Noah’s Ark: semantic and structural diversity of the names of veterinary clinics (based on the materials of the North-Eastern Veterinary Chamber)

Abstract

In this article, the author discusses the names of veterinary clinics (animal treatment facilities). The research material, including 339 names, was obtained from the “Register of veterinary practices as of 17.12.2021”, kept by the North-Eastern Veterinary Chamber, which supervises the veterinary profession in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. 164 proper firmonyms were excerpted from it, characterized in terms of structure and semantics, and assigned to the semantic fields: biosphere, anthroposphere, (veterinary) medicine, and services. Non-semantic elements of firmonyms were analysed as well. The conclusions show that the owners of veterinary practices have high onomastics competence,  which allows them to invent semantically creative names for their companies, but are not as innovative in the field of graphic design. Most of them invoke positive emotional attitudes, which reflects the high position of animals in modern culture. The material acquired reveals further research perspectives and leads to the conclusion that onomastic data may become an interesting complement to animal studies, an interdisciplinary field of humanities and social studies research. Considering the fact that so far the names of veterinary clinics were are not included in linguistic reflection, this work is a preliminary effort in this field.