JohnF.Kennedy:ï±ï±GeorgeBush:ï³ï¶(c)Mr+surnameMr.Eisenhower
Mr.Kennedy:ï´ï²MrBush:ï±ïµ(d)Presidentb+surnamePresidentEisenhower/Kennedy:ï´ï¸PresidentBush:ï´ï´(e)the/MrPresidentcthePresident:ï²ï°ï³the/MrPresident:ï·ï³TOTALï³ï¸ï¹ï´ï²ï±aInï±ï¹ï¶ï±
Ãrstforename+initial(JohnF.)arealwaysusedforKennedy.ThereisnosuchusageinthecaseofGeorgeBush.bTwoinstancesareofPresident-electKennedy.cExamplesofMrPresidentarefoundonlyintheï±ï¹ï¹ï²corpus
alwaysinavocativecontext.useful
intheeraofever-expandinginformationsources
astheytypicallylinkanexplicitdescriptivephrase(e.g.theWorldHealthOrganization)toabriefname(WHO).Whyshouldreferencestonamedpeopleincreasesogreatly?Withoutfur-therstudy
onecanonlyspeculate;butoneobvioussuggestionisthatmodernWesternsocietiesplaceincreasingemphasisontheidentityandpersonhoodoftheindividual.Inthepublicsphere
thistrendtowardsindividualizationmanifestsitself
forexample
inadhominempartypoliticsandthecultofpersonality.OnesidelightonthisincreaseofpersonalnamesisprovidedbythedataforexpressionsreferringtothepresidentoftheUnitedStatesinthetwoAmeri-cancorpora.Inï±ï¹ï¹ï²
PresidentGeorgeBush(Senior)heldofÃcethroughout
butinï±ï¹ï¶ï±PresidentEisenhowergaveplacetoPresidentKennedy
sobothpresidentsÃnameswillbeconsidered.InTableï±ï°.ïµ
theinterestliesmainlyinrow(a)
wheretheplainpropernameBushinï±ï¹ï¹ï²isfarmorefrequentthanitsequivalentinï±ï¹ï¶ï±
androw(e)
wherethehonoriÃctitlealone(thePresident)
countedasacommonnoun
isfarmorefrequentinï±ï¹ï¶ï±.Anotherfactorthatbooststhefrequencyofpropernamesinthemorerecentcorpusisthegreateruseofforename+surnameÃbothpropernounsÃinrow(b)
incontrasttothediminishinguseofMr+surnameÃwherethereisonlyonepropernounÃinrow(c).WhatweappeartoobserveisaloweringofthehonoriÃcstatusofpresidentialreferences(seesectionï±ï±.ï¶.ï±onÃdemoc-ratizationÃ).Theconsequenceofallthisisthattheï±ï¹ï¶ï±datayieldonlyï²ï°ï¸propernounsthatidentifytheincumbentpresident
whereastheï±ï¹ï¹ï²datayieldï³ï¸ï´.ï±ï°.ï³NounsequencesandotherjuxtapositionsWenowpursueanothertrainofthoughtonthetextualdensityofnouns.Ifthereisanincreasinguseofnounsinthenounphrase
partofthereason