LINGUIST List 8.372

Mon Mar 17 1997

Qs: Product names, Subjects, Vietnamese

Editor for this issue: Susan Robinson <suelinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Olaf Husby, Product names - sound structure - associations
2. Lawrence B. Lewis, Lexical versus pronominal subjects
3. Daniel L. Everett, Vietnamese Phonology

Two students of mine are hired by a local company to evaluate several
names for a product to be launched internationally. The students are
looking for literature related to associations caused by speech sounds
(single and in groups, syllable structures, word roots

The students are asked to give answers to questions like these:

Which word is most suitable for product X: "spox" or "spix"?

The company requires that the answers should be related to

1. Quality of sounds and associations they give
(f.ex: by /i/ persons get ideas of something small and thin, while by /a/
something big and round)

1a. Are there more or less acceptable sounds in product names?

(is /y/ less suitable than /o/ - and why.


2. Syllable structures and associations they give.

2a. Are there more or less acceptable syllable structures in product names?

(Is CVCVCV more acceptabel than CCCVCCCV?).
"bama" is easier to pronounce than "strpske")

3. Are there differences between countries when it comes to associations
caused by identical speech sounds or syllable structures?

4. Is it an advantage or disadvantage to use an odd name?

(Example: Which name is best is best: bak? bakk? bac? bacc? back?
bachk? etc

5. etymology

(DO the names contain any semantic component which may give the potetial
buyer a certain idea with respect to meaning?)

Olaf Husby

Dept. of Applied Linguistics,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Trondheim, Norway

____________________________________________________________________________
Olaf Husby, Assistant Professor olaf.husbyhf.ntnu.no

Department of Applied Linguistics tel : + 73 59 66 34
Norwegian University of Science and Technology fax : + 73 59 81 50
7055 Dragvoll, Norway
____________________________________________________________________________

I am interested in exploring factors that determine whether speakers
(particularly children) produce lexical subjects versus pronominal
subjects. Does anyone know of any literature addressing this question
from a pragmatic, information processing, or grammatical standpoint?

Thanks in advance for any leads.

Lawrence B. Lewis
Department of Psychology
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Folks,

What are the best works on Vietnamese phonology (especially of the
dialect spoken in the south)? I am particularly interested in tone,
stress, and reduplication. Information on historical, descriptive, or
theoretical studies is welcome.

I will post a summary of responses if there is a sufficient
number of responses.

Thanks very much,

Dan Everett
******************************
******************************

Dan Everett
Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh
2816 CL
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: 412-624-8101; Fax: 412-624-6130
http://www.linguistics.pitt.edu/~dever