Trade Names in Contemporary Romanian Public Space

Book excerpt: This book is a linguistic research study of trade names, especially names of firms (in the production and services sector), shops, eating/drinking houses and accommodation locations. It identifies and analyses the onomastic behaviour characteristic of the field of trades in contemporary Romanian public space, in addition to delineating a representative naming pattern for every subcategory of commercial onomastics investigated, according to three coordinates: (1) lexical and grammatical structure, (2) semantics (pointing out different levels of meaning), and (3) language preference. Methodologically, this book relies on the theoretical configuration provided by onomastics, functional, cognitive and generative grammar, semiotics (in the interpretation of trade names as iconic, indexical and symbolic signs), and pragmatics (observing that trade names underlie speech acts). Moreover, the study also refers to psycholinguistics, underlining the cognitive and affective mechanisms that are involved in the creation and use of trade names. The way in which commercial designations behave in society (especially how they contribute to the characterisation of a community both linguistically and culturally) is analysed using the tools of sociolinguistics. From the same point of view, the current context of trade names is also described, with reference to the influence of the English language and the American sociocultural mindset (as instruments of globalisation) on the Romanian language and culture, and particularly on the unprecedented development of commercial onomastics. The methodology employed in this book furthermore includes theoretical precepts specific to linguistic polyphony, emphasising the similarity between trade names and unconventional anthroponyms (particularly nicknames and virtual names). Postcolonial studies, and post-communist studies, as a branch of this field of research, also play a role here. Finally, the reference to translation studies is made in order to be able to define trade names as cultural mediators in contemporary Romanian public space.