Abstract
In several Germanic languages and dialects (e.g. German, Luxemburgish, Norwegian), definite articles and personal pronouns are not only used with common nouns and independently, respectively (e.g. the woman, she), but also with personal proper names (literally the Jane, she Jane). In some of the languages which use this marker named proprial article, its use is restricted to specific types of persons (e.g. family members), whilst in others, the article can be found in various and even surprising contexts (e.g. the God, he (Elvis) Presley). Although at first glance the use of the proprial article seems to be relatively unpredictable as to what is considered grammatical and what is not, varying inside and between dialects, this paper posits the existence of an underlying universal hierarchical structure which determines the possible restrictions of the use of the proprial article.