Wiktionary:English proper nouns

Wiktionary classifies both nouns and noun phrases that are names of specific entities in Category:English proper nouns. In its part-of-speech headers and categorization, Wiktionary does not follow the distinction made by some linguists between proper noun and proper name. Linguists characterize words like Mary, Pat, and Smith as proper nouns. They are nouns of various derivations that have become specialized as components of proper names. Proper names are nouns or noun phrases that may (Pat Smith) or may not (White House) be made up of proper nouns.

Proper name with "the"

Some proper names ("weak" proper names) are only used with "the" (eg, the Thames (river, UK)), except when used attributively (eg, a Thames River barge). Some are optionally used with "the" (eg, Congo, the Congo). Proper nouns that are plural in form require "the" when used as a noun (eg, the Rockies, the Rocky Mountains, the Netherlands, the Bahamas).

Other uses of proper names

Proper nouns have several other uses.

1. To refer to a set of one or more bearers of a name.

   You don't mean the Queen Elizabeth, do you?

   How many Queen Elizabeths have occupied the throne of England?

   A Queen Elizabeth now reigns in Great Britain.

2. To designate a set of those who have some properties of one or more bearers of a name, which properties are salient to the context.

   England needs a Tudor on the throne.

   There will never be another Shakespeare.

   I don't want a beagle, I want a Lassie dog.

3. To refer to an aspect or manifestation of a bearer of a name.

   The play is a product of the mature Shakespeare

4. To denote products created by a bearer of a name, such as products of authorship.

   The company's repertoire includes the usual Shakespeares.

5. To refer to a copy, edition of a work bearing

   I just bought a first edition The American Language.

   Do you mean a first edition Mencken?

In these uses they lose many of the distinguishing characteristics of proper names.

Attributive use of proper names

As almost any English noun, proper nouns are often used attributively to form noun phrases (eg, a US Army helicopter, a "US Army Iroquois helicopter").

More rarely, a proper noun becomes so associated with a quality or characteristic that it is used attributively to denote the quality or characteristic. (eg, "And now they fear they may lose their Beverly Hills mansion and their Rolls Royce lifestyle.")

Characteristics of proper names

In English, proper names almost always begin with a capital letter. Further when a proper name is a noun phrase, any noun, adjective, verb, or adverb in the name is also capitalized. However, many other noun phrases and adjectives are also capitalized.

In English, proper names often have adjectives or common nouns that have identical spelling, including capitalization, and identical or nearly identical pronunciation.

The Chinese are a proud people. (weak proper name)

Chinese is a language with a great variety of spoken forms. (strong proper name)

Chinese construction techniques favor the use of bamboo scaffolding. ((proper) adjective)

Second-generation Chinese in the US often don't learn their parent's first language. (common noun)

A proper name is not a semantic predicate though it can be a grammatical one.

Proper names are rigid designators of what they name. That is, they have some degree of permanence. That permanence may be similar to the permanence of a definition of a word, arising from common acceptance (the White House, the Flatiron District, Jackie O). Or it may be imposed by institutional arrangements, such as birth certificates, national or international standardization, etc.

External links

• Names at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.