The polysemy of proper names Kijania-Placek, Katarzyna
Philosophical studies,
11/2023, Volume:
180, Issue:
10-11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Proper names are usually considered devices of singular reference but, when considered as word-types, they also exhibit other kinds of uses. In this paper I intend to show that systematic kinds of ...uses of proper names considered as word-types can be accounted for by a generalized rule-based conception of systematic polysemy, one which not only postulates a multiplicity of stable senses for an expression, but also a multiplicity of content generating rules, each of which determines potentially different contents in different contexts. In contrast to the currently extant polysemous conceptions of proper names (Leckie in Philos Stud 165:1139–1160, 2013), which only encompass individual and predicative uses, the presented proposal concerns all systematic uses of proper names considered in the literature, i.e., individual, predicative, deferred, descriptive, anaphoric, and bound uses of proper names. The resulting conception accommodates referential intuition about the default individual uses of proper names while also admitting other kinds of uses without generating homonymy. It transpires that proper names are semantically underdetermined and context-sensitive expressions.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This article analyses the Polish pronoun ten (‘this’) located next to proper names in contexts such as ten Martynowski, ten Marek, ten Gdańsk, ten Giewont. Due to its occurrence in immediately next ...to two expressions which primarily function as exponents of specific reference, one can put forward a hypothesis that the investigated pronoun is not applied in its referential function in this type of settngs. Thus, it ceases to be a demonstrative pronoun, and assumes linguistic properties other than its basic ones. The aim of this study is to determine the linguistic nature of such occurrences of ten, also in reference to the thesis prevailing in the relevant literature, which, among other aspects, concerns the expressive value of such applications of the pronoun. The combinations of ten with proper names selected for analysis will be juxtaposed with non-obligatory occurrences of this pronoun next to nouns (as, for example, in the sentence: Na tym wczorajszym indyku można sobie było zęby połamać (You could break your teeth on that turkey yesterday).
This theoretical paper gives an overview about how proper names and different name types exist in the mental system, also showing new solutions provided by the cognitive perspective in connection ...with old questions of name theory. Cognitive onomastics is a relatively new approach to the study of proper names based on a cognitive approach to language. In this framework, names as linguistic elements are parts of the cognitive system, thus mental representation and usage of proper names can be described by general cognitive processes. The overview of topics and directions of cognitive onomastic research shows that studying names and naming in a cognitive framework has a lot of potential. Providing further evidence of the advantages of the cognitive approach, the paper discusses two controversial issues of name theory. First, the meaning of proper names is addressed from a cognitive perspective, pointing out the complex meaning matrix of this word class; then the categorization of proper names is discussed, i.e., how the networks and subnetworks of names emerge within the mental lexicon.
This paper analyses the morphosyntactic boundaries of proper names in English from the standpoint of the semantics of syntax (form-meaning relations). Typographic, morphological and syntactic ...properties of proper names are found to be iconically connected and lead to a renewed description of proper names as nominals – rather than simple nouns or noun phrases, as traditional descriptions would have them be. Proper nominals (proper names as syntactic nominals) integrate potentially marginal units into the nominal domain via a twofold process: 1) they showcase their formal and linguistic singularity while 2) imitating the morphosyntactic behaviour of common nouns. This analysis relies on the English common corpus, though examples from the French corpus are also used as most of the analysis remains valid in the French language.
This article explores oronyms, proper nouns that designates parts of the relief, as a sub-category of toponyms within proper names. Beyond research works in the fields of historical linguistics and ...onomastics, few publications in linguistics have been specifically dedicated to toponyms. This sub-category of proper names itself is diverse and the present study focuses on oronyms. We first explain the specificities of oronyms due to their formal characteristics and their instable referent in a continuous geophysical space. We then explore how this type of proper names comes into being. This process, that we call toponymation, begins when a new relief proper name is proposed until it is commonly used in language and on maps. Along this long and complex process, we describe the numerous hesitations, mistakes and double naming occurrences before an oronym is stable and accepted. This will allow us to define the necessary conditions for the naming of relief.
According to traditional grammar, the question regarding proper nouns is simple: they can be separated into personal names and place names, an additional category is sometimes added, and they are ...opposed to common nouns on a certain number of criteria (absence of a determiner, the initial is written with a capital letter, etc.). However, as soon as we are confronted with authentic corpora, this simplicity is shattered: the category of proper nouns is much more heterogeneous than we usually think it is and the criteria generally used to define them sometimes become obsolete. We will try to classify the series of terms that have been proposed for analysis, either as proper nouns or as common nouns, with the help of the notion of norms and the linguistic context, as a new definition, different from the one that can be found in grammars, is necessary.
The article is an attempt to employ the lexical-semantic reconstruction by Professor Vincent Blanár, whose 100th birthday the authors commemorate, to help us understand the cultural legacy of the ...past. The core of the text is a retrospective view of the names of areas with occurrence of Pre-Slavic material culture and an attempt to identify the motivating lexical units of the oronyms
and their derivatives from the territory of today’s Slovakia by means of interconnected knowledge from the fields of linguistics and archaeology. Proper names such as
occurred as late as in Slavic cultural and linguistic environment; however, material evidence at places with such names suggests presence of an older culture, i. e., settlement by population of a different cultural, social or linguistic provenance. In this study, the lexical-semantic reconstruction of the common noun
in its original meaning as the motivating linguistic unit for oronyms such as
and their derivatives is reflected in the mirror of archaeological research. In connection with the sites named
in the regions of Gemer, Malohont, Novohrad or Hont in the south of Central Slovakia, the authors state that from the aspect of archaeology, they are at least remarkable places of the cultural landscape in which we can expect finds from various stages of prehistory and protohistory. The authors also emphasize that in the studied cases, this is not an absolute rule; it is rather a distinct signal of occurrence of archaeological finds.
There is consideration by most parents in giving proper names for their childrensuch as for expectation or praying. They use language varieties in supportingtheir expectations. This study ...Psychosociosemantically aims to elaborate propernames of IAIN (The State Islamic Institute) Surakarta. The problems of this studyare how are Psychosociosemantically the comprehension and reasons of givingthe proper names? And how are the formation of proper names? The method is a descriptive qualitative study. The writer conducts some descriptions in collecting the data, analyzing the data and getting some conclusions. The result of thestudy informs that in creating the proper names especially for students of IAINSurakarta, there is certain expectation and reason. Proper name is adopted fromthe name of certain people or character and created from certain event. Besides, itis also created from certain time (temporal) and certain place (spatial). The writerconcludes also that proper names are inspired from literary works title (especiallysongs title), kinds of profession, birth sequence, certain word formation, andfamily names. The forming of IAIN Students’ proper name is based on many ways,such as: formed from parents name combination, formed from father’s name,formed from mother’s name and formed from specific acronym.
There is consideration by most parents in giving proper names for their children such as for expectation or praying. They use language varieties in supporting their expectations. This study ...Psychosociosemantically aims to elaborate proper names of IAIN (The State Islamic Institute) Surakarta. The problems of this study are how are Psychosociosemantically the comprehension and reasons of giving the proper names? And how are the formation of proper names? The method is a descriptive qualitative study. The writer conducts some descriptions in collecting the data, analyzing the data and getting some conclusions. The result of the study informs that in creating the proper names especially for students of IAIN Surakarta, there is certain expectation and reason. Proper name is adopted from the name of certain people or character and created from certain event. Besides, it is also created from certain time (temporal) and certain place (spatial). The writer concludes also that proper names are inspired from literary works title (especially songs title), kinds of profession, birth sequence, certain word formation, and family names. The forming of IAIN Students’ proper name is based on many ways, such as: formed from parents name combination, formed from father’s name, formed from mother’s name and formed from specific acronym.
The concepts of proper names and realias, as well as the differentiation of these terms based on the novel A Week in December by S. Faulks are considered in this article. Classifications of onomastic ...realias are given.
Purpose. Differentiation of the concepts of onym and realia, consideration of the types of onomastic realias according to the classifications of S. Vlakhov and S. Florin, V.V. Vinogradov, G.D. Tomakhin.
Materials and methods. The research material comprises the novel A Week in December by S. Faulks and its translation into Russian, made by S.B. Ilyin. Method of theoretical analysis, descriptive and comparative methods were chosen as methods of scientific research.
Results. The results of the study proved that not all proper names should be attributed to the realias. Since the main characteristic feature of the realias is a pronounced national component, only proper names that have a national coloring can belong to this group. This class of onyms usually includes anthroponyms and toponyms with a cultural component.
Practical implications. The results of the research can be used in further study of the issue of differentiation of the concepts of proper name and realia, as well as in the classification of these terms.
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