Introduction: Grammar of names and grammar out of names

Abstract

In recent years, linguists have become increasingly interested in the grammatical behavior of proper names as compared to common nouns – from a theoretical perspective and in case studies, cross-linguistically and on individual languages (cf. e.g. Anderson 2007, Nübling 2012, Debus et al. 2014, Van Langendonck and Van de Velde 2016, Helmbrecht et al. 2017, Ackermann and Schlücker 2017, Ackermann 2018). Empirical findings from a wide range of languages suggest that distinctive lexical and grammatical structures of proper names may exist on all levels of grammatical analysis (see the comprehensive overview by Schlücker and Ackermann 2017). The special formal behavior of proper names has been grounded in their special functional status: Names are inherently definite, rigid designators used in direct reference, and monoreferent linguistic signs. Being monoreferent leads to an enlarged inventory of onymic items and to an increased load on processing and memorization. This explains tendencies of proper names to favor schema constancy/ gestalt preservation as observed for German (Nübling 2012, 2017; Ackermann 2018). Diachronically, names often develop from common noun material. Here, form may follow function in dissociation tendencies from the common noun source. It has been shown that name specific grammar may evolve diachronically in different ways: Selective deflexion in person names as observed in the diachrony of German is one of them (Nübling 2012, Ackermann 2018), another is the development of name-specific gender assignment and definiteness marking that distinguishes subclasses of proper names from their source and from each other (Nübling 2015). Mauri and Sansò (this volume) show different ways how associative plural constructions arise, which most often have a person name as their focal element. Pomino and Stark (this volume) discuss univerbation as a possible ingredient in the rise of onymic grammar from fossilized morphophonology.