What was going on when I was born?

A New York City lawyer, Leon Silverman, was appointed yesterday as special prosecutor to investigate allegations of corruption against Raymond J. Donovan, the Secretary of Labor. The panel of three Federal judges in Washington that appointed Mr. Silverman also gave him authority to look into whether Mr. Donovan had lied to a Senate confirmation committee and to investigate accusations of any other alleged violations of Federal laws by Mr. Donovan that might develop from the inquiry. At a news conference at his law offices at 1 New York Plaza in Manhattan, Mr. Silverman said he had no timetable for completing the investigation. But he added, ''I feel a sense of urgency, since there may be statutes of limitation and I do not intend to dawdle.''

What's in a name? If you're an onomastic, a great deal. So every day this week several dozen onomastics have been gathering in the Red Smith Suite at the New York Hilton Hotel to hear the latest word on topics ranging from the origins of Mexican-American first names to the literary significance of the appellations of the characters in Eudora Welty novels. Onomastics is the study of names, and its practitioners are among the more than 8,000 scholars who have converged on the Sheraton Centre and the Hilton for the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association, the principal professional organization for those who make their living studying and teaching language and literature. Leonard R. N. Ashley, for example, plies the trade at Brooklyn College, where he likes to think about the psychological impact of the names parents give their children. ''Your name can affect your self-image,'' he explained. ''Everyone agrees that Hubert and Humphrey and Isadore are supposed to be passive, and you probably wouldn't get very excited if I offered to get you a blind date with an Edith or a Martha.''

In a last-ditch effort to block the United States Steel Corporation from purchasing the Marathon Oil Company, the Mobil Corporation yesterday asked the United States Supreme Court to halt the acquisition until the High Court acted on an appeal of an antitrust injunction against Mobil. The move by Mobil came in the wake of a ruling on Christmas Eve by a Federal judge in Columbus, Ohio, that set the stage for U.S. Steel to buy control of Marathon for $6.3 billion starting after midnight next Wednesday, thereby putting an end to a two-month takeover battle with Mobil. The judge's order was in response to a mandate from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. That appeals court declared two purchase options that U.S. Steel had obtained from Marathon illegal, but also upheld a ruling by the Federal District Court in Cleveland that Mobil's $6.5 billion bid for Marathon would violate antitrust laws by reducing competition in the marketing of gasoline in six Middle Western states.

A Reporter's Notebook: Cold and madness in Siberia A2 U.S. praises Japan's decision to increase its military spending A3 Percy meets Begin and predicts better U.S. ties with Israel A3 Entire defense team in Egypt's assassination trial withdraws A3 Around the World A5 Text of Reagan's announcement of sanctions against Soviet A6 The Polish airwaves: Warsaw re- sponds to Reagan A7 Government/Politics Conservative Party leaders back Lehrman for Governor B1 State imposes cost controls on its agencies B3 State takeover of local probation costs urged by Fink B3 U.S. judge upholds Illinois town's ban on all handguns D16 F.B.I. chief reports rise in terror- ist incidents in year D16 Washington Talk Reagan team on Capitol Hill is key to legislative successes B8 Briefing B8 Jennings Randolph recalls the heady days of the New Deal B8 Newsletters provide fixes for political junkies B8 Energy Oil union officials reject contract offers from 3 companies A12 City officials say reservoir oil spill under control B2 General Around the Nation A10 Year of Handicapped was a year of setbacks for disabled A10 Haitians in Miami detention end their hunger strike A12 Bronx girl who was knifed is recu- perating after surgery B5 Teen-age hunter kills himself after wounding his friend D16 The Living Section Food New York, the New Year and old delights C1 Caterers assay the old year and the new C3 The 60-Minute Gourmet C3 Wine Talk C5 Black-eyed peas for a Paris New Year C6 Living Celebrations far from the mad- ding crowd C1 Personal Health C1 Metropolitan Diary C2 Kitchen Equipment C2 Best Buys C5 Discoveries C6 Arts/Entertainment Musical "A Visit" is staged Off Off Broadway C8 A critic's choice of the year's best pop records C9 New York City issues a writers' service guide C10 Henry Fonda and Myrna Loy in ABC-TV's "Summer Solstice" C16 S.T. Warner's "Scenes of Child- hood" reviewed C16 Isadore Barmash's study of Kor- vettes is reviewed C16 CBS News to expand "Morning" to two hours on Jan. 18 C16 Education/Welfare Modern Language Association holds annual meeting B1 Obituaries Dr. Philip Handler, ex-head of National Academy of Sciences D17 Sports Canadiens beat Islanders, 5-4 B9 Knicks down Bulls, 111-108 B9 Nebraska nears end of a turn- around season B9 Walker again talks of turning pro early B10 Giants believe they're for real B10 B6 Red Smith on seeing the horses run B10 Beck to change his enforcement technique B10 Jets seeking more diversified of- fense in 1982 B10 Kentucky tops Notre Dame in overtime, 34-28 B12 For Flynn, track hits sour note B13 Features/Notes Issue and Debate: How to save New York City's subways B2 About New York B3 Notes on People B6 Sports People B13 Going Out Guide C13 News Analysis John Vinocur examines West Ger- many's position on Poland A1 Bernard Gwertzman assesses Reagan's decision on sanctions A1 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A14 Equal rights, unfair meddling Apocalypse forever? Affirmative action, sort of Huxtable was here Letters A14 James Reston: an almanac for 1982 A15 Russell Baker: pain's greatest moments A15 Harold H. Saunders: the United States and Israel A15 Zygmunt Nagorski: counterrevo- lution A15 Daniel Schorr: what Brezhnev might have told Reagan A15

West Germany's continuing official attitude on Poland is that the situation there remains too fragmented and uncertain for the West to draw conclusions about the country's fate and how to deal with it. This reserved position in Bonn - praised last week in a commentary by the Soviet press agency Novosti - is the basis for West Germany's resistance to the sanctions against the Polish military regime and the Soviet Union and its skepticism about the effectiveness of any such measures. The assertion here that the Polish situation lacks clarity permits a form of argumentation that has an appearance of logic: Since there is no definitive picture of what is taking place in the country, differing interpretations of the available information are possible, and the varying analyses recommend caution. Reagan Move Causes Discomfort This afternoon the West Germans received a list of the sanctions President Reagan was planning to announce concerning the Soviet Union, and they reacted with palpable discomfort. An official, hunting for a diplomatic turn of phrase before the Government's line was drawn up, spoke of the measures as ''creating difficulties'' and being ''difficult to comprehend in some respects.''

President Reagan has approved cuts of more than $30 billion in his projected budget for 1983. Even so, the Office of Management and Budget estimated in a memorandum, there will be a deficit of about $110 billion unless taxes are raised. (Page A1.) The leading economic indicators for November fell just 0.3 percent, a smaller drop than in past months, the Commerce Department reported. The new figure was seen as evidence that the recession is approaching its low point. (D1.)

Lewis E. Lehrman has been promised the Conservative Party nomination for Governor of New York, party leaders said yesterday, even if it would mean splitting the right-of-center opposition against the Democrats. Mr. Lehrman, a wealthy businessman who is one of half a dozen declared candidates for the Republican nomination, said he expected to win both party lines. ''Conservative leaders have told me you need both lines to get elected, and I agree with them,'' he said. Edward V. Regan, the State Comptroller, claims support of at least half the votes for Governor at next year's Republican convention, which would confer automatic status as the party designee. But anyone with 25 percent of the votes can get on the primary ballot and any other party member can get on by circulating petitions.

By invoking a modest set of economic and political sanctions against the Soviet Union today with no guarantee that its allies will do the same, the Reagan Administration is consciously risking damage to the Western alliance without necessarily doing much to ameliorate the situation within Poland. Senior Administration officials involved in the policy-making of the last two weeks assert that the United States had no choice but to take the gamble. To do nothing, or to wait indefinitely for a concerted allied response, they say, would be morally repugnant and would show the West to be impotent. They assert, moreover, that there is still a possibility, however slim, that if the alliance does demonstrate it is truly angered by the crackdown in Poland, the authorities in Poland and in the Soviet Union might be persuaded to ease up on the repression sooner rather than later and to return to negotiations with the Solidarity union - which Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Polish leader, contends is his goal.

Poland has resumed limited payments of its commercial bank debt for the first time since the declaration of martial law on Dec. 13, West German and American bankers reported today. The bankers suggested that Poland sought to signal through the payments its willingness to comply with an agreement to pay $500 million in overdue interest to avoid being declared in default. But some German bankers cautioned against drawing the conclusion that the Poles would be able to complete payment of the $500 million in the next six weeks. They had originally promised to pay off the $500 million by Thursday.

New York Air, which has been challenging Eastern Airlines' New York-to-Washington shuttle with lower fares, said yesterday that rising costs have forced the small airline to raise its fares. Eastern also announced increases in its shuttle fares. Neil Meehan, president of New York Air, said in an interview that his one-year-old airline had established itself in the market and thus was in a position to increase its fares. He said that New York Air would try to maintain the new fare on the shuttle through all of next year.

International Key American economic sanctions against the Soviet Union were imposed by President Reagan, who spoke of Moscow's ''heavy and direct responsibility for the repression in Poland.'' Mr. Reagan ordered the suspension of high technology exports and a halt in negotiations for a new long-term grain export agreement and in Soviet air service to the United States. He also restricted access to American ports by Soviet ships and warned of further actions if the military crackdown in Poland. The Kremlin reacted angrily to the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the Reagan Administration. Soviet officials said that Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko had forcefully rejected American charges of Soviet involvement in the crackdown in Poland. They also said he had told the American Ambassador, Arthur A. Hartman, that Washington had instigated an attempt to overthrow Communist rule. (A6:5-6.) Lech Walesa has agreed to open talks with Poland's martial law government, according to sources there who are considered reliable. The informants, who have spoken with a relative of Mr. Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity trade union, confirmed that he had been on a two-day hunger strike, but said he ended the fast on Christmas Day when he decided to begin the negotiations. (A1:3.)

The embattled Nicaraguan revolution is a movement far from the political definitions that outsiders are still trying to force upon it. It is being run by a party apparatus that controls the nation's armed forces, but it also tolerates a level of political and press opposition that a police state would never allow. Run for 46 years by the Somoza family and before that by occupying United States Marines, it is a country with no political legacy. For better or worse, it is being governed for the first time by people who were not installed from the outside. In the last decade, it has endured an earthquake that leveled this capital and killed 10,000 people and a war that left 50,000 dead and damages estimated at $500 million.