Nombre propio y motivación. Una estructuración gradual y bipolar de la categoría

Abstract

The conventionality of the link with the referent that defines the proper name (Np) has as a consequence that the members of this category do not share common visible features. Faced with this situation, the hypothesis that its internal organization responds to a prototypical structuring has become a recurring component of the descriptions dedicated to the category. However, the description based on a presence/absence use of its characteristics features it does not allow access to its internal logic. Given that the identity of the Np is based on its semantic-functional opposition to the common name (Nc), one advocates resorting to the tension generated by this antagonism to propose a gradual description of the structuring of the category that takes as its starting point the underlying operability of the motivation of the signifier of its members. This gradual, bipolar and one-dimensional approach shows that the Np category has a coherence that overcomes the continuity of the relation it maintains with the Nc at the lexical level and at the discursive level, which invites us to explore the performance of its application to the other levels of analysis that participate in the definition of its prototype.