Editing Onomasiology (section)

==Definition==
Onomasiology was initiated in the late 19th century, but it received its name only in 1902, when the Austrian linguist Adolf Zauner published his study on the body-part terminology in [[Romance languages]]. It was by linguists studying Romance languages that the most important onomasiological works were written. Early linguists were basically interested in the [[etymology]] of expressions that were clearly-defined, unchangeable, or concrete objects or actions. Later, the Austrian linguists Rudolf Meringer and [[Hugo Schuchardt]] started the {{langr|de|[[Wörter und Sachen]]}} movement, which emphasized that every study of a word needed to include the study of the object it denotes. Schuchardt also underlined that the onomasiologist, in tracing back the history of a word, needs to respect both the {{lang|fr|dame phonétique}} ('prove the regularity of sound changes or explain irregularities') and the {{lang|fr|dame sémantique}} ('justify semantic changes').

Another branch that developed from onomasiology and at the same time enriched it in turn was linguistic geography (areal linguistics) since it provided onomasiologists with valuable [[linguistic atlas]]es. The first ones are ''{{lang|de|Sprachatlas des Deutschen Reiches}}'' by [[Georg Wenker]] and [[Ferdinand Wrede]], published beginning in 1888, the ''{{lang|fr|[[Atlas Linguistique de la France]]}}'' (ALF) by [[Jules Gilliéron]] (1902–1920), the ''{{lang|de|Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz}}'' (AIS) by [[Karl Jaberg]] and [[Jakob Jud]] (1928–1940), the ''{{lang|de|Deutscher Sprachatlas}}'' (DSA) by Ferdinand Wrede et al. (1927–1956). The atlases include maps that show the corresponding names for a concept in different regions as they were gathered in interviews with dialect speakers (mostly old rural males) by means of a questionnaire. In English linguistics, onomasiology and linguistic geography have played only a minor role—the first linguistic atlas for the US was initiated by [[Hans Kurath]], the first one for the UK by Eugen Dieth.

In 1931, the German linguist [[Jost Trier]] introduced a new method in his book ''{{lang|de|Der deutsche Wortschatz im Sinnbezirk des Verstandes}}'', which is known as the [[lexical field theory]]. According to Trier, lexical changes must always be seen, apart from the traditional aspects, in connection with the changes within a given word-field. After World War II, few studies on onomasiological theory have been carried out (e.g. by [[Cecil H. Brown]], [[Stanley R. Witkowski]], [[Brent Berlin]]). But onomasiology has recently seen new light with the works of [[Dirk Geeraerts]], Andreas Blank, Peter Koch and the periodical ''Onomasiology Online'', which is published at the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt by [[Joachim Grzega]], Alfred Bammesberger and Marion Schöner. A recent representative of synchronic onomasiology (with a focus on word-formation processes) is Pavol Stekauer.