37.3190, Media: Onomastics Online Lecture Series | The Headedness of Proper Names

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3190. Mon Oct 05 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3190, Media: Onomastics Online Lecture Series | The Headedness of Proper Names

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Date: 02-Oct-2026
From: Chrismi-Rinda Loth [LothC at ufs.ac.za]
Subject: Onomastics Online Lecture Series | The Headedness of Proper Names


Onomastics Online
8 October 2026
17:00 UTC+2 / 17:00 GMT+2
Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Sambulo Ndlovu (University of Eswatini, Eswatini)
Moderator: Chrismi-Rinda Loth (University of the Free State, South
Africa)
Talk: The headedness of proper names
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.
Keywords: Noun, proper noun, proper names, headedness, identity
Biography: Prof. Sambulo Ndlovu is Associate Professor of linguistics
at UNESWA and a Research Associate at the University of South Africa.
He holds a PhD in linguistics from UCT, and his research areas are
onomastics, socio- and anthropological linguistics, and cultural
studies. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Nomina Africana Journal of
African Onomastics. He sits in the Names Society of Southern Africa
(NSSA) Executive Board and the scientific board for the International
Symposium on Place Names. His latest books are Naming and othering in
Africa: Imagining supremacy and inferiority through language
(Routledge), and Onomastic performatives: Names and naming from an
anthropological linguistic perspective (Mouton De Gruyter). LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambulo-ndlovu
Register here (required):
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ddd3a2df-cbc9-4e1b-bde2-6bf9139ba37d@8efc1bb9-b90f-4a48-bf6c-ba0686193b80
-       Upon registration you will receive an email with the link.
-       The system will also circulate a reminder with the link an
hour before the event.
ICOS policy on privacy:
https://icosweb.net/membership/icos-personal-data-protection-policy/
Onomastics Online lecture series:
Onomastics Online is a series of online lectures dealing with
important timely topics related to names and naming. Given 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:
https://www.youtube.com/@theinternationalcouncilofo2460.
If you are interested in ICOS membership, please visit our website:
https://icosweb.net/membership/membership-registration/.

Linguistic Field(s): Discipline of Linguistics
                     General Linguistics
                     Morphology
                     Syntax
                     Typology




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