What’s in a Name? Classification of Proper Names by Language

2. Organisation of this chapter 
 
First, the literature is briefly reviewed in order to explain the function of using 
particular languages and the role of proper names in advertising and the linguistic 
landscape. Then attention is paid to the classification of proper names in the linguistic 
landscape like brand and shop names. Furthermore, a case study is presented to 
demonstrate the impact of proper names on the linguistic landscape. At the end of the 
chapter, conclusions are drawn from the issues raised. 
3. The use of languages in advertising and the linguistic landscape 
 
A part of the linguistic landscape is formed by shop signs, such as posters on which 
products are advertised and signs displaying the name of a shop. Shop signs, 
sometimes called ‘shop-front advertisements’ (see for example Schlick, 2003), are 
similar to advertisements in newspapers and magazines. Both advertisements and 
shop signs are used to promote a product, the main difference being that 
advertisements are published in the press or broadcast over the air while shop signs 
are displayed in the public space. Although this chapter primarily focuses on the 
linguistic landscape, previous findings of other researchers based on advertisements 
are also taken into account. 
The main function of shop signs, and therefore of any linguistic material 
occurring on them, is to persuade customers to buy the products or services available 
at the stores displaying these signs (El-Yasin and Mahadin, 1996). How does the use 
of particular languages in advertising and the linguistic landscape contribute to 
persuading customers? 
According to Haarmann (1986: 109) “[l]anguage is the most immediate 
element of ethnic identity for ordinary people”. Through the use of particular 
languages in advertisements or on shop signs, products are associated with the 
corresponding groups of speakers. The languages used may or may not reflect the 
languages spoken by the speech community for which an advertisement or shop sign 
is meant. Haarmann (1986) notes that the use of English and other foreign languages 
in the Japanese mass media does not reflect the everyday language use of the Japanese 
speech community, which is largely monolingual. He calls this phenomenon 
‘impersonal multilingualism’. This use of foreign languages often is not intended as a 
means of verbal communication but rather to appeal to people’s emotions, according 
to Haarmann. 
Impersonal multilingualism also plays a role in a study of German print 
advertisements by Piller (2001). In her corpus the language of the slogans is English 
in 45% of all cases while the body copy and the factual information (standing details) 
are mostly in German. According to Piller, this shows that the advertisement 
producers doubt the English proficiency of the audience, and it implies that they use 
English largely for its connotational value. Even if the audience does not understand 
the denotational message of the English part, their stereotypes about English-speaking 
persons will be activated and transferred to the product. 
A study of the German marketing agency Endmark (2006) indeed shows that 
German consumers often do not understand slogans in English. 1072 people between 
14 and 49 years old were asked to translate twelve slogans. The slogan that was 
understood best was Feel the difference from a Ford advertisement: 55% of the 
respondents gave correct translations. The slogan that was translated correctly by the 

---

3 
least people is Life by Gorgeous from Jaguar XK. The translation that was intended 
by the advertisers was ‘Leben auf prächtig / hinreißend’. Only 8% of the respondents 
gave correct translations while some others thought the slogan meant ‘Leben in 
Georgien’ (‘Life in Georgia’). 
Gerritsen et al. (2000) found similar results for Dutch subjects. They 
investigated the comprehension of English in commercials on Dutch television among 
30 Dutch men and 30 Dutch women, who were evenly distributed across two age 
groups (15 to 18 and 50 to 57) and three levels of secondary education (low, middle 
and high). The subjects were asked to give the meaning of the English fragments of 
six commercials that were partly or completely in English. Only 36 percent of the 
subjects appeared to be able to give a rough indication of the meaning of the English 
used. 
Advertisers may use particular languages for two reasons. The first is to make 
the contents understood, i.e., the denotation of the message. The second reason, as the 
studies discussed in this section show, is to appeal to emotions through the 
connotation of languages. The fact that advertisers use languages that are hardly 
understood by the audience may show that, in order to persuade customers, they 
sometimes attach more importance to the connotation than to the denotation of their 
advertising.