Exploring names in a wider context
Algeo, John “Is a theory of names possible?” Names 1985 Sept.; 33:3 (Sept 1985), 136-144
Abstract: Differentiates between ‘strong (i.e. scientific) theory and weak theory i.e. a view of the topic, and poses the question of whether a theory of names can ever belong to the former, plus 10 aspects that any theory should encompass
Algeo, John On defining the proper name University of Florida Press, 1973
Abstract: Only monograph published recently (post-Gardiner), devoted to the topic. Its emphasis is on grammatical and semantic issues, rather than the
philosophical ones.
Reviewed in :Foundations of Language 13:4, Nov 1975), 603-606.
Allerton, D.J. ‘The linguistic and sociolinguistic status of proper names : What are they,and who do they belong to?’ Journal of Pragmatics 11,(1987) 61-92
Abstract: a recent definitive article on what might constitute ‘a name’
Anderson, J.M. ‘On the grammatical status of names’ Language 80 (2004) 435-474
Anderson, J.M. ‘On the structure of names’ Folio Linguistica 37 (2003) 347-398
Carroll, J. M. “Toward a functional theory of names and naming” Linguistics 21:264 (1983),341-371
Abstract: A lucid overview of the issues raised by Mill, Frege and Kripke. He is a proponent of the thesis that names inherently have meaning.
______ What’s in a name? : an essay in the psychology of reference New York: W.H.Freeman, 1985
Carruthers, Peter ‘Understanding names’ Philosophical Quarterly, 33 (1983) 19-36.
Abstract: Lawson: Argues that proper names do not have sense, that there is a difference between opaque and transparent names.
Coates, Richard English proper names since 1776 : a theoretical and historical survey Brighton: University of Sussex School of Cognitive and Computing Science, 1990 (Cognitive science research paper -175)
Abstract: author abstract: "….a wide-ranging survey of strategies for creating proper names in English-speaking areas since 1776, and of changes in proper names during that period…."
Coates, Richard On the semantics of proper names Brighton: University of Sussex School of Cognitive Studies, 1988 (Cognitive science research paper -127 )
Abstract: author abstract: "An attempt is made to defend the notion that certain proper names, contrary to established doctrine, have SENSE; and to demolish, or at least refine very substantially, the doctrine that proper names are words for individuals. The problem of how to decide empirically what is and what is not a proper name is discussed."
____ ‘Properhood’ Language 82:2 (June 2006), 356-382
Dion, Kenneth “Names, identity, and self” Names 31:4 (Dec 1983), 245-257
The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics ; editor-in-chief: R.E. Asher. Oxford : Pergamon Press, 1994. – 0080359434
Note: entries on ‘Names and Descriptions’ pp2267-72,
and ‘Proper Names’ Vol 6 pp3372-3374
Frege, G . “Uber sinn und bedeutung” [on sense and reference] Reprinted in: Translations from the philosophical writings of Gottlob Frege Oxford: Blackwell, 56-78
Abstract: In response to Mill, Frege believed that a proper name had sense(s)
Gardiner, A The theory of proper names : a controversial essay 2nd ed., Oxford University Press,1954
Grodzinski, Eugeniusz “Proper nouns, common nouns and singular descriptions” Onoma 24 (1980) 10-15
Huddleston R. Introduction to the grammar of English (Cambridge, 1984), pp229-230
Hughes,Christopher Kripke: names, necessity, and identity Clarendon:University of Oxford Press, 2004
Abstract: publisher’s abstract: "Saul Kripke changed the face of metaphysics and philosophy of language. This title is a critical analysis of Kripke’s central ideas about names, necessity and identity, and in the process makes significant contributions to continuing debates about modality, essence, natural kinds and the relation between the mental and the physical."
Kolic-Vehovec, Svjetlana and Ljiljana Arar ‘Do we remember surnames as words? : In the search of the “Word-Word” Paradox’ Studia Psychologica 40:3 (1998),187-196
Kripke, Saul “Naming and necessity”, In: Semantics of natural language Dordrecht: Reidel(1972) 253-355. Republished separately as: Naming and necessity Blackwell, 1980
Abstract: Kripke argues that a proper name is a rigid designator because in every possible world and time, it has the same referent
Lyons, J Semantics Vol 1, Cambridge University Press,1977 pp174-229
Note: an important chapter on the distinction between sense and reference
Mates, Benson On the semantics of proper names Lisse:Peter de Ridder Press,1975 (PdR Press publications in semantics- 2)
Mill, John Stuart A system of logic ratiocinative and inductive Book 1: Of Names and Propositions. Chapter 2 – Of names Collected Works of John Stuart Mill- Vol VII
Abstract: Mill regarded proper names as labels, merely ‘unmeaning marks’. This is the start of a major theme of modern philosophy -namely, of identity-which will draw the attention of Frege, Russell, Kripke and Searle
Nelson, Mette ‘What are proper names and how do we identify them?’ Copenhagen Studies in Language, 23(1999), 83-103
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Are there connotative names” Names 26 (1978), 40-47
Abstract: Are place-names merely labels, or do they have resonances? Professor Nicolaisen introduces the idea ‘onomastic fields’, and gives evidence for this from 2 examples of multiple Scandinavian place-naming in Scotland that implies that the name-givers were drawing upon existing name-associations in their mental onomasticon
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Lexical and onomastic fields” In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences Cracow, 1978, 209-216
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Naming and abstraction” Publications of the North Central Name Society 1: 11-26 (1986)
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Nomen, noun and name: The lexical horns of an onomastic
dilemma”. In Studies in Medieval and Early Modern English ed. C Groningen: Wolters-Nordhoff (1985), 63-72
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Onomastic dialects” American Speech 55:1, (Spring 1980), 36-45
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Onomastic onomastics” in Proceedings of the Sixteenth ICOS Quebec, 1987
Abstract: A plea that names should be studied for themselves, and not as the adjunct of another discipline. “Names are more, much more than linguistic items, and that their non-linguistic aspects are not the proper domain of the linguist”
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Onomastics – an independent discipline?” Indiana Names 3 (1972), 14-21
Nicolaisen, W.F.H. “Words as names” Onoma 20 (1976), 142-163
Pamp, Bengt “Ten theses on proper names” Names 33:3 (Sept 1985), 111-118
Patton,Thomas E. ‘Proper names: possibility and culture’ in Language, mind and art: essays in appreciation and analysis, in honor of Paul Ziff edited by Dale Jameson. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, (1994) pp 39-53
Powell, George Names UCL MA dissertation, 1997
Abstract: An extremely readable and accessible overview of the main philosophical issues of naming and identity. I read this as the same time as Carroll (op cit) and found that the 2 together helped immensely in my understanding
Pulgram, Ernest Theory of names American Name Society, 1954
Sørensen, H.S The meaning of proper names Copenhagen: Gad, 1963
Abstract: Strongly defends the idea that names have, or may have sense, by limiting the distinction between the lexicon and the onomasticon. Concludes that proper names are “signs, just signs”
Utley, F.L. “The linguistic component of onomastics” Names 11(1963), 145-176
Note: a proponent of the viewpoint that names have sense
Van Langendonck, W. “On the theory of proper names” In: Proceedings of the 13th ICOS (1978), 63-78
Willems, Klaas “Form, meaning and reference in natural language : a phenomelogical account of proper names” Onoma 35 (2000), 85-119
Zabeeh, F. What is in a name? : an inquiry into the semantics and
pragmatics of proper names Martinus Nijhoff, 1968
Abstract: Lawson1: Reviews theories of logicians, Mill,Frege, Russell, and others; of linguiats, Gardiner, Sørensen and others. Offers a system of analyzing a name based on meaning, the bearer, unique properties in the bearer, and connotation of the name
Zelinsky, Wilbur “Slouching towards a theory of names : a tentative taxonomic fix” Names 50:4 (Dec 2002), 243-262
Ziff, Paul ‘About proper names’ Mind 86: 343 (July 1977) 319-332