A name, or any other word or phrase, can be explicitly quoted with the structure words "li" and "lu" to use the word itself, rather than the thing that word refers to, as an argument. Thus "Li Adam lu corta purda" means "Adam is a short word." Without the li/lu quotes, the sentence "La Adam corta purda" ("Adam is a short word") would claim that Adam, the person himself, is a short word.