Epithetologists

Epithetologists are scholars who study epithets—descriptive labels applied to persons, places, or things. The field examines how epithets formulate identity, convey appraisal, and structure discourse across languages and genres. Epithetology intersects linguistics, literature, history, and anthropology, emphasizing the social functions of naming and description rather than mere vocabulary.

Epithets appear in many forms: literary epithets such as the Homeric formulae; honorifics like "the Great"; geographic descriptors embedded in place names; and modern pejoratives or slurs. Epithetologists analyze how these terms encode authority, reputation, or stigma, how they shift in meaning over time, and how audiences interpret them in context.

Methodologies include corpus-based and qualitative analysis, historical linguistics, discourse analysis, and philology. Researchers compile epithet inventories from corpora, inscriptions, chronicles, and contemporary media; classify by function (honorific, descriptive, evaluative, stigmatizing); and study semantic change, pragmatics, and the social pressures shaping usage.

The field draws on classical rhetoric, onomastics, and sociolinguistics, among others. A core concern is distinguishing descriptive or contextual epithets from offensive slurs, and addressing ethical considerations when studying or reproducing sensitive terms.

By illuminating how epithet-based labeling reflects culture, power, and memory, epithetology contributes to linguistics, literary studies, history, and cultural analysis.