Quasi-proper names, linguistic use, and contextuality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12859810 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alessandro Capone (0000-0001-6584-9767, University of Messina, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 739-760 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Intercultural Pragmatics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1612-295X • E-ISSN: 1613-365X |
| Publisher | De Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/ip-2025-4006 |
| OpenAlex | W4416902090 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
In this paper, I discuss expressions such as ‘Dad’, ‘Mum’, ‘Grandpa’, etc., which are called ‘quasi-proper names’. These expressions can be used both to refer to a thing or person in an assertion in which a predicate is assigned to the referent expressed by the quasi-proper-name and to call somebody in particular (John!). In so far as they are indexical expressions, they are even more directly referential than proper names and guarantee discourse continuity to a greater extent than proper names (even if this appears to some to be controversial). To understand the working of quasi-proper names, I introduce a semantic rule that transforms nouns or definite descriptions into proper names and quasi-proper names, making the conceptual elements present in those expressions inactive and introducing a direct route from the proper name to the referent. Such a rule is synchronic, although it has diachronic consequences. Quasi-proper names can stimulate a debate about the function and role of proper names across cultures. I consider a number of expressions similar to quasi-proper names and I add the class of quasi-quasi-proper names (cases in which a term similar to a quasi-proper name can be used in vocatives but not in a subject-predicate structure, or, vice-versa, it can be used in a subject-predicate structure but not for vocatives)
Assertion · Determiner · Indexicality · Noun · Pragmatics · Predicate (mathematical logic · Predicative expression · Proper noun · Referent · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |