Trademarks and brand names used as common nouns in English

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Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture

Trademarks and brand names used as common nouns in English

Maria Vorobel PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Languages,

Yuliia Kalymon PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Languages,

Nadiia Yurko Senior Lecturer at the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Languages

Lviv

Abstract

A borderline between proper names and general ones is not ultimate. Therefore usage of proper names as general ones is acceptable, moreover it is dictated by the “life” of the language that develops and require new meanings and connotation. The use of a trademark or brand name as a common noun is caused by the lack of generic name for a certain set ofproducts. There are attempts to fill these gaps by some word structures or clumsy paraphrases. The appearance of an appropriate trademark or brand name causes the phenomenon of its substitution of big and artificial words or phrases. The development of this transition dictates the actuality of the research. First of all this phenomenon can be also explained by the fact that such proper names comprise general concept that is distinguished and clear to a big number of people and are so significant that can be understood even by the bearers of different languages. Although the process is unstoppable, certain companies go a long way to prevent this and defend their brand name. The aim of the research is to focus on identification and analysis of appellativation mechanisms contributing to the enrichment of the English lexicon. The tasks are to analyze and display the etymology of certain brand names that have become common and as a result filled lexical gaps in the English language. Generally speaking the schemes of shifting proper names into general ones may be referred to as metonymy (the act of referring to anything by the name of something else that is closely connected with it) or a kind of semantic conversion or shift where the word does not change its morphology (it remains to be a noun) but acquires wider and deeper meaning. As for perspectives offurther studies we consider analyzing brand names functioning in the Ukrainian language as compared to the English one, also by using corpus-based research methods.

Key words: proper name, brand name, semantic shift, genericide, genericized trademark.

Анотація

ТОРГОВІ МАРКИ ТА БРЕНДИ ЯК ЗАГАЛЬНІ ІМЕННИКИ В АНГЛІЙСЬКІЙ МОВІ

Марія ВОРОБЕЛЬ

кандидат педагогічних наук, доцент, старший викладач кафедри української та іноземних мов, Львівський державний університет фізичної культури імені Івана Боберського, м. Львів

Юлія КАЛИМОН

кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, старший викладач кафедри української та іноземних мов, Львівський державний університет фізичної культури імені Івана Боберського, м. Львів

Надія ЮРКО

старший викладач кафедри української та іноземних мов, Львівський державний університет фізичної культури імені Івана Боберського, м. Львів

Межа між власними і загальними назвами є відносною. Тому використання власних назв як загальних є прийнятним, це продиктовано «життям» та потребами мови, яка розвивається і вимагає нових значень і конотацій. Використання назви торгової марки (бренду) як загального іменника спричинене відсутністю загального іменника на позначення певної категорії товарів. Спроби заповнити ці прогалини незграбними словосполученнями або парафразами не спрацьовують. Тому поява відповідного товарного знака або фірмового найменування спричиняє заміну ним громіздких словосполучень. Цей процес особливо актуальний в англійській мові, проте мало висвітлюється в наукових розвідках, що зумовлює актуальність дослідження. Насамперед це явище можна пояснити тим, що такі власні назви містять у собі поняття, яке є чітким і зрозумілим для великої кількості людей і є настільки значимим, що його можуть зрозуміти навіть носії різних мов. Хоча цей процес неможливо зупинити, деякі компанії докладають чимало зусиль, щоб запобігти цьому та захистити ім'я свого бренду. Деякі спроби є більш вдалими, деякі - ні, а подекуди товарна одиниця зникає з ринку, проте слово, яке її позначало, залишається в мові та продовжує функціонувати. Метою дослідження є виявлення та аналіз механізмів апелятивації назв брендів, що сприяють збагаченню лексикону англійської мови. Завдання полягають у аналізі та відображенні етимології певних торгових марок, які стали загальновживаними і в результаті заповнили лексичні прогалини в англійській мові. Загалом схеми переходу власних назв у загальні можна назвати метонімією або різновидом семантичного перетворення чи зсуву, коли слово не змінює свою морфологію (залишається іменником), але набуває ширшого й глибшого значення. Щодо перспектив подальших досліджень ми розглядаємо аналіз функціонування назв брендів в українській мові порівняно з англійською, в тому числі за допомогою корпусних методів дослідження.

Ключові слова: власна назва, назва бренду, семантичний зсув, втрата назви бренду, загальновживана торгівельна марка.

Actuality of the research

In recent years, the emphasis from the study of the core constituents of the onymic space (toponyms and anthroponyms) has partially shifted to the description of the functional, structural, and semantic features of other representatives of the periphery of the onymic space, which are not so numerous. In particular, the gradations of proper names of objects related to the material sphere of human activity are quite diverse. Transition of a proper name into a common one without affixation (so- called appelativation) has also been the subject of few studies. That is due to the fact of being accompanied by a semantic shift and loss of its actual proprietary quality [3, с. 205-206; 4, с. 26-27]. This process is especially vivid and interesting on the example of English brand names of goods and products.

Analysis of recent research and publications

Peculiarities of the semantic content of onomastic vocabulary were analyzed in the works of A. Gardiner [10], thorough study of proper names from semantic, pragmatic and syntactic perspective was suggested by W. Langendonck [11], H. Motschenbacher highlights which name-related properties can be studied with corpus linguistic methods [13], how statements about boundary between appellatives and propriatives are changing and developing over time are shown in the research by O. Chor- nous [4], the peculiarities of proper names transition into common words are characterized by many researchers, in particular, by A. Alexandrova on the data of media texts [6], S. Shestakova [5] studied pragmatonyms and ergonims in the Ukrainian language, M. Vorobel, Y Kalymon, N. Yurko - philosophical and linguistic perception of English proper names (anthroponyms and toponyms) and their transition into the category of common ones [1; 2]. As a complement to previous studies, we suggest considering the process of transition of brand names into the category of general ones on the example of the English language.

The aim of the research

To analyze and display the etymology of certain brand names that have become common and as a result filled lexical gaps in the English language, denoting devices and means that were invented and initially industrially produced by a certain company, which came up with the appropriate name for its products. This process in English was named to become genericized / generification, and legally established as a genericide. noun brand lexicon language

The term for a trademark or brand name which has become synonymous with the general or formal term for a particular type of product or service, to the extent that it often replaces this term in colloquial usage, is called a genericized trademark. They should be studied separately for they form a special system. As linguist Karl Buhler once wrote: “Being used as trade marks, words receive new interrelationships. They unite with the physical characteristics of the product ” [7, p. 211]. Strong connection with the products (not as separate objects but bearers of certain qualities or characteristics) secures its entering everyday speech as common nouns. Geoffrey Nunberg in “Naming the Phonetosphere” put it “the vast majority of those trademarks live in the noun neighborhood of mental dictionary - regions inhabited by verbs, adjectives, and prepositions are relatively uncluttered by commercial messages” [14]. The interest to study brand names functioning as generic ones has rised scientifically from the 80s of the XXth century, primarily in the USA, since it was there that the main processes of inventing products and goods that had no verbal notion in the language and got their name due to the manufacturing companies and through the lens of lexicographic and legal practice [7, p. 120-137]. In particular, they note that “trademarks are the emerging lingua franca: with a sufficient command of these terms, one can make oneself understood all over the world” [9, p. 397-398].

The main research material. An eponym is a general term used to describe from what or whom something derived its name. Therefore, a proprietary eponym could be considered a brand name (trademark or service mark) which has fallen into general use. The commonplace products and services of today become the household word of tomorrow. A trademark typically becomes “genericized” when the products or services with which it is associated have acquired substantial market dominance or mind share. The use of a trademark or brand name as a common noun is caused by the lack of generic name for a certain set of products. There are attempts to fill these gaps by some word structures or clumsy paraphrases. The appearance of an appropriate trademark or brand name causes the phenomenon of its substitution of big and artificial words or phrases. The term is legally significant in that unless a company works sufficiently to prevent such broad use of its trademark, its intellectual property rights in the trademark may be lost.

The branding people have a complicated relationship to that common language. That isn't just because they need the verbs and prepositions that flourish there, but because they need all those generic phrases like “bathroom tissue” and “plastic wrap” that keep their trademarks from becoming common nouns that anybody could use.

One has the impression that people privatize the language in the same way they privatize the national forests. The great brands don't belong to any single language - they're part of a new global tongue, the Esperanto of the check-out stand. All people are drawn together under the international language of brands, with only separate verbs to keep humans apart. Apart from the above-mentioned situation some trademarks struggle to avoid their names being used in everyday speech. One of the most famous examples concerns Xerox. The word “xerox” is commonly used as a synonym for “photocopy” (both as a noun and a verb) in many areas, even presidential debates (e.g., “Lifting whole passages from someone else S speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox " (H. Clinton at CNN-Univision debate with B. Obama in Austin, Texas in 2008). Though both are common, the company does not condone such use of its trademark, and is particularly concerned about the ongoing use of Xerox as a verb as this places the trademark in danger of being declared a generic word by the courts. Xerox Corporation continues to protect its trademark diligently in most if not all trademark categories [9, p. 417]. The same concerns trademarks like Teflon, Thermos and Kleenex [7, p. 138].

Professor David Crystal has also touched upon this problem regarding the verb “google”: “To google - as a verb. Of course, everybody's heard of Google the search engine - popular development of the 1990s. In fact, in 1999, Google was designated the most useful word by the American Dialect Society, as a verb! `I'm going to google.' `We are googling.' .. .The word itself comes from a mathematical term, `googol', a term meaning 10 to the 100th power, an impossibly large concept, indeed. And, of course, the Google search engine has also become impossibly large! . Of course, the penalty of success is when you have a word enter the language and it was originally a word that you thought you owned. In fact, the firm Google is very concerned over this use as a verb, because it is their trade mark - they like to keep the capital letter in the definition. . But they've got a problem, I mean, no firm, no matter how big, can control language change!” [15]. Google LLC has gone to lengths to prevent this process as well, discouraging publications from using the term `googling' in reference to web-searches. Nowadays “to google” has been defined in the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary as “to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (someone or something) on the World Wide Web” and in the Oxford English Dictionary as “to type words into the search engine Google™ in order to find information about somebody/something”.

The situation in countries such as the United States, where a genericization causes a trademark to lose its protection, a consequence the trademark owner might wish to avoid. In other countries, e.g. in Germany, a trademark stays protected even after genericization. In this case, the outcome is very positive for the owner; the customer might not even know the proper non- trademarked term for the product, or consider this term as very artificial sounding and/or inconvenient, and hence associates only the trademark owner's product with the whole range of products, possibly even being ignorant about alternatives. The classic example is Bayer's trademark for the drug Aspirin. A customer at a pharmacy is more likely to ask for “Aspirin” than for “ace- tylsalicylic acid tablets”, which is the name all manufacturers of generic versions of the drug are forced to use in order not to infringe the trademark. In the United States, Bayer lost the trademark to the word “aspirin” after World War I.

Other examples of trade marks now used as common nouns (word definitions are retrieved from Oxford Online Dictionary at https://www. oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/):

frisbee n.; frisbees n. pl.: a light plastic object, shaped like a plate, that is thrown from one player to another in a game. Eg., Get ready for an exciting freestyle frisbee weekend at the Canteras Beach in Las Palmas! [17]

granola, n.: a type of breakfast cereal made of grains, nuts, etc. that have been toasted. The recipe was invented in late XIX c. and named by affixation from gran- (representing granular or grain) + -ola (suffix chiefly in US usage). The current term dates from the 1970s. Eg., This delicious healthy granola recipe is the best! It's naturally sweetened with maple syrup (or honey) [26].

heroin, n.: a powerful illegal drug made from morphine, that some people take for pleasure and can become addicted to. In 1898, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer began producing heroin (the name comes from the German word heroisch, meaning “powerful”) as a cough remedy made from a supposedly non- addictive morphine derivative. It unfortunately caused large numbers of users to become heroin addicts. Eventually Bayer ceased its production and lost this trademark, now it denotes an opiate in a powdered form. Eg., The patient was injecting heroin 4-6 times daily in her upper extremity muscles alternatively, from the age of 16 to 21 years [19].

klaxon n.: a horn, originally on a vehicle, that makes a loud sound as a warning. Eg., The ghost of the klaxon doesn't visit me as often as it did in the past and for that I am very grateful [21].

moxie n., informal: courage, energy and determination. The original moxie was a patent medicine and tonic-Moxie Nerve Food-invented by Dr. Augustin Thompson and sold in New England in the 1870s. The drink's popularity has declined in most of the U.S., the word moxie determinedly lives on. Eg., Natalie Portman gave life - and moxie - to the teenage queen of Naboo, Padme Amidala [25].

scotch tape n.: cellophane adhesive tape scotch tape; v.: to join together with cellophane adhesive tape. Eg., With wrapping paper, scissors and scotch tape in hand they gather in our main dining room to wrap, and wrap, and wrap some more [24].

post-it note, post-it n.; post-it notes, post-its n. pl.: self-stick removable reminder label. Eg., He picked up the phone, reading the Post-it note as he did so [18].

jeep n.; jeeps n. pl.: a small strong motor vehicle used, especially by the army, for driving over rough ground. Eg., This is a list of military light utility vehicles, of the kind commonly referred to as jeeps, ..., manufactured by U.S. automakers, in order of first creation [23].

spam n.: (informal) advertising material sent by e-mail to people who have not asked for it. It is widely believed the term spam is derived from the 1970 Monty Python SPAM sketch, set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes SPAM luncheon meat. Although the first known instance of unsolicited commercial e-mail occurred in 1978, the term “spam” for this practice had not yet been applied. Professor D. Crystal has also pointed out this word and its origin: “Spam was originally a tinned meat back in the 1930s, a brand name for a particular kind of cold meat. But it became very fashionable when Monty Python, the satirical television comedy series back in the 70s and 80s .... And therefore it became a real part of the language meaning any unwanted material of any kind and so when the internet came along it wasn't surprising really that spam became part of that kind of experience. You've now got verbs based upon it, and adjectives based upon it” [16] Eg., If you thought spam on your computer was a bother, brace yourself: spammers want to find you on your cellphone [22].

spandex (elastane in BrE) an artificial material that stretches, used for making clothes that fit close to the body. Eg., In most cases, pure spandex isn't used in garments [27].

yo-yo n.: a toy that consists of two round pieces of plastic or wood joined together; with a piece of string wound between them. Eg., The myth of the yo-yo as an ancient Filipino weapon persists despite the absence of sound historical evidence [20].

Conclusions and further research perspectives

The research has shown that there are plenty of examples of proper nouns functioning as general ones in English language. There are attempts to prevent this process when it concerns trademarks or brand names, still speakers tend to use them in their everyday speech referring to any similar product. As for further development of the topic it may touch upon functioning of brand names in the Ukrainian language as opposed to the English one. Some modern approaches, like applying corpus data, may be used in this regard.

Bibliography

1. Воробель М., Калимон Ю., Юрко Н. Власні назви в ролі загальних (на прикладі англійської мови). Вчені записки ТНУ імені В. І. Вернадського. Серія: Філологія. Журналістика, 33(72), № 6, Ч. 1, 2022. С. 95-99.

2. Воробель М., Калимон Ю., Юрко Н. Значення власних назв в англійській мові: філософсько-лінгвістичний аспект. Закарпатські філологічні студії, 2022. Вип. 1(26), С. 92-96.

3. Лукаш Г. Амплітуда семантичного розширення власних назв. Наукові записки Тернопільського національного педагогічного університету ім. Володимира Гнатюка. Сер. Мовознавство. Вип. 1(27). 2017. С. 204-209.

4. Чорноус О. Феномен пропріальної лексики. Південний архів, 2021. Вип. 85. с. 25-31.

5. Шестакова С. Лексико-семантичні інновації у системі української номінації (на матеріалі ергонімів і прагмонімів): Дис. ... канд. філол. наук: 10.02.01 - укр. мова. Харківський національний університет ім. В. Н. Каразіна. Харків, 2002. 241 с.

6. Aleksandrova A. The transition of names: from proper names to common nouns. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, andFLT, Vol. 04, 2017. p. 70-77.

7. Bellido J., Pottage A. Lexical properties: Trademarks, dictionaries, and the sense of the generic. History of Science. Vol. 57. 2019. pp. 119-139.

8. Buhler, K. (1965). Sprachtheorie: Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache. Jena, 1965. 467 p.

9. Dreyfuss R. Expressive Genericity: Trademarks as Language in the Pepsi Generation, Vol. 65. 1990. Notre Dame L. Rev. 397.

10. Gardiner A. The Theory of Proper Names. A Controversial Study. 2nd ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1940. 78 p.

11. Langendonck W. Theory and typology of proper names. Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs. Berlin, New York : Walter de Gruyter, 2007. 378 p.

12. Linford J. A Linguistic Justification for Protecting “Generic” Trademarks, 17 Yale J.L. & Tech. 2015. pp.110-170.

13. Motschenbacher H. Corpus Linguistic Onomastics: A Plea for a Corpus-Based Investigation of Names. Names. 2020. Vol. 68:2. pp. 88-103.

14. Nunberg G. Branding the Phonetosphere.

Sources of the examples

1. Crystal D. Keep your English up to date! To google.

2. Crystal D. Keep your English up to date! Spam.

3. FPA Upcoming Events.

4. Gaiman N. Neverwhere

5. Galassi G., Ariatti A., Gozzi M., Cavazza S. A heroin addict with focal weakness. Acta myologica : myopathies and cardiomyopathies: official journal of the Mediterranean Society of Myology, 32(1), 2013. pp. 27-29.

6. Goto-Jons C. The Secret Life ofYo-yos.

7. Gregorio R. The Klaxon.

8. Holson L. Spam Moves to Cellphones and Gets More Invasive.

9. List of US military jeeps

10. Santa for a Senior & Annual Gift Wrapping Party.

11. `Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace' Cast: Where Are They Now?

12. Taylor K. The very best granola!

13. What Is Spandex Fabric?

References

1. Vorobel M., Kalymon Yu., Yurko N. Vlasni nazvy v roli zahalnykh (na prykladi anhliiskoi movy) [Proper names as general one (on the example of the English language)]. Ucheni zapysky TNU im. V I. Vernadskoho. Serna: Filolohiia. Zhurnalistyka, 33(72), № 6, Ch. 1, 2022. S. 95-99.

2. Vorobel M., Kalymon Yu., Yurko N. Znachennia vlasnykh nazv v anhliiskii movi: filosofsko-linhvistych- nyi aspect [Meaning of proper nouns in English: philosophic and linguistic aspect]. Zakarpatski filolohichni studii, 2022. Vyp. 1(26), S. 92-96.

3. Lukash H. Amplituda semantychnoho rozshyrennia vlasnykh nazv [Amplitude of semantic expansion of proper names]. Naukovi zapysky Ternopilskoho natsionalnoho pedahohichnoho universytetu im. Volody- myra Hnatiuka. Ser. Movoznavstvo. Vyp. 1(27). 2017. S. 204-209.

4. Chornous O. Fenomen proprialnoi leksyky [Proprietary lexica phenomenon]. Pivdennyi arkhiv, 2021. Vyp. 85. s. 25-31.

5. Shestakova S. Leksyko-semantychni innovatsii u systemi ukrainskoi nominatsii (na materiali erhonimiv i prahmonimiv) [Lexical and semantic innovations in the system of Ukrainian nomination (on the material of ergonyms and pragmatonyms: PhD thesis]: Dys. ... kand. filol. nauk: 10.02.01 - ukr. mova. Kharkivskyi nat- sionalnyi universytet im. V. N. Karazina. Kharkiv, 2002. 241 s.

6. Aleksandrova A. The transition of names: from proper names to common nouns. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, andFLT, Vol. 04, 2017. p. 70-77.

7. Bellido J., Pottage A. Lexical properties: Trademarks, dictionaries, and the sense of the generic. History of Science. 2018. 57 p.

8. Buhler, K. (1965). Sprachtheorie: Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache. Jena, 1965. 467 p.

9. Dreyfuss R. Expressive Genericity: Trademarks as Language in the Pepsi Generation, Vol. 65. 1990. Notre Dame L. Rev. 397.

10. Folsom R., Teply L. Trademarked Generic Words. The Yale Law Journal, 89(7), 1980, pp. 1323-1359.

11. Gardiner A. The Theory of Proper Names. A Controversial Study. 2nd ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1940. 78 p.

12. Langendonck W. Theory and typology of proper names. Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs. Berlin, New York : Walter de Gruyter, 2007. 378 p.

13. Linford J. A Linguistic Justification for Protecting “Generic” Trademarks, 17 Yale J.L. & Tech. 2015. pp.110-170.

14. Motschenbacher H. Corpus Linguistic Onomastics: A Plea for a Corpus-Based Investigation of Names. Names. 2020. Vol. 68:2. pp. 88-103.

15. Nunberg G. Branding the Phonetosphere.

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