) a whole group of objects that have common characteristics, and naming these objects according to their belonging to a given category: article, house, computer and so on.
A wide group of common nouns is represented by terms of a scientific and technical nature, including terms of physical geography, toponymy, linguistics, art, etc. If the orthographic sign of all proper names is to write them with a capital letter, then common nouns are written with a lowercase letter.
Transition of onym to appellative without affixation in linguistics it is called appeal (deonymization) . For example:
- (English Charles Boycott → English to boycott);
- Labrador Peninsula → labradorite (stone);
- Newfoundland → Newfoundland (dog breed).
The transition of a common noun to a proper one may be accompanied by the loss of its previous meaning, for example:
- right hand (from other Russian. desn "right") → river "Desna". The Desna is a left tributary of the Dnieper.
- Velikaya → Velikaya River (a small river in the Russian North).
A common noun can denote not only a category of objects, but also any individual object within this category. The latter happens when:
- The individual characteristics of the object do not matter. For example: " If you don't tease a dog, it won't bite." - the word "dog" refers to any dog, not any specific one.
- In the situation described, there is only one item of this category. For example: " Meet me on the corner at noon“- the interlocutors know which corner will serve as the meeting place.
- The individual characteristics of an object are described by additional definitions. For example: " I remember the day I first set sail" - a specific day stands out among other days.
The boundary between common nouns and proper names is not unshakable: common nouns can turn into proper names in the form of names and nicknames ( onymization), and proper names - into common nouns ( deonymization).
Onimization(transition appellative V them):
- Kalita (bag) → Ivan Kalita;
Deonymization. Marked the following types such transitions:
- person's name → person; Pechora (river) → Pechora (city)
- person's name → thing: Kravchuk → kravchuchka, Colt → colt;
- name of place → item: Cashmere → cashmere (fabric);
- person's name → action: Boycott → boycott;
- name of place → action: Earth → land;
- person's name → unit of measurement: Ampere → ampere, Henry → henry, Newton → newton;
Proper names that have become common nouns are called eponyms, sometimes they are used in a humorous sense (for example, “Aesculapius” - doctor, “Schumacher” - a lover of fast driving, etc.).
A striking example of transformation before our eyes own name V eponym is the word kravchuchka - a widespread name for a handcart in Ukraine, named after the 1st president Leonid Kravchuk, during whose reign shuttlecraft became widespread, and the word kravchuchka in everyday life it has practically replaced other names for handcarts.
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 noun” comes from “naming”, “criticism”, and is used for the general name of homogeneous, similar objects and phenomena, and “proper” means “feature”, an individual person or a single object. This naming distinguishes it from other objects of the same type.
For example, the common noun “river” defines all rivers, but the Dnieper and Yenisei are proper names. These are constant grammatical features of nouns.
What are proper names in Russian?
A proper name is the exclusive name of an object, phenomenon, person, different from others, standing out from other multiple concepts.
These are names and nicknames of people, names of countries, cities, rivers, seas, astronomical objects, historical events, holidays, books and magazines, names of animals.
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 the following rule: All proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Vanya, Morozko, Moscow, Volga, Kremlin, Russia, Rus', 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, companies, events, etc.
Compare: Big theater, But the Sovremennik theater, the Don River and the novel Quiet Don, the play The Thunderstorm, the Pravda newspaper, the ship Admiral Nakhimov, the Lokomotiv stadium, the Bolshevichka factory, the Mikhailovskoye museum-reserve.
Note: the same words, depending on the context, can be common nouns or proper words and are written according to the rules. Compare: bright sun and star Sun, motherland and planet Earth.
Proper names, consisting of several words and denoting a single concept, are emphasized as one member of the sentence.
Let's look at an example: Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov wrote a poem that made him famous. This means that in this sentence the subject will be three words (first name, patronymic and last name).
Types and examples of proper nouns
Proper names are studied by the linguistic science of onomastics. This term is derived from an ancient Greek word and means “the art of naming”
This area of linguistics studies information about the name of a specific, individual object and identifies several types of names.
Anthroponyms are called proper names and last names 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, city names, streets, which may reflect the specifics of the landscape, historical events, religious motives, lexical features of the indigenous population, and economic characteristics. For example: Rostov-on-Don, Kulikovo Field, Sergiev Posad, Magnitogorsk, Strait of Magellan, Yaroslavl, Black Sea, Volkhonka, Red Square, etc.
Astronims and cosmonyms analyze the appearance of names celestial bodies, constellations, galaxies. Examples: Earth, Mars, Venus, Comet Halley, Stozhary, Ursa Major, Milky Way.
There are other sections in onomastics that study the names of deities and mythological heroes, names of nationalities, names of animals, etc., helping to understand their origin.
Common noun - what is it?
These nouns name any concept from many similar ones. They have a lexical meaning, that is, information content, 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 specific person. In the phrase girl Sasha, we find out age and gender.
Examples of common nouns
All the realities of the world around us are called common names. These are words that express 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 determine proper or common noun
A common noun can be distinguished by its meaning, since it names an object or phenomenon related to the homogeneous, and by its grammatical feature, because it can vary in numbers ( year - years, person - people, cat - cats).
But many nouns (collective, abstract, material) have no form plural (childhood, darkness, oil, inspiration) or singular ( frost, weekdays, darkness). Are being written common nouns lower case.
Proper nouns are the distinctive names of individual objects. They can only be used in singular or plural ( Moscow, Cheryomushki, Baikal, Catherine II).
But if they call different faces or objects, can be used in the plural ( Ivanov family, both Americas). They are written with a capital letter, if necessary in quotation marks.
It is worth noting: There is a constant exchange between proper and common nouns; they tend to move into the opposite category. Common words Faith Hope Love became proper names in the Russian language.
Many borrowed names were also originally common nouns. For example, Peter – “stone” (Greek), Victor – “winner” (Latin), Sophia – “wisdom” (Greek).
Often in history, proper names become common nouns: hooligan ( English family Houlihan of ill repute), Volt (physicist Alessandro Volta), Colt (inventor Samuel Colt). Literary characters can become household names: Donquixote, Judas, Plyushkin.
Toponyms gave names to many objects. For example: cashmere fabric (Kashmir Valley of Hindustan), cognac (province in France). In this case, the animate proper name becomes an inanimate common noun.
And vice versa, it happens that generic concepts become non-common nouns: Lefty, cat Fluffy, Signor Tomato.
The Russian language is a complex and at the same time harmonious system. Words consist of morphemes, sentences of words, texts of sentences. Each named category is part of a specific section: vocabulary, phonetics, word formation,. All words in the Russian language are divided into large lexical and grammatical categories. These discharges are studied in morphology. This section studies parts of speech and their grammatical features. Perhaps the most large group is a group of nouns.
Important! A noun has a general categorical meaning of an object.
They are divided by for various reasons into groups. Nouns can be proper and common, animate and inanimate, masculine, neuter and feminine, indeclinable, indeclinable and heterodeclinable. Proper and common nouns are the subject of this article.
They are written as part of a sentence with a small letter, except in cases where punctuation rules require it. For example, this could be the beginning of a sentence or a sentence with direct speech.
All common nouns are divided into subgroups according to meaning:
- Specific. These are words that denote concepts that are tangible. In other words, these objects are real, you can hold them in your hands. For example: printer, table, spoon, telephone, pencil case, organizer, fox, piano, castle, tree, pine, earth, moon, sponsor, magazine.
- Abstract. That is, those that denote concepts that a person can feel, but he cannot touch them. Examples: love, friendship, confusion, fear, emotions, malaise, hatred, sympathy, affection, novelty, guile, attraction.
- Collective. They denote groups of people united common feature. Eg: children, students, teachers, youth, pensioners, schoolchildren.
- Real. They denote any substances. For example: semolina, gold, oil, plastic, glass, corn, pearl barley, peas.
Proper nouns
There is a fairly large group of nouns that have the meaning of uniqueness, singularity, and separateness. That is, they somehow stand out from the general range of objects, phenomena, and concepts.
In Russian they are usually called proper. A proper noun is always written with a capital letter. In some cases, they can be written not only with a capital letter, but also in quotation marks.
Informative! Russian lessons: – to meet or towards
Proper nouns are divided into types:
- Last names, first names and patronymics of people, as well as pseudonyms: Ivan Bunin, Alexander Green, Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov, Antosha Chekhonte, Theodore Dreiser, Victor Hugo, Prosper Merimee.
- Animal names: Murka, Mukhtar, bouquet, Zhdanka, Milka, Chernysh, White, Brave, Fluff.
- Names from the field of geography and astronomy: Mars, Pluto, Ursa Major, Transbaikalia, Dniester, Pripyat, Moscow, Sayan Mountains, Carpathians, Volga, Yenisei, Aldebaran, Izumrudny microdistrict, Vasilievka village, Baikal, Victoria, Australia, Eurasia.
- Names of the most important historical events, as well as holidays: Battle of Borodino, New Year, Battle of Waterloo, Kursk Bulge, Battle of Stalingrad, Mamaev kurgan.
- Titles of works of art and literary works: “Quiet Don”, “Young Guard”, “Fathers and Sons”, “The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”, “Moonlight Sonata”, “Music of Tears”, “Leningrad Symphony”, “Morning in the Forest”, “The Extraordinary Adventures of Nils” with wild geese".
- Names of printed periodicals, television and radio programs, names of institutions: “Events”, “News-Mayak”, Bolshoi Theater, Moscow Art Theater, Novoshirokinsky mine, “ Literary newspaper", "Today", "Wedding in Malinovka", Novoorlovskaya school.
Peculiarities
It must be remembered that there is no clear division into proper and common nouns.
Important! Nouns can change their status depending on the context and speech situation.
A striking example of a situation when a proper name became a household name is the story of the Mercedes car brand, when this word began to mean any large and expensive car, and the Xerox company also began to mean copying in general. And vice versa, an example of the transition of a common noun into a proper one: snowball - dog Snowball; products – “Products” store.
The correct spelling of proper and common nouns is explained quite easily.
The first ones are always written with a capital letter. The latter should always be written with a lowercase letter, except in cases that are subject to the strict rules of punctuation rules of the Russian language.
There are some other features of proper and common nouns. These features will help you determine exactly which category a word belongs to:
- Proper nouns cannot form plural forms. An exception may be the names of persons from the same family: the Vasilyev couple, the Ignatiev, Silin, Chetveryakov family.
- Common nouns can form a plural form. The only exceptions are those that always have only the singular form ( milk, kids, teaching).
Useful video
Let's sum it up
Naturally, it is not difficult for native speakers to determine whether a noun belongs to one group or another. But for foreigners, when learning Russian, this can be quite difficult. For this reason, the grammatical indicators of proper and are important. The greatest difficulty lies in those cases when the process of transition from one group of nouns to another occurs. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was right when he said that ignorance of a language is akin to the state when a person does not have a passport. Indeed, the Russian language is rightfully one of the most difficult languages in terms of grammar in the modern world.
Common nouns
Common nouns
Names contrasted with proper names (which are studied onomastics). The difference is not grammatical, but semantic: common nouns name classes of objects and phenomena, and proper nouns name unique realities; Wed: city and Tver. Common nouns used in names become proper: cinema "Zarya", store "Competitor".
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
See what “common nouns” are in other dictionaries:
See common nouns (noun in the article) ... Dictionary linguistic terms
Common nouns- nouns denoting general concepts, classes of objects and phenomena, in contrast to proper nouns, which are individual designations of objects (a person in contrast to Ivan Petrovich, a city in contrast to Chelyabinsk, etc.). IN… … Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary
DENIAL NAMES. Such nouns, which, while denoting objects as containers of characteristics, at the same time designate these characteristics themselves, for example, birch is a tree that has known characteristics that distinguish birch from other trees. N.I.... ... Literary encyclopedia
Nouns that name an object according to its belonging to a given class of objects, as opposed to proper names... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Common nouns- DENIAL NAMES. Such nouns, which, while denoting objects as containers of characteristics, at the same time designate these characteristics themselves, for example, birch is a tree that has known characteristics that distinguish birch from other trees. N... Dictionary of literary terms
common nouns- Nouns that give a general name to a whole class of homogeneous objects: teacher, university ... Dictionary of linguistic terms T.V. Foal
Nouns that name an object according to its belonging to a given class of objects, as opposed to proper names. * * * COMMON NAMES COMMON NAMES, nouns that name an object according to its belonging to... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Nouns denoting the name (common name) of an entire class of objects and phenomena that have a certain common set of characteristics, and naming objects or phenomena according to their belonging to such a class. N. and. are signs... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
common nouns- Such nouns that, while denoting objects as containers of characteristics, at the same time designate these characteristics themselves, for example, birch is a tree that has known characteristics that distinguish birch from other trees. N.I.... ... Grammar Dictionary: Grammar and linguistic terms
Noun (noun) is a part of speech that denotes an object and answers the question “who”/“what”. One of the main lexical categories; in sentences, a noun, as a rule, acts as a subject or object.... ... Wikipedia
Books
- Hello, Noun! , Rick Tatyana Gennadievna. This book will help you learn complex noun grammar rules easily and joyfully. Traveling through the fairy-tale land of Speech, the heroes of the book study cases in an entertaining way,...
The noun is one of the most important parts of speech both in Russian and in many other Indo-European languages. In most languages, nouns are divided into proper and common nouns. This division is very important, since these categories different rules spelling.
The study of nouns in Russian schools begins in the second grade. Already at this age, children are able to understand the difference between proper names and common nouns.
Students usually learn this material easily. The main thing is to choose interesting exercises in which the rules are well remembered. In order to correctly distinguish nouns, a child must be able to generalize and assign familiar objects to a specific group (for example: “dishes”, “animals”, “toys”).
Own
Towards proper names in modern Russian language It is traditionally customary to include names and nicknames of people, animal names and geographical names.
Here are typical examples:
A proper name can answer the question “who?” if we're talking about about people and animals, as well as the question “what?” when it comes to place names.
Common nouns
Unlike proper names, common nouns denote not the name of a specific person or the name of a specific locality, but the generalized name of a large group of objects. Here are classic examples:
- Boy, girl, man, woman;
- River, village, village, town, aul, kishlak, city, capital, country;
- Animal, insect, bird;
- Writer, poet, doctor, teacher.
Common nouns can answer both the question “who?” and the question “what?”. Typically, in discrimination exercises, primary schoolchildren are asked to choose suitable common noun for a group of proper names, For example:
You can build a task and vice versa: match proper names to common nouns.
- What dog names do you know?
- What are your favorite girl names?
- What is a cow's name?
- 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, they can move on to learning spelling rules. These rules are simple, and students primary school absorb them well. For example, a simple and memorable rhyme can help children with this: “First names, last names, 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 are used to emphasize respectful attitude towards each person, animal, and locality.
Common nouns, on the contrary, are written with a lowercase letter. However, exceptions to this rule are possible. This usually happens in fiction. For example, when Boris Zakhoder translated Alan Milne’s book “Winnie the Pooh and All-All-All,” the Russian writer deliberately used capital letters in the spelling of 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 fairy-tale heroes.
This often occurs both in Russian and translated literature. This phenomenon can be seen especially often in adapted folklore - legends, fairy tales, epics. For example: “Magic Bird”, “Rejuvenating Apple”, “Dense Forest”, “ Gray wolf».
In some languages, capitalization is capitalization- in the writing of names can be used in different cases. 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 with a capital letter only. Capitalization of common nouns is also 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's a classic example. Zoilus is the name of an ancient Greek critic who was very skeptical about many works of contemporary art and frightened authors with his caustic negative reviews. When antiquity became a thing of the past, his name was forgotten.
Once Pushkin noticed that one of his works was received very ambiguously by literary critics. And in one of his poems, he ironically called these critics “my zoiles,” implying that they were bile and sarcastic. Since then, the proper name “Zoil” has become a common noun and is used when talking about a person who unfairly criticizes or scolds something.
Many proper names from the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol have become household names. For example, “plushkins” are often called stingy people, and “boxes” - elderly women of narrow minds. And those who like to have their head 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 landowner characters.
Proper names become common nouns quite often. However, the opposite also happens. A common noun can become a proper noun if it turns into the name of an animal or a nickname for a person. For example, a black cat may be called “Gypsy”, and a faithful dog may 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 because a person (animal) has some pronounced qualities. For example, Donut was so nicknamed because he had excess weight and looked like a donut, and Syrupchik - because he really loved drinking sweet water with syrup.
It is very important to distinguish proper names from common nouns. If junior schoolchildren If they don’t learn this, they won’t be able to correctly use capitalization when writing proper names. In this regard, the study of common and proper nouns should occupy an important place in school curriculum Russian as a native and as a foreign language.