What is a proper name and. Noun

His definition is simple. Essentially, a common noun is a word that denotes people, animals, objects, abstract ideas and concepts. These do not include words meaning names of people, names of places, countries, cities, etc. These nouns are classified as proper nouns.

Thus, country is a common noun, and Russia is a proper name. Puma is the name of a wild animal, and in this case the noun puma is a common noun. And as the name of a well-known company that produces sportswear and shoes, Puma is a proper name.

Even in the first half of the last century, the word “apple” was unthinkable in the use of a proper name. It was used in its original meaning: that is, apple, fruit, fruit of the apple tree. Now Apple is both a proper noun and a common noun.

This happened after an unsuccessful three-month search by partners a suitable name for the company, when, in despair, the founder of the company Steve Jobs I decided to name it after my favorite fruit. The name has become a truly iconic American brand producing tablet computers, phones, and software.

Examples of common nouns

Finding examples of common nouns will not be difficult. Let's start with the everyday objects around us. Imagine: you wake up in the morning. What do you see when you open your eyes? Of course, an alarm clock. An alarm clock is an object that wakes us up in the morning, and from a linguistic point of view, it is a common noun. Leaving the house, you meet your neighbor. There are a lot of hurrying people on the street. You notice that the sky has frowned. Get on the bus and go to the office. Neighbor, people, sky, office, bus, street - common nouns

Types of common nouns

In Russian, common nouns are divided into 4 main types:

Specific concepts (people, animals, objects, plants). These are designations of objects/persons in the singular: student, neighbor, classmate, seller, driver, cat, puma, house, table, apple. Such nouns can be combined with
Abstract concepts. This is a type of noun with an abstract abstract meaning. They can refer to phenomena scientific concepts, characteristic, condition, quality: peace, war, friendship, suspicion, danger, kindness, relativity.
Real nouns. As the name suggests, these nouns denote substances. These may include medicinal products, food products, chemical elements, building materials, coal, petroleum, butter, aspirin, flour, sand, oxygen, silver.
Collective nouns. These nouns represent a collection of persons or objects that are united and belong to a certain conceptual category: midges, infantry, foliage, relatives, youth, people. Such nouns are usually used in the singular. Often combined with the words a lot (a little), a little: a lot of midges, a little youth. Some of them can be used as people - peoples.

Possessing a certain general set of characteristics, and naming objects or phenomena according to their belonging to such a class, but not themselves carrying any special indication of this class. A common noun in linguistics is usually the same as an appellative.

Common nouns are signs of linguistic concepts and are opposed to proper names. The transition of common nouns to proper names is accompanied by the loss of the name linguistic concept(for example, “Desna” from “desna” - “right”). Common nouns can be concrete (table), abstract or abstract (love), real or material (sugar), and collective (students).

A common noun can denote not only a class of objects, but also some individual object within this class. The latter happens when:

the individual characteristics of an object are not important. For example: “If you tease a dog, it may bite you” - “dog” refers to any dog, not any specific one.
in the situation described, there is only one item of this class. For example: “Meet me on the corner at noon” - the interlocutors know which corner will serve as the meeting place.
individual characteristics of an object are described by additional definitions. For example: “I remember the day I first set sail” - a specific day stands out among other days.

The boundary between common and proper nouns is not unshakable: common nouns can turn into proper names in the form of names, nicknames and nicknames (for example, the common noun “Kalita” in the form of the nickname of Prince Ivan Danilovich), and proper names - into common nouns, used for generalized designation of homogeneous objects. Proper names that have become common nouns are called eponyms (for example, “Aesculapius” - collective for all doctors, “Pelé” - for all football players, “Schumacher” - racing drivers, etc.)

Notes

Literature

Russian grammar. T. 1: Phonetics. Phonology. Emphasis. Intonation. Word formation. Morphology / N. Yu. Shvedova (chief editor). - M.: Nauka, 1980. - 25,000 copies.

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See what a “common noun” is in other dictionaries:

common noun- 1) Generalized name of homogeneous objects and concepts (for example: brother, lake, country, victory) 2) Name, title (usually of a literary character, historical figure, events, etc.), personifying which l. certain properties, quality, etc.... ... Dictionary of many expressions

See nomen actionis... Five-language dictionary of linguistic terms

The noun substantive), naming an object or phenomenon according to its belonging to a given category, that is, characterized by features that allow the identification of the category itself [i] (person, blonde, city, river, constellation, ship, book, ... ... Handbook of Etymology and Historical Lexicology

- (tracing paper from the Latin nomen proprium, which in turn is a tracing paper from the Greek ὄνομα κύριον), proper name is a noun denoting a word or phrase intended to name a specific, well-defined ... ... Wikipedia

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Name Personal name A name in jurisprudence is a sign that serves to distinguish one person from others. Name in grammar A noun is a part of speech characterized by the meaning of objectivity. A proper name is a word or phrase, ... ... Wikipedia

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common noun- This word (used in combination with a common noun) is a derivational calque from the Latin appellativum (nomen), which in turn is a calque from the Greek prosegorikon (onoma). The Latin appello means call, name... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Krylov

1) Common name nouns, adjectives and numerals, united by the grammatical category of case and thereby contrasted as significant parts of speech with the verb and adverb (a pronoun that in the past represented the wealthy class... ... Dictionary of linguistic terms

Wed. name, denomination, word by which one is called means an individual, a person. Name of the item, title; animal name, nickname; person's name. in fact, the name, according to the saint, is angelic, godfather and advert, which in old times was not announced; patronymic or hiv;… … Dictionary Dahl

In any language, the proper name occupies an important place. It appeared in ancient times, when people began to understand and differentiate objects, which required assigning them separate names. The designation of objects occurred based on its distinctive features or functions so that the name contains data about the subject in a symbolic or factual form. Over time, proper names have become a subject of interest in various areas: geography, literature, psychology, history and of course, linguistics.

The originality and meaningfulness of the phenomenon being studied led to the emergence of the science of proper names - onomastics.

A proper name is a noun that names an object or phenomenon in a specific sense, distinguishing it from other similar objects or phenomena, distinguishing them from a group of homogeneous concepts.

An important feature of this name is that it is associated with the named object and carries information about it without affecting the concept. They are written with capital letter, and sometimes the names are put in quotation marks (Mariinsky Theater, Peugeot car, play Romeo and Juliet).

Proper names, or onyms, are used in the singular or plural. The plural appears in cases where several objects have similar designations. For example, the Sidorov family, the namesake Ivanovs.

Functions of proper names

Proper names, as units of language, perform various functions:

Nominative- assigning names to objects or phenomena.
Identifying- selecting a specific item from a variety.
Differentiating- the difference between an object and similar objects within the same class.
Expressive-emotional function- expression of a positive or negative attitude towards the object of the nomination.
Communicative- nomination of a person, object or phenomenon during communication.
Deictic- an indication of an object at the moment of pronouncing its name.

Classification of onyms

Proper names in all their originality are divided into many types:

Anthroponyms - names of people:

name (Ivan, Alexey, Olga);
surname (Sidorov, Ivanov, Brezhnev);
patronymic (Viktorovich, Aleksandrovna);
nickname (Gray - for the name Sergei, Lame - based on external characteristics);
pseudonym (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin, Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili - Stalin).

2. Toponyms - geographical names:

oikonyms - populated areas (Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo);
hydronyms - rivers (Danube, Seine, Amazon);
oronyms - mountains (Alps, Andes, Carpathians);
horonyms - large spaces, countries, regions (Japan, Siberia).

3. Zoonyms - animal names (Murka, Sharik, Kesha).

4. Documentonyms - acts, laws (Archimedes' law, Peace Pact).

5. Other names:

television and radio programs (“ blue bird", "Time");
vehicles (“Titanic”, “Volga”);
periodicals (Cosmopolitan magazine, Times newspaper);
literary works (“War and Peace”, “Dowry”);
names of holidays (Easter, Christmas);
trademarks(“Pepsi”, “McDonald’s”);
organizations, enterprises, groups (Abba group, Bolshoi Theater);
natural disasters (Hurricane Jose).

Relationship between common nouns and proper nouns

When talking about a proper name, one cannot fail to mention the common noun. They are distinguished by object nominations.

Thus, a common noun, or appellative, names objects, persons or phenomena that have one or more common features and represent a separate category.

cat, river, country - a common noun;
cat Murka, Ob River, country Colombia - proper name.

The differences between proper names and common nouns are also of great interest in scientific circles. This issue was studied by such linguists as N.V. Podolskaya, A.V. Superanskaya, L.V. Shcherba, A.A. Ufimtseva, A.A. Reformatsky and many others. Researchers examine these phenomena from different angles, sometimes arriving at contradictory results. Despite this, specific features of onyms are identified:

Onims name objects within a class, while common nouns name the class itself.
A proper name is assigned to an individual object, and not to the set to which it belongs, despite common features, characteristic of this set.
The object of the nomination is always specifically defined.
Although both proper names and common nouns are connected by the framework of the nominative function, the former only name objects, while the latter also highlight the concept of them.
Onims are derived from appellatives.

Sometimes proper names can be converted into common nouns. The process of converting an onym into a common noun is called appellation, and reverse action- onymization.

Thanks to this, words are filled with new shades of meaning and expand the boundaries of their meaning. For example, the personal name of the creator of the pistol, S. Colt, has become a household name and is often used in speech to nominate this type. firearms.

As an example of appeal, one can cite the transition of the common noun “earth” in the meaning of “soil”, “land”, into the onym “Earth” - “planet”. Thus, using a common noun as the name of something, it can become an onym (revolution - Revolution Square).

In addition, the names of literary heroes often become household names. Thus, in honor of the hero of the work of the same name by I. A. Goncharov, Oblomov, the term “Oblomovism” arose, which denotes inactive behavior.

Translation Features

Particularly difficult is the translation of proper names, both into Russian and from Russian into foreign languages.

It is impossible to translate onyms based on semantic meaning . It is carried out using:

transcriptions (recording the translated Cyrillic alphabet while retaining the original sound series);
transliteration (correlating letters of the Russian language with foreign ones using a special table);
transpositions (when onyms differing in form have the same origin, for example, the name Mikhail in Russian, and Mikhailo in Ukrainian).

Transliteration is considered the least used method of translating onyms. They resort to it in the case of processing international documents and foreign passports.

Incorrect translation can lead to misinformation and misinterpretation of the meaning of what was said or written. When translating, you should adhere to several principles:

Use reference materials(encyclopedias, atlases, reference books) to clarify words;
Try to make a translation based on the most accurate possible pronunciation or meaning of the name;
Use the rules of transliteration and transcription to translate onyms from the source language.

To summarize, we can say that onyms are distinguished by their richness and diversity. The originality of types and an extensive system of functions characterize them, and therefore onomastics, as the most important branch of linguistic knowledge. Proper names enrich, fill, develop the Russian language, and support interest in learning it.

Since school, we remember the difference between a proper name and a common noun: the former is written with a capital letter! Masha, Rostov, Leo Tolstoy, Polkan, Danube - compare with a girl, a city, a count, a dog, a river. And only this? Perhaps Rosenthal's help will be needed to figure it out.

Proper name– a noun indicating a specific subject, person, animal, object in order to distinguish them from a number of homogeneous ones

Common noun– a noun that names a class, type, category of an object, action or state, without taking into account their individuality.

These categories of nouns are usually studied in the 5th grade, and schoolchildren remember once and for all that the difference between a proper name and a common noun is in the uppercase or lowercase letter at the beginning. It is enough for most to understand that first names, surnames, nicknames, names of topographical and astronomical objects, unique phenomena, as well as objects and objects of culture (including literary works) refer to their own. All the rest are household names, and there are much more of the latter.

Comparison

Proper names are always secondary and secondary, and not every object or subject requires their presence. For example, call natural phenomena, with the exception of typhoons and hurricanes of enormous destructive power, is not accepted and is not necessary. You can describe and specify your instructions by different means. So, speaking about a neighbor, you can say his name, or you can give a description: a teacher, in a red jacket, lives in apartment number 7, an athlete. It becomes clear who we are talking about. However, only proper nouns can unambiguously define individuality (there may be many teachers and athletes nearby, but Arkady Petrovich is alone), and their relationship with the object is closer. Common nouns denote concepts or categories.

Proper names are most often random, in no way connected with the characteristics of the object, and if they are connected (the cat Zlyuka, the river Bystrinka), it is very ambiguous: the cat can turn out to be good-natured, and the river can turn out to be slow-flowing. Common nouns name and describe an object; these nouns necessarily carry lexical information.

Only animate and inanimate objects that have significance for a person and require a personal approach are called by proper names. So, an ordinary person sees the stars at night, and an amateur astronomer, for example, sees the constellation Taurus; for the Minister of Education, schoolchildren are just schoolchildren, but for class teacher 3 “B” – Vasya Petrov, Petya Vasechkin, Masha Startseva.

We have already determined the difference between a proper name and a common noun from a semantic point of view. You can distinguish them grammatically using the form plural: the first ones are not used in such (Moscow, Lev Nikolaevich, dog Sharik). An exception is made for geographical names that do not have a singular number (Velikie Luki), as well as in the case of unification of persons based on kinship or belonging to a homogeneous group (the Karamazov brothers; all Peters are now birthday people; there are many Ivanovkas in Russia).

When processing foreign texts proper names are not translated, they are written either in practical transcription (preserving phonetics and as close as possible to the original) or in transliteration (the word is transferred character by character in accordance with international rules).

And, of course, lowercase letters for common nouns, uppercase letters for proper nouns. Have we already talked about this?