A proposal for the mutual understanding of proper nouns and cross-cultural communication :Based on the perspectives of “Reference Point”

Abstract

This paper analyzes the meaning of proper names in terms of “Reference Point” through the lines in English movies. According to the traditional linguistic definition, proper names would naturally be a name that can only be used in the speaking of one individual and refer only to the thing itself that is named. On the other hand, as Jesperson (1955:64-71) had pointed out, it is utterly impossible to draw a sharp line of demarcation between proper names and common names. In fact, the meaning of proper names varies in certain degrees depending on the context and the situation in which it is used. By employing such cognitive notion as “Reference Point”, the expansion of meaning of proper names can be explained effectively. The prime importance here is the way in which names are actually employed by speakers and understood by listeners. As Jesperson remarked, if proper names as actually understood did not connote many attributes, we would be at a loss to understand or explain the everyday phenomenon of a proper name becoming a common name.　We share a kind of social reputation or knowledge of it and employ the system of “Reference Point” unconsciously in order to understand the expansive meaning of proper names.