The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the topics and recent developments in the research on the morphosyntax of proper names. The article reflects on the ways in which and the reasons why proper names may be morphosyntactically different from common nouns. It argues that the distinction between proper names and proper nouns is essential for the discussion of the topic, and it shows that there are considerable differences regarding morphological and syntactic properties both among the various name classes as well as cross-linguistically. In the second part of the paper, selected aspects dealt with in the recent literature are discussed in more detail, including those on the morphological and syntactic properties of proper names and proper nouns, and the specific morphosyntactic constructions proper names and proper nouns can occur in.

Our article is dedicated to the relation of a given name’s phonological structure and the gender of the referent. Phonology has been shown to play an important role with regard to gender marking on a name in some (Germanic) languages. For example, studies on English and on German have shown in detail that female and male names have significantly different phonological structures. However, little is known whether these phonological patterns are valid beyond (closely related) individual languages. This study, therefore, sets out to assess the relation of gender and the phonological structures of names across different languages/cultures. In order to do so, we analyzed a sample of popular given names from 13 countries. Our results indicate that there are both language/culture-overarching similarities between names used for people of the same gender and language/culture-specific correlations. Finally, our results are interpreted against the backdrop of conventional and synesthetic sound symbolism.

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