Named entity vs. proper name vs. proper noun

[dan-zeman]

I extracted a comment by @Marketa-Lopatkova from entities.md and put it in this issue instead:

proper name ?= named entity (as "New Zealand" and "the United States of America")

BUT "Zealand" or "America" are not proper names - why not?

(confusing as Zealand is a Danish island and America may refer to the continent)
proper noun ?= common noun (as "museum")

[dan-zeman]

I would say that proper noun (in UD, PROPN) is a part-of-speech category and it always refers to just one word. A named entity can be a single word or a multi-word expression. A proper noun is probably always a named entity, but a named entity may be composed entirely of words other than PROPN. Proper name in my view is a vague term somewhere inbetween, which probably should be used as a synonym for named entity, but I'm afraid I might be occasionally using it instead of proper noun.

America falls under all three terms, and yes, it may refer to the whole continent. Which is not in conflict with using the name as a part of United States of America.

On the other hand, New Zealand obviously is distinct from Zealand. (BTW, the "Old" Zealand is the Dutch province of Zeeland. It does not refer to the Danish island of Sjælland.)

[Zdenkau]

#ZU - thank you Dan. I am sorry for using the other account I thought My and Misa already canceled it. Apparently no :( Thank you very much for solving ML notes and also thanks for the tutorial, as Marketa wrote, I will be also very much interested in learning more about GH.

[dan-zeman]

More notes by @Marketa-Lopatkova from #2:

ML notes:

Several questions about the named examples

" the United States of America" is a "proper name", "America" is not - how to decide?
Americas / America is a name of a continent, so I would say it is a "proper name" too?
Wikipedia on Americas ?

Proper noun by tedy mělo být to, čemu Dan říká "common noun" (part of speech)?
Dan's proposal

[Marketa-Lopatkova]

To summarize what has been said so far:

UD: proper noun (PROPN)

• understood as a noun (i.e., the part-of-speech category / nominal content word) that is the name (or part of the name) of a specific individual, place, or object … just 1 word!!!
• a proper noun is probably always a named entity (i.e., proper nouns form their one-word subclass)
  (but a named entity may be composed entirely of words other than PROPN)
• UMR: proper nouns … word-level units belonging to the category noun (ZU)

DZ: common noun (NOUN) (=appellative)

• is a noun (i,e,. the part-of-speech category) that does not serve as a name of a specific individual, place, or object

DZ: proper name ... DO NOT USE THE TERM (just "name" is enough)

• a vague term; unlike proper noun, it may consist of multiple words (but it can also be a single word); in text analysis, it is more or less a synonym for named entity (an entity that has a name and is mentioned using the name)
• UMR: proper names … expressions that have been conventionally adopted as the name of a particular entity
  (i.e. the names of particular places and persons);
  can be composed of proper nouns, common nouns and other parts of speech (adjectives, determiners, adpositions...)

named entity

• an entity that has a name and is mentioned using the name.

examples:

• America (as it refers to a continent) is a (i) proper noun (OK by Dan), (ii) named entity, and (iii) name
  (and can be used as a part of United States of America)
• New Zaeland is NOT a proper noun (2 words), but it is (i) named entity and (ii) name
  it is distinct from the isle Zaeland (which is distinct from "Old" Zealand as the Dutch province of Zeeland )

common nouns / names vs. generic / specific mentions

• names (as the National museum) typically relate to specific mentions
  BUT there are names of products (as Persil) for a type (rather than an instance) --> categorial name/named entity
• common nouns (a museum, an elderly man) typically relate to generic mentions

[Zdenkau]

ZU: I believe we do not need to struggle with so many questions and read a lot of original rules for UMR and AMR, therefore I asked Julia and Martha about it, see the email.

[dan-zeman]

DZ: proper name

• a vague term somewhere inbetween a proper noun and a named entity
  which probably should be used as a synonym for named entity
• UMR: proper names … expressions that have been conventionally adopted as the name of a particular entity
  (i.e. the names of particular places and persons);
  can be composed of proper nouns and common nouns

I think we do not need the term "proper name". It is enough to call it "name" and reduce the confusion. Then "named entity" is simply an entity that has a name and is mentioned using the name. I just modified the text accordingly.

[dan-zeman]

common noun (=appellative)

• is a noun (i,e,. the part-of-speech category) that does not serve as a name (or part of the name) of a specific individual, place, or object

Remove "(or part of the name)". For instance, jezero "lake" is a common noun but it can be used as part of a name, as in Černé jezero "Black Lake".

To make things more confusing, there are exceptional cases where even a single common noun serves as a name. For example, kotel "cauldron" is used as the name for Kotel, the mountain in Krkonoše. I am not sure I would tag it PROPN. On the other hand, I would use PROPN for surnames that are based on common nouns (Ježek, Kovář, Zeman).

[Zdenkau]

Great, thanks Dane, I could not agree more with you - Zdeňka

…

________________________________ From: Dan Zeman ***@***.***> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 1:41:48 PM To: ufal/UMR ***@***.***> Cc: Zdenkau ***@***.***>; Comment ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [ufal/UMR] Named entity vs. proper name vs. proper noun (Issue #3) DZ: proper name * a vague term somewhere inbetween a proper noun and a named entity which probably should be used as a synonym for named entity * UMR: proper names … expressions that have been conventionally adopted as the name of a particular entity (i.e. the names of particular places and persons); can be composed of proper nouns and common nouns I think we do not need the term "proper name". It is enough to call it "name" and reduce the confusion. Then "named entity" is simply an entity that has a name and is mentioned using the name. I just modified the text accordingly. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#3 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHHMWOX535SKATDLA2UWC3TXP2EPZANCNFSM6AAAAAA2FBY6NY>. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Marketa-Lopatkova]

the summary above updated (note on avoiding the term "proper name")
#3 (comment)