Variable D-marking on proper naming expressions

A typological study

Bibliographic Data

ID21463179
AuthorsIker Salaberri (0000-0003-3859-4011, University of the Basque Country , Basque Autonomous Community , Paseo de la Universidad 5 , Vitoria-Gasteiz , 01006 , Spain, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume54
Issue3
Pages551-580
Publication date2020-09-25
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0165-4004 • E-ISSN: 1614-7308
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/flin-2020-2040
OpenAlexW3135622489
LanguageEN
References cited33

Recent studies have argued that proper naming expressions cross-linguistically display distinct morphosyntactic behavior, i.e., naming-specific marking for case, definiteness, number and gender, among other categories. This study aims to contribute to the discussion by analyzing the marking of definiteness and specificity (D-marking) on naming expressions and common nouns from a comparative perspective, drawing on a sample of 50 areally, genetically and typologically diverse languages. The results present little support for D-marking being part of a cross-linguistically special onymic grammar: rather, the data suggest that there are different ways in which splits between common nouns and proper naming or between naming classes can materialize. Moreover, it is argued that the variability in D-marking of naming expressions correlates not just with animacy but with other semantic features as well, only some of which are integrated into the Animacy Hierarchy, including agentivity, individuation, identifiability and augmentation

Animacy · Cognition · Cognitive grammar · Comparative linguistics · Definiteness · Grammar · Hierarchy · Individuation · Linguistics · Noun · Sociology · Computer Science · Language and cultural evolution · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence

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