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 capitalized. 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 lovers of fast driving began to be called “Schumachers”. Trademarks that are unique manufacturers of a certain type of product or simply monopolists can pass into common nouns from proper names. 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.

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• 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 the qualitative characteristics of a 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 distinctive features. To show the features of the emergence and use of certain language units, they are divided into common nouns and proper names.

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 the name of the linguistic 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." In this case, the word "dog" means any dog, not any specific 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 characteristics of an object with the help of additional definitions, for example: “I am the day I first saw her” - highlighting a specific 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.

Many nouns denoting persons, objects and phenomena are usually classified in accordance with the object of naming - this is how the division into a common noun and a proper name appeared.

Common nouns VS onyms

Common nouns (otherwise - appellatives) name objects that have a certain common set of features and belong to a particular class of objects or phenomena. For example: boy, peach, sturgeon, meeting, mourning, pluralism, uprising.

Proper names, or onyms, call single objects or individuals, for example: writer Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin, city Essentuki, painting " girl with peaches", TV center " Ostankino».

Proper names and common nouns, examples of which we have given above, are traditionally opposed to each other, as they have different meanings and do not coincide in the sphere of their functioning.

Typology of common names

The common noun in Russian forms special lexical and grammatical categories, the words in which are grouped depending on the type of the naming object:

1. Specific names (they are also called "concrete-objective") serve as the names of persons, living beings, objects. These words change in numbers and are combined with cardinal numbers: teacher - teachers - the first teacher; chick - chicks; cube - cubes.

2. Abstract, or abstract, nouns name the state, sign, action, result: success, hope, creativity, merit.

3. Real, or material, nouns (they are also called "concrete-material") - words specific in semantics that name certain substances. These words most often do not have a correlative plural form. There are the following groups of real nouns: nominations of food products ( butter, sugar, tea), drug names ( iodine, streptocide), names of chemicals ( fluorine, beryllium), minerals and metals ( potassium, magnesium, iron), other substances ( rubble, snow). Such common nouns, examples of which are given above, can be used in the plural form. This is appropriate when it comes to types and varieties of a substance: wines, cheeses; about the space that is filled with this substance: sands of the Sahara, neutral waters.

4. Collective nouns name a certain set of homogeneous objects, the unity of persons or other living beings: foliage, students, nobility.

"Shifts" in the meaning of common names

Sometimes a common noun includes in its meaning an indication not only of a certain class of objects, but also of some very specific object within its class. This happens if:

• The individual characteristics of the object are ignored as such: for example, there is a folk sign “ Kill a spider - forty sins will be forgiven”, and in this context, it does not mean any particular spider, but absolutely any.
• In the described situation, one specific object of this class is meant: for example, “ Come sit on the bench» - the interlocutors know exactly where the meeting point is.
• The individual features of an object can be described with explanatory definitions: for example: “ I can't forget the wonderful day we met”, - the speaker stands out a specific day among a series of other days.

The transition of nouns from onyms to appellatives

Separate proper names are sometimes used to generically designate a number of homogeneous objects, then they turn into common nouns. Examples: Dzhimorda, Don Juan; Napoleon cake; colt, mauser, revolver; ohm, amp.

Proper names that have become appellatives are called eponyms. In modern speech, they are usually used to jokingly or derogatoryly speak about someone: Aesculapius(doctor), pele(football player) Schumacher(racer, lover of fast driving).

An animate common noun can also become an eponym if any product or institution is called like that: sweets " Bear in the north", oil " Kuban Burenka", restaurant " Senator».

Nomenclature units and trademarks-eponyms

The class of eponyms also includes any proper name of an object or phenomenon, which begins to be used as a common noun for the entire class of similar objects. Examples of eponyms are words such as " diapers, tampax, xerox, in modern speech used as a common noun.

The transition of the own trademark naming into the category of eponyms eliminates the value and uniqueness in the perception of the manufacturer's brand. Yes, an American corporation Xerox, for the first time in 1947, which introduced the world to a device for copying documents, “etched out” the common noun from the English language xerox, replacing it with photocopier and photocopy. In Russian, the words " xerox, xerox, xerox and even " xerify" turned out to be more tenacious, since there is no more suitable word; " photocopy" and its derivatives are not very good options.

A similar situation with the product of the American multinational company Procter & Gamble - diapers Pampers. Any diapers from another company with similar moisture-absorbing qualities are called diapers.

Spelling of proper and common names

The common noun rule governing the spelling norm in Russian recommends writing with a lowercase letter: kid, grasshopper, dream, prosperity, secularization.

Onims also have their own spelling system, however, simple:

These nouns are usually capitalized: Tatyana Larina, Paris, Academician Koroleva street, dog Sharik.

When used with a generic word, the onym forms its own name, denoting the name of a trademark, event, institution, enterprise, etc.; such naming is capitalized and enclosed in quotation marks: VDNKh metro station, Chicago musical, Eugene Onegin novel, Russian Booker award.

The use of terminology in defining parts of speech and their varieties is a common thing for philologists. For a simple person, often all sorts of tricky names seem to be something unclear and complicated. Many schoolchildren are not given abstract terms denoting varieties of parts of speech, and they turn to their parents for help. Adults have to look again in textbooks or search for information on the Internet.

Today we will try to tell in a simple and understandable Russian language what proper and common nouns are, how they differ, how to find them and use them correctly in speech and in the text.

What is the part of speech?

Before determining the part of speech in Russian, you need to correctly ask a question to the word and determine what it means. If the word you have chosen matches the questions “who?” or “what?”, but it denotes an object, then it is a noun. This simple truth is easily learned even by schoolchildren, many adults remember. But the question of whether a proper or common noun is in front of you can already confuse a person. Let's try to figure out what these linguistic definitions mean.

Answer in meaning

All words belonging to the part of speech we are considering are divided into several types and categories according to different criteria. One of the classifications is the division into own and common names nouns. It is not so difficult to distinguish between them, you just need to understand the meaning of the word. If a separate specific person or some single object is called, then it is your own, and if the meaning of the word indicates the common name of many similar objects, persons or phenomena, then you have a common noun.

Let's explain this with examples. The word "Alexandra" is proper because it denotes the name of an individual. The words "girl, girl, woman" are common nouns because they are a common name for all females. The difference becomes clear, but it lies in the meaning.

Names and nicknames

It is customary to rank as one's own nouns several groups of words.

The first is the name, patronymic and surname of a person, as well as his nickname or pseudonym. This also includes cat, dog and nicknames of other animals. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, Murka, Pushinka, Sharik, Druzhok - these names distinguish one particular creature from others of their own kind. If we pick up a common noun for the same objects, then we can say: a poet, a cat, a dog.

Names on the map

The second group of words are the names of various geographical objects. Let's give examples: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Washington, Neva, Volga, Rhine, Russia, France, Norway, Europe, Africa, Australia. For comparison, let's give a common noun corresponding to the given names: city, river, country, continent.

space objects

The third group includes various astronomical names. These are, for example, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, the Solar System, the Milky Way. Each of the above names is a proper name, and you can pick up a common noun generalized in meaning to it. Examples of these objects correspond with the words planet, galaxy.

Names and brands

Another group of words that belong to their own are the various names of something - shops, cafes, literary works, paintings, magazines, newspapers, and so on. In the phrase "shop" Magnet "" the first is a common noun, and the second is a proper noun. Let us give more similar examples: the Chocolate Girl cafe, the novel War and Peace, the painting Pond, the Murzilka magazine, the Arguments and Facts newspaper, the Sedov sailboat, the Babaevsky plant, the Gefest gas stove, Consultant Plus system, Chardonnay wine, Napoleon cake, United Russia party, Nika award, Alyonka chocolate, Ruslan aircraft.

Spelling features

Since proper names point to a specific single object, marking it from all other similar ones, they also stand out in writing - they are written with capital letter. Children learn this at the very beginning of schooling: last names, first names, patronymics, symbols on the map, animal names, other names of something are capitalized. Examples: Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Vanka, Ivan Kalita, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Novgorod, Angara, Cyprus, Turkey, Australia, Zhuchka, Fluff, Murzik.

There is one more feature of writing proper nouns, it concerns the names of factories, firms, enterprises, ships, periodicals (newspapers and magazines), works of art and literature, feature films, documentaries and other films, performances, cars, drinks, cigarettes and other similar words. Such names are written not only with a capital letter, but also enclosed in quotation marks. In philological science, they are called their own names. Examples: Niva car, Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, Mayak radio, Ruslan and Lyudmila poem, Chanel perfume, Za Rulem magazine, Troika cigarettes, Fanta drink, Enlightenment publishing house , Abba group, Kinotavr festival.

A proper noun begins with a capital letter, a common noun begins with a lowercase letter. This simple rule often helps a person in determining spelling norms. This rule is easy to remember, but sometimes there are difficulties. As you know, the Russian language is rich in its exceptions to every rule. Such difficult cases are not included in the school curriculum, and therefore, in the tasks of the textbook on the Russian language, even younger students can easily determine by the first letter in the word whether their own or common noun is in front of them.

Transition of a proper name into a common noun and vice versa

As noted above, a common noun is a generalized name for something. But the Russian language is a living, changing system, and sometimes various transformations and changes take place in it: sometimes common nouns become proper ones. For example: earth is land, Earth is a planet in the solar system. Universal human values, denoted by common nouns love, faith and hope, have long become female names - Faith, Hope, Love. In the same way, some animal nicknames and other names arise: Ball, Snowball, etc.

The reverse process also occurs in Russian, when proper nouns become common nouns. Yes, from my own the name of the Italian physics Volta was called the unit of electrical voltage - volt. The name of the master of musical instruments Saks became a common noun "saxophone". The Dutch city of Bruges gave its name to the word "pants". The names of the great gunsmiths - Mauser, Colt, Nagant - became the names of pistols. And there are many such examples in the language.