Phoneme Theoretical Basis and its Symbolic Meaning of Brand Name

曹海洋+宋欣

【摘要】Brand names are the offspring of highly development of market economics， and play a crucial role in modern society. This paper gives a detailed analysis of phoneme theoretical basis of brand name. After the analysis of 2，000 brand names， the relation between sound and brand name is found. Each consonants and vowels has a meaning that is based on how its pronounced.

【关键词】brand name； phoneme theoretical basis； consonant； vowel

1. Onomatopoeia in Brand Name

Onomatopoeia， the formation and use of words to imitate sounds. Common occurrences of onomatopoeias include animal noises， such as "oink" or "meow" or "roar". Onomatopoeias are not the same across all languages； they conform to some extent to the broader linguistic system they are part of； hence the sound of a clock may be tick tock in English， dī dā in Mandarin， or katchin katchin in Japanese.

For animal sounds， words like quack （duck）， bark （dog）， roar （lion） and meow （cat） are typically used in English. Some of these words are used both as nouns and as verbs.

In some English brand names， brand designers employ onomatopoeia to create vivid names and attract consumers. For instance， Adidas（sportswear and equipment） the name is taken from the name of its founder， Adi Dassler. The sound of this name is a little onomatopoeia， the rhythm of running. Kodak is the sound of camera clapping； Wahaha sounds like children are laughing. That is the reason why it is so popular among the children. Kit Kat is a crispy chocolate snack， which sounds "kit kat" while being eaten.

Onomatopoeia brand names， taking advantages of their simplicity and vividness， get wide reorganization and fondness. It is an art of humor， also a wise way to coin brand names， but does not fit all products. Therefore， inspiration is the best policy， not compulsion.

2. Sound Symbolism in Brand Name

In this article we examine a phenomenon known as sound symbolism， where the

sound of a word conveys meanings. Speci？cally， brand names are composed of individual sounds called phonemes and we investigate how this phonetic structure of brand names affects a consumers evaluation of products and their underlying attributes. We demonstrate that consumers use information they gather from pho- names in brand names to infer product attributes and to evaluate brands. We also demonstrate that the manner in which phonetic effects of brand names manifest is automatic in as much as it is uncontrollable， outside awareness and effortless.

Sound symbolism， the linguistic process in which the sounds of a word provide cues about the words meaning， is not a new phenomenon. Plato ？rst described the effect in the dialogues of Cratylus， and authors throughout time have used the sounds in words to describe people （e.g.， the miniature Lilliputians and the giant Brobdingnagians in Swifts Gullivers Travels） and objects （e.g.， the large， dangerous Bludgers， the big， round Quaf？e， and the small， fast Golden Snitch in the Quidditch game in Rowlings Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone） represented by those words.

2.1. Syllable Structure in Brand Name

In most theories of European phonology， the general structure of a syllable consists of three segments： Onset， Nucleus， Coda. In some theories of phonology， these syllable structures are displayed as tree diagrams （similar to the trees found in some types of syntax）. Not all phonologists agree that syllables have internal structure； in fact， some phonologists doubt the existence of the syllable as a theoretical entity.

The choice of syllable structure is crucial in easy pronunciation， especially for brand names which are intended for the global market. Syllable structure which is common in many languages is easy for consumers to pronounce. For example， the most commonly used syllable structures are consonant-vowel （CV） and consonant-vowel-consonant （CVC）.

Some naming specialists and branding companies advise that brand names should be no longer than four syllables. Others state confidently that thirteen characters should be the maximum length. Their advice might sound logical or as if it is based on sound principles， but it isnt. To talk about the length of a brand name is a red herring. Heres why.

First of all， how do you measure the length of a word？ By number of letters？ By number of syllables？ Coca-Cola has four syllables， but it is a lot easier to say than Eighths， which only has one. Ikea has four letters but three syllables， while the nine letters that make up Strengths form just one syllable. The three-letter abbreviation www has nine syllables and takes more time to say than the longer world wide web.

Far more important than the length of a brand or business name is whether it flows easily or not. Names that flow best are often made up of alternating consonants and vowels.

2.2 Consonants in Brand Name

The consonants are roughly divided into three groups in this research， which are plosives， fricatives and nasals. Consonants can imitate the characteristics of objects more vividly and directly and it can directly symbolize the surface phenomenon.

The first category is plosives， and we put focus on [ p ] [ b ] [ t ] [ d ] [ k ] .

The consonants [ p ] [ b ] [ t ] [ d ] and [ k ] are all plosives. This is why someone once said that the old advertising agency name Batten Barton Durstine and Osborn （BBD&O） sounds "like a trunk bouncing down a flight of stairs."

Whats especially interesting is that brand names beginning with plosives have higher recall scores than non-plosive names. Several studies of the top 200 brand names have made that point. Examples： Bic， Coca-Coca， Kelloggs， Kodak， Pontiac， etc. And a disproportionate percentage of brands today start with the same three plosive letters： [ b ]， [ k ] and [ p ]. It makes linguistic sense to start a brand name with a strong-sounding consonant or a plosive.

The second category is fricatives， and we put focus on [ s ] [ z ] [ v ].

[ s ] presents feminine beauty by its flexibility and curves. According to Margaret Magruss research （1999）， "S is the Serpent， what the Indians call the Kundaini， the force of life. S is the spiritual seeker， the swami， the saint. It is so strong， so smooth， so suave， so slippery， and so sexy. It is the seed， the Source， which does not create as God creates， but reproduces as the world reproduces， from a single worldly thing to several."

[ z ] is a phoneme which people rate highest on a scale of active and daring. The sound is also rated as very fast and comfortable， often employed in medicine names. Prozac has a rather pedestrian beginning of "pro-"， the sounds [ z ] score highly for the qualities active and daring. These crackling， buzzing sounds may subliminally suggest activity to back up the sequence ac， which suggests the word action.

[ v ] is one of the fastest， biggest and most energetic sounds in language. It sets the tone for the drug to be fast， energetic and big. A lot of medicine apply [ v ] to suggest the fast and effective function， such as Viagra. The name "Viagra" rhymes with Niagara， the most famous waterfall in the world. Water is psychologically linked to both sexuality and life. And Niagara Falls， home of thousands of heart-shaped beds， connotes honeymoons.

The third category is nasals， and we put focus on [ m ] [ n ].

[ m ]is a nasal sound which is low， gentle and not clear. In literature， it is widely employed as an imitation sound symbolizing any low and heavy sounds， such as sea billows， insects creaking， or pigeons coo. In Keats famous poem Ode to a Nightingale， there is a line goes "the murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves". Here the [ m ]in "murmurous" and "summer" symbolize the hum of flies， which helps to recall the peaceful and pleasant summer evenings. The [ m ]here softens the scenery and melts the unpleasant buzz of flies， only leaving tranquil to readers.

[ n ] is a nasal sound producing a kind of whirring sound， suggesting smooth， spinning motion， enhanced by the absence of such stop consonants as k. Enron， the former name of United States energy commodity and Service Company， has each of the two syllables ending in a nasal consonant， so the name is less spare and less bare than Tyco.

2.3 Vowels in Brand Name

Sounds， and the resulting aural frequencies， are based upon the position and curvature of the tongue in the mouth， ranging from a high-front to low-back position. The affective meanings generated by sound symbolism follow a similar pattern. "These vowel sounds roughly form an ordered sound-symbolic list： [i ：]， [i]， [e]， [ei ]， [？]， [？u ]，[ ？：]，[ ？]， [u]， [？]and [u ：] （e.g.， beat， bit， bet， bait， bat， boat， bought， posh， but， put， and boot）.

"The analysis shows that the use of front vowels （as opposed to the back vowels） in brand names conveys attribute qualities of smallness， lightness， mildness， thinness， fastness， coldness， bitterness， femininity， weakness， lightness， and prettiness." Vowels have a function of symbolizing the quality of objects and Vowels symbolic function must be realized by imagination. We used the longer， broader [a ：] [？：]sound （as in bother and chop） from the middle of the phonetic vowel scale and contrasted it against the shorter.

Regardless of product category， words with vowel sound were preferred by consumers. "New brands are frequently created， and thus so are new brand names. In many cases， brand managers use various linguistic devices to increase the memorability of those names，" the researchers write. "Our findings suggest that in these cases， understanding the relation between the sounds generated by vowels and consonants and the meanings that are associated with these sounds would be useful."

3. Conclusion

Usually the researches on linguistic features of brand names are about the relation between trademarks and culture， brand names and society， brand name word formation， etc. The relation between sound and meaning is rarely touched， so in this paper， study on sound symbolism frame the main part， and is fully discussed. In fact， each of the consonants and vowels has a meaning that is based on how its pronounced. Its a fundamental and pretty thoroughly fact of language.

【参考文献】

[1] X. Zhang. English Linguistics Digest [M]. Beijing： China Machine Press， 2005： 50-53.

[2] Crystal， David. A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics [M]. Boulder， Colorado： West view Press， 1980：65.

[3]. Ones，Daniel. An Outline of English Phonetics， （sixth Edition） [M].New York： E.P. Dutton and CO， INC， 1998：79.

[4] Gimson， A.C.Ramsaran. An English Pronunciation and companion. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 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。