French Literature Reviews - 2026

É. Aussant, Le Nom propre en Inde. Considérations sur le mécanisme référentiel
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Émilie Aussant

Le Nom propre en Inde. Considérations sur le mécanisme référentiel

Lyon: ENS éditions, coll. "Langages", 2009, 166 p.

ISBN: 978-2-84788-176-9

Price: 23 €

Publisher's overview:

Through the study of numerous technical Sanskrit texts, this work aims to demonstrate and explain how the specific semiotic status of proper names was addressed across three traditional Indian disciplines: vyākaraṇa (grammar), nyāya (logic), and mīmāṃsā (exegesis)—disciplines that place linguistic reflection at the core of their intellectual inquiries.

The question of the "meaning" of proper names has sparked extensive debate in both the West and India. While Western debates have primarily focused on logic and philosophy, with linguistics playing only a marginal role, in India it was essentially grammarians (vaiyākaraṇa) and logicians (naiyāyika) who tackled the problem. This book shows how the former predominantly argued that proper names both denote and connote, whereas the latter most frequently supported the view of direct denotation without connotation.

Émilie Aussant is a research fellow at the CNRS (History of Linguistic Theories laboratory). Her research focuses on the Sanskrit and Malayalam grammatical traditions.

Contents:

Abbreviations, conventions, and remarks

Introduction

1 The emergence of the idea of convention

2 The notion of the basis of application (pravṛtti-nimitta)

3 The thesis of generic property as the basis
of application of the proper name

4 The thesis of proper form as the basis
of application of the proper name

5 The thesis of identity as the basis
of application of the proper name

6 The thesis of direct reference

7 The thesis of the individual as the basis
of application of the proper name

Conclusion

Index of cited or mentioned Sanskrit texts

Index of concepts

Bibliography

The study of language in classical India, or vyākaraṇa, represents one of the most sophisticated traditions of linguistic analysis in world history. By situating the proper name within the frameworks of nyāya logic and mīmāṃsā exegesis, this work explores how these intellectual disciplines addressed the mechanics of reference. The work highlights a tension in Indian thought between the view that names carry both denotation and connotation and the competing perspective that they function through direct denotation. Readers interested in the history of linguistics or Sanskrit philology may find these comparative perspectives on referential mechanisms relevant.

The debate surrounding the nature of proper names has long occupied philosophers and linguists, reflecting broader concerns about how language connects to reality. By analyzing technical Sanskrit texts, this work documents how ancient Indian scholars navigated the relationship between linguistic form and individual identity. The discussion centers on the notion of the basis of application, or pravṛtti-nimitta, which serves as a pivot for understanding how these traditions categorized proper names. This investigation addresses the diverse ways in which grammatical and logical systems have historically conceptualized the function of naming.