Names of non-humans and things

Abstract

Discussion of the encoding of the names of non-human creatures, things, and events using name

name phrase-level encoding proper name
name

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

The WWP tags proper nouns referring to non-human creatures and things using name, regardless of their rendition. This includes non-human sentient beings, animals, mythical creatures, objects, events, and conceptual or abstract things.

For the WWP’s purposes, a creature is human if a significant portion of its anatomy is human. A centaur, for instance would get a persName, while Ed the Talking Horse would get a name. Objects are distinguished from place names by the fact that they can be moved or are separate from the earth, and do not represent spaces (placeNames) where human beings could visit, live or work. Conceptual/abstract things include languages, schools of thought, cultural movements, and philosophical movements.

All possessives attached to the content of persName, placeName, name and orgName belong inside the name wrapper. Even if renditionally distinct, they do not warrant the use of a hi element.

In some cases, the name of an event may be contain the name of the place where it occurred, or the two may even be identical: for instance, the Battle of Waterloo, Waterloo. In cases of ambiguity, we will always assume that the reference is to the place (and encode it with placeName), unless it is absolutely clear that the reference is to the event. Place names which occur within event names should be tagged with placeName. Thus "He died at placeNameWaterloo/placename" but "He fought at the nameBattle of placeNameWaterloo/placeName/name"

Examples

Categories which are encoded with name:

Animals and mythical creatures:

Secretariat, Dumbo, Flipper, Pegasus, Scylla, Charybdis

Events and Dates:

Election Day, Epiphany, Kwanzaa, the Glorious Revolution

Objects:

Excalibur, the Titanic (while at sea - if anchored, the Titanic,
        like other anchored ships, gets <placeName>), the Blarney Stone,
        the Shroud of Turin, the Holy Grail, the Rosetta Stone

Conceptual/abstract things:

French (the language), Cartesianism, Buddhism

Examples

Categories of things which are not encoded with name:

Common namews of plants, animals, stones, elements:

jasmine, tourmaline, cheetah, helium

Philosophical concepts (even if capitalized):

the Oversoul, Superman (in the Nietzchean sense), the Ego