December 30, 1981

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.''