Everyday Linguistics Paper

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Arizona State University *

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102

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Linguistics

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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1. INTRODUCTION In this experiment, I created two brand names for a variety of commercial products that serve different purposes. The first handle followed typical linguistic rules used for creating a brand name such as sound symbolism, semantic transparency, and traditional spelling conventions (Ohala). The popular company Lexicon’s website states that they “apply proprietary sound symbolism research to every project to identify the most meaningful word parts (morphemes) and metaphors” when creating these designations. (The Value of Creating a Brand Name). The second brand name broke from these conventional guidelines in two or more ways. The goal of this investigation was to determine whether people prefer brands with titles that abide by these rules or brands with labels that contradict them. 2. METHODS PARTICIPANTS This investigation involved five participants ranging in age from 19-36. There were three males and two females involved. Two candidates completed at least two years of higher education, while the three other participants were high school graduates. MATERIALS The first product I created a brand name for was a four-wheel drive, four-door pick-up truck with a V6 engine. The label that I chose that abides by common linguistic principles for this product was Roadrunner 4XV6. This title evokes an image of something fast, which fosters positive feelings about the truck. It is also straightforward and easy to pronounce. The second name that I chose was Senerxica. This designation does not start with a strong consonantal stop, evokes no image, and is not easily pronounced. For a baby blanket specifically for newborns, the first name I created was SoftSooth. This appellation evokes a positive image of a soft material. It also uses repetitive syllables and consonant sounds, making it sound child friendly. The next chosen name was Barestrua. It starts with a voiced bilabial stop, which is not the soft sounds we are looking for in a product designed for babies. It also evokes no image in the common person’s mind. The following product was a healthy, organic, brand of meals based on Italian cuisine. The name I chose that follows the aforementioned linguistic concepts is BreezyBites. It starts with a voiced bilabial stop and evokes positive feelings because of its association with fast service. The second name I chose was Chuezshi. It has no semantic transparency and does not have the most unambiguous spelling. The next product was a manufactured miniature tree for a conservation center that rescues orphaned baby sloths. The first brand title I picked was ConservClaw. It evokes the image of an animal, which reflects what the brand represents. It also has repeated consonant sounds, which sounds childish and fun. The succeeding name was decided to be Furestri. It starts with an obstruent fricative, and a harsh sound is not necessary when advertising for animals. It also has an uncommon spelling due to the ending in ri. The last product was a new phone app for home delivery of quirky office supplies. I chose iSupply as the first brand label because the name has semantic transparency and is easy to pronounce for any native English speaker. The subsequent brand designation I picked was Bushtwep. It does not evoke any positive feelings or image in particular. It also has a variety of consonantal stops, which may not be right for a company marketing unique and eccentric products. PROCEDURES I collected my data by creating a google survey. The questionnaire described each product and then listed both chosen names for it underneath. It asked participants to rate each brand name on a Likert scale of one to five, with one being the least favorable score and five being the most
fitting. After each candidate responded, I calculated the average Likert score for each label and compiled my data in a table. 3. RESULTS After analyzing the scores of each participant, it seems that in general candidates favored the brand names that abided by common linguistic principles more than those that didn’t. The first set of terms received average scores of 4.4, 4.2, 4.6, 2.8, and 4.4 respectively. The second group earned ratings of 2.8, 1.6, 1.8, 4.2, and 1.2. There was only one product where participants rated the less linguistically aligned brand name higher than the label that follows standard lexical principles, which was the mini tree. This could be due to the fact that while both names evoke an image of animals, the word claws has a negative connotation while the word fur has a softer, more positive undertone. In every other case, the first term I created scored at least one and a half points higher than the second. These findings line up with my initial hypothesis that the results would be in favor of the titles that align with the techniques reported by Lexicon. Americans subconsciously prefer names that follow these guidelines, and that is exactly why brand labels are created with this technique across the country. 4. CONCLUSION In this investigation, I was looking to find out whether brand names that abide by or break from popular linguistic rules are more favorable. To do this, I created two brand names for five different products, one that adhered to these guidelines and one that strayed from them. I then created a survey so that participants could rate each name and I could get a general idea of which set of names was deemed as more fitting. After all data was collected, it appeared that candidates preferred the brand labels that were created with standard linguistic guidelines in mind. On average, four out of five products received higher scores on names formulated this way. 5. REFERENCES Ohala, Diane. “Everyday Linguistics-Instructions.” D2L , d2l.arizona.edu/d2l/le/content/1191116/viewContent/12959726/View. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022. “The Value of Creating a Brand Name.” Lexicon Branding , www.lexiconbranding.com/creating-a-brand- name.
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