Morphology and semantics of proper names in Northern Sotho
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Authors
Mojapelo, Mampaka L.
Issue Date
2009
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Morphology , Semantics , Northern Sotho
Alternative Title
Abstract
The objective of this article is to present the identifying features of the Northern Sotho proper name as a
subcategory of the broader word category N (noun). The article analyses the identifying morphological
features and semantic interpretations of two types of the proper name, namely, personal and place names
in comparison to the common noun. Some proper names in Northern Sotho have the same phonetic
form as the common noun, but can be distinguished by morpho-syntactic means. Common nouns may
serve as modifying agents and compound with personal proper names for specific semantic effects. Four
morphological forms reveal that both common and proper names are used to form place names, with
specific morphological elements selecting either common or proper names. As languages advance, it
becomes necessary that linguistic elements such as these be afforded further linguistic exploration for
valid automatic identification so that they can be extracted from texts for various applications.
Description
Postprint article
Citation
Mojapelo, ML 2009, 'Morphology and semantics of proper names in Northern Sotho', South African Journal of African Languages, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 185-194.
Publisher
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
02572117