On Semantic Extension of Personal Names
Qi Feng · Journal of Jiangxi Institute of Education · 2011
Proper names and common names fall into different grammatical categories.It is generally believed that,unlike common names,proper names seem to have only denotations,but not connotations.However,such a distinction is not always valid,as a proper name could be used as a common name in certain contexts.In this paper,a number of personal names are analyzed to show their well-defined connotations based on the most prominent personal features they represent.In fact,a few common names have been evolved from proper names.Such semantic extension is made possible by widely accepted personal features as well as cultural facilitation.