On Quasi-Proper Names in Japanese

Abstract

In reply to Alessandro Capone’s paper entitled “On quasi-proper names”, I provide relevant data in Japanese and discuss the properties and status of quasi-names from a cross-linguistic perspective. A close look at the properties of Japanese quasi-names indicates that they are a special case of yobina (lit. ‘call name’), a subcategory of nicknames in Japanese which are used both to refer to and to call someone. Specifically, they are like stage names systematically given to older family members. The yobina status of quasi-names appear to hold cross-linguistically, while the peculiarity within the yobina category has general and language-specific elements.

Keywords

• Japanese. cross-linguistic analysis. indexicality. proper names. quasi-names. speech acts. stage names