Definitions HQ

A Proper name (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠never really given: one classifies someone else by a rule, or names them freely and so classifies oneself.

A Proper name (n.) among ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the Wik Munkan is a slice of the totem: a barramundi man may be called the-barramundi-breaks-a-spear, a crab woman tide-takes-crabs-out-to-sea.

A Proper name (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the mark of being not yet classed — a place in the queue, a bill drawn on the system's promise to supply a class in due course.

A Proper name (n.) looks ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠unique only from outside: Vercingetorix seems to belong to the victor of Gergovia alone because we know so little about the Gauls.

A Proper name (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be a weapon: among the Nambikwara, where names are taboo, a little girl who had been hit whispered her enemy's name to the anthropologist in revenge — and her enemy, catching on, at once told him hers.