ONOMASTICS ONLINE | Sambulo Ndlovu: The headedness of proper names

 

The lecture series Onomastics Online continued on 8 October 2026 with a lecture presented by Sambulo Ndlovu (University of Eswatini, Eswatini) with the title "The headness of proper names". Keywords: #noun #propernoun #propernames #headedness #identity Abstract: Proper names pose several challenges if analysed using noun phrase rules and configurations in generative grammar. The refined definite reference in them marks the biggest difference with appellatives. This has resulted in several approaches to the structure of proper names in syntactic theory. Payne and Huddleston (2002) analyse them into proper nouns and proper names which are lexical and phrasal categories respectively. Such an analysis identifies the proper noun as the head of a proper name phrase. However, this approach runs into problems in cases of multiple proper nouns in the same proper name and proper names with no proper noun. Others have opted to analyse them using the DP Hypothesis and make them nominal phrases that complement the D in the DP structure (Abbott, 2002; Carroll, 1985). This approach also runs into its own structural problems too. This lecture uses X-bar schema to propose a different structure on the headedness of proper names. It challenges the proper noun and determiner heads and proposes a neutral head for the proper name NPs. Onomastics Online (ICOS – International Council of Onomastic Sciences) is a series of online lectures dealing with important timely topics related to names and naming. Presented by distinguished scholars from various academic backgrounds, the lectures demonstrate the importance and the multidisciplinary nature of onomastic research. To see the list of upcoming and past lectures, please visit our webpage at: https://icosweb.net/onomastics-online/. Previous lectures can be found on our YouTube channel:    / @theinternationalcouncilofo2460  . If you are interested in ICOS membership, please see the details here: https://icosweb.net/membership/member.... For updates and scholarly engagement, connect with us on any of our platforms: YOUTUBE    / @theinternationalcouncilofo2460   LINKEDIN   / 4081415   FACEBOOK   / icosweb   X https://x.com/ICOSnews