REPRESENTATION OF REGIONAL IDENTITY IN THE NANAI PROPER NAMES

The article investigates the representation of regional identity in the Nanai proper names of the folk discourse. In this paper, the concept of identity is seen in terms of evolutionarily stable accumulating representation given in the Nanai regional folklore. The Nanai are indigenous population of the Amur River region. The object of the analysis is to identify the hidden meanings contained in the proper names that constitute the uniqueness of the region. The survey of proper names in Nanai tales shows that the typical character for the majority of the texts of folk discourse is a human male. The explanation for this can be found in the traditional way of the family, where the man played a major role, the role of provider and breadwinner