Sehvtjeviiten ja seitse tõdemust. Isikunimedest muinasjuttudes
Sehvtjeviiten and Seven Statements. On Personal Names used in Fairy-Tales

Summary/Abstract: Name use in Estonian fairy-tales is studied, relying on a relevant corpus of 5.5 thousand texts. It is found that although names may, in general, be considered neither the most important element from the plot point of view, nor too frequent, they may represent a rather fascinating problem complex for research. In folk material the use of names is relatively haphazard, but in tales following a recognisable literary model the names are usually retained. Hence a name may become a key to authenticity. Most of the names used in the Estonian material are popular in the community. Historically, there are per- iods of different intensity observable in the name use by story-tellers. Often name use strategically depends on speech conventions, the need to contrast or identify characters, or on the story being based on an older legendary tradition. The most important factor of name use, however, is the individual style of the story-tellers, dominating over the stylistic requirements of the genre.

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