Proper noun (contact)

Translations

nome proprio | nom propre | Eigenname

Article

In contact scenarios, proper names represent a special subset of nominals that exhibit special behaviors when compared to the open class of nouns. Proper nouns, with special reference to ancient languages, can be divided in a few main categories:

• geographical names, or toponyms, including names of towns, regions, polities, landscape markers;
• personal names, or anthoponyms;
• divine names, or theonyms

Their peculiarity depends on the possible conservative resistance towards sound change (especially for toponyms and theonyms) and on their general resistance towards translation, which triggers processes that help highlight the tendencies for adaptation of foreign phonetics.

Example

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