| Title: | Proper Nouns and the Prior Denomination Feature |
| Author: | Mihaela Miron-Fulea |
| Publication: | Analele Universității „Ovidius” din Constanța. Seria Filologie, XXII (2), p. 11-24 |
| p-ISSN: | 1223-7248 |
| Publisher: | Ovidius University Press |
| Place: | Constanța |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Abstract: | The goal of the present study is to demonstrate the theoretical pertinence of the concept of prior denomination feature in building an interpretation model for the semantic content of proper nouns. The author opts for a contrastive analytical approach focused on a critical examination of theory proposed by Kleiber (1994), according to which the denomination is not an essential property except for modified PNs, but not for unmodified ones as well. The immediate consequence: a non- unitary treatment of PNs, by correlating the dichotomy modified PN / unmodified PN with the dichotomy descriptive denominative meaning (truth-conditional) / denominative instructional meaning (non- truth-conditional). By contrast, the author proposes a unitary approach of the meaning of proper nouns, projected at the level of language as a collection of pre-conditions of use. Thus, the proper noun (as a linguistic system unit and, implicitly, in the absence of any discourse use) is a nominal predicate which covers, in a non-vacuous, virtual and open referential class, individual (or discrete) occurrences conceived as particular entities endowed with the same denominative feature to be called /N/, acquired by virtue of a particular naming convention. The denominative feature, far from being non-essential, imposes itself as a pre-condition of use, to the extent that any discourse actualization of the modified or unmodified proper noun, in a referential or predicative position, will refer to the original performative naming act I call you /N/. In other words, the prior denomination presupposition is integrated in the semantic content of proper nouns. |
| Key words: | proper noun; prior denomination feature; descriptive meaning; instructional meaning; denominative meaning; nominal predicate; modified proper noun; unmodified proper noun; referential position; predicative position |
| Language: | English |
| Links: |  pdf  html |
Citations to this publication: 1
| 1 | Florin Sterian | Bibliografia românească de lingvistică (BRL, 55, 2012). Lucrări de lingvistică apărute în țara noastră în cursul anului 2012 | LR, LXII (3), 271-408 | 2013 | pdf html |
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