Proper names in communication

Abstract

It has long been observed that, although proper names are mainly used to identify individuals uniquely in our universe of discourse, and therefore have a clearly referential function, they are also used connotatively, when, for example, they stand as a shorthand for whatever characteristics a specific individual may at one time have been associated with. These two uses can be illustrated in the following sentences: (1) Judas was Jesus Christ's disciple who betrayed Him. (2) Every great man nowadays has his disciples, but it is always Judas who writes the biography (Jespersen, 1965: 66).

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