He has a simple definition. In fact, a common noun is a word that denotes people, animals, objects, abstract ideas and concepts. They do not include words meaning names of people, names of places, countries, cities, etc. These nouns are of the type of proper names.

Thus, the country is a common noun, and Russia is a proper name. Puma is the name of a wild animal, and in this case the noun puma is a common noun. And as the name of a well-known company that produces sportswear and shoes, Puma is a proper name.

Back in the first half of the last century, the word "apple" was unthinkable in the use of a proper name. It was used in its original meaning: that is, apple, fruit, fruit apple tree. Now Apple is both a proper noun and a common noun.

This happened after an unsuccessful three-month search for partners suitable name for the company when, in desperation, the founder of the firm Steve Jobs I decided to name it after my favorite fruit. The name has become a truly iconic American brand that produces tablet computers, phones, software.

Picking up examples of common names is not difficult. Let's start with the household items around us. Imagine you wake up in the morning. What do you see when you open your eyes? Of course, an alarm clock. An alarm clock is an object that wakes us up in the morning, and from a linguistic point of view, it is a common noun. Leaving the house, you meet a neighbor. There are many hurrying people on the street. You notice that the sky has frowned. Get on the bus and go to the office. Neighbor, people, sky, office, bus, street - common nouns

Common noun types

In Russian, the common noun is divided into 4 main types:

1. Specific concepts (people, animals, objects, plants). These are designations of objects / persons in singular: student, neighbor, classmate, seller, driver, cat, cougar, house, table, apple. Such nouns can be combined with
2. abstract concepts. It is a type of nouns with abstract meaning. They can represent things scientific concepts, characteristic, state, quality: peace, war, friendship, suspicion, danger, kindness, relativity.
3. Real nouns. As the name implies, these nouns denote substances, substances. These may include medicinal products, food products, chemical elements, Construction Materials, coal, oil, oil, aspirin, flour, sand, oxygen, silver.
4. Collective nouns. These nouns are a collection of persons or objects that are in unity and belong to a certain conceptual category: midges, infantry, foliage, relatives, youth, people. Such nouns are usually used in the singular. Often combined with the words a lot (a little), a little: a lot of midges, few youth. Some of them can be used in the people - peoples.

As part of any language, a proper noun occupies important place. It appeared in ancient times, when people began to understand and differentiate objects, which required the assignment of separate names to them. The designation of objects took place based on its distinctive features or functions in order for the name to contain data about the subject in a symbolic or actual form. Over time, proper names have become a subject of interest in various fields: geography, literature, psychology, history and, of course, linguistics.

The originality and content of the phenomenon under study led to the emergence of the science of proper names - onomastics.

A proper name is a noun that names an object or phenomenon in a specific sense., distinguishing it from other objects or phenomena similar to it, highlighting them from a group of homogeneous concepts.

An important feature of this name is that it is associated with the called object, carries information about it, without affecting the concept. They are written with a capital letter, and sometimes the names are taken in quotation marks (Mariinsky Theatre, Peugeot car, Romeo and Juliet play).

Proper names, or onyms, are used in the singular or in plural. The plural appears in cases where several objects have similar designations. For example, the Sidorov family, namesakes Ivanov.

Functions of proper names

Proper names, as language units, perform various functions:

1. nominative- Assigning names to objects or phenomena.
2. Identifying- selection of a particular item from the set.
3. differentiating- the difference between an object and homogeneous objects within the same class.
4. Expressive-emotional function- Expression of a positive or negative attitude towards the object of the nomination.
5. Communicative- nomination of a person, object or phenomenon during communication.
6. Deictic- an indication of the subject, at the time of pronouncing its name.

Name classification

Proper names in all their originality are divided into many types:

1. Anthroponyms - names of people:

• name (Ivan, Alexey, Olga);
• surname (Sidorov, Ivanov, Brezhnev);
• patronymic (Viktorovich, Aleksandrovna);
• nickname (Grey - for the name Sergey, Lame - after outward sign);
• pseudonym (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin, Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili - Stalin).

2. Toponyms - geographical names:

• oikonyms - settlements (Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo);
• hydronyms - rivers (Danube, Seine, Amazon);
• oronyms - mountains (Alps, Andes, Carpathians);
• bury - large spaces, countries, regions (Japan, Siberia).

3. Zoonyms - nicknames of animals (Murka, Sharik, Kesha).

4. Documentonyms - acts, laws (the law of Archimedes, the Peace Pact).

5. Other names:

• television and radio programs (“Blue Bird”, “Time”);
• vehicles ("Titanic", "Volga");
• periodicals (Cosmopolitan magazine, The Times newspaper);
• literary works ("War and Peace", "Dowry");
• names of holidays (Easter, Christmas);
• trade marks("Pepsi", "McDonald's");
• organizations, enterprises, collectives (Abba group, Bolshoi Theatre);
• natural phenomena (hurricane Jose).

The relationship of common nouns with proper names

Speaking of a proper name, it is impossible not to mention a common noun. Distinguish them by object nominations.

So, a common noun, or appellative, names objects, persons or phenomena that have one or more common features and represent separate category.

• cat, river, country - a common noun;
• cat Murka, river Ob, country Colombia - a proper name.

The differences between proper names and common nouns are also of great interest in scientific circles. This issue was studied by such linguists as N. V. Podolskaya, A. V. Superanskaya, L. V. Shcherba, A. A. Ufimtseva, A. A. Reformatsky and many others. Researchers look at these phenomena different parties sometimes leading to contradictory results. Despite this, specific features of onyms are distinguished:

1. Onims name objects within a class, while common names- the class itself.
2. A proper name is assigned to a separate object, and not to the set to which it belongs, despite common features characteristic of this set.
3. The object of the nomination is always specifically defined.
4. Although both proper names and common nouns are connected within the framework of the nominative function, the former only name objects, while the latter also highlight the concept of them.
5. Onims are derived from appellatives.

Sometimes proper names can be converted into common nouns. The process of converting a onym into a common noun is called appellation, and the reverse action is called onymization..

Thanks to this, words are filled with new shades of meaning and push the boundaries of their meaning. For example, the own name of the creator of the pistol S. Colt has become a household name and often in speech "colt" is used to nominate this type firearms.

As an example of appellation, one can cite the transition of the common noun "earth" in the meaning of "soil", "land", into the name "Earth" - "planet". Thus, using a common noun as the name of something, it can become a onym (revolution - Revolution Square).

In addition, the names of literary heroes often become common nouns. So, in honor of the hero of the work of the same name by I. A. Goncharov, Oblomov, the term “Oblomovism” arose, which refers to inactive behavior.

Translation Features

Of particular difficulty is the translation of proper names, both into Russian and from Russian into foreign languages.

It is impossible to translate onyms based on meaning . It is carried out using:

• transcriptions (recording translated in Cyrillic with retention of the original sound sequence);
• transliteration (correlation of letters of the Russian language with foreign ones using a special table);
• transpositions (when onyms that differ in form have the same origin, for example, the name Mikhail in Russian, and Mikhailo in Ukrainian).

Transliteration is considered the least used way of translating names. It is resorted to in case of registration international documents, passports.

Incorrect translation can cause misinformation and misinterpretation of the meaning of what is said or written. When translating, several principles should be followed:

1. Use reference materials (encyclopedias, atlases, reference books) to clarify words;
2. Try to make a translation based on the most accurate version of the pronunciation or meaning of the name;
3. Use the rules of transliteration and transcription to translate onyms from the source language.

Summing up, we can say that onyms are rich and diverse. The peculiarity of types and an extensive system of functions characterize them, and consequently, onomastics, as the most important branch of linguistic knowledge. Proper names enrich, fill, develop the Russian language, support interest in its study.

The noun is one of the most important parts of speech both in Russian and in many other Indo languages. European languages. In most languages, nouns are divided into proper and common nouns. This division is very important because these categories have different rules spelling.

The study of nouns in Russian schools begins in the second grade. Already at this age, children are able to understand how proper names differ from common nouns.

Usually, students easily learn this material. The main thing is to choose interesting exercises, during which the rules are well remembered. In order to correctly distinguish between nouns, the child must be able to generalize and attribute familiar objects to a specific group (for example: “dishes”, “animals”, “toys”).

Own

To proper names in modern Russian Traditionally, it is customary to refer names and nicknames of people, nicknames of animals and geographical names.

Here typical examples:

A proper name can answer the question "who?" when it comes to people and animals, as well as the question "what?" when it comes to geographical names.

common nouns

Unlike proper names, common nouns do not denote the name of a particular person or the name of a particular settlement, but the generalized name of a large group of objects. Here are the classic examples:

• Boy, girl, man, woman;
• River, village, village, settlement, aul, kishlak, city, capital, country;
• Animal, insect, bird;
• Writer, poet, doctor, teacher.

Common nouns can answer both the question "who?" and the question "what?". Usually, in discrimination exercises, younger students are asked to choose suitable common noun to a group of proper names, for example:

You can build a task and vice versa: match proper nouns to common nouns.

1. What dog names do you know?
2. What are your favorite girls names?
3. What is the name of a cow?
4. What are the names of the villages you visited?

Such exercises help children quickly learn the difference. When students have learned to distinguish one noun from another quickly and correctly, you can proceed to the study of spelling rules. These rules are simple, and students elementary school absorb them well. For example, a simple and memorable rhyme can help the guys with this: “Names, surnames, nicknames, cities - everything is always written with a capital letter!”.

Spelling rules

In accordance with the rules of the modern Russian language, all proper names are written only with a capital letter. This rule is typical not only for Russian, but also for most other languages ​​of Eastern and Western Europe. Capital letter at the beginning names, surnames, nicknames and geographical names is used to emphasize respect for every person, animal, locality.

Common nouns, on the other hand, are written with a lowercase letter. However, there may be exceptions to this rule. This usually happens in fiction. For example, when Boris Zakhoder translated Alan Milne's Winnie the Pooh and All, All, All, the Russian writer deliberately used capital letters in writing some common nouns, for example: "Big Forest", "Great Expedition", "Farewell Evening". Zakhoder did this in order to emphasize the importance of certain phenomena and events for fairytale heroes.

This is often found both in Russian and in translated literature. Especially often such a phenomenon can be seen in adapted folklore - legends, fairy tales, epics. For example: “Magic Bird”, “Rejuvenating Apple”, “Dense Forest”, “ Grey Wolf».

In some languages, capitalization is capitalization- in the spelling of names can be used in different occasions. For example, in Russian and some European languages ​​(French, Spanish) it is traditional to write the names of months and days of the week with a small letter. However, in English language these common nouns are always written in capital letters only. Also, the spelling of common nouns with a capital letter is found in German.

When proper names become common nouns

In modern Russian, there are situations when proper names can become common nouns. This happens quite often. Here classic example. Zoilus is the name of an ancient Greek critic who was very skeptical of many works of contemporary art and frightened the authors with his caustic negative reviews. When antiquity faded into the past, his name was forgotten.

Once Pushkin noticed that literary critics perceived one of his works very ambiguously. And in one of his poems, he ironically called these critics "my zoiles", implying that they are bilious and caustic. Since then, the proper name "Zoil" has become a household name and is used when it comes to a person who unfairly criticizes, scolds something.

Many proper names from the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol have become common nouns. For example, stingy people are often called "buns", and elderly women of a close mind are often called "boxes". And those who like to soar in the clouds and are not at all interested in reality are often called "manila". All these names came into the Russian language from the famous work "Dead Souls", where the writer brilliantly showed a whole gallery of landlord characters.

Proper names become common nouns quite often. However, the opposite also happens. A common noun can become a proper name if it turns into the nickname of an animal or a nickname of a person. For example, a black cat might be called "Gypsy", while a loyal dog might be called "Friend".

Naturally, these words will be written with a capital letter, according to the rules for writing proper names. This usually happens if a nickname or nickname is given due to the fact that a person (animal) has some pronounced qualities. For example, Donut was nicknamed so because he had excess weight and looked like a donut, and Syrupchik - because he was very fond of drinking sweet water with syrup.

Distinguishing proper names from common nouns is very important. If younger students do not learn this, they will not be able to correctly use capitalization when writing proper names. In this regard, the study of common nouns and proper nouns should occupy an important place in the school curriculum of the Russian language as a native and as a foreign language.

The proper name is name a noun expressed by the word or, naming a specific object or phenomenon. In contrast to the common noun, denoting at once a whole of objects or phenomena, name own is for a single, well-defined object of that class. For example, "" is a common noun name noun, while "War and Peace" is its own. The word "river" is name common noun, but "Cupid" - name proper. Proper names can be the names of people, patronymics, titles of books, songs, films, geographical names. proper names are written with 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 others languages ​​and 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 household name until "Avatar" was made. Now this word, depending on the context, plays the role of a common noun or proper noun. “Schumacher” is the surname of a certain race car driver, but gradually all fans of fast driving began to be called “Schumachers”. Common nouns from proper names can go trademarks, which are unique producers a certain kind goods or simply monopolists. A striking example is the company Xerox, which produces electrophotographic copiers. This firm exists to this day, but "copiers" are now called all copiers in general.

Sources:

• how to spell proper names

Advice 2: How to determine whether your own name or 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 own and common nouns. Proper nouns, which serve as the names of single objects, are opposed to common nouns, denoting generalized names of homogeneous objects.

Instruction

To determine proper nouns, determine whether the name is an individual designation of the subject, i.e. does it highlight " name» an object from a number of homogeneous (Moscow, Russia, Sidorov). Own nouns call names and surnames of persons and nicknames of animals (Nekrasov, Pushok, Frou-frou); 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 numbers 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 if they denote different persons and objects that have the same name (both Americas, namesakes of the Petrovs); persons who are related (the Fedorov family). Also proper nouns can be used in the plural form, if they call a certain type of people, "highlighted" according to quality characteristics famous literary character. Please note that in this meaning, nouns lose their sign of belonging to a group of single objects, therefore, both the use of an uppercase and a lowercase letter (Chichikovs, Famusovs, Pechorins) is acceptable.

An orthographic feature that distinguishes proper nouns is the use of a capital letter and. At the same time, all proper names are always letters, and the names of institutions, organizations, works, objects are used as applications and are enclosed in quotation marks (the ship "Fyodor Chaliapin", Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons"). Any parts of speech can be included in the application, but the first word is always capitalized (Daniel Defoe's novel "The Life and Wonders of the Sailor Robinson Crusoe").

The noun in Russian has various hallmarks. To show the features of the occurrence and use of certain language units, they are divided into common nouns and proper nouns.

Instruction

Common nouns are nouns that denote the name of certain objects and phenomena that have a common set of features. These objects or phenomena belong to any class, but in themselves do not carry any special indications of this. In linguistics, a common noun is also called an appellative.

Common names are signs of linguistic concepts and are opposed to proper names - which are used as names and nicknames of living beings or names and names of objects and phenomena. When common nouns become proper names, they lose their name language concept(for example, the name "Gum" from the word "gum" - "right").

There are several types of common nouns, among which are specific (table), abstract or abstract (love), material or real (sugar), as well as collective ().

Common nouns can denote not only classes of objects, but also any individual objects within a given class. Such a phenomenon occurs if the individual characteristics of the object lose their meaning, for example: "Do not tease the dog, otherwise it will bite you." AT this case the word "dog" means any dog, not any particular one. This also includes situations that describe only one object of a certain class, for example: “Meet me at noon at the corner,” that is, the interlocutors know which particular corner they are talking about. Common nouns are also used to describe the individual features of an object using additional definitions, for example: “I am the day when I first saw her” - highlighting a particular day among others.

Common nouns are closely related to proper names. For example, common nouns can become proper in the form of names, nicknames and nicknames (for example, "Kalita" as the nickname of Prince Ivan Danilovich), and proper nouns can become common nouns to refer to homogeneous objects. Such transitions are called eponyms and are usually used in a pejorative or jocular sense (for example, “esculapius” is the collective name of all doctors, “pelé” is football fans, and “Schumacher” is fans of fast driving). According to the rules of the Russian language, proper names are accepted with, and common nouns - in capital letters.

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" comes from "reproaches", "reproaches", and is used for the general name of homogeneous, similar objects and phenomena, and "proper" means "feature", individual person or a single item. This naming distinguishes it from other objects of the same type.

For example, the common word "river" defines all rivers, but the Dnieper, Yenisei are proper names. These are constant grammatical features of nouns.

What are proper names in Russian

A proper name is an exclusive name for an object, phenomenon, person, different from others, standing out from other multiple concepts.

These are the names and nicknames of people, the names of countries, cities, rivers, seas, astronomical objects, historical events, holidays, books and magazines, animal names.

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 defined next rule: all proper names are capitalized. For example: Vanya, Morozko, Moscow, Volga, Kremlin, Russia, Russia, 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, firms, events, etc.

Compare: Big theater, but the Sovremennik theater, the Don River and the Quiet Don novel, the play Thunderstorm, the Pravda newspaper, the Admiral Nakhimov motor ship, the Lokomotiv stadium, the Bolshevichka factory, the Mikhailovskoye Museum-Reserve.

Note: the same words, depending on the context, are common or proper and are written according to the rules. Compare: bright sun and star Sun, native earth and planet Earth.

Proper names, consisting of several words and denoting a single concept, are underlined as one member of the sentence.

Let's look at an example: Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov wrote a poem that made him famous. So, in this sentence, the subject will be three words (first name, patronymic and last name).

Types and examples of proper nouns

Studying proper names linguistic science onomastics. This term is derived from the ancient Greek word and means "the art of giving names"

This area of ​​linguistics deals with the study of information about the name of a particular, individual object and distinguishes several types of names.

Anthroponyms are called proper 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, economic signs. For example: Rostov-on-Don, Kulikovo field, Sergiev Posad, Magnitogorsk, Strait of Magellan, Yaroslavl, Black Sea, Volkhonka, Red Square, etc.

Astronyms and cosmonyms analyze the appearance of the names of celestial bodies, constellations, galaxies. Examples: Earth, Mars, Venus, Halley's Comet, 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., helping to understand their origin.

Common noun - what is it

These nouns name any concept from a set of similar ones. They have lexical meaning, that is, informative, 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 a particular person. In the phrase girl Sasha, we learn the age and gender.

Common noun examples

Common names are all the realities of the world around us. These are words expressing 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 define a proper or common noun

A common noun can be distinguished by meaning, because it names an object or phenomenon related to homogeneous, and a grammatical feature, because it can change by numbers ( year - years, man - people, cat - cats).

But many nouns (collective, abstract, real) do not have a plural form ( childhood, darkness, oil, inspiration) or the only one ( frosts, weekdays, darkness). are written common nouns lower case.

Proper nouns are the distinctive name of single objects. They can only be used in the singular or plural ( Moscow, Cheryomushki, Baikal, Catherine II).

But if they call different persons or objects, they can be used in the plural ( Ivanov family, both Americas). Capitalized, enclosed in quotation marks if necessary.

It is worth noting: between proper and common names there is a constant exchange, they tend to move into the opposite category. common words Faith Hope Love became proper names in Russian.

Many borrowed names were also originally common nouns. For example, Peter - "stone" (Greek), Victor - "winner" (Lat.), Sophia - "wisdom" (Greek).

Often in history, proper names become common nouns: hooligan ( English family the infamous Houlihan), Volt (physicist Alessandro Volta), Colt (inventor Samuel Colt). Literary characters can acquire a common noun: donquixote, Judas, plushkin.

Toponyms have given names to many objects. For example: cashmere fabric (Kashmir Valley of Hindustan), cognac (province in France). Wherein animated name own becomes inanimate common noun.

And vice versa, it happens that generic concepts become uncommon: Lefty, cat Fluff, signor Tomato.