Proper noun

"Proper name" redirects here. For more abstract semantic treatments, seeProper name (philosophy).

Aproper nounis anounthat identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (Africa;Jupiter;Sarah;Walmart)as distinguished from acommon noun,which is a noun that refers to aclassof entities (continent, planet, person, corporation) and may be used when referring to instances of a specific class (acontinent,anotherplanet,thesepersons,ourcorporation).Some proper nouns occur in plural form (optionally or exclusively), and then they refer togroupsof entities considered as unique (theHendersons,theEverglades,theAzores,thePleiades). Proper nouns can also occur in secondary applications, for example modifying nouns (theMozartexperience; hisAzoresadventure), or in the role of common nouns (he's noPavarotti;a few would-beNapoleons). The detailed definition of the term is problematic and, to an extent, governed by convention.

A distinction is normally made in current linguistics betweenproper nounsandproper names.By this strict distinction, because the termnounis used for a class of single words (tree,beauty), only single-word proper names are proper nouns:PeterandAfricaare both proper names and proper nouns; butPeter the GreatandSouth Africa,while they are proper names, are not proper nouns (though they could be said to function as propernoun phrases). The termcommon nameis not much used to contrast withproper name,but some linguists have used the term for that purpose. Sometimes proper names are called simplynames,but that term is often used more broadly. Words derived from proper names are sometimes calledproper adjectives(orproper adverbs,and so on), but not in mainstream linguistic theory. Not every noun or a noun phrase that refers to a unique entity is a proper name.Chastity,for instance, is a common noun, even if chastity is considered a unique abstract entity.

Few proper names have only one possible referent: there are many places namedNew Haven;Jupitermay refer to a planet, a god, a ship, a city in Florida, or a symphony; at least one person has been namedMata Hari,as well as a racehorse, several songs, several films, and other objects; there are towns and people namedToyota,as well as the company. In English, proper names in their primary application cannot normally be modified by articles or another determiner,although some may be taken to include the articlethe,as inthe Netherlands,the Roaring Forties,orthe Rolling Stones.A proper name may appear to have a descriptive meaning, even though it does not (the Rolling Stones are not stones and do not roll; a woman namedRoseis not a flower). If it once had a descriptive meaning, it may no longer be descriptive. For example, a location previously referred to as "the new town" may now have the proper nameNewtownthough it is no longer new and is now a city rather than a town.

In English and many other languages, proper names and words derived from them are associated with capitalization, but the details are complex and vary from language to language (Frenchlundi,Canada,un homme canadien,un Canadien;EnglishMonday,Canada,a Canadian man,a Canadian;Italianlunedì,Canada,un uomo canadese,un canadese). The study of proper names is sometimes calledonomasticsoronomatology,while a rigorous analysis of thesemanticsof proper names is a matter forphilosophy of language.

Occasionally, what would otherwise be regarded as a proper noun is used as a common noun, in which case a plural form and a determiner are possible. Examples are in cases ofellipsis(for instance,the three Kennedys=the three members of the Kennedy family) andmetaphor(for instance,the new Gandhi,likening a person to Mahatma Gandhi).

Proper names

Current linguistics makes a distinction betweenproper nounsandproper namesbut this distinction is not universally observedand sometimes it is observed but not rigorously.When the distinction is made, proper nouns are limited to single words only (possibly withthe), while proper names include all proper nouns (in their primary applications) as well asnoun phrasessuch asthe United Kingdom,North Carolina,Royal Air Force,andthe White House.Proper names can have a common noun or a proper noun as theirhead;the United Kingdom,for example, is a proper name with the common nounkingdomas its head, andNorth Carolinais headed by the proper nounCarolina.Especially as titles of works, but also as nicknames and the like, some proper names contain no noun and are not formed as noun phrases (the filmBeing There;Hi De Hoas a nickname forCab Callowayand as the title ofa filmabout him).

Proper names are also referred to (by linguists) asnaming expressions.Sometimes they are called simplynames;but that term is also used more broadly (as in "chairis the name for something we sit on "); the latter type of name is called acommon nameto distinguish it from aproper name.

Common nouns are frequently used as components of proper names. Some examples areagency,boulevard,city,day,andedition.In such cases the common noun may determine the kind of entity, and a modifier determines the unique entity itself. For example:

• The 16th robotic probe to land on the planet was assigned to study the north pole, and the 17th probe the south pole.

(common-noun senses throughout)

• When Probe 17 overflew the South Pole, it passed directly over the place where Captain Scott's expedition ended.

(in this sentence,Probe 17is the proper name of a vessel, andSouth Poleis a proper name referring to Earth's south pole)

• Sanjay lives on the beach road.

(the road that runs along the beach)

• Sanjay lives on Beach Road.

(as a proper name, Beach Road may have nothing to do with the beach; it may be any distance from the waterfront)

• My university has a school of medicine.

(no indication of the name of the university or its medical school)

• The John A. Burns School of Medicine is located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Proper nouns, and all proper names, differ from common nouns grammatically in English. They may take titles, such asMr HarrisorSenator Harris.Otherwise, they normally only take modifiers that add emotive coloring, such asold Mrs Fletcher, poor Charles,orhistoric York;in a formal style, this may includethe,as inthe inimitable Henry Higgins.They may also takethein the manner of common nouns in order to establish the context in which they are unique:the young Mr Hamilton(not the old one),the Dr Brown I know;or as proper nouns to define an aspect of the referent:the young Einstein(Einstein when he was young). Theindefinite articleamay similarly be used to establish a new referent:the column was written by a [orone] Mary Price.Proper names based on noun phrases differ grammatically from common noun phrases. They are fixed expressions, and cannot be modified internally:beautiful King's Collegeis acceptable, but notKing's famous College.

As with proper nouns, so with proper names more generally: they may only be unique within the appropriate context. For instance, India has a ministry of home affairs (a common-noun phrase) called the Ministry of Home Affairs (its proper name). Within the context of India, this identifies a unique organization. However, other countries may also have ministries of home affairs called "the Ministry of Home Affairs", but each refers to a unique object, so each is a proper name. Similarly, "Beach Road" is a unique road, though other towns may have their own roads named "Beach Road" as well. This is simply a matter of the pragmatics of naming, and of whether a naming convention provides identifiers that are unique; and this depends on the scope given by context.

Proper names and the definite article

Because they are used to refer to an individual entity, proper names are, by their nature, definite; so many regard adefinite articleas redundant, and personal names (likeJohn) are used without an article or other determiner. However, some proper names are usually used with the definite article. Grammarians divide over whether the definite article becomes part of the proper name in these cases, or is preceding the proper name.The Cambridge Grammar of the English Languageterms theseweak proper names,in contrast with the more typicalstrong proper names,which are normally used without an article.

Entities with proper names that use the definite article include geographical features (e.g.,the Mediterranean,the Thames), buildings (e.g.,the Parthenon), institutions (e.g.,the House of Commons), cities and districts (e.g.,The Hague,the Bronx), works of literature (e.g.,the Bible), newspapers and magazines (e.g.,The Times,The Economist,the New Statesman),and events (e.g.,the '45,the Holocaust). Plural proper names take the definite article. Such plural proper names include mountain ranges (e.g.,the Himalayas), and collections of islands (e.g.,the Hebrides).

However, if adjectives are used, they are placed after the definite article (e.g., "themightyYangtze "). When such proper nouns are grouped together, sometimes only a single definite article will be used at the head (e.g.,"theNile, Congo, and Niger "). And in certain contexts, it is grammatically permissible or even mandatory to drop the article.

The definite article is not used in the presence of preceding possessives (e.g., "Da Vinci'sMona Lisa ","ourUnited Kingdom "), demonstratives (e.g.," life intheseUnited States ","thatspectacular Alhambra "), interrogatives (e.g.,"whoseMediterranean: Rome's or Carthage's "), or words like" no "or" another "(e.g.," that dump isnoTaj Mahal "," neo-Nazis wantanotherHolocaust ").

An indefinite article phrase voids the use of the definite article (e.g., "arestored Sistine Chapel ","aPhilippines free from colonial masters ").

The definite article is omitted when such a proper noun is used attributively (e.g., "Hagueresidents are concerned... ","... eight pints ofThameswater... "). If a definite article is present, it is for the noun, not the attributive (e.g.,"theAmazonjungle","theBay of Pigsdebacle").

Vocativephrases that address a proper noun also cause the article to be dropped (e.g., "jumpthat shark, Fonz! ","OPacific, be so on our voyage "," Go Bears! "," U-S-A! U-S-A! ").

In grammatical constructs where a definite article would be used even with a proper noun that normally does not use it, only a single article is used (e.g., "theMatterhorn at Disneyland is nottheMatterhorn "). In a grouping, a single definite article at the head may be understood to cover for the others (e.g.,"theGermany of Hitler, British Empire of Churchill, United States of Roosevelt, and Soviet Union of Stalin ").

Headlines, which often simplify grammar for space or punchiness, frequently omit both definite and indefinite articles.

Maps will typically include definite articles in the title, but omit them from the map image itself (e.g., Maldives, Sahara, Arctic Ocean, Andes, Elbe); however, exceptions may be made (e.g., The Wash, The Gambia). It is also customary to drop the definite article in tables (e.g., a table of nations or territories with population, area, and economy, or a table of rivers by length).

Variants

Proper names often have a number of variants, for instance a formal variant (David,the United States of America) and an informal variant (Dave,the United States).

Capitalization

In languages that usealphabeticscripts and that distinguish lower and uppercase,there is usually an association between proper names andcapitalization.In German,all nounsare capitalized, but other words are also capitalized in proper names (not including composition titles), for instance:der Große Bär(the Great Bear,Ursa Major). For proper names, as for several other kinds of words and phrases, the details are complex, and vary sharply from language to language. For example, expressions for days of the week and months of the year are capitalized in English, but not in Spanish, French, Swedish, or Finnish, though they may be understood as proper names in all of these. Languages differ in whether most elements of multiword proper names are capitalized (American English hasHouse of Representatives,in whichlexical wordsare capitalized) or only the initial element (as in SlovenianDržavni zbor,"National Assembly" ). InCzech,multiword settlement names are capitalized throughout, but non-settlement names are only capitalized in the initial element, though with many exceptions.

History of capitalization

European alphabetic scripts only developed a distinction between upper case and lower case in medieval times so in the alphabetic scripts of ancient Greek and Latin proper names were not systematically marked. They are marked with modern capitalization, however, in many modern editions of ancient texts.

In past centuries,orthographicpractices in English varied widely. Capitalization was much less standardized than today. Documents from the 18th century show some writers capitalizing all nouns, and others capitalizing certain nouns based on varying ideas of their importance in the discussion. Historical documents from the early United States show some examples of this process: the end (but not the beginning) of theDeclaration of Independence(1776) and all of theConstitution(1787) show nearly all nouns capitalized; theBill of Rights(1789) capitalizes a few common nouns but not most of them; and theThirteenth Constitutional Amendment(1865) capitalizes only proper nouns.

InDanish,from the 17th century until the orthographic reform of 1948, all nouns were capitalized.

Modern English capitalization of proper nouns

In modernEnglish orthography,it is the norm for recognized proper names to be capitalized.The few clear exceptions includesummerandwinter(contrastJulyandChristmas). It is also standard that most capitalizing of common nouns is considered incorrect, except of course when the capitalization is simply a matter of text styling, as at the start of a sentence or in titles and other headings. SeeLetter case § Title case.

Although these rules have been standardized, there are enough gray areas that it can often be unclear both whether an item qualifies as a proper name and whether it should be capitalized: "theCuban missile crisis"is often capitalized ("Cuban Missile Crisis") and often not, regardless of its syntactic status or its function in discourse. Moststyle guidesgive decisive recommendations on capitalization, but not all of them go into detail on how to decide in these gray areas if words are proper nouns or not and should be capitalized or not.

Words or phrases that are neither proper nouns nor derived from proper nouns are often capitalized in present-day English:Dr,Baptist,Congregationalism,HisandHein reference to the Abrahamic deity (God). For some such words, capitalization is optional or dependent on context:northernerorNortherner;aboriginal treesbutAboriginal land rights in Australia.Whenthecomes at the start of a proper name, as inthe White House,it is not normally capitalized unless it is a formal part of a title (of a book, film, or other artistic creation, as inThe Keys to the Kingdom).

Nouns and noun phrases that are not proper may be uniformly capitalized to indicate that they are definitive and regimented in their application (compare brand names, discussed below). For example,Mountain Bluebirddoes not identify a unique individual, and it is not a proper name but a so-calledcommon name(somewhat misleadingly, because this is not intended as a contrast with the termproper name). Such capitalization indicates that the term is a conventional designation for exactly that species (Sialia currucoides),not for just any bluebird that happens to live in the mountains.

Words or phrases derived from proper names are generally capitalized, even when they are not themselves proper names. For example,Londoneris capitalized because it derives from the proper nameLondon,but it is not itself a proper name (it can be limited:the Londoner,some Londoners). Similarly,African,Africanize,andAfricanismare not proper names, but are capitalized becauseAfricais a proper name. Adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and derived common nouns that are capitalized (SwissinSwiss cheese;Anglicize;Calvinistically;Petrarchism) are sometimes loosely calledproper adjectives(and so on), but not in mainstream linguistics. Which of these items are capitalized may be merely conventional.Abrahamic,Buddhist,Hollywoodize,Freudianism,andReagonomicsare capitalized;quixotic,bowdlerize,mesmerism,andpasteurizationare not;aeolianandalpinismmay be capitalized or not.

Some words or somehomonyms(depending on how a body of study defines "word") have one meaning when capitalized and another when not. Sometimes the capitalized variant is a proper noun (theMoon;dedicated toGod;Smith's apprentice) and the other variant is not (the thirdmoonof Saturn; a Greekgod;thesmith's apprentice). Sometimes neither is a proper noun (aswedein the soup; aSwedewho came to see me). Such words that vary according tocaseare sometimes calledcapitonyms(although only rarely: this term is scarcely used in linguistic theory and does not appear in theOxford English Dictionary).

Brand names

In most alphabetic languages,brand namesand other commercial terms that are nouns or noun phrases are capitalized whether or not they count as proper names.Not all brand names are proper names, and not all proper names are brand names.

• Microsoftis a proper name, referring to a specific company. But ifMicrosoftis given a non-standard secondary application, in the role of a common noun, these usages are accepted: "TheMicrosoftsof this world ";" That's not theMicrosoftI know! ";" The company aspired to be anotherMicrosoft."
• Chevroletis similarly a proper name referring to a specific company. But unlikeMicrosoft,it is also used in the role of a common noun to refer to products of the named company: "He drove aChevrolet"(a particular vehicle);" TheChevroletsof the 1960s "(classes of vehicles). In these uses,Chevroletdoes not function as a proper name.
• Corvette(referring to a car produced by the company Chevrolet) is not a proper name:it can be pluralized (French and EnglishCorvettes); and it can take a definite article or otherdetermineror modifier: "theCorvette","laCorvette";"myCorvette","maCorvette";"another newCorvette","une autre nouvelleCorvette".Similarly,Chevrolet Corvetteis not a proper name: "We owned threeChevrolet Corvettes."It contrasts with the uncapitalizedcorvette,a kind of warship.

Alternative marking of proper names

In non-alphabetic scripts, proper names are sometimes marked by other means.

InEgyptian hieroglyphs,parts of a royal name were enclosed in acartouche:an oval with a line at one end.

InChinese script,aproper name mark(a kind ofunderline) has sometimes been used to indicate a proper name. In the standardPinyinsystem of romanization forMandarinChinese, capitalization is used to mark proper names,with some complexities because of different Chinese classifications of nominal types,and even different notions of such broad categories aswordandphrase.

Sanskritand other languages written in theDevanagariscript, along with many other languages using alphabetic orsyllabicscripts, do not distinguish upper and lower case and do not mark proper names systematically.

Acquisition and cognition

There is evidence from brain disorders such asaphasiathat proper names and common names are processed differently by the brain.

There also appear to be differences in language acquisition. Although Japanese does not distinguish overtly between common and proper nouns, two-year-old children learning Japanese distinguished between names for categories of object (equivalent to common names) and names of individuals (equivalent to proper names): When a previously unknown label was applied to an unfamiliar object, the children assumed that the label designated the class of object (i.e. they treated the label as the common name of that object), regardless of whether the object was inanimate or not. However,if the object already had an established name,there was a difference between inanimate objects and animals:

• for inanimate objects, the children tended to interpret the new label as a sub-class, but
• for animals they tended to interpret the label as a name for the individual animal (i.e. a proper name).

In English, children employ different strategies depending on the type of referent but also rely on syntactic cues, such as the presence or absence of the determiner "the" to differentiate between common and proper nouns when first learned.

See also

• Name
• Proper name (philosophy)

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External links

• Wikiversity: Proper name