 12th century chronicler Jeffrey Monmouth, the daughter of the mythological Anglo-Saxon leader Hengist and the wife of the “King of the Britons” Vortigern was Rowena by name. Being a beautiful fatal woman, she conquered the Kingdom of Kent for her people seducing her future husband [4*]. The founder of the faculty appreciated the mind, wisdom and sense of humor in people. Her surname is formed by adding two English words “raven” and “claw”, respectively, the raven is depicted on the coat of the faculty emblem. Raven is a symbol of wisdom in many epics and tales. This character trait is inherent not only to the hostess of the name, but also to all representatives of this faculty and, possibly, the claw in this case symbolizes wit or power.

Helga Hufflepuff [1*] is the founder of the faculty and her name translated from Old Norse (heilagr) means brave, prosperous. The surname Hufflepuff consists of two bases: "huff" - irritation, anger and puff, take offense, and "puff" - puff, swindle, blow, gust of wind. The future magician was from a famous ancient but poor family and possessed vast secret knowledge about plants and trees received from her ancestors. The main features of her character were industriousness, generosity and honesty [5*]. The badge is depicted on the emblem of this faculty; therefore, some researchers of J.K. Rowling's work argue that this association is connected with sounds made during or after hard work: the badger puffs and snorts when digging a hole, and future wizards have to "puff" to achieve success in learning as perseverance and hard work are special characteristics of the students at that faculty. But if you consider the badger as a totemic animal, then it stores the light and wisdom of other animals and the Mother Earth. It has a

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secretive character and will repulse anyone who tries to encroach on its freedom and security. The badger will protect its property in every possible way and even at the cost of his own life [6*]. Badgers possess knowledge of the world, they are gifted with healing abilities but they are characterized as aggressive animals. Following that characteristic and taking into account the etymology of the name Helga, we are convinced that the semantic meaning of the charactonym Hufflepuff is not revealed because of hard physical work but in the meaning of inflating or swelling from aggression or, conversely, restraining from anger and irritation showing wisdom and patience.

Salazar Slytherin [1*] is the name and the surname of the first dean of the fourth faculty. The name Salazar refers to Portugal where J.K. Rowling lived for several years. J.K. Rowling confirmed that the Slytherin Dean’s name is associated with the name of the Portuguese dictator. António de Oliveira Salazar was a Portugal fascist dictator from 1932 to 1968. Slytherin surname is most likely derived from the stem replacing the root vowel of the English verb to slither, which means the way a snake moves. In the texts of the novels there is no separate information about the founders of the faculty but from the Sorting Hat’s song you can find out that Slytherin was from East Anglia where there are many swamps inhabited by snakes and he is famous for the fact that he was able to speak to serpentines. You can see a snake on the faculty emblem which symbolizes hypocrisy and deception. Salazar Slytherin was very particular about his students; he hated half-blooded wizards believing that only descendants of witches and wizards should be trained at the School and in whose veins pure blood flows, who potentially contain the highest degree of magical energy. But that was not the only condition; he also wanted to see at his faculty resourceful, ambitious, determined and cunning students. Therefore, he simply selected purebred students from very important or wealthy families with talent and who were able to neglect slightly the rules [7*]. We dare to assume that the initial SS letters of the name and surname of this character can still be considered an allusion to the Nazi SS troops in connection with the above-mentioned certain beliefs and views of the character.

Having studied the etymology of those anthroponyms, we can say that the semantic value inherent in the names of the founders of the departments of the magic school Hogwarts, fully reveals the images and the characters.

Now we are going to analyze the names of the leading teachers of the Hogwarts school. We chose the names positive and negative characters for the analysis.

The professor and director of the Hogwarts school Albus Dumbledore by name has a complex name of four components: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbldore [1*] which can be interpreted by some J.K. Rowling's fans as four symbols of the British Isles. Having analyzed the component composition of the anthroponym, we found out that only three countries (England, Scotland and the Northern Ireland) out of the four UK countries are mentioned. Albus can be a derivative masculine name from the toponym Alba, the ancient name of Scotland, or it may have Latin roots, since the word albus means white color, traditionally interpreted as the power of God. The name Percival belonged to the true hero and legendary knight of the King Arthur's round table society and who was associated with the story about the Holy Grail.

Percival in Old French means under cover or under the protection of. The male name Wulfric is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles and is associated with England. Wulfric means the power of a wolf and resembles the name of another legendary hero – Beowulf, which is translated as "the power of a bear-wolf." According to the legend, Beowulf killed the monster Grendel, whose name is consonant with the name of Gellert Green de Wald, who was defeated by Dumbledore. Beowulf was mortally wounded by a dragon in a sea cave, and the hero was saved by his orphan squire. In that case, a parallel is evident with Dumbledore's life who received a severe poisoning with a potion but he was pulled out of the cave and rescued by Harry Potter, orphaned in his early childhood. The name Brian belonged to the legendary High King of Ireland, Brian Bohr who defeated the Vikings and died at the Battle of Klontarf near Dublin [8*]. Brave Dumbledore always fought against dark forces and won but he died from the imposed

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death spell from the dark forces. The character received the surname Dumbledore from the 18th century Old English word bumblebee. The writer chose it to convey the sounds reminiscent of the quiet buzz of a bumblebee as Albus Dumbledore enjoyed singing quietly while walking or being thoughtful [9*].

The name of the Dean of the Hufflepuff faculty is Romona Sprout [1*]. The word sprout is translated as shoot, sprout, spine; cuttings; appendage. The name Pomona has Latin roots. In Roman mythology that name was used to call the goddess of flora, the patroness of everything that shoots, grows, blooms and gives fruit [10*]. Thus, this anthroponym reflects the type of the character’s activity: she is a leading professor and teaches herbology, a common subject for wizard students.

The negative characters in the novels are either male or female teachers.

Dolores Umbridge [2*] is an ambitious, cunning, insidious and ruthless woman who became the first Deputy Minister of Magic. Her personal name is the word dolores that has Latin roots and means pain, grief, the Spanish word dolor is translated as suffering. She enjoys hurting students and teachers of the magic school where the Ministry of Magic sent her to work as an ordinary professor, and then she took the post of director of that school having framed Dumbledore. Dolores Umbridge is a negative character, students and teachers hated her thanks to her vile character. Subsequently, she will become the henchman of Volan-de-Morte. The surname of this character is probably derived from the English noun umbrage (resentment) which is similar to the Latin word umbra and Spanish umbría, transmitting the meaning of shadow. Dolores felt offended by her mother who had ruined her pedigree because she was a common woman; she despised her father, a purebred wizard who works as a cleaner in the Ministry of Magic. The parents spoilt her reputation so in every possible way she gets rid of them. Both the name and the surname of the heroine are charactonyms and reflect the features of her character.

We proceed to the analysis of the charactonyms of a child characters group. The main character who is a student of the magic school is named Harry Potter [1*]. J.K. Rowling mentioned that the central character in the cycle of her novels partially received his personal name in honor of her childhood friend Joe Ian Potter. The surname Potter is a common family name in Britain. Some researchers, depending on their personal negative or positive mood to the novel, interpret the meaning of Harry's name in two ways. Some believe that it has a negative connotation, since in English culture the devil has a euphemistic proper name - Harry. The English devil envies fairy tales for the professions of a chimney sweep and a potter (the latter in English is a potter). There is another meaning of this word used as a verb - to do something reluctantly, to idle, to be lazy. However, no writer will give the main hero a name characterizing the negative traits of the character in a children's work. Therefore, if we turn to dictionaries the personal name of the main hero can be viewed through one of the meanings of the common noun harry (from Greek koiranos) - commander. Based on the etymology of the name, Harry is short for the name Harold which goes back to the Old English name Hereweald derived from the merger of the Old Norse word here (army) and the verb wealdan (to manage) [8, p. 136]. At his first arrival in the magic school, Harry became a great authority for his fellow students and a living legend for the rest. Having become older, he organized a detachment to fight against the dark forces and became its leader. Thus, the meaning of the character’s personal name reflects the traits of his character and behaviour.

Draco Malfoy [1*] is a student at the Slytherin faculty where students only from their purebred wizard families study. At first minute of their meeting Harry and Draco became sworn enemies. The name of this character in Latin means dragon. In Scandinavian mythology dragons are intelligent, insidious and dangerous creatures that people fight with [11*]. The surname of the character comes from the merger of the French words "mal" (evil) and "foi" (faith), i.e. evil faith. In the Anglo-Norman dialect the word “malfei” means bad faith (heresy), as well as malevolence, treachery, an unclean conscience, and dishonesty. This character is smart, am-

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bitious and sarcastic. Being brought up in a spirit of contempt for the representatives of unclean blood in the magical world, he always scoffs at other children, humiliates and insults them. Most of his actions are distinguished by meanness and treachery. Both the name and surname are charactonyms and they fully reveal the character and behaviour of the hero.

The group of ordinary people mentioned in the work can include family members of the main hero on the maternal side – his aunt (his mother’s sister), her husband and their son.

Vernon Dursley [1*] is the main hero’s uncle’s name. The name Vernon has proto-Celtic roots: wernā (alder) and with the addition of the local suffix -onis it is translated as alder grove [12*]. It is believed that alder protects a family and strengthens family ties. [13*]. The author implied the Latin root durus- (severity, stamina, stubbornness, intractability) in the surname [14*]. This character is really an exemplary family man, he loves his wife and their only son. Marriage and the family are the basic inviolable values for him. It is typical for him to act within the framework of existing patterns and stereotypes. He often listens to his wife’s advice and acts to maintain a stable position and status in the family. But he treats his wife’s nephew Harry

Potter as an enemy whom he has to endure in his home. Vernon is a man who is deprived of his imagination, who hates everything extraordinary and unusual, so he often punishes him for childish pranks by locking him in a closet under the stairs. Thus, the name Vernon symbolizes a strong family, and the surname Dursley implement a function that identifies the character and behavior of the hero.

Elves, ghosts and giants can be attributed to the group of fairy-tale creatures in Harry Potter novels. There are very few of them, they all have charactonyms.

Dobby [1*] is a house-loving and brave elf who tries to please the main character - Harry Potter, his deliverer who had freed him from slavery with the help of a sock. According to unknown sources, the name of the elf is derived from the word dobbin translated as a workhorse [15*]. In the Encyclopedic Dictionary by F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron, the word dobby means exhaustive mechanism, or carriage in weaving [2**]. Despite the difference in meanings while translating, this name is a real charactonym in the series of novels about Harry Potter, as the elf has to work a lot in the kitchen.

There are female elves in the novel, for example, an elf named Winku [1*]; it is a derivative of the verb “to wink” with the meaning to wink, to blink or a noun that has two meanings: 1) blinking; 2) flash, moment. This is an unfortunate creature, constantly feeling guilty, even for what she did not commit. The elf works for the ruthless owner and is forced constantly to make excuses and blink. After being unfairly dismissed, Winky becomes a home elf rights activist with Dobby and works in the kitchen at Hogwarts. This work requires quick movements and speed to fulfill their duties, and house elves have the ability to travel quite large distances in seconds [16*]. Thus, the meaning of this charactonym is revealed.

The ghost of a long-dead 14-year-old girl Myrtle Elizabeth Warren [1*] lives in a closed women's toilet. Students and teachers of the school call her Moaning Myrtle. Her name is not only a charactonym but it also contains a nickname component. By nature, the girl was a very reserved child, she experienced constant complexes because of her unattractive appearance, acne and glasses, so she had no friends at the magic school, so she became an object of ridicule from her classmates very quickly. The basilisk released from the Secret Room by Tom Reddle killed the unfortunate girl with one glance when she was in the women's toilet on the first floor. Now her ghost dwells in that toilet, mourning for her unhappy fate and ugly appearance. The name Myrtle means the evergreen plant myrtle and symbolizes its eternal presence in the world of the living. The nicknaming component Moaning is translated as groaning and characterizes her suffering which has become familiar to her condition.

Rubeus Hagrid [1*] is a half-giant forest ranger and one of the most colorful charactersteachers of Hogwarts. Hagrid's surname, according to the author, is an obsolete English dialect word meaning “poorly spent night” and means heavy drinking throughout the night and a corresponding state in the morning (hangover). This character was originally conceived by the

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writer as a drunkard. Alcohol abuse is due to a combination of life circumstances: he, the son of a giantess and an ordinary person, was orphaned at 13 years old. Hagrid loves exotic animals because of which he gets into unpleasant situations; one of them provoked his expulsion from school due to evil libel. He could not continue his studies and his magic wand was broken because he was forbidden to use it as a student or a wizard. Thanks to Dumbledore's request, Hagrid was left at Hogwarts where he studied with a forester and took his place later [17*]. In fact he becomes a half-wizard with a broken fate, periodically seeking oblivion in wine. In Latin "rubeus" means red. Probably, the author meant the corresponding color of the face and nose of the hero.

The owner of the name Olympe Maxim [2*] is a charismatic half-giant who is the director of Wizard French Academy. The name Olympe is of Greek origin and means divine, Olympic, majestic. The surname Maxime (lat. Maximus) - is translated as the largest, greatest. For the first time Madame Maxim appears in the novel at the moment of French delegation arrival of Sharmbaton Academy to the tournament in Hogwarts. She is very tall and has a bright attractive appearance. The Greek sacred mountain Olympus, on top of which, according to the legends, the Gods inhabited, is one of the highest mountains in Greece. Its top is often covered with clouds. Having given such a name to her character, the author wanted not only to show that the owner of the name is tall, but also metaphorically reveal the implicit meaning of the name. The fact is that Madame Maxim is a giants' descendant, and she conceals the fact of her origin carefully when she arrives at Hogwarts as the teachers of the Slytherin faculty believe that wizards should not be related to ordinary people, giants or other creatures of the wizarding world, that is, they must be purebred. On the other hand, the name of the director of the Wizards Academy can indicate a high position in society: to rule such an educational institution for a giant descendant was a great achievement.

The group of mythical animals in the novel is represented by centaurs and a phoenix bird. A centaur in ancient mythology is a creature with the head and torso of a person on a horse's body, characterized by violent disposition and intemperance [18*]. The centaur named Firenze [2*] saved Harry Potter from Volan-de-Mort putting the boy on his back in order to leave faster the dangerous place. By his act he aroused the anger and indignation of the main centaur and was expelled from the herd where the leader considered that act a betrayal: centaurs should not be loyal to people. Proving himself that way, the exiled centaur was later admitted to Hogwarts to teach one of the disciplines. The name Firenze is considered feminine and has the meaning creative, active, friendly [19*] and confirms the positive character traits of this hero and reveals the meaning of his charactonym.

The group of animals in the work is represented by a small number but all the animals also have charactonyms: the main character's owl’s name is Hedwig [1*], therefore, readers and researchers of the writer’s creativity suggested that the owl’s name is formed from two English bases: head and wig. But in one of her interviews, J. K. Rowling admitted that the owl received its name in honor of a medieval saint. There were two such saints, the first and more famous one was the Polish aristocrat, the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty named Jadwiga, and her nsame means a wealthy warrior (1174-1243). She was the patroness of brides, divorced women, widows and mothers who had lost children. The second saint was a woman named Hadwig, who lived in Germany in the 12th-13th centuries and was the patroness of orphans. She founded a convent where nuns worked in orphanages [20*]. In medieval German hedwig means refuge in the struggle. The owl is a Harry Potter's friend, silent but understanding everything that is happening around. He spent a lot of time with her at the Dursleys. The death of the owl in the book symbolizes the loss of the main hero security according to the author's plan, the end of his childhood and the transition to his adulthood.

Some female characters in J.K. Rowling’s series of novels have "floral" names that also convey certain character traits of the heroes and they are charactonyms. Such floral names be-

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long to ordinary people, the staff, inhabitants and students of the magic school so we distinguished their names into a separate group.

Harry Potter’s mother's name is Lily [1*]. Lily as a flower symbolizes modesty, fidelity, purity and innocence [21*]. These "floral" characteristics are fully consistent with the image of the heroine.

Mother’s sister and the aunt of the main hero in whose house he lives after his parents’ death is called Petunia [1*]. In the language of flowers, petunia can mean, on the one hand, irritation and anger and, on the other hand, home comfort [22*]. This name fully reveals the ambiguous and controversial nature of its owner: she is a devoted wife and an excellent mistress, cleanliness, order and comfort reign in their house. Petunia is a wonderful mother to her son whom she worships but she is not the best aunt for her nephew. She punishes Harry severely for his childish pranks, often leaving him without food and sending him into the closet under the stairs. Such behaviour has its own reasons. Harry has become a burden for her since his appearance in her family; he is the unloved nephew of her unloved deceased sister. As a child, she was jealous of her younger sister because of her magic ability. Harry also does not like his relatives but when he is informed about the return of Volan-de-Mort, he sees Petunia’s reaction and feels for the first time that Aunt Petunia is his mother’s sister and that she really understands what the return of her sister’s killer means. On one hand, he realizes that for her he is a negative reminder of complex relationships, and on the other hand, a reminder of the danger from which the aunt must constantly safeguard and protect her nephew.

Poppy Pomfrey [1*] is a nurse and healer at Hogwarts School. Her name is translated by the noun poppy. Poppy is known to be one of the oldest medicinal plants. Possessing a painkiller and sleeping pill, it has been used in medicine for more than one thousand years. The owner of the name had extensive experience in her field of knowledge and had healing magic, which helped her to cope with some ailments instantly. The surname Pomfrey is a shortening for the city name Pontrefact which is located in North Yorkshire and where cough lozenges were made from licorice roots [23*]. Thus, the name and surname of the character reflect her occupation.

The owner of the name Violet [1*] is the witch Violetta by name who lives in the portrait and often comes to visit her friend Plump Lady to drink some wine and exchange fresh news and gossip. Violet is translated as a violet colour and as a flower it symbolizes dignity and modesty, fidelity and virtue [24*]. As we see, the meaning of the name was not confirmed but if we turn to the symbolic meaning of the colour, it can mean everything mysterious, cryptical and otherworldly. It is a symbol of the opposite’s unity and the transition from one state to another. Therefore, if we consider the meaning of this onym from the perspective of colour, not a flower, then the image of the witch corresponds to the symbolism of the colour [24*].

Moaning Myrtle [1*] is the name of the deceased girl who became a ghost and lives on Hogwarts territory. Her name means the evergreen plant myrtle which symbolizes peace and tranquility. In ancient Egypt and among ancient Jews the deceased were decorated with myrtle wreaths, among the ancient Greeks, at first the myrtle was a symbol of love, later it also symbolized a gloomy posthumous life which is an exact characteristic of the behaviour of this female character [25 *].

Lavender Brown [1*] is a student of Gryffindor and Hermione’s roommate. Her name coincides with the name of a plant lavender and means admiration, loneliness, recognition, doubt

[26*]. These characteristics are reflected in her behaviour. She admires many professors of the faculty and wishing recognition Lavender begins to flirt with Ron Weasley and seeks his positive attitude. She joins the Dumbledore Squad having overcome doubts about ordered negative articles about Harry Potter and not wanting to be alone. Throughout the narrative, Lavender appears to be a kind but somewhat frivolous girl.

Fleur Delacour [2*] is the name and the surname of the French magic academy student and in French fleur means flower. Her surname Delacour is translated as the royal court and

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can mean her noble origin, the combination of the name and the surname can be interpreted as a flower of the royal court which could become a metaphorical comparison.

Pansy Parkinson [1*] is the name of a student at the Slytherin faculty where dark wizards from purebred families study. The name Pansy is “floral” as this noun implies garden flowers pansies. Pansies in England and France are considered to be a symbol of fidelity and constancy. However, on the wall of one of the French medieval monasteries a huge image of this flower with a skull in the center and the inscription “Memento mori” (remember death) was found so white pansies are a symbol of death in Northern France, people do not make bouquets or give them to anybody [27*]. However, this name can be interpreted differently. The word is of French origin: the verb penser is translated as to think, ponder, ponder. In her early childhood the girl felt intelligence and prudence. Her cunning and manipulations with her parents had no bounds. Entering Hogwarts, she falls in love with Draco Malfoy and instantly gets under his influence. Not being attractive, she tries to draw his attention with her activity and devotion. As she grew older, Pansy began to understand Malfoy’s coldness towards her. She thought her life a lot, became reserved and began to answer any questions calmly. The girl did not gossip any more, did not cry when her Slytherin friends abandoned her; she even did not cry when her father was being taken to Azkaban. On the one hand, Pansy is not a stupid but thinking girl, the events taking place in her life change her views to life, and she eventually chooses the right benchmark in her actions. On the other hand, she is faithful in her feelings for Draco. This fact confirms that her name is a charactonym and reflects her character traits.

So, we summarize and present the result of our analysis of charactonyms in the table be-

low:

Table. The functions of the charactonyms