phoneme theoretical basis and its symbolic meaning of brand name

《phoneme theoretical basis and its symbolic meaning of brand name》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。

PhonemeTheoreticalBasisanditsSymbolicMeaningofBrandName　　【摘要】Brandnamesaretheoffspringofhighlydevelopmentofmarketeconomics，andplayacrucialroleinmodernsociety.Thispapergivesadetailedanalysisofphonemetheoreticalbasisofbrandname.Aftertheanalysisof2，000brandnames，therelationbetweensoundandbrandnameisfound.Eachconsonantsandvowelshasameaningthatisbasedonhowit'spronounced.　　【关键词】brandname；phonemetheoreticalbasis；consonant；vowel　　1.OnomatopoeiainBrandName　　Onomatopoeia，theformationanduseofwordstoimitatesounds.Commonoccurrencesofonomatopoeiasincludeanimalnoises，suchas"oink"or"meow"or"roar".Onomatopoeiasarenotthesameacrossalllanguages；theyconformtosomeextenttothebroaderlinguisticsystemtheyarepartof；hencethesoundofaclockmaybeticktockinEnglish，dīdāinMandarin，orkatchinkatchininJapanese.　　Foranimalsounds，wordslikequack（duck），bark（dog），roar（lion）andmeow（cat）aretypicallyusedinEnglish.Some9 ofthesewordsareusedbothasnounsandasverbs.　　InsomeEnglishbrandnames，branddesignersemployonomatopoeiatocreatevividnamesandattractconsumers.Forinstance，Adidas（sportswearandequipment）thenameistakenfromthenameofitsfounder，AdiDassler.Thesoundofthisnameisalittleonomatopoeia，therhythmofrunning.Kodakisthesoundofcameraclapping；Wahahasoundslikechildrenarelaughing.Thatisthereasonwhyitissopopularamongthechildren.KitKatisacrispychocolatesnack，whichsounds"kitkat"whilebeingeaten.　　Onomatopoeiabrandnames，takingadvantagesoftheirsimplicityandvividness，getwidereorganizationandfondness.Itisanartofhumor，alsoawisewaytocoinbrandnames，butdoesnotfitallproducts.Therefore，inspirationisthebestpolicy，notcompulsion.　　2.SoundSymbolisminBrandName　　Inthisarticleweexamineaphenomenonknownassoundsymbolism，wherethe　　soundofawordconveysmeanings.Speci？cally，brandnamesarecomposedofindividualsoundscalledphonemesandweinvestigatehowthisphoneticstructureofbrandnamesaffectsaconsumer'sevaluationofproductsandtheirunderlyingattributes.We9 demonstratethatconsumersuseinformationtheygatherfrompho-namesinbrandnamestoinferproductattributesandtoevaluatebrands.Wealsodemonstratethatthemannerinwhichphoneticeffectsofbrandnamesmanifestisautomaticinasmuchasitisuncontrollable，outsideawarenessandeffortless.　　Soundsymbolism，thelinguisticprocessinwhichthesoundsofawordprovidecuesabouttheword'smeaning，isnotanewphenomenon.Plato？rstdescribedtheeffectinthedialoguesofCratylus，andauthorsthroughouttimehaveusedthesoundsinwordstodescribepeople（e.g.，theminiatureLilliputiansandthegiantBrobdingnagiansinSwift'sGulliver'sTravels）andobjects（e.g.，thelarge，dangerousBludgers，thebig，roundQuaf？e，andthesmall，fastGoldenSnitchintheQuidditchgameinRowling'sHarryPotterandtheSorcerer'sStone）representedbythosewords.　　2.1.SyllableStructureinBrandName　　InmosttheoriesofEuropeanphonology，thegeneralstructureofasyllableconsistsofthreesegments：Onset，Nucleus，Coda.Insometheoriesofphonology，thesesyllablestructuresaredisplayedastreediagrams（similartothetreesfoundinsometypesofsyntax）.Notallphonologistsagreethatsyllableshaveinternalstructure；infact，somephonologistsdoubttheexistenceofthesyllableasatheoreticalentity.9 　　Thechoiceofsyllablestructureiscrucialineasypronunciation，especiallyforbrandnameswhichareintendedfortheglobalmarket.Syllablestructurewhichiscommoninmanylanguagesiseasyforconsumerstopronounce.Forexample，themostcommonlyusedsyllablestructuresareconsonant-vowel（CV）andconsonant-vowel-consonant（CVC）.　　Somenamingspecialistsandbrandingcompaniesadvisethatbrandnamesshouldbenolongerthanfoursyllables.Othersstateconfidentlythatthirteencharactersshouldbethemaximumlength.Theiradvicemightsoundlogicalorasifitisbasedonsoundprinciples，butitisn't.Totalkaboutthelengthofabrandnameisaredherring.Here'swhy.　　Firstofall，howdoyoumeasurethelengthofaword？Bynumberofletters？Bynumberofsyllables？Coca-Colahasfoursyllables，butitisaloteasiertosaythanEighths，whichonlyhasone.Ikeahasfourlettersbutthreesyllables，whiletheninelettersthatmakeupStrengthsformjustonesyllable.Thethree-letterabbreviationwwwhasninesyllablesandtakesmoretimetosaythanthe'longer'worldwideweb.　　Farmoreimportantthanthelengthofabrandorbusinessnameiswhetheritflowseasilyornot.Namesthatflowbestareoftenmadeupofalternatingconsonantsandvowels.9 　　2.2ConsonantsinBrandName　　Theconsonantsareroughlydividedintothreegroupsinthisresearch，whichareplosives，fricativesandnasals.Consonantscanimitatethecharacteristicsofobjectsmorevividlyanddirectlyanditcandirectlysymbolizethesurfacephenomenon.　　Thefirstcategoryisplosives，andweputfocuson[p][b][t][d][k].　　Theconsonants[p][b][t][d]and[k]areallplosives.ThisiswhysomeoneoncesaidthattheoldadvertisingagencynameBattenBartonDurstineandOsborn（BBD&O）sounds"likeatrunkbouncingdownaflightofstairs."　　What'sespeciallyinterestingisthatbrandnamesbeginningwithplosiveshavehigherrecallscoresthannon-plosivenames.Severalstudiesofthetop200brandnameshavemadethatpoint.Examples：Bic，Coca-Coca，Kellogg's，Kodak，Pontiac，etc.Andadisproportionatepercentageofbrandstodaystartwiththesamethreeplosiveletters：[b]，[k]and[p].Itmakeslinguisticsensetostartabrandnamewithastrong-soundingconsonantoraplosive.　　Thesecondcategoryisfricatives，andweputfocuson[s][z][v].　　[s]presentsfemininebeautybyitsflexibilityandcurves.9 AccordingtoMargaretMagrus'sresearch（1999），"SistheSerpent，whattheIndianscalltheKundaini，theforceoflife.Sisthespiritualseeker，theswami，thesaint.Itissostrong，sosmooth，sosuave，soslippery，andsosexy.Itistheseed，theSource，whichdoesnotcreateasGodcreates，butreproducesastheworldreproduces，fromasingleworldlythingtoseveral."　　[z]isaphonemewhichpeopleratehighestonascaleofactiveanddaring.Thesoundisalsoratedasveryfastandcomfortable，oftenemployedinmedicinenames.Prozachasaratherpedestrianbeginningof"pro-"，thesounds[z]scorehighlyforthequalitiesactiveanddaring.Thesecrackling，buzzingsoundsmaysubliminallysuggestactivitytobackupthesequenceac，whichsuggeststhewordaction.　　[v]isoneofthefastest，biggestandmostenergeticsoundsinlanguage.Itsetsthetoneforthedrugtobefast，energeticandbig.Alotofmedicineapply[v]tosuggestthefastandeffectivefunction，suchasViagra.Thename"Viagra"rhymeswithNiagara，themostfamouswaterfallintheworld.Waterispsychologicallylinkedtobothsexualityandlife.AndNiagaraFalls，homeofthousandsofheart-shapedbeds，connoteshoneymoons.　　Thethirdcategoryisnasals，andweputfocuson[m][n].9 　　[m]isanasalsoundwhichislow，gentleandnotclear.Inliterature，itiswidelyemployedasanimitationsoundsymbolizinganylowandheavysounds，suchasseabillows，insectscreaking，orpigeons'coo.InKeats'famouspoemOdetoaNightingale，thereisalinegoes"themurmuroushauntoffliesonsummereves".Herethe[m]in"murmurous"and"summer"symbolizethehumofflies，whichhelpstorecallthepeacefulandpleasantsummerevenings.The[m]heresoftensthesceneryandmeltstheunpleasantbuzzofflies，onlyleavingtranquiltoreaders.　　[n]isanasalsoundproducingakindofwhirringsound，suggestingsmooth，spinningmotion，enhancedbytheabsenceofsuchstopconsonantsask.Enron，theformernameofUnitedStatesenergycommodityandServiceCompany，haseachofthetwosyllablesendinginanasalconsonant，sothenameislessspareandlessbarethanTyco.　　2.3VowelsinBrandName　　Sounds，andtheresultingauralfrequencies，arebaseduponthepositionandcurvatureofthetongueinthemouth，rangingfromahigh-fronttolow-backposition.Theaffectivemeaningsgeneratedbysoundsymbolismfollowasimilarpattern."Thesevowelsoundsroughlyformanorderedsound-symboliclist：[i：]，[i]，[e]，[ei]，[？]，[？u]，[？：]，[？]，[u]，[？]and[u：]9 （e.g.，beat，bit，bet，bait，bat，boat，bought，posh，but，put，andboot）.　　"Theanalysisshowsthattheuseoffrontvowels（asopposedtothebackvowels）inbrandnamesconveysattributequalitiesofsmallness，lightness，mildness，thinness，fastness，coldness，bitterness，femininity，weakness，lightness，andprettiness."VowelshaveafunctionofsymbolizingthequalityofobjectsandVowels'symbolicfunctionmustberealizedbyimagination.Weusedthelonger，broader[a：][？：]sound（asinbotherandchop）fromthemiddleofthephoneticvowelscaleandcontrasteditagainsttheshorter.　　Regardlessofproductcategory，wordswithvowelsoundwerepreferredbyconsumers."Newbrandsarefrequentlycreated，andthussoarenewbrandnames.Inmanycases，brandmanagersusevariouslinguisticdevicestoincreasethememorabilityofthosenames，"theresearcherswrite."Ourfindingssuggestthatinthesecases，understandingtherelationbetweenthesoundsgeneratedbyvowelsandconsonantsandthemeaningsthatareassociatedwiththesesoundswouldbeuseful."　　3.Conclusion　　Usuallytheresearchesonlinguisticfeaturesofbrandnamesareabouttherelationbetweentrademarksandculture，brandnames9 andsociety，brandnamewordformation，etc.Therelationbetweensoundandmeaningisrarelytouched，sointhispaper，studyonsoundsymbolismframethemainpart，andisfullydiscussed.Infact，eachoftheconsonantsandvowelshasameaningthatisbasedonhowit'spronounced.It'safundamentalandprettythoroughlyfactoflanguage.　　【参考文献】　　[1]X.Zhang.EnglishLinguisticsDigest[M].Beijing：ChinaMachinePress，2005：50-53.　　[2]Crystal，David.AFirstDictionaryofLinguisticsandPhonetics[M].Boulder，Colorado：WestviewPress，1980：65.　　[3].Ones，Daniel.AnOutlineofEnglishPhonetics，（sixthEdition）[M].NewYork：E.P.DuttonandCO，INC，1998：79.　　[4]Gimson，A.C.Ramsaran.AnEnglishPronunciationandcompanion.Oxford：OxfordUniversityPress，1982：87.　　作者简介：　　曹海洋（1981.04-）女，汉族，黑龙江齐齐哈尔人，副教授，硕士，主要从事英语教育研究；宋欣，英语141学生。9