Abstract
A generally accepted view regarding proper names is that they have reference, but no lexical meaning (Lyons, 1977). This idea is the basis for the Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld & Mackenzie, 2008) view of proper names as primitives of the Interpersonal Level and the lexical head of Subacts of Reference. At the Representational Level, the entity is designated by an absent head, which captures the fact that proper names do not have a meaning. Although this approach accounts for the most prototypical use of proper names, it fails to explain a range of other uses. In addition to the referential use of non-modified proper names, this paper analyses other uses of proper names in Portuguese: modified proper names, metaphorical proper names, and proper names in naming constructions. The proposal presented here explains cases of restrictive modification and metaphorical uses of proper names as instances of reflexive language and coercion, respectively. As for proper names in naming constructions, they are considered to have a third, different, function, in addition to the vocative and referential use.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Times;panose-1:0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1342185562 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;mso-pagination:none;text-autospace:none;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-pagination:none;text-autospace:none;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}
Highlights
In the Portuguese grammar, Neves (2011, p. 106) defines proper names as “nomes específicos de pessoas, lugares, datas, festividades, marcas de produtos, livros, revistas, peças, associações, agremiações, órgãos ou repartições etc.” (‘specific names of people, places, dates, festivities, product brands, books, magazines, plays, associations, clubs, organizational bodies or offices, etc.’)
As shown in (3), at the Representational Level, the variable corresponding to the proper name lacks a lexical head, which means that the proper name does not have a Lexical Property, i.e., a unit that contains a description of the entity designated
As a case of reflexive language in which the speaker talks about a label at the Representational Level, the Lexical Deed is inserted as an argument of the predicate chamar (‘to call’). Note that this is slightly different from the analysis provided for restrictively modified proper names: while in (37) the Lexical Deed is the head of the Individual (x), which guarantees the possibility of pluralization and modification of the Individual, the names in predicates such as (54) cannot be pluralized or modified: (54) *minhas melhores amigas se chamam Marias
Summary
A generally accepted view regarding proper names is that they have reference, but no lexical meaning (Lyons, 1977) This idea is the basis for the Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld & Mackenzie, 2008) view of proper names as primitives of the Interpersonal Level and the lexical head of Subacts of Reference. At the Representational Level, the entity is designated by an absent head, which captures the fact that proper names do not have a meaning. This approach accounts for the most prototypical use of proper names, it fails to explain a range of other uses. As for proper names in naming constructions, they are considered to have a third, different, function, in addition to the vocative and referential use
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