Asian Languages and Linguistics - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2025

This paper presents a case study of the kinship terminology system in the Yi’nan dialect of Shandong, China, exploring its linguistic features, pragmatic usage, and underlying socio-cultural context through native speaker insights. The analysis focuses on the structural and semantic properties of the system, including the formal distinctiveness of certain terms. Notably, the study also examines the grammatical and socio-pragmatic rules governing the use of terms for address, reference, and teknonyms, demonstrating the flexible and strategic use of pronouns as a key mechanism for navigating social dynamics of respect and familiarity. Recognizing the threats posed by urbanization, generational shifts, and the prevalence of Mandarin Chinese to the dialect’s survival, this research emphasizes the critical importance of documenting these terminologies for the preservation of cultural heritage and linguistic diversity.

Classical Tibetan exhibits extensive use of proper names, predominantly referencing religious/historical figures and geographical locations. At the noun phrase level, honorific markers demonstrate fixed postpositional placement when modifying proper names, contrasting with their prefixal usage with common nouns. Demonstratives co-occurring with proper names serve multiple functions: beyond their classificatory and emotive roles, demonstratives in Asian languages such as CT also have the functions of achieving rhythmic regularity and emphasizing spatial distance indication, which have not been addressed in previous typological studies. Coordinative strategies for proper names encompass four structural types: asyndeton, monosyndeton, polysyndeton, and summary conjunction. Appositional constructions reveal information-structure governed ordering, wherein common nouns typically precede proper names. However, when common nouns are placed postpositively, it forms an appellation. Syntactically, proper names in CT can serve various argument roles, and both personal names and place names can occupy a wide range of argument positions. When relative clauses modify proper names, there are both syntactic gap and gapless types, aligning with the General Noun-Modifying Clause Construction (GNMCC) observed pan-Asiatically, thereby reflecting information-packaging strategies divergent from Indo-European models. Passivization permits proper name subjects through syntactic displacement, though patient-positioned personal names display non-compulsory agent animacy hierarchy effects modulated by pragmatic constraints. Lexically marked naming expressions contrast with syntactically flexible vocative forms, demonstrating morphosyntactic demarcation between nomination and address protocols.

This paper investigates the intricate grammar of proper names within the Mebzang nDrapa language, a highly endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken by a small community in western Sichuan province, China. The research meticulously examines the classes of proper names, as well as the morphological, syntactic, and semantic dimensions of proper names in Mebzang nDrapa. It offers a detailed account of their structure, usage, and cultural significance. A comparison of the morphosyntactic properties of proper names and common nouns reveals that proper names exhibit defective in inflectional potential. Proper names possess unique grammatical properties and a more limited inventory of forms than common nouns. In Mebzang nDrapa, a significant proportion of proper names facilitates communication more effectively than common nouns, as they offer immediate definite referents. Meanwhile, the adoption of proper names from Tibetan and Chinese through a long-term causal language contact has been examined in this paper.

Proper names (PNs) belong to the category of “absolutely unique definite”. Languages vary significantly in the distribution of definite articles with proper names. Sortal classifiers mark definiteness in many numeral classifier languages, while the ability of sortal classifier to mark definiteness on proper names is less-studied. This paper explores the possibility of definite-marking sortal classifiers co-occurring with personal and place names in Zauzou, a Tibeto-Burman language that employs numeral classifiers to express definiteness. Findings of the present study show that (1) personal names are the most prototypical proper names due to their prohibition from combining with a definite-marking sortal classifier; (2) place names are still in the process of developing from common nouns to proper names and display a varied picture. Monomorphemic settlement names, fossilized compound names, and river-type appellative names form a cline ranging from PNs to common nouns (CNs).

Thai proper names exhibit extraordinary diversity and fluidity. With widespread belief that names affect the name-bearer’s fate, the creation of both surnames and given names is undertaken with the utmost consideration. Due to socio-cultural, political, and religious influences from India, Sanskrit and Pali are the roots of many Thai names. Often with advice from monks and fortune-tellers, words from these ‘sacred’ languages are readily adopted in naming Thai children for their power and novelty, as religious beliefs have created diverse and complex rules and customs in name-giving. The complexity of Thai surnames and given names prompts most Thais to go by simple nicknames in their daily lives, which sharply contrast their elaborate legal names. This paper expounds on Thai proper names at various grammatical levels, and discusses the influence of typological characteristics of the Thai language.

Place names form a significant part of proper names in Tai, the largest member of the Kra-Dai family of languages that spread across national boundaries in mainland Southeast Asia which includes Thai, Lao, Shan, Tai Lue, Zhuang, Nung, Buyi, among others. This paper looks at the semantic and morphosyntactic features of place names in the Tai languages. They exhibit a number of typological features that are common in languages in this vast linguistic area. A set of geographic terms offer elaborate topographical information about the referents, such as ‘mountain/hill’, ‘stream/brook’, ‘river’, ‘spring’, ‘valley’, ‘plain’, ‘(rice) field’, ‘upland field’, among others. These are frequently found to combine with spatial terms to provide specific reference. A number of place names carrying social-cultural nuances are found in certain geographic locations, indicating the genesis of early social organizations of the Tai people, with implications for dialect subgrouping.

This paper discusses the taxonomy of proper names and analyses the grammatical features of proper names in Khorchin Mongolian. We argue that (i) although proper names in Khorchin Mongolian are inherent definite, but they can be coerced with an indefinite reading when combining with the indefinite article nək in existential sentences. In addition, proper names can also combine with demonstratives to derive complex expressions like “Dem+Proper name”, which express the speaker’s subjective attitude, such as derogation or contempt; (ii) when attached to proper names, the additive plural marker -ut can convey associative plural meaning, and when added to proper names, the additive plural marker -tʃut can also convey a collective meaning, referring to a specific ethnic group or tribe.

This paper addresses Korean proper names focusing on their lexical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic characteristics. Koreans use surnames and given names in that order. Surnames are patrilineal and relatively few in number, and given names are created entirely ad hoc, based on their meaning and sound. Given names are predominantly bi-syllabic and CVC structures are on the decrease in favor of light, coda-less syllables. Proper names are also given to pets, geological formations and landmarks, important public facilities, deities, historically significant events and festivities. Phonologically and morphologically proper names behave much in the same way as common nouns do, but they have numerous variations of romanized names due to idiosyncratic phonological constraints. Syntactically, proper names also behave like common nouns but certain peculiarities are also observed. Titles and address terms, intertwined with pronouns, status nouns, and kinship terms, form paradigms with multiplicity of members.

This study examines the linguistic features of Tsou toponymy, with a special focus on the structural and functional distinctions between place names and locative nouns. Through a descriptive and typological analysis, a semantic and formal markedness hierarchy is established; that is, zero-marking/loanwords > specific marker -ana > reduplication > compounding (’oyona)/affixation (-a, ’o-…-a). Specifically, larger and more prominent locations exhibit minimal morphological marking, whereas smaller or more specialized locations display increasing complexity. Besides, place names exhibit phonological stress placement, integration of loanwords, and the specific marker -ana, which categorizes villages, rivers, mountains, and landmarks. In contrast, locative nouns employ derivational affixes (-a, ’o-…-a) and compounding (’oyona) to encode spatial functions associated with institutions, transport facilities, and commerce. Reduplication further differentiates the two categories, marking either natural abundance in place names or dedicated cultivation in locative nouns. These findings demonstrate how morphological distinctions structure Tsou toponymy, and further contribute to a deeper understanding of Austronesian toponymic systems by illustrating how morphological complexity corresponds to degrees of referential specificity.