Quite often, students ask: “What is a common noun and a proper name?” Despite the simplicity of the question, not everyone knows the definition of these terms and the rules for writing such words. Let's figure it out. After all, in fact, everything is extremely simple and clear.
Common noun
The most significant layer of nouns consists of They denote the names of a class of objects or phenomena that have a number of characteristics by which they can be attributed to the specified class. For example, common nouns are: cat, table, corner, river, girl. They do not name a specific object or person or animal, but designate a whole class. Using these words, we mean any cat or dog, any table. Such nouns are written with a small letter.
In linguistics, common nouns are also called appellatives.
Proper name
Unlike common nouns, they constitute an insignificant layer of nouns. These words or phrases denote a specific and specific object that exists in a single copy. Proper names include names of people, names of animals, names of cities, rivers, streets, and countries. For example: Volga, Olga, Russia, Danube. They are always written with a capital letter and indicate a specific person or single object.
The science of onomastics deals with the study of proper names.
Onomastics
So, we have figured out what a common noun and a proper name are. Now let's talk about onomastics - the science that deals with the study of proper names. At the same time, not only names are considered, but also the history of their origin, how they changed over time.
Onomastologists identify several directions in this science. Thus, anthroponymy studies the names of people, and ethnonymy studies the names of peoples. Cosmonymics and astronomy study the names of stars and planets. Zoonymics studies animal names. Theonymics deals with the names of gods.
This is one of the most promising areas in linguistics. Research on onomastics is still being conducted, articles are being published, and conferences are being held.
Transition of common nouns into proper nouns and vice versa
A common noun and a proper noun can move from one group to another. Quite often it happens that a common noun becomes a proper one.
For example, if a person is called by a name that was previously part of the class of common nouns, it becomes a proper name. A striking example of such a transformation is the names Vera, Lyubov, Nadezhda. They used to be household names.
Surnames formed from common nouns also become anthroponyms. Thus, we can highlight the surnames Cat, Cabbage and many others.
As for proper names, they quite often move into another category. This often concerns people's last names. Many inventions bear the names of their authors; sometimes the names of scientists are assigned to the quantities or phenomena they discovered. So, we know the units of measurement ampere and newton.
The names of the heroes of the works can become household names. Thus, the names Don Quixote, Oblomov, Uncle Styopa became a designation for certain traits of appearance or character characteristic of people. First and last names historical figures and celebrities can also be used as household names, for example Schumacher and Napoleon.
In such cases, it is necessary to clarify what exactly the addresser means in order to avoid mistakes when writing the word. But often it is possible from the context. We think you understand what a common and proper name is. The examples we have given show this quite clearly.
Rules for writing proper names
As you know, all parts of speech are subject to spelling rules. Nouns - common and proper - were also no exception. Remember a few simple rules that will help you avoid making annoying mistakes in the future.
- Proper names are always written with a capital letter, for example: Ivan, Gogol, Catherine the Great.
- People's nicknames are also written with a capital letter, but without the use of quotation marks.
- Proper names used in the meaning of common nouns are written with a small letter: Don Quixote, Don Juan.
- If next to a proper name there are function words or generic names (cape, city), then they are written with a small letter: Volga River, Lake Baikal, Gorky Street.
- If a proper name is the name of a newspaper, cafe, book, then it is placed in quotation marks. In this case, the first word is written with a capital letter, the rest, if they do not refer to proper names, are written with a small letter: “The Master and Margarita”, “Russian Truth”.
- Common nouns are written with a small letter.
As you can see, quite simple rules. Many of them have been known to us since childhood.
Let's sum it up
All nouns are divided into two large classes - proper nouns and common nouns. There are much fewer of the former than the latter. Words can move from one class to another, acquiring a new meaning. Proper names are always written with a capital letter. Common nouns - with a small one.
A proper name is Name a noun expressed by the word or, naming a specific object or phenomenon. Unlike a common noun, which immediately denotes a whole object or phenomenon, Name own is intended for one, very specific object of this class. For example, "" is a common noun Name is a noun, whereas “War and Peace” is a proper noun. The word "river" represents Name a common noun, but “Cupid” is Name proper. Proper names can be names of people, patronymics, titles of books, songs, films, geographical names. Proper names are written with a capital letter. Some types of proper names require quotation marks. This applies to literary works ("Eugene Onegin"), paintings ("Mona Lisa"), films ("Only Old Men Go to Battle"), theaters ("Variety"), and other types of nouns. When translating proper names into other languages, transcription methods are used: Gogolya-street (Gogol Street), radio Mayak (Radio “Mayak”). Proper names are not specially distinguished. Proper names and common nouns are not separated from each other by an impenetrable wall. Proper names can turn into common nouns, and vice versa. For example, “avatar” was just a common noun until Avatar was made. Now this word, depending on the context, plays the role of a common noun or own name noun. “Schumacher” is the surname of a certain racing driver, but gradually all lovers of fast driving began to be called “Schumachers.” Trademarks that are unique producers of a certain type of product or simply monopolists can become common nouns from proper names. A striking example is the company Xerox, which produces electrophotographic copiers. This company still exists today, but “copiers” are now called all copiers in general.
Sources:
- how to write proper names
Tip 2: How to determine whether a proper name or a common noun
Nouns name objects, phenomena or concepts. These meanings are expressed using the categories of gender, number and case. All nouns belong to the groups of proper and common nouns. Proper nouns, which serve as names of individual objects, are contrasted with common nouns, which denote generalized names of homogeneous objects.
Instructions
To determine proper nouns, determine whether the name is an individual designation of an object, i.e. does it make it stand out? Name» an object from a number of similar ones (Moscow, Russia, Sidorov). Proper nouns name first and last names of persons and names of animals (Nekrasov, Pushok, Fru-fru); geographical and astronomical objects (America, Stockholm, Venus); , organizations, print media (Pravda newspaper, Spartak team, Eldorado store).
Proper names, as a rule, do not change in number and are used only in the singular (Voronezh) or only in the plural (Sokolniki). Please note that there are exceptions to this rule. Proper nouns are used in the plural form if they denote different persons and objects that have the same name (both Americas, namesake Petrovs); persons who are related (the Fedorov family). Also, proper nouns can be used in the plural form if they name a certain type of people, “selected” according to the qualitative characteristics of a famous literary character. Please note that in this meaning, nouns lose the sign of belonging to a group of individual objects, therefore both the use of capital and lowercase letter(Chichikovs, Famusovs, Pechorins).
A spelling feature that distinguishes proper nouns is the use of capital letters and. Moreover, all proper names are always letters, and the names of institutions, organizations, works, objects are used as appendices and are enclosed in quotation marks (the motor ship “Fedor Shalyapin”, Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”). The application may include any part of speech, but the first word is always capitalized (Daniel Defoe’s novel “The Life and Wonders of Robinson Crusoe the Sailor”).
The noun in Russian has various distinctive features. To show the peculiarities of the emergence and use of certain linguistic units, they are divided into common nouns and proper nouns.
Instructions
Common nouns are nouns that denote the name of certain objects and phenomena that have a common set of characteristics. These objects or phenomena belong to any class, but in themselves do not carry any special indications of this
it can be a geographical name, names celestial bodies, periodicals, person's name, surname, etc.
Nouns are divided into proper and common nouns according to their meaning. The very definitions of this part of speech have Old Slavonic roots.
The term “common noun” comes from “naming”, “criticism”, and is used for the general name of homogeneous, similar objects and phenomena, and “proper” means “feature”, an individual person or a single object. This naming distinguishes it from other objects of the same type.
For example, the common noun “river” defines all rivers, but the Dnieper and Yenisei are proper names. These are constant grammatical features of nouns.
What are proper names in Russian?
A proper name is the exclusive name of an object, phenomenon, person, different from others, standing out from other multiple concepts.
These are names and nicknames of people, names of countries, cities, rivers, seas, astronomical objects, historical events, holidays, books and magazines, names of animals.
Also, ships, enterprises, various institutions, product brands and much more that require a special name can have their own names. May consist of one or more words.
Spelling is determined by the following rule: all proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Vanya, Morozko, Moscow, Volga, Kremlin, Russia, Rus', Christmas, Battle of Kulikovo.
Names that have a conditional or symbolic meaning are enclosed in quotation marks. These are the names of books and various publications, organizations, companies, events, etc.
Compare: Bolshoi Theater, But the Sovremennik theater, the Don River and the novel Quiet Don, the play The Thunderstorm, the Pravda newspaper, the ship Admiral Nakhimov, the Lokomotiv stadium, the Bolshevichka factory, the Mikhailovskoye museum-reserve.
Please note: the same words, depending on the context, can be common nouns or proper words and are written according to the rules. Compare: bright sun and the star Sun, native earth and planet Earth.
Proper names, consisting of several words and denoting a single concept, are emphasized as one member of the sentence.
Let's look at an example: Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov wrote a poem that made him famous. This means that in this sentence the subject will be three words (first name, patronymic and last name).
Types and examples of proper nouns
Proper names are studied by the linguistic science of onomastics. This term is derived from an ancient Greek word and means “the art of naming”
This area of linguistics studies information about the name of a specific, individual object and identifies several types of names.
Anthroponyms are the names and surnames of historical figures, folklore or literary characters, famous and ordinary people, their nicknames or pseudonyms. For example: Abram Petrovich Hannibal, Ivan the Terrible, Lenin, Lefty, Judas, Koschey the Immortal.
Toponyms study the appearance of geographical names, names of cities, streets, which may reflect the specifics of the landscape, historical events, religious motives, lexical features of the indigenous population, and economic characteristics. For example: Rostov-on-Don, Kulikovo Field, Sergiev Posad, Magnitogorsk, Strait of Magellan, Yaroslavl, Black Sea, Volkhonka, Red Square, etc.
Astronims and cosmonyms analyze the appearance of the names of celestial bodies, constellations, and galaxies. Examples: Earth, Mars, Venus, Comet Halley, Stozhary, Ursa Major, Milky Way .
There are other sections in onomastics that study the names of deities and mythological heroes, the names of nationalities, the names of animals, etc., which help to understand their origin.
Common noun - what is it?
These nouns name any concept from many similar ones. They have lexical meaning, that is, informativeness, in contrast to proper names, which do not have such a property and only name, but do not express the concept, do not reveal its properties.
The name doesn't tell us anything Sasha, it only identifies specific person. In the phrase girl Sasha, we find out age and gender.
Examples of common nouns
All the realities of the world around us are called common names. These are words that express specific concepts: people, animals, natural phenomena, objects, etc.
Examples: doctor, student, dog, sparrow, thunderstorm, tree, bus, cactus.
Can denote abstract entities, qualities, states or characteristics:courage, understanding, fear, danger, peace, power.
How to determine proper or common noun
A common noun can be distinguished by its meaning, since it names an object or phenomenon related to the homogeneous, and by its grammatical feature, because it can vary in numbers ( year - years, person - people, cat - cats).
But many nouns (collective, abstract, real) do not have a plural form ( childhood, darkness, oil, inspiration) or singular ( frost, weekdays, darkness). Common nouns are written with a small letter.
Proper nouns are the distinctive names of individual objects. They can only be used in a single or plural (Moscow, Cheryomushki, Baikal, Catherine II).
But if different persons or objects are named, they can be used in the plural ( Ivanov family, both Americas). Written with capital letter, if necessary in quotation marks.
Worth noting: There is a constant exchange between proper and common nouns; they tend to move into the opposite category. Common words faith, hope, love became proper names in the Russian language.
Many borrowed names were also originally common nouns. For example, Peter – “stone” (Greek), Victor – “winner” (Latin), Sophia – “wisdom” (Greek).
Often in history, proper names become common nouns: hooligan ( English family Houlihan of ill repute), Volt (physicist Alessandro Volta), Colt (inventor Samuel Colt). Literary characters can become household names: Donquixote, Judas, Plyushkin.
Toponyms gave names to many objects. For example: cashmere fabric (Kashmir Valley of Hindustan), cognac (province in France). At the same time animate name the proper becomes an inanimate common noun.
And vice versa, it happens that generic concepts become non-common: Lefty, cat Fluffy, Signor Tomato.
The use of terminology in defining parts of speech and their varieties is common among philologists. For common man Often all sorts of sophisticated names seem like something unclear and complex. Many schoolchildren are unable to understand abstract terms denoting types of parts of speech, and they turn to their parents for help. Adults have to look again at textbooks or search for information on the Internet.
Today we will try to talk in simple and understandable Russian about what proper and common nouns are, how they differ, how to find them and use them correctly in speech and text.
What part of speech?
Before determining the part of speech in Russian, you need to correctly ask a question about the word and determine what it means. If the word you chose matches the questions “who?” or “what?”, but it denotes an object, then it is a noun. This simple truth is easily learned even by schoolchildren, and many adults remember it. But the question of whether the noun in front of you is a proper or a common noun can already confuse a person. Let's try to figure out what these linguistic definitions mean.
The answer is in meaning
All words belonging to the part of speech we are considering are divided into several types and categories according to different criteria. One of the classifications is the division into proper and common nouns. It is not so difficult to distinguish them, you just need to understand the meaning of the word. If an individual specific person or some single object is called, then it is proper, and if the meaning of the word indicates common name many similar objects, persons or phenomena, then this is a common noun.
Let's explain this with examples. The word "Alexandra" is proper because it denotes a name individual person. The words “girl, girl, woman” are common nouns because they represent a general name for all female persons. The difference becomes clear, and it lies in the meaning.
Names and nicknames
It is customary to classify several groups of words as proper nouns.
The first consists of the person’s first name, patronymic and last name, as well as his nickname or pseudonym. This also includes cat, dog and other animal names. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov, Murka, Pushinka, Sharik, Druzhok - these names distinguish one specific creature from others of their own kind. If we select a common noun for the same objects, we can say: poet, cat, dog.
Names on the map
The second group of words consists of names of various geographical objects. Let's give examples: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Washington, Neva, Volga, Rhine, Russia, France, Norway, Europe, Africa, Australia. For comparison, we also give a common noun corresponding to the given names: city, river, country, continent.
Space objects
The third group includes various astronomical names. These are, for example, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, Solar System, Milky Way. Each of the given names is a proper name, and you can choose a common noun generalized in meaning to it. Examples of named objects correspond to the words planet, galaxy.
Names and brands
Another group of words that belong to proper ones are various names anything - shops, cafes, literary works, paintings, magazines, newspapers and so on. In the phrase “Magnit store,” the first is a common noun, and the second is a proper noun. Let's give more similar examples: the "Chocolate Girl" cafe, the novel "War and Peace", the painting "Water", the magazine "Murzilka", the newspaper "Arguments and Facts", the sailing ship "Sedov", the Babaevsky plant, gas stove“Hephaestus”, “Consultant Plus” system, “Chardonnay” wine, “Napoleon” cake, “United Russia” party, “Nika” award, “Alenka” chocolate, “Ruslan” airplane.
Spelling features
Since proper names indicate a specific individual object, distinguishing it from all other similar ones, they also stand out in writing - they are written with a capital letter. Children learn this at the very beginning of their schooling: surnames, first names, patronymics, designations on the map, animal names, and other names of something are written with a capital letter. Examples: Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Vanka, Ivan Kalita, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Novgorod, Angara, Cyprus, Turkey, Australia, Zhuchka, Pushok, Murzik.
There is another feature of writing proper nouns, it concerns the names of factories, firms, enterprises, ships, periodicals (newspapers and magazines), works of art and literature, feature films, documentaries and other films, performances, cars, drinks, cigarettes and other similar things. words Such names are not only written with a capital letter, but also enclosed in quotation marks. In philological science they are called by their proper names. Examples: Niva car, Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, Mayak radio, poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, Chanel perfume, Za Rulem magazine, Troika cigarettes, Fanta drink, Prosveshchenie publishing house , Abba group, Kinotavr festival.
A proper noun begins with a capital letter, and a common noun begins with a lowercase letter. This simple rule often helps a person in determining spelling standards. This rule is easy to remember, but sometimes there are difficulties. As you know, the Russian language is rich in its exceptions to every rule. IN school curriculum such complex cases are not included, and therefore in the assignments of the Russian language textbook, even junior schoolchildren can easily determine by the first letter in a word whether the noun before them is proper or common.
Conversion of a proper name into a common noun and vice versa
As noted above, a common noun is a generalized name for something. But the Russian language is a living, changing system, and sometimes various transformations and changes occur in it: sometimes common nouns become proper nouns. For example: earth - land, Earth - planet solar system. Universal human values, designated by the common nouns love, faith and hope, have long become female names- Faith, Hope, Love. In the same way, some animal nicknames and other names arise: Ball, Snowball, etc.
The reverse process also occurs in the Russian language, when proper nouns become common nouns. Thus, the unit was named after the Italian physicist Volta electrical voltage- volt. Master's name musical instruments Sax has become the common noun "saxophone". The Dutch city of Bruges gave its name to the word "trousers". The names of the great gunsmiths - Mauser, Colt, Nagan - became the names of pistols. And there are many such examples in the language.
