The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita
This article examines the surname Dunchil’, which belongs to a minor character in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita. The study concludes that the name is of occasional and authorial origin and proposes a hypothesis regarding its derivation. According to the suggested etymology, the a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
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Izdatelstvo Uralskogo Universiteta
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Вопросы ономастики |
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| Online Access: | https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2025-volume-22-issue-2-3 |
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| author | Anatoly Arkadyevich Fomin |
| author_facet | Anatoly Arkadyevich Fomin |
| author_sort | Anatoly Arkadyevich Fomin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines the surname Dunchil’, which belongs to a minor character in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita. The study concludes that the name is of occasional and authorial origin and proposes a hypothesis regarding its derivation. According to the suggested etymology, the anthroponym Dunchil is an anagram of the surname of one of the central characters in Aleksandr Ostrovsky’s comedy The Last Victim — Vadim Grigor’evich Dulchin. The anagram results from the metathesis of the final consonants in the two closed syllables of the surname Dul’chin, thus Dul’chin becomes Dunchil’. This rearrangement significantly alters the morphological form of the surname, making it sound strange, unusual, and atypical for the Russian anthroponymic system. Based on this etymology, the article argues for the importance of the intertextual function of the poetonym Dunchil’, which signals the embedding of another literary world within Bulgakov’s novel. From this perspective, the character may be viewed as a literary projection of Ostrovsky’s protagonist. A comparative analysis of the two characters reveals several notable similarities. First, both are involved in close relationships with women who play significant roles in their lives. Second, both are publicly exposed for deceiving those with whom they are romantically or domestically involved. Third, both disguise their true selves through deception. Fourth, once their fraud is uncovered, both receive their just punishment. Fifth, in both cases, it is a woman close to them who triggers their downfall unexpectedly for the character. Additional narrative details discussed in the article further support the proposed etymology of the surname Dunchil’. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e7b8b711fb2e41708654988bf791ceed |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1994-2400 1994-2451 |
| language | Russian |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Izdatelstvo Uralskogo Universiteta |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Вопросы ономастики |
| spelling | doaj-art-e7b8b711fb2e41708654988bf791ceed2025-08-20T03:39:25ZrusIzdatelstvo Uralskogo UniversitetaВопросы ономастики1994-24001994-24512025-07-01222769310.15826/vopr_onom.2025.22.2.017The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and MargaritaAnatoly Arkadyevich Fomin0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8610-0552Ural Federal UniversityThis article examines the surname Dunchil’, which belongs to a minor character in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita. The study concludes that the name is of occasional and authorial origin and proposes a hypothesis regarding its derivation. According to the suggested etymology, the anthroponym Dunchil is an anagram of the surname of one of the central characters in Aleksandr Ostrovsky’s comedy The Last Victim — Vadim Grigor’evich Dulchin. The anagram results from the metathesis of the final consonants in the two closed syllables of the surname Dul’chin, thus Dul’chin becomes Dunchil’. This rearrangement significantly alters the morphological form of the surname, making it sound strange, unusual, and atypical for the Russian anthroponymic system. Based on this etymology, the article argues for the importance of the intertextual function of the poetonym Dunchil’, which signals the embedding of another literary world within Bulgakov’s novel. From this perspective, the character may be viewed as a literary projection of Ostrovsky’s protagonist. A comparative analysis of the two characters reveals several notable similarities. First, both are involved in close relationships with women who play significant roles in their lives. Second, both are publicly exposed for deceiving those with whom they are romantically or domestically involved. Third, both disguise their true selves through deception. Fourth, once their fraud is uncovered, both receive their just punishment. Fifth, in both cases, it is a woman close to them who triggers their downfall unexpectedly for the character. Additional narrative details discussed in the article further support the proposed etymology of the surname Dunchil’.https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2025-volume-22-issue-2-3intertextual function of the poetonymliterary onomasticsliterary proper namemikhail bulgakovpoetic onomasticspoetics of namingpoetonympoetonymyproper names in fiction |
| spellingShingle | Anatoly Arkadyevich Fomin The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita Вопросы ономастики intertextual function of the poetonym literary onomastics literary proper name mikhail bulgakov poetic onomastics poetics of naming poetonym poetonymy proper names in fiction |
| title | The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita |
| title_full | The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita |
| title_fullStr | The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita |
| title_short | The Mystery of a Surname: On the Poetonym Dunchil in the Novel The Master and Margarita |
| title_sort | mystery of a surname on the poetonym dunchil in the novel the master and margarita |
| topic | intertextual function of the poetonym literary onomastics literary proper name mikhail bulgakov poetic onomastics poetics of naming poetonym poetonymy proper names in fiction |
| url | https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2025-volume-22-issue-2-3 |
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