Zur Grammatik indefiniter Eigennamen

The paper presents a new analysis of a certain type of use of proper names that appears particularly widespread in German (as well as in French or Spanish, but only marginally in English). While proper names are generally regarded as being inherently definite, in German one frequently finds proper names preceded by the indefinite article. Indefinite proper names differ in their semantic and syntactic properties from ordinary proper names (= PN). I distinguish two main types: (i) the appellative type introduces sets of objects that stand in a relation to the bearer of the PN and are described by predicates of the type CALLED ‘PN’, IS RELATED TO PN or HAS TYPICAL PROPERTIES OF PN; (ii) the subindividual type introduces entities that are not individuals by themselves, but depend on the bearer of the PN. I distinguish two subtypes: stages and manifestations. The relation between stages or manifestations to the bearer of the proper name is reconstructed by Carlson’s (1977) instantiation relation. Both main types differ in their semantics as well as in their syntax and therefore raise interesting questions for the pragmatics-semantics-syntax interface.