On the Study of Naming Mechanisms in Commercial Sphere (Based on Makeup Product Names in the English Language)

Abstract

The article deals with the mechanisms of commercial naming in present-day English. Commercial naming is understood as linguistic naming of various products and businesses used for commercial purposes and aimed at obtaining financial benefit. In spite of the constantly emerging and developing markets, technologies, and brands, and, consequently, the continuous creation of new product names, commercial naming is still a relatively new area within onomasiology, which necessitates linguistic research and in-depth interpretation of the main features and trends in commercial naming. The authors analyze makeup product names of eight British and American brands on the websites Space NK and Sephora. The analysis covers 304 names. The following trends in the creation of commercial cosmetic names have been identified: the use of graphic means (capital letters and special symbols), phonetic devices (alliteration and rhyme), nonce words, colloquial and slang phrases, the incorporation of cultural allusions and foreign language insertions. The motivational classification of makeup product names reveals that the majority of these names are object-based names with indirect motivation, a considerable part of which are associative-contrastive names. Such names enable the name giver to convey the objective link to the object, to distinguish it from other objects of the same type (for example, to define the color of the cosmetic product), and at the same time to display the linguistic-creative potential of the name giver. The majority of names not motivated by the object are those with direct motivation, performing the function of advertising. Such names reveal the pragmatic potential of commercial names, whose aim is not only to describe the object but to get the attention of the potential customer.