appellatives

Appellatives, in linguistics, refer to words that name classes of objects or concepts rather than individual entities. The term also covers forms of address or titles used to call someone. Thus an appellative can be a common noun like "dog" or "city," or a title used in social interaction such as "Mr.," "Dr.," or "Your Honor."

The word originates from Latin appellativus meaning naming or appellation, from appellare meaning to call upon. In linguistic analysis, the term helps distinguish the naming function of ordinary nouns from the identifying function of proper names.

Examples distinguish genuine appellatives from proper names: "dog" is an appellative, while "Fido" is a proper name. In forms of address, appellatives include honorifics such as "sir," "madam," or "doctor." They function to call, refer to, or address a person within a social context.

Cross-linguistic considerations: many languages separate common nouns and proper names through articles, inflection, or dedicated honorific systems; some rely on context or pronoun use to convey formality and social relations.

Related topics include onomastics, honorifics, and nominal classification.