Indefinite Personal Names and Evaluative Modification in Spanish

Constructions like un monumental Robert de Niro (‘a monumental Robert De Niro’) challenge theories of reference. Despite the indefinite article and adjectival modifier, they retain the specific, definite reference of personal proper names. While the [Indefinite article + Proper name + Adjective] (IPA) pattern has been extensively described, its counterpart [Indefinite article + Adjective + Proper name] (IAP) remains underexplored. After reviewing descriptive accounts in reference grammars, we discuss three existing approaches to indefinite modified proper names—stage-based, manifestation, and evidential-evaluative—and examine how well they capture the data. We examine IAP constructions using data from the Corpus del Español del Siglo XXI (CORPES). Our analysis reveals that IAPs yield three interpretations—evaluative, metaphorical, and metonymical—with evaluative uses being the most frequent. These typically involve evaluative or dispositional adjectives, have an evidential anchor and appear in discourse types such as sports commentary and arts criticism, where speaker stance is foregrounded. We then suggest a new compositional account, in which the indefinite article quantifies over situations—rather than individuals—and prenominal adjectives function as non-restrictive evaluative modifiers. This proposal explains the referential and interpretive properties of IAPs and provides a more comprehensive typology of indefinite modified personal names.