What’s in a Name? Playing in the Onomastic Sandbox

Title

What’s in a Name? Playing in the Onomastic Sandbox

Publication Type

Journal Article

Year of Publication

2018

Authors

Barney, Kevin L. (Primary)

Journal

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Pagination

251-272

Volume

29 URL

http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/whats-in-a-name-playing-in-the-onomastic-sandbox/

Terms of use

Items in the BMC Archive are made publicly available for non-commercial, private use. Inclusion within the BMC Archive does not imply endorsement. Items do not represent the official views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of Book of Mormon Central.

Bibliographic Citation

Abstract

Name as Key-Word brings together a collection of essays, many of them previously published, whose consistent theme is exploring examples of onomastic wordplay or puns in Mormon scripture in general and the Book of Mormon in particular. Without a knowledge of the meaning of these names, the punning in the scriptural accounts would not be recognized by modern English readers. Exploring the (probable) meanings of these names helps to open our eyes to how the scriptural authors used punning and other forms of wordplay to convey their messages in a memorable way.

Review of Matthew L. Bowen, Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018). 408 pp., $24.95.

Journal

Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 29 (2018)

Wordplay

Onomastics

What’s in a Name? Playing in the Onomastic Sandbox

Title