Names

Names come in many variations, but are, in almost all cases, used to refer to and describe some concept of a thing. Often this 'thing' is generalized to refer to a group of all-similar things, hence first naming a concept and not an individual thing. [I.e., one can utter the word 'table,' but the actual function of a table can be served by many other objects that aren't built to be tables, like a flat stone slab or a tree stump. The word 'table' refers to all things that can be used as tables (which is the concept of a table), not all objects that are built as tables.] After naming concepts of objects, smaller sub-groups are named (ex. red pens, large pens, old pens). These names describe the concept such that another person can interpret which item or which kind of item a speaker is referring to. This can be done by identifying the owner (ex. my pen, as a subset of all pens), by describing the specific appearance (ex. the cracked pen, which may be cracked in a specific way to make it distinguishable from other pens), or some other quality of the object that can specify it.

However, this specification only goes so far. Names do specify, but usually only in the scope of communication that is relevant to a current situation. "Tables" can refer to all things that act as tables, including tree stumps and stone slabs, but "[furniture brand]'s tables" does not (unless that furniture brand happens to sell tree stumps and stone slabs).

To summarize:
- Names distinguish some item from a set or subset
- Names can be ambiguous

[edit] [top]Attitude toward names

In Ssamaf-speaking cultures (called koltomm/koltomm), personal names do not have the same importance as they do in many human societies.

-Naming Patterns
Given/first names
Chosen names: (inf)verb-noun
Middle names
Surnames ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

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