<?page no="0"?> ISBN 978-3-381-13331-4 This volume addresses the elds of naming and branding, in particular company and brand names, names in slogans, and advertising language in general, and all other proper names that are of economic interest in times of crisis. The contributions analyze both advertising on social media as well as printed material concerning commercial names, slogans for climate advertising, pandemic situations, new branding, and communication strategies in critical times, such as war and energetic de ciency. The focus of the volume lies in stimulating re ections on how communication with consumers has changed, on current advertising and marketing strategies, and on naming in the face of sustainability and fairness. The current war scenario and the resulting problems concerning energy supplies, the increased migration in the Western European nations, and the political and social pressure to implement ambitious climate goals lead the economy and advertising agencies to profound reconsiderations. Band 7 Cotticelli-Kurras (ed.) Names in Times of Crisis Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (ed.) Names in Times of Crisis Age of pandemics, energetic de ciency, and war <?page no="1"?> Names in Times of Crisis <?page no="2"?> Sprachvergleich Studien zur synchronen und diachronen Sprachwissenschaft Band 7 herausgegeben von Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (Verona) Katrin Schmitz (Wuppertal) Joachim Theisen (Athen) Carlotta Viti (Nancy) wissenschaftlicher Beirat Daniel Petit (Paris) Georges-Jean Pinault (Paris) Sabine Ziegler (Jena) <?page no="3"?> Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (ed.) in collaboration with Anna Dentella, Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin and Valerio Pisaniello Names in Times of Crisis Age of pandemics, energetic deficiency and war <?page no="4"?> The volume was published with a contribution from the Dipartimento di Culture e Civiltà, University of Verona DOI: https: / / doi.org/ 10.24053/ 9783381133321 © 2025 · Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Dischingerweg 5 · D-72070 Tübingen Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. 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Internet: www.narr.de eMail: info@narr.de Druck: Elanders Waiblingen GmbH ISSN 2569-2275 ISBN 978-3-381-13331-4 (Print) ISBN 978-3-381-13332-1 (ePDF) ISBN 978-3-381-13333-8 (ePub) Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http: / / dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. <?page no="5"?> 7 13 35 49 73 91 109 129 145 167 185 205 Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferdinando Longobardi Climate awareness in brand repositioning: Instagram and the new lexicon of energy sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elin Pihl Company names and sustainable energy. What do the companies want to convey? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paola Cotticelli-Kurras Bio, eco and sustainable production. The case of Migros and Coop . . . . . . . . Marie A. Rieger Green, Fair, Responsible. Promoting sustainable safari holidays in Tanzania Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello To bio or not to bio. A linguistic investigation of green policies in Italian retail products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ilia Baranov Zigns of Var. Reflection of the Russian - Ukrainian war in Russian commercial signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’. A discourse analyzis of three contemporary crises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diego Poli The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis . . . . . . . . . . . Daiana Felecan The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova Memetic Logic of a Brand Name. The Case Study of Corona Beer . . . . . . . . <?page no="6"?> 237 253 271 287 307 327 329 332 Daniel Solling Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden. Individual naming of cars in Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sabine Heinemann Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? Frames in der Markenkommunkation von Citroën Ami und Fiat Topolino. Ecologically sustainable with toasters and iconic mice? Frames in the brand communication of Citroën Ami and Fiat Topolino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antje Lobin Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Artur Gałkowski Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti nel settore dell’intrattenimento (para)militare. Naming strategies for toys, games and other objects in the (para)military entertainment sector . . . . . . Linnea Gustafsson Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist of invest-in-yourself or security-familiarity-sustainability . . . . . . Indexes Brand names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Product names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Contents <?page no="7"?> Introduction The Research Center LA.LE.LIM and the Department of Cultures and Civilizations of the University of Verona hosted the seventh international conference of Names in the Economy, held in Verona from September 28 to 30, 2023. The event focused on the theme Names in Times of Crisis: Age of Pan‐ demic, Energy Deficiency, and War, inviting scholars to explore the evolving role of names in communication, branding, and marketing strategies during global crises. The volume aims at encouraging reflection on the transformation of consumer communication, shifts in advertising language, and the redefinition of naming practices in response to economic, political, and environmental pressures. Contributions analyze the impact of crises on industry sectors, brand reputation, and the challenges businesses face in adopting sustainable and ethical naming strategies. They bring together perspectives from linguistics, marketing, law, cultural geography, and social sciences. The collected papers showcase a diverse range of case studies that align with these themes, offering a wide-ranging perspective on how names function as indicators of broader socio-economic and cultural shifts. Many contributions address the environmental discourse in branding and naming practices. Ferdinando Longobardi surveys the use of eco-neologisms and green ter‐ minology by major Italian energy companies on their websites and Instagram profiles. The study underscores the cultural shift towards sustainability in corporate communication, analyzing how climate discourse is embedded in branding strategies. Particularly strong is the methodological and conceptual introduction, which integrates references from semiotics, linguistics, and digital marketing. A key insight is how the “production of meaning” encroaches upon the commercial sphere, positioning even linguistic choices as part of a broader economic and ideological framework. Similarly, Elin Pihl examines the relationship between company names and values in the sustainable energy market, particularly comparing local and global branding strategies. The study integrates value analyzis frame‐ works from Ronneberger-Sibold and Cotticelli-Kurras (2014), offering a compelling discussion of cultural differences in corporate naming across Sweden and other European contexts. Paola Cotticelli-Kurras presents a concise analyzis of sustainability-related terminology found in product and commercial names within captions that align <?page no="8"?> with the contemporary rhetoric of organic, green, and eco-sustainable production. The study is based on two case studies drawn from both printed advertising materials and documents collected from the websites of major companies, specifically Migros and Coop. Each company represents a distinct sector of sustainable production: textiles and climate for Migros, and energy for Coop. The analyzis focuses on the verbal contextualization of selected terms, particularly the use of adjectives and adverbs, which serve to evoke specific associations in consumers and potential buyers, reinforcing the intended sustainability messaging. The issue of corporate responsibility in environmental branding is further expanded in Marie A. Rieger’s study of wildlife tourism in Tanzania, where she analyzes English and German promotional materials from several tour operators advertising “green” safaris. The study questions whether the industry’s eco-friendly rhetoric reflects genuine sustainability or serves as a form of greenwashing. Combining linguistic and market analyzis, Rieger raises broader concerns about the persistence of colonial structures in contemporary tourism. Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti and Valerio Pisaniello examine the linguistic features of a selected corpus of brand names, labels and slogans related to green policies in the Italian retail market. They focus in partic‐ ular on the interaction between the linguistic and paralinguistic aspects involved, and on the strategies used to convey messages about the naturalness of products, their environmental impact in terms of the sustainability of the production process, waste management and recycling. The data are then integrated with information on consumers’ perceptions of sustainability messages, collected through a questionnaire, aimed at assessing the joint efforts made by producers and consumers to promote environmental sustainability. Beyond environmental concerns, several contributions engage with the economic and geopolitical crises affecting contemporary naming practices. Ilia Baranov’s chapter, Zigns of Var, provides a critical analyzis of trademark applications in Russia following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. After the onset of war (Day Z), a surge of trademarks featuring Z and V symbols - used on Russian military equipment - appeared in the registry. The study systematically weighs the commercial, cultural, social, and po‐ litical implications of these trademarks, including the ambiguity of pre-war brands that have since acquired controversial connotations. This critical yet data-driven analyzis provides a valuable lens for understanding corporate communication in wartime. 8 Introduction <?page no="9"?> In a different domain, Florian Koch and colleagues explore the impact of crises on sports sponsorship, using football as a case study. The paper discusses how three major disruptions - COVID-19, the Ukraine war, and the FTX financial scandal - affected sponsorship contracts and brand perception. The study provides a valuable window into crisis-driven shifts in consumer and corporate behavior. The paper by Diego Poli examines the concept of crisis, starting from its Greek etymology, and exploring its validity, legitimacy, and role in shaping interdisciplinary debates. Emerging as a moral and political tool against absolutism, crisis became a defining feature of historical analyzis since the Enlightenment till the modern catastrophe theories, and through poetic contexts. Tracing its theoretical evolution highlights its transformation into a key paradigm of modern thought, particularly in contemporary global discourse, where it remains a dominant framework. The pandemic’s effect on naming and branding is addressed in multiple chapters. Daiana Felecan presents a lexical-semantic analyzis of isolation-related neologisms that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic in Romanian. The study compiles a glossary of “lexemes of solitude”, covering both loanwords and refunctionalized terms, and explores how language adapted to express new social realities under pandemic constraints. The article by Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, and Daiana Felecan examines commercial names affected by pandemic discourse, with a focus on cases that attracted media attention. The article revisits the Corona beer brand controversy, where homonymy with coronavirus initially led to brand damage before an unexpected marketing resurgence, partly driven by the phenomenon of internet memes. The discussion extends to toponyms asso‐ ciated with the pandemic, assessing how crisis-related branding can yield both negative and positive commercial outcomes. Furthermore, Olena Karpenko and Valeriia Neklesova’s chapter explores the memetization of the Corona beer brand name, analyzing its linguistic and visual adaptations during the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides a theoretical overview of memes and identifies four key trends in Corona’s memetic use: brand juxtaposition, renaming, wordplay, and visual puns. These trends rely on semantic and visual techniques like antithesis, paronymy, and irony, reinforcing humor and sarcasm in memetic discourse. The volume also includes studies on branding strategies in different industries. Introduction 9 <?page no="10"?> Daniel Solling investigates individual car naming practices in Sweden, analyzing the motivations behind these names and assessing whether envi‐ ronmental concerns play a role. While anthroponyms dominate, other inspi‐ rations include appearance, license plates, fuel type, and derivations from company or product names. The study provides a rigorous, data-rich analyzis, revealing that explicit climate discourse is largely absent in this naming tradition. The article’s thoroughness invites further comparative studies across other cultural contexts. The paper by Sabine Heinemann addresses the rising sustainability awareness that is shaping the automotive industry, with manufacturers increasing their electric vehicle offerings. Urban demand for small cars is also growing, a need Citroën and Fiat addressed with their 2021 and 2023 launches. This study examines how environmental themes appear in ads for Renault Zoe and Fiat 500e presented in comparison through a frame-semantic analyzis. It then focuses on Citroën Ami and Fiat Topolino, highlighting different advertising frames: E L E C T R O M O B ILIT Y , U R B ANIT Y , and F U N for the Ami, while the Topolino emphasizes C U L T , I TAL Y , and D O L C E V ITA , sidelining expected environmental themes. Antje Lobin explores Frenchwashing, a practice linked to national brand‐ ing and country-of-origin marketing. The study aligns with discussions of sustainability and consumer perception, engaging with Goal 12 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The analyzis is based on 50 selected products from a Casino French supermarket, focusing on linguistic and paralinguistic aspects of packaging and the interplay between producer claims and consumer interpretations. Additionally, Arthur Gałkowski provides a terminological and classifica‐ tory study of paramilitary-related naming strategies in toys and games. The article introduces the terms “paramilitary paigniononyms” and “par‐ amilitary ludic chrematonyms” to describe branding patterns of entertain‐ ment products with military content. The analyzis categorizes brand motiva‐ tions and examines how military language-culture permeates naming practices in the toy industry. Finally, Linnea Gustafsson’s study analyzes how cosmetic product names reflect societal values, comparing naming trends from Swedish makeup brands established between 1967 and 2011. Two dominant naming strategies emerge: an “invest-in-yourself” approach, emphasising luxury and self-im‐ provement, and a “security-familiar-sustainable” approach, highlighting stability and environmental consciousness. The study reveals how beauty brands from the 1980s prioritized themes of success and glamour, whereas 2000s brands focused on well-being and sustainability. This case study 10 Introduction <?page no="11"?> reinforces the broader interplay between corporate branding and the cultural Zeitgeist. Bringing together such different accounts, this volume serves as both a doc‐ umentation of these transformations and a tool for navigating the complexities of corporate and commercial communication in times of crisis. It highlights how names act as textual and semiotic markers of crisis and transformation. We trust that the contributions in this volume underscore the significance of names and branding in shaping commercial, cultural, and political landscapes, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of naming studies, drawing from linguistics, marketing, semiotics, cultural geography, and social sciences. The papers offer a nuanced understanding of how crises shape naming practices, branding strategies, and consumer perception, illustrating the profound entan‐ glement of naming with economic, social, and geopolitical contexts, whether in the realm of corporate sustainability discourse, pandemic-driven linguistic shifts, wartime branding, or tourism and the economic constraints shaping sponsorship. The volume thus provides an essential resource for understanding how branding, identity, and language evolve in response to global upheavals. Finally, we would like to thank the colleagues who were involved in the review process of the articles. Paola Cotticelli-Kurras, Anna Dentella, Francesca Cotugno, Valerio Pisaniello and Stella Merlin Introduction 11 <?page no="13"?> Climate awareness in brand repositioning: Instagram and the new lexicon of energy sustainability Ferdinando Longobardi Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of climate awareness on brand repositioning through digital marketing, focusing on the language used by major Italian energy companies on Instagram and on their websites. The study highlights how these companies use eco-neologisms and green terminology to align with environmental sustainability and enhance corporate reputation. By integrating insights from linguistics, sociology, and digital marketing, the research underscores the cultural shift towards sustainability in corporate communication and its role in shaping public perception. 1 Introduction To analyze advertising language, one needs a clear definition of text (Cotticelli Kurras, 2021a), not simply defined as the expression of a linguistic code, but rather as a communicative event situated in a reference context, i.e. the context in which it is produced and received. If the cultural coordinates of the text are unknown to the addressee, understanding the text itself will be problematic (Cotticelli Kurras, 2021b). Therefore, language appears, according to Snell-Hornby (1988: 40), as “an intrinsic part of a culture, especially if culture is defined as a totality of knowledge, proficiency and perception”. Language is therefore the main tool available to human beings to understand each other and cooperate. In this sense, languages are fully identified as the modelling process and social structure of semiosis. This means that communities are embedded in a multi-discursive reality that shapes their being, existence, and opinions. However, in contemporary society, the linguistic tools used to build consensus are more than mere words and, in a way, more devious like the Augustinian cor duplex of deception and lies. Here, then, we are discussing the influential and persuasive character of certain words: their danger lies in the fact that we are often unaware of the ease <?page no="14"?> with which they enter the common language and override our knowledge of their true meaning. In particular, the term ‘buzzwords’ also refers to those terms that run the risk of being used out of context. What has been said intersects with Foucault’s (1971) internal and external procedures of exclusion/ inclusion that give ‘order’ to discourse. Behind every word there is a historical reason, mostly unacknowledged by those who use it and, above all, words (the ‘discourses’) have the power to transform themselves into institutions within which individ‐ uals live, and into codes, rules that in turn determine others. Finally, it should be noted that Blumenberg (1984) was not concerned with the mechanism which makes metaphors work, but rather with ‘what’ they narrate and the ‘way’ in which metaphors represent the discursive configurations where the various metaphorical expressions converge. It is thus within this semiotic space that Lotman (1990) identifies the invariant function that transforms infor‐ mation into a sui generis block of information, giving it “semiotic individuality”. The aim of this paper is therefore to reflect on the Italian digital communica‐ tion of the main energy companies on social networks, particularly Instagram, analyzing their limits as well as their linguistic and semiotic weight. This work is motivated by a long-standing interest of the scientific community in this line of research: for example, in the context of fashion journalism and marketing, Thomas (2008) discusses how the terms ‘eco’, ‘green’, and ‘sustainable’ have been used and sometimes misused to shape public understanding of industry practices. More recently, Niceforo (2023) investigates the use of eco-friendly language and sustainability claims in Italian food and drink television commercials, exploring how environmental and sustainability themes are constructed in advertising discourse. Thus, the premise of this study is the contribution that reflection on language can offer today to ‘advertising eco-communication’ and ‘digital marketing’. Of course, reflection on language here refers to a complex and diverse tradition that includes, in addition to more specific linguistic and semiotic theories, some sociological approaches, analytical philosophy and the philosophy of knowledge, cultural history and anthropology. Certainly, it is a tradition that developed significant contributions long before the sometimes purely technical contributions of marketing and business economists. In this sense, it can reasonably claim some sort of primogeniture. In the same way, it can be assumed that ‘eco-communication advertising’ and ‘digital marketing’ are areas of convergence between different traditions, and that the latter in particular is a sub-class, a sub-domain of the former. In fact, for digital marketing, 14 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="15"?> 1 Any argumentative weakness is to be attributed to the author and not to the traditions referred to in the next sections. 2 “Value”, “meaning” and “structure”: three of the key words of 20th century culture and, by definition, the place of convergence of different disciplines and traditions. In particular, the term “structure” in Hjelmslev’s conception has two very precise meanings, as Lepschy recalls in the Italian introduction to Hjelmslev (1961): one of structure as “organisation”, in the sense of a system of interdependent elements, and one as “abstraction”, in the sense of a formal system underlying concrete manifestations. See, of course, in addition to the quoted text, Hjelmslev (1948). See also Graffi (1974). In this context, it seems important to recall how the theoretical process leading to the “discovery” of the phoneme has been regarded as a fundamental epistemological value in the history of 20th century linguistics. In this regard, we will mention both the interpretation of Prieto (1973, p. 13) and the earlier one of Lévi-Strauss (1964, p. 47). For the former, this process derives directly from the epistemological choice of a ‘relational’ type of object, identified with a conception that consists in “deriving the notion of ‘identity’ from that of ‘difference’ and not, on the contrary, from that of ‘difference’, or, finally, in abandoning metaphysical reflection in favour of gnoseological reflection and proposing the construction of a theory, not of the object as such, but of the known object”. For the latter, the birth of phonology “has the same renewing task for the social sciences as, for example, nuclear physics has had for the exact sciences as a whole”, in that it “refuses to consider concepts as independent entities, taking instead the relations between concepts as the basis of analyzis”. In fact, although it has had an autonomous development in the human sciences, mainly associated with linguistics, the notion of ‘structure’ has its main link with the programme of the Bourbakist group in its work to rethink the foundations of mathematics and in its encyclopaedic project, and indeed ‘structure’ can be defined as a ‘second degree mathematical object’ in relation to numbers, points, figures and functions: it concerns the ways in which these entities enter into relations. In addition to Deleuze’s (1973) clarifications in this regard, for a reconstruction of the success of the structuralist approach between the 1950s and we will only refer to the ever-growing specialised literature and, for reasons of space, some passages will have to be omitted 1 . 2 Digital marketing oriented towards the production of meaning Marketing is one of the activities of communication and it is thus based on the relations established between different subjects. These are relations that involve the sphere of public, collective interest and are nothing other than one of the activities of communication. It is therefore the nature of the relationship itself that provides the key to understanding this peculiar communicative action, to determining its value, one might say in a Geneva semiotic key or, again, to determining its meaning, in a semiotic point of view from the sociology of communication. In this sense, a mathematician of the Bourbaki school might call them second-level mathematical objects, i.e. ‘structures’. 2 Climate awareness in brand repositioning 15 <?page no="16"?> 1960s, see of course Piaget (1968), especially for the idea of totality, objective dynamics and self-regulation. See also Lepschy (1962). Finally, it should be noted that the same procedure of identifying “equivalence classes”, i.e. classes of elements with equivalent values, typically associated with distributionalism throughout its evolution, can still be found in areas of the human sciences other than linguistics: one thinks, for example, of the polemic against the substantivalism characteristic of much of contemporary sociology. See Bourdieu (1979). Both the metalinguistic tradition and the collective wisdom agree that all acts of communication not only have different values but, above all, they produce different results and can fail; indeed, they usually fail, at least partially, and produce results that are completely unexpected and different from those expected or declared at the outset. What has appeared, or may appear, to be a kind of ‘condemnation’ is in fact nothing more than the definitional condition of human communication in all its forms. What has often been interpreted as the fundamental principle of contradic‐ tion, and therefore of dialectics, to different eyes may appear as the simplest expression of the principle of ambiguity, opacity, and therefore of mutual incom‐ prehension: the difficulties inherent, by definition, in any communicative event. In fact, from this point of view, human beings must constantly correct their own imperfection, even communicative imperfections, and thus the opacity of their words and deeds. They are systematically obliged to construct instruments of compensation or support, constituted by the means at the disposal of individuals to modify relations and senses, once they have assessed the initial effect. Based on these assertions, for many scholars of human communication who have abandoned the limitations of the notion of ‘code’, such as the popular simplifications of engineering models, the concepts of ‘communication’ and ‘evaluation’ appear to be strongly intertwined, especially in all communicative activities. ‘Culture’, or rather cultural goods, objects and products, have always been the fruit of relations between different subjects - i.e. the case of public and private patronage in music, visual arts and literature - and this allows one to see them not only as the product of a purely creative activity, but also as the product of a process. In fact, this consideration makes it possible to construct different types of products and producers. For example, goods and objects become “products” in the strict sense of the word when they are inserted into a given circuit in which different public subjects appear, each with different statutes and roles at the outset, each originally independent of the others. 16 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="17"?> 3 We use “complex society” referring to societies that, although always deterministically conditioned, appear ‘deterministically chaotic’. Thus, it is possible to refer to “cultural systems” as a set of subjects and relations that support “creation”; they support it, select it, evaluate it, legitimise it and facilitate the fulfilment of its social function, which is precisely that of producing collective meaning. Today, in complex societies 3 , the subjects of this cycle have multiplied and are themselves members of systems that are also complex. To paraphrase typical marketing terminology, it is now possible to move from a product to an orientation towards active subjects and the production of meaning. On this basis, the number of active subjects in public communication events must include those subjects who are often naively considered to be out‐ side the system of relations. For example, in the case of digital communication by green (and non-profit) companies, the users are part of the system. Thus, digital marketing presents itself as the activity of connecting active subjects whose individual profiles, statutes and activities are given a new meaning that is collectively recognised and accepted. If Fumaroli (1991) credits Malraux with the invention of the modern cult of cultural politics, this can be interpreted as a recognition of the fact that the symbolic investment will take place only when the individual actors become equal players in a movement of participation and sharing. And then the pact between culture, economy and politics will develop in a positive way, and the former will not be conceived as a mere vehicle for the messages of the other two, especially the latter. According to Perelman (1977), the process of meaning-making and hence congruence between different subjects takes place when they have recognised a common value as the common ground of their relationship. Every legal, philosophical, political, scientific and cultural system has always recognised its own original unifying meaning and ‘condensed’ it into a metaphor, i.e. constituted itself as a ‘rhetorical domain’. And, in this sense, even what appear to be mere sets of technical instruments imported from the activities of economics, marketing and its subclass of digital marketing, can be interpreted as rhetorical domains. If the ‘transparency of the production process’ appears today as the founding metaphor of many marketing activities in the narrower sense, it must also be imagined in the case of digital marketing activities. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 17 <?page no="18"?> 3 Brand Analyzis This analyzis aims to provide answers to the question: how has the recent focus on climate change influenced digital and social marketing in the Italian context? This research mainly concerns: a) the changed ‘consumer communication’; b) the naming of sustainability and fairness; c) the reputation of brands; d) the invocation of green environmental production, from trade names to climate advertising slogans, from brand identity rethinking to new broad communica‐ tion strategies. The real use cases investigated were collected by monitoring the chosen brands’ content on Instagram. It is worth mentioning that many of the Instagram pages reported here did not exist before the climate change discourse took the limelight. The use of Instagram for commercial and marketing purposes by large companies is a fairly recent development, and the timeline partly coincides with the new focus on climate issues; therefore, the ‘changed communication to consumers’ can already be seen at the diamesic level, in the change of platform and, consequently, in the tone of the discourse. This results in brand image and marketing operations, especially in cases where the company under scrutiny is heavily involved in controversies concerning environmental damage. Our analyzis takes into account some of the major companies in the Italian energy sector: Enel, Eni, Sorgenia, etc., and then includes examples from the tourism sector and others. Starting from the colour palette, we observe ‘feeds’ that are already graphically green, linguistically nourished by a whole series of ‘eco-(neo)logisms’: collocations that invest terms such as ‘energia’/ ‘energetico’ (‘energy’/ ‘energetic’), ‘sostenibilità’/ ‘sostenibile’ (‘sustainability’/ ‘sustainable’), ‘green’; new formations such as ‘prosumers’ or ‘ecolution’; and the manipula‐ tion of proverbs and idioms for slogans such as ‘il green sta bene con tutto’ (‘green goes with everything’). While the data itself was obtained from social networks and websites, the analyzis was then validated referring primarily to the Treccani Digital Encyclopaedia and Dictionary, and the websites of the companies involved. In our study, the Treccani lexicographic source is considered as a quantitative validation of the observed phenomenon: when absent, the expression is - to the best of our knowledge - still without validation in the dictionaries. 3.1 Eco-neologisms The prefix ‘eco-’, derived from the Greek word òikos meaning ‘home’, plays a critical role in environmental advertising in Italy, particularly in the realm of social media communication and marketing. This prefix is versatile, signifying 18 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="19"?> 4 Treccani, Ecoansia: https: / / treccani.it/ vocabolario/ neo-ecoansia_%28Neologismi%29/ (10/ 09/ 2023) concepts such as ‘home’, ‘living environment’, and terms related to ‘ecology’. In advertising, its application ranges from promoting eco-friendly products like ‘eco-fuel’ to highlighting ecological concerns through terms such as ecomafia, which denotes criminal activities harming the environment. The evolution of language in response to environmental issues is evident in the emergence of neologisms such as eco-ansia or eco-anxiety, a term that captures the growing unease and fear associated with global warming and its effects, or eco-ansioso (eco-anxious) 4 . These words, among others, illustrate the increasing public awareness and psychological impact of environmental crises, reflecting a deep-seated concern for the planet particularly among the youth. Thus, the prefix ‘eco-’ not only enriches the Italian lexicon but also serves as a powerful tool in raising environmental consciousness and shaping public discourse on sustainability. For a glimpse of the phenomenon, figures 1 and 2 show the Neologisms of the Week page, also by Treccani, which covers the week from 11 to 17 September 2023. Fig. 1: Treccani: Neologisms of the Week (11-17/ 09/ 2023). Climate awareness in brand repositioning 19 <?page no="20"?> Fig. 3: From “strutture turistiche” (touristic facilities) to “strutture eco-turistiche” (ecotouristic facilities). Instagram: @latitude‐ slife. Fig. 2: Treccani: Neologisms of the Week (11-17/ 09/ 2023). It should be noted that the list depic‐ ted in the figures is not exhaustive, as it omits several terms that are presented in subsequent pages on the website. These include, for example, eco-spiritualità (eco-spirituality), eco‐ terrorismo (eco-terrorism), eco-town, ecotrasporto (eco-transport), ecotur‐ ismo (eco-tourism) etc. While the predominance of this prefix in the environmental context is clear, we will now briefly focus on the last word presented: ecoturismo, as tour‐ ism is a sector where we find a sig‐ nificant use of ‘eco-derivatives’. The eco-touristic facilities shown in Figure 3 can be, for example, eco-hotel ecocertificati (which trans‐ lates into ecocertified eco-hotels), as shown in Figure 4. 20 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="21"?> Fig. 4: Example of ‘ecohotel ecocertificato’. Instagram: @ecohotelmilano. ‘Ecocamping’ is another example of eco-derivatives in the context of tourism. In Figure 5, the ecocamping facility took a step further by using the word ‘ecolution’ (from eco + revolution) in the slogan ‘Join the Ecolution’. This portmanteau was used in many other cases as well, if we take into account the high number of hashtags and Instagram profiles with this name. Fig. 5: Example of ‘ecocamping’ and ‘ecolution’. Instagram: @ecocamping_vesuvio. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 21 <?page no="22"?> In each one of these examples, the prefixoid ‘eco-’ is used as a way to both build and strengthen a community by evoking shared values. In this sense, it should not come as a surprise that this prefix is used repeatedly even when it would not usually be necessary, such as in ‘ecocertified ecohotel’. The repetition of the prefixoid ‘eco-’ reminds the audience of the importance of this quality, while also conveying a sense of truth with regards to the eco-friendly status of the facility. Similarly, we also find ‘HVOlution’ (figures 6 and 7), hinting at “Eni’s Hydro‐ treated Vegetable Oil (HVO), diesel 100 % from renewable raw materials”: in this case the play on words seems to be based on the term ‘evolution’ rather than ‘revolution’, taking into account the slogan found in Figure 6 Il diesel ha un futuro sostenibile (Diesel has a sustainable future), but one cannot be certain of it. Fig. 6: ‘HVOlution’. Eni website. Fig. 7: ‘HVOlution’. Eni website. 22 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="23"?> 5 For reasons of space, we have chosen these two as exempla of the use of green in eco-discourse in social media. Fig. 8: Example of ‘Green Kit’ and ‘logo green’. Instagram: @enelenergia. 3.2 Green The use of ‘green’ encompasses a wide range of applications, primarily used to refer to themes connected with the protection of the natural environment and to lend an action, activity, or status a connotation of environmental sustainability. For example, the European Community annually hosts Green Week, an international conference on environmental policies that serves as a platform for exchanging experiences and best practices among institutions, private sectors, NGOs, and academia. Some neologisms were found in the Neologisms of the Week page - same week, 11 to 17 September 2023 - that use ‘green’ in the creation of a new word. Examples include greenager, greenback, green building, green city, green economy, greenflation, green gym, Green jobs act, green manager, Green New Deal, green procurement manager, green revolution, green tax, green university, and green zone. Linguistically, the use and behaviour of ‘green’ is peculiar. Firstly, it is used both as a sort of prefix and in ADJ+N constructs with a modifier-head constituent order, whereas ‘eco-’, which has an older history as a pre‐ fix, seems to follow conventional uses. As these are words with a short history, it is likely that their spelling is not yet set in stone. Moreover, in these contexts we see a predominance of English words, whereas where ‘green’ accompanies an Italian word we observe a shift to the Italian order of the constituents, i.e. head-modifier. Figure 8 shows an example of the two types of constructs we mentioned above: on one hand, ‘green kit’ where the modifier precedes the head and, on the other hand, ‘logo green’ where the situation is reversed simply because the N-head is in Italian 5 . At this point, one might wonder how to categorise ‘ecogreen’, shown in Figures 9 and 10. Made up of eco + green, its use oscillates between adjective and noun. In Figure 9, it seems to be used as an adjective, while in the case of San Benedetto Ecogreen, its classification remains uncertain. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 23 <?page no="24"?> Fig. 9: ‘ecogreen’. Instagram: @latitudeslife. Fig. 10: ‘ecogreen’. San Benedetto Website. ‘Ecogreen’ has not yet been documented in any dictionary. San Benedetto describes it as “a concrete commitment”, while @Latitudeslife refers to it as 24 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="25"?> “a new approach to exploring unknown destinations” to better frame it in the target context. It is worth noting that in both examples in Figures 9 and 10, the construction is N (Italian noun) + AGG/ N (ecogreen). One question arises then: what can we expect from ‘ecogreen’ when it is paired with an English noun? Will it follow the pattern of ‘green’ + N (English noun)? As can be seen in Figure 11, in the case of N (English noun) + AGG/ N (ecogreen), the combination does not adopt the Anglo-Saxon distribution of modifier + head, i.e. AGG + N, but retains the Italian usage. This could be influenced by the ‘eco’ in ‘ecogreen’, but this remains a hypothesis that cannot be verified here. Fig. 11: ‘News Ecogreen’. San Benedetto website. Fig. 12: ‘Greeners’ community. Sorgenia website. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 25 <?page no="26"?> 6 Cambridge Dictionary, -er: https: / / dictionary.cambridge.org/ it/ dizionario/ inglese-itali ano/ er Also worth mentioning for this section is another type of derivation from ‘green’, namely ‘greener(s)’, as shown in Figure 12. Derived by suffixation with the English suffix ‘-er’ plur. ‘-ers’, indicating “(in nouns) someone who is involved with something” 6 . Of course, in this context it serves more than one purpose. Taken together with the claim solo insieme possiamo fare la differenza (only together we can make a difference), it builds a sense of community towards shared values and hopes. By saying that one can become a ‘Greener’ even if they are not Sorgenia clients, the walls of the consumer-provider relationship crumble down to put the ‘green values’ at the centre of the campaign. In this way, someone that is not in fact a client, will feel empowered to become a ‘Greener’ only because of the shared values - and, at the same time, the company itself is advertising their being concerned with sustainable actions more than with their own revenue. The same active meaning of the suffix ‘-er’ “to be involved with something” is evoked in the webpage with a passa all’azione (take action) button, directly linking becoming a ‘greener’ to becoming an actor of change. 3.3 Energy Much space in this work has been devoted to the energy sector, where marketing strategies seem to play a lot with the term ‘energy’, its adjectival derivatives and its meanings, introducing new unexpected collocations and semantic games. Fig. 13: #energiapositiva (#positive energy). Instagram: @enelenergia. 26 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="27"?> 7 https: / / energia-positiva.it/ la-cooperativa/ 8 https: / / sienergia.it/ , https: / / instagram.com/ sienergia/ 9 https: / / startmag.it/ energia/ energia-la-responsabilita-raccontare-benefici-delleolico/ 10 https: / / italtherm.blog/ 2018/ 08/ 27/ raccontare-e-divulgare-lefficienza-energetica-fa-ben e-al-pianeta-e-taglia-le-bollette/ 11 https: / / mammaoca.com/ 2022/ 11/ 01/ come-raccontare-lenergia-solare-ai-bambini-conuna-fiaba-naturalmente-a-golosaria/ 12 https: / / corporate.enel.it/ it/ azienda/ parole-nuove-per-una-nuova-energia Figure 13 shows the profile @enelenergia, with the hashtag ‘energia positiva’ (positive energy): ‘positivo’ is an adjective that is not usually associated with the meaning of ‘energia’ (energy) discussed here. In fact, in Treccani we find combinations such as e. meccanica (mechanical energy), e. termica (thermal energy), e. elettrica (electrical energy), e. idrica (hydraulic energy) etc. How‐ ever, the adjective ‘positivo’ is used instead in collocations such as ‘energie positive/ negative’ (positive/ negative energies), which has a completely different meaning from the one we are working with. For example, it is in fact found in the definition of Feng Shui: An oriental discipline that seeks to balance the environment by arranging urban elements (streets, squares, etc.), buildings, rooms or objects in such a way as to concentrate positive energies and reduce negative ones (author’s translation of https: / / treccani.it/ vocabolario/ feng-shui/ , 03.03.25) Nonetheless, this type of association with ‘positive’ is recurrent, not only in @enelenergia, but also in other activities in the sector, such as Energia Positiva 7 or Sienergia 8 . The hashtag ‘energia positiva’ in Figure 13 is followed by two other statements, ‘la raccontiamo’ (we tell it) and ‘la mostriamo’ (we show it), but there is doubt as to which energy can be told or shown. A deductive process begins. We are confronted with elliptical sentences which, taken in their entirety, could be read as follows: “Energy: the responsibility to tell the benefits of wind power” 9 ; “Telling and promoting energy efficiency is good for the planet (and cuts bills)” 10 ; “[…] tell children about solar energy” 11 ; “Words can change the world or tell a story about a world that has changed, such as the world of energy. The forms and uses of energy have multiplied, developed in a thousand directions and opened up new possibilities” 12 . Going back to the semantic field of ‘positive energy’, Figure 14 shows how @enelenergia uses the slogan “Energy that is good for your home”, evoking the Feng Shui mentioned above, which refers specifically to the arrangement of furniture in a home in order to ensure the “best possible energy”. It is clear how “positive energy” in this context plays on a double meaning of being sustainable and positive for both the planet and the consumers themselves. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 27 <?page no="28"?> 13 https: / / enelgreenpower.com/ it/ paesi/ europa/ italia/ luoghi-energia Fig. 15: ‘Energy that looks ahead’. Insta‐ gram: @enelenergia. Fig. 14: ‘Energy that is good for your home’. Instagram: @enelenergia. Personifications are used when deal‐ ing with ‘energy’ in diverse ways and companies. For example, Enel Green Power: “Energy puts itself on display. Doors open to the public: dis‐ cover all the opportunities to get to know Enel Green Power’s renewable energy plants up close” 13 . Of course, personifications are used by @enele‐ nergia on social media as well, as shown in Figire 15: “un’energia che guarda al futuro” (an energy that looks ahead). The implicature ‘future is better’ is also found in Figure 16, where again green energy can respect the environment while also taking the consumer to the future. In this campaign, energia green is summarised as something that can make your future life better than it is now, while also letting you be cozy and respecting the environment. 28 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="29"?> Fig. 16: Green energy, environment and future. Instagram: @enelenergia. The same look at the future is found in the @plenitude bio in Figure 17: “we have energy to change”. Additionally, in Figure 18 we can find a snapshot of the topics covered until now, since the @edisonenergiaofficial bio personifies energy to be smart and safe, while also making it environmentally friendly: rispettosa dell’ambiente, in this case as well energy itself respects the environment. Fig. 17: ‘Energy to change’. Instagram: @plenitude. Climate awareness in brand repositioning 29 <?page no="30"?> Fig. 18: ‘Smart and safe energy’. Instagram: @edisonenergiaofficial. In Figure 18 we also see a different case of ‘green’ than in the previous section (where it was an adjective). In this case it is used as a noun modifying the idiom ‘black goes with everything’, resulting in il green sta bene con tutto (‘green goes with everything’), highlighting the fact that ‘green practices’ are better in every possible way. 4 Conclusions Exploring the evolving lexicon in the context of digital marketing for energy companies on platforms such as Instagram highlights the increasing integration of environmental concerns into corporate communications. The prominent use of words such as ‘eco’ and ‘green’ reflects a strategic adaptation to growing consumer demand for sustainability and environmental responsibility. Our analyzis shows that these buzzwords are not just linguistic shifts but are deeply linked to the repositioning of corporate identity in the face of climate change. Brands are increasingly using these terms to align themselves with green initiatives, as evidenced by the extensive use of eco-neologisms across different sectors. In addition, the transition of language from traditional to digital platforms has facilitated wider reach and engagement, allowing brands to more effectively shape and disseminate their green message. The neologisms, and their creative 30 Ferdinando Longobardi <?page no="31"?> use in marketing campaigns on Instagram, demonstrate an ongoing evolution in how environmental sustainability is communicated and perceived in the public sphere. Future work in this direction could focus on the audience’s perceptions of environmental marketing strategies, and of the language used to convey them, as shown in Peirson-Smith (2017), where the disparity between the terminology used by fashion brands to promote sustainable practices and the consumer’s perception and understanding of these terms is examined. Ultimately, this linguistic shift towards sustainability within digital market‐ ing practices illustrates a broader cultural shift. 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Webpages https: / / corporate.enel.it/ it/ azienda/ parole-nuove-per-una-nuova-energia https: / / italtherm.blog/ 2018/ 08/ 27/ raccontare-e-divulgare-lefficienza-energetica-fa-bene -al-pianeta-e-taglia-le-bollette/ https: / / mammaoca.com/ 2022/ 11/ 01/ come-raccontare-lenergia-solare-ai-bambini-con-u na-fiaba-naturalmente-a-golosaria/ https: / / oilproducts.eni.com/ it_IT/ prodotti/ carburanti-e-combustibili/ trazione/ hvolution / hvolution https: / / energia-positiva.it/ la-cooperativa/ https: / / instagram.com/ edisonenergiaofficial/ https: / / instagram.com/ enelenergia/ https: / / instagram.com/ enelgreenpower/ https: / / instagram.com/ enelitalia/ https: / / instagram.com/ plenitude/ https: / / instagram.com/ sorgeniaofficial/ https: / / sienergia.it/ , https: / / instagram.com/ sienergia/ https: / / startmag.it/ energia/ energia-la-responsabilita-raccontare-benefici-delleolico/ Climate awareness in brand repositioning 33 <?page no="35"?> Company names and sustainable energy What do the companies want to convey? Elin Pihl Abstract: With a take-off in the Swedish names of companies within the sector of sustainable energy market, this paper will compare the names of a multitude of European companies in the same sector and try to conclude what can be said about these names. Are they global or local? Do they share a limited set of values? Is there a difference depending on the specific sustainable energetic field, e.g. solar energy, green industry, energy storage etc., or are the names diversified and cannot be analyzed as a homogenous group at all? Most of the material will be collected from the catalogue ‘Accelerating sustainable energy innovations’ (EIT InnoEnergy 2020). Hopefully, the paper will find some new thoughts on how sustainability and green energy are expressed through the names of companies and their products. 1 Introduction During the last decade, we have seen a growing interest in sustainability and green options in almost every market area. Even before the energetic deficiency due to war, climate change and global warming have forced the emergence of a completely new sector in energy transmission and storage; the sustainable energy sector. Even though this market has been around for some time, the names of the companies in this sector have not yet been investigated. Nevertheless, it is clear that the names of older, established companies in Sweden follow a typical pattern: place name + word for energy in Swedish (sometimes with the addition of word for business), e.g. Skellefteå Kraft (place name + ‘power’), Upplands Energi (place name + ‘energy’), Stockholms Elbolag (‘the electric company of Stockholm’). They are typically local, referring to cities or larger areas that are well known to its citizens and they are in the <?page no="36"?> local language, Swedish. Renata Fox (2011: 67) describes this as ideational; the company names for the most part in the twentieth century were: reflecting/ describing characteristics of the organisation and so conveying the content which served as an embodiment of the company name creators’ experience […] Conse‐ quently, company names were mainly related to the organisation’s products/ services, the industry, the organisation’s founders or its owners (Fox 2011: 67). However, in the 1980s the market in many areas was flooded and companies needed to change their approach to the consumers who started to feel more confident and wanted products that suited their values (Fox 2011: 67). The new Swedish companies with a green and sustainable emphasis do not seem to adhere to the old pattern but are reflecting something else that might be studied through theories of values. The companies are named Northvolt, Polarium, Minesto and Swedish Algae Factory. Are these new ways of naming a common trend among companies in the sustainable energy market? This paper wishes to examine the names in the sustainable energy market through two different aspects of name giving: 1) These new energy companies are not limited to a local market, as their predecessors, but offer their products to a wider, global market. Does this affect their names? Are all names global or are there local traits among them? 2) What are the values that these companies try to express or evoke? 2 Material The material of this study has been assembled through the catalogue Accelerat‐ ing sustainable energy innovations. Innovative energy solutions for your business (EIT InnoEnergy 2020) and the websites cited there. The catalogue consists of 228 “good examples” of companies the network has funded or been in contact with. However, not all the companies’ primary production spheres were appropriate for this study and therefore the companies working within what had been labelled in the catalogue as the Market segment A: Electricity & Heat production, and B: Grid & Infrastructure (Energy Storage Solutions) were all included. Those companies that have been subcategorized as Hydropower, Ocean Power, Solar PV, Offshore/ Onshore wind, and Energy Storage Solutions within Market segments C (Energy consumption, End user) and D (Feedstock and Fuels) were also included. 36 Elin Pihl <?page no="37"?> 1 For some reason, the catalogue includes a few non-European countries, without any comments on why they are included in a European catalogue. In total this selection rendered 12 Swedish names and 84 European 1 ones. Some countries are better represented than others, especially Spain and France have many companies represented (see Table 1). Country Quantity Bangladesh 1 Belgium 2 Croatia 1 Estonia 1 France 15 Germany 9 Hungary 1 Ireland 2 Latvia 1 Luxembourg 1 Poland 6 Portugal 9 Romania 1 Slovenia 1 Spain 20 Sweden 12 Switzerland 1 The Netherlands 8 United Kingdom 3 United States 1 Total 96 Tab. 1: Number of companies per country in the chosen material. Company names and sustainable energy 37 <?page no="38"?> In addition, six more Swedish companies known by the author were added to strengthen the Swedish material to more or less reach the same amount of company names as Spain and France (see below). 3 Method and Theory The term company name is used throughout this paper, meaning “an expression which consistently refers to a certain business, identifies a company and its ac‐ tivities, and distinguishes them from other companies” (see Sjöblom 2016: 454). Since the material is collected from a European catalogue we might assume that these company names are global, but this paper wants to examine whether all the names can be perceived as global or if there are some local traits. To discern the differences between global and local (and perhaps even glocal) the paper uses Paula Sjöblom’s definition of global and local published in Names in the Economy: Cultural Prospects (2013). Firstly, the choice of language is a marker for possible global traits: English is a global language today but also Latin and Greek are perceived as global. Secondly, so-called quasi-linguistic words, often based on English or Latin, and internationalisms, i.e. words that appear in many languages, are also globally functional. And lastly, the use of abbreviations or any allusions to internationally known persons, places, history and mythology, is a global marker. Local traits, on the other hand, are the use of local languages or references to locally known persons or places. As Sjöblom (2013: 5-9) states, these traits can be relativized, e.g. English is local in an English-speaking area. This paper also wants to explore which values these new sustainable energy companies try to express through their names. Elke Ronneberger-Sibold (2012, Ronneberger-Sibold & Wahl 2014) and Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (2014) have each done substantial studies on values in German and Italian brand names. Even though they have studied brand names within classes of cleaning agents, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and food and drink, their categorization is fruitful also for this study. They have taken psychological and behavioural sciences about desires and personality and transferred this to values one might strive for. However, as stated by Ronneberger-Sibold and Wahl (2014: 582), “what counts as a positive value in a society depends on social, cultural, economic and even political factors.” Cotticelli-Kurras has found nine domains of connotation suitable for the studied material: R E LIA B ILIT Y ; T R ADITI O N ; P O W E R ; P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N O F TH E W O R L D , E X P E R I E N C E ; C U R I O S IT Y ; S O C IAL S TAT U S ; S O C IAL C O N TA C T ; T R AN Q U ILIT Y . Ronneberger-Sibold has found about the same domains but has named them a bit differently: R E LIA B ILIT Y ; T R ADITI O N ; P O W E R AN D M I G HT ; S O C IAL S TAT U S ; 38 Elin Pihl <?page no="39"?> 2 Ronneberger-Sibold and Wahl have chosen not to include the domain Power and might in the study from 2014. 3 In this paper the domains H I G H Q U A L I T Y and S T A T U S are combined since the author find it too difficult to distinguish between them in the present material. L E I S U R E / F U N ; S E N S O R Y P E R C E P TI O N S ; R E S T / S A F E T Y ; and C U R I O S IT Y . 2 For the study of company names within the sustainable energy market, the author found 10 domains to be suitable (see Table 2): R E LIA B ILIT Y ; P O W E R ; P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N ; O R D E R AN D W E AL TH ; T R ADITI O N , R E LI G I O N AN D H O N O U R ; P R O G R E S S ; S O C IAL C O N ‐ TA C T ; H I G H Q UALIT Y AN D S TAT U S ; 3 P H Y S I C AL A C TIVIT Y . Reliability Authenticity, durability, unchanging quality Power Control, speed shine of power, electricity Physical Perceptions Physical dimensions, sensory perceptions Order and Wealth Wealth, wellness, purity Tradition, Religion and Honour Antiquity, religion, history, crafts, art, home Progress Progress, comfort, convenience, nature, ecologic Social Contact Fun, humour, summer, holiday, communication High Quality and Status Scientific, technical universality, modernity, industry, hi-tech Physical Activity Sports, fitness, movement, mobility Tab. 2: Connotation domains with their possible associations (cf. Cotticelli-Kurras 2014: 452-453). The categorization of values can be sometimes problematic as some of the names may contain words that might be described as belonging to e.g. Reliability by some users and to Power by other users and some of the categories are slightly overlapping. Examining values cannot be an exact science as it is dependent on the examiner and her or his sense of values. However, there are many names that can be seen as unproblematic, e.g. Northvolt must be described as belonging to the category Power because of the ending -volt, and Vinci Technologies to the category Tradition, Religion, Honour, at least if you associate the name to Leonardo da Vinci. There is an uneven distribution of companies between the different countries (see Table 1) and to clarify some results the three countries with the most Company names and sustainable energy 39 <?page no="40"?> company names have been highlighted; France, Spain and Sweden. Spain and France are neighbouring countries and might share many values, whereas Sweden is situated farther away and might have other values. 4 Global or Local? As stated in the introduction most energy companies in Sweden had a local name, and considered what Fox (2011: 67) indicated, so was the situation in other Western countries as well. The new Swedish companies do not share the same features but are very much global (see Table 3). Tab. 3: Number of Swedish company names (with their percentage above the staples) and their distribution across different global traits. The total is 18. The Swedish names are mostly in English (8), e.g. Northvolt and Peafowl Solar Power, but also quite a few names may be distinguished as Latinor Greek-sounding (5), e.g. Polarium and Rivus. There are no instances of local language or any place names or personal names. Four names are made of abbreviations, they often consist of the founders’ initials or parts of their names, as in Samster, which is short for Samuelsson & Steier or they are real abbreviations, as in HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology). The one quasi-linguistic name is Expektra, which perhaps could count as an Internationalism. 40 Elin Pihl <?page no="41"?> 4 Some of the names consist of more than one word or are combinations of both abbreviations and common words. The words composing the name might express different traits as to why the total percentage extends above 100%. If we compare the Swedish figures with the other European companies (see Table 4), we can see some differences. 4 More of the company names are in English but there is also a fairly even distribution of other traits, at least compared to the Swedish company names. Abbreviations, e.g. AMC Vibro and Rosi (Return of silicon), are about the same level in both the Swedish company names as in the European ones. Greekand Latin-sounding names are not as common in the rest of Europe, but there are examples such as Quantom or OmegaLambdaTech. However, in the European material, we also have some non-global traits, i.e. names in the local language, e.g. Pionerkraft and Ringhel. Two other traits do not appear in the Swedish material, namely Internationalisms and Allusions to internationally common culture. Examples of Internationalism are Turbulent and AC Biode, and examples of Allusions to internationally common culture are Dracula Technologies and Eolos. The choice of the character Dracula in an energy company is interesting. It is of course a character that is widely known throughout the Western world, but his reputation is not specifically bright or positive. The company’s slogan is “Beyond Batteries, Beyond Imagination” and perhaps this is a clue to the choice of name; Dracula is a character of imagination, and a powerful such. The company uses a stylized shape of a bat with his wings spread both as a logotype and as an illustration of how their technology works. Eolos on the other hand is not as widely known but is a character from the Odyssey, a work many academic persons in the Western culture are familiar with. Eolos was the ruler of the winds and therefore the name seems fitting for a wind electricity company. So, even though both characters are a part of the Western culture, the name Dracula is more known today in the whole of Europe, and therefor more global, than the name of a ruler of the winds which demands a higher level of cultural competence, but nevertheless is global. Company names and sustainable energy 41 <?page no="42"?> Tab. 4: Percentage of European company names (with their total number above the staples) and their distribution across different global and local traits. The total is over 100% as some names bear more than one trait. 5 Power or High Quality? Starting with a more semantic analyzis, we can say that words associated with energy (e.g. volt, energy, power), and either sun, wind or water can be found in nearly half of the names. The companies are in another word clearly expressing in which market they are acting, the sustainable energy market. But to analyze the values the companies try to convey through their name we need to look beyond the semantics and try to find the domains the words in the name may belong to. Since many names consist of more than one word there might be several values in play within one name, and therefore the numbers and percentages are higher than expected. Both Ronneberger-Sibold (2012, Ronneberger-Sibold & Wahl 2014) and Cot‐ ticelli-Kurras (2014) have found that the domains R E LIA B ILIT Y , T R ADITI O N and P O W E R have been the dominating domains for the most of the 20 th century, but they have also observed a change in the latter part of the decade, reaching into the first decade of the 21 st century, in relation to the analyzed commercial classes by the authors. Even though these domains are still salient, new ones are rising. Both researchers find an increase in the names belonging to the domains P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N or S E N S O R Y P E R C E P TI O N S . This is perhaps an expected result since the brand names they have analyzed belong to markets such as cleaning agents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food and drink. The names belonging to 42 Elin Pihl <?page no="43"?> the domain C U R I O S IT Y are well represented in the Italian material but the German material shows a decline within the same domain. If we compare the names from the sustainable energy market with the findings of Cotticelli-Kurras and Ronneberger-Sibold we see that there is no instance of either C U R I O S IT Y or T R AN Q U ILIT Y at all in the sustainable energy market. Perhaps not a remarkable find since we would not want tranquility when it comes to energy and science is not perceived as connected to curiosity, even though most researchers are driven by curiosity. The names in this study do not show the same tendency as the names in the mentioned studies, see Table-5. Tab. 5: Percentage of value domains expressed by European and Swedish company names. The total is over 100% as some names may belong to more than one domain. The most common values expressed by the European names are those reflecting H I G H Q UALIT Y AN D S TAT U S (35%). Many of these names contain a word that transmits a sense of science and technology, such as Technologies from Ideas, DcBrain, Kemtecnia, and SolarWorX. In both Technologies from Ideas and Kemtec‐ nia the internationalism techno alludes to something technological and therefor something of high quality. SolarWorX is perhaps even more technological and uses the word solar which is modern and also connected to high quality. DcBrain on the other hand alludes to intelligence which can be connected with status. Many also include an abbreviation that is not readily decipherable. Other times it is the choice of quite technical names that emit a sense of quality and status, such as Qualifying Photovoltaics, PVComplete or Wind-Tuning-Systems. The other domains are quite evenly represented in the material, P R O G R E S S and P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N S reach about 20% each, and P O W E R , S O C IAL C O NTA C T , T R ADITI O N , R E LI G I O N AN D H O N O U R , are about 15% each. The two domains with the least representation are O R D E R AN D W E AL TH (4%) and P H Y S I C AL A C TIVIT Y (2%). Company names and sustainable energy 43 <?page no="44"?> The Swedish names are clustered around H I G H Q UALIT Y AN D S TAT U S (61%) and R E LIA B ILIT Y (44%). The third most common domain is P R O G R E S S (28%), followed by P O W E R (17%). The rest of the domains, P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N , O R D E R AN D W E AL TH and S O C IAL C O NTA C T , are only represented by one name each, and the one expressing S O C IAL C O N TA C T needs to be interpreted in Swedish to have that connotation; Samster, that in a Swedish context could allude to together and vacation. The name, however, is a contraction of the founders’ surnames. When we compare the Swedish names to the European ones we can see a bigger diversity among the European names, whereas the Swedish names seem to convey feelings of high quality, status and progress. If we compare the Swedish names with the other two countries that are well represented in the material (see Table 6), Spain and France, we get about the same picture, however, Spain has a higher share of P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N , much because of names including the word wind, e.g. Windcrete, which in itself seems to allude both to something as agile as the wind and something solid as concrete, and X1 Wind. We can also see that the French and the Spaniards value T R ADITI O N , R E LI G I O N AN D H O N O U R to a higher degree than the Swedes, which of course has to do with their interest in names that refer to commonly known, classical, figures. In these three countries, there are no instances of names conveying values in the domain P H Y S I C AL A C TIVIT Y , which appears only in Germany and The Netherlands. O R D E R AN D W E AL TH is, as expressed by the Swedish name Peafowl Solar Power (the wealth is expressed by the luxurious bird), also a domain that mainly appears in the more northern parts of Europe, namely Sweden, Germany, and The Netherlands, with Portugal as an exception. Tab. 6: Percentage of value domains expressed by French, Spanish and Swedish company names. The total is over 100% as some names may belong to more than one domain. 44 Elin Pihl <?page no="45"?> It might be interesting to see which segments in the sustainable energy market express which values. The segments which have the most representatives in the studied name material are solar energy, wind energy and energy storage, with a total of 63 names. If we compare the different segments with each other, we can see some differences (see Table 7; in this table, both European and Swedish names are included and combined). Tab. 7: Values in different energy segments. The numbers of the different domains are presented in percentages within each segment and compared to all the names in the material. The table shows that the domain H I G H Q UALIT Y AN D S TAT U S is especially valued in the wind segment, opposite to O R D E R AN D W E AL TH which none of the names marked as wind energy bear witness of. Also, the domains R E LIA B ILIT Y and P R O G R E S S have a lower representation within the names in the wind segment. Values connected to the domain P R O G R E S S are expressed within the solar energy segment. When it comes to energy storage, R E LIA B ILIT Y , P R O G R E S S and P O W E R is more salient. The different segments connect well to what the domains want to express; a battery should stand for reliability; solar energy is new and progressive; and of course, wind energy might not be so reliable, but it is physically perceptive and shows a high degree of high scientific quality. Company names and sustainable energy 45 <?page no="46"?> 6 Conclusions This paper has shown that the names in the sustainable energy market are very much global. There are some exceptions, France and Poland both have a couple of names in the local language, but they are only a handful and often consist of words possible to understand even for a foreigner. The Swedish names all carry global traits and none of them follows the old pattern including a local place-name and a description of the company. The Swedish companies stand out in the way that they often use Latin or Latin-sounding words in their names. They are more than twice as often in Latin than the French or Spanish names, even though the French and Spanish languages are closer to Latin than Swedish. Perhaps is the choice of the Latin language in the Swedish names connected to a wish to express values belonging to the domain H I G H Q UALIT Y AN D S TAT U S , a domain that prevails in Swedish names. The Swedish names express their globality foremost through language choice and abbreviations whereas companies from countries such as Spain and France also use allusions to common culture and internationalisms to signal a global interest. The allusion to common culture is probably more feasible in these countries which perhaps value cultural education and refinement more than the Swedes, who in turn value scientific training and natural sciences. Comparing the three selected countries’ company names we can see that France and Spain have a bit more in common while Sweden has a slightly different distribution between the value domains. We might interpret it as a sign that France and Spain share more cultural features, but that the sustainable energy market as a whole has common features that make it discernible in relation to other markets. The most salient value domain is H I G H Q U ALIT Y AN D S TAT U S , no matter which area or which market segments we analyze. We might understand this interest in expressing values connected to H I G H Q U ALIT Y if we consider the market area we are analyzing; it is of great importance that companies selling products and services within the energy market are highly advanced and precise in their manufacturing. The domains R E LIA B ILIT Y and P O W E R also tend to be quite expected since we all want electricity to be stable and reliable, and electricity is power. In comparison with earlier research on names and values (i.e. Ronneberger-Si‐ bold & Wahl 2014 and Cotticelli-Kurras 2014), we can see that there are no names trying to evoke values within the domains C U R I O S IT Y or T R AN Q U IL LIT Y . This is probably due to the above-mentioned expectations and needs we have for electricity. But we can also conclude that the companies in the sustainable electricity market are not so interested in displaying values adhering to P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N S , O R D E R AN D W E AL TH and P H Y S I C AL A C TIVIT Y . These are values that 46 Elin Pihl <?page no="47"?> are more salient in other products and services, probably due to the energy companies’ will to be perceived as reliable, competent, and highly advanced in technology. It would be interesting to compare the names within the sustainable energy market with names in a more related sector, e.g. the industry market, the new technology market such as AI or perhaps the car industry, to see if the results of this papers are in concordance with the values in names in other sectors or if these values are specific to the sustainable energy market. To sum up, this study has shown that the names within the sustainable energy market are very much global, and they share some tendencies with other markets when it comes to expressing values, but they do have their salient features compared to earlier studied markets. It would be interesting to see if these values are something they share with markets closer to their own, like industry, building etc. References Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola (2014). Italian Brand Names through their Associations: Current Trends. In: Tort i Donada, Joan/ Montagut i Montagut, Montserrat (eds.). Els noms en la vida quotidiana. Actes del XXIV Congrés Internacional d’ICOS sobre Ciències Onomàstiques. (Biblioteca tècnica de politíca lingüística onomàstica 11), 449-458. Available: https: / / gencat.cat/ llengua/ BTPL/ ICOS2011/ 050.pdf (Accessed 25.06.2024) EIT InnoEnergy (2020). Accelerating sustainable energy innovations. Innovative energy solutions for your business. Edition 2020. Available at: https: / / issuu.com/ innoenergy / docs/ product_catalogue_20_b2? fr=sNDA3MzI1MTM5NTI (Accessed 14.06.2024) Fox, Renata (2011). Naming an organisation: a (socio)linguistic perspective. Corporate Communications: An International Journal (16: 1), 65-80. Ronneberger-Sibold, Elke (2012). Brand Names as Offers of Identity. An Overview over the 20th Century. In: Wochele, Holger/ Kuhn, Julia / Stegu, Martin (eds.). Onomastics goes Business. Role and Relevance of Brand, Company and other Names in Economic Contexts. Logos Verlag: Berlin, 1-18. Ronneberger-Sibold, Elke/ Wahl, Sabine (2014). Associations in German Brand Names: Current trends. In: Tort i Donada, Joan/ Montagut i Montagut, Montserrat (eds.). Els noms en la vida quotidiana. Actes del XXIV Congrés Internacional d’ICOS sobre Ciències Onomàstiques. (Biblioteca tècnica de politíca lingüística onomàstica 11), 582-593. Available: https: / / gencat.cat/ llengua/ BTPL/ ICOS2011/ 063.pdf (Accessed 25.06.2024) Sjöblom, Paula (2013). Lumia by Nokia, iPhone by Apple: Global or Local Features in Commercial Names? In: Sjöblom, Paula/ Ainiala, Terhi/ Hakala, Ulla (eds.). Names Company names and sustainable energy 47 <?page no="48"?> in the Economy: Cultural Prospects. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2-14. Sjöblom, Paula (2016). Commercial Names. In: Carol Hough (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Oxford University Press, 453-464. Available: https: / / doi.org/ 1 0.1093/ oxfordhb/ 9780199656431.013.56 (Accessed 27.06.24). 48 Elin Pihl <?page no="49"?> 1 Esselunga has been considered as well for the research but for reason of space cannot be analyzed here. We underline that Migros is a corporate from Switzerland, but offers the homepage in the four European languages used in the confederation, while Coop is an Italian company. 2 One can get access to the description of the contents through the path ‘homepage, responsibility, sustainability, biodiversity’, https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ en/ responsibili ty/ sustainability/ biodiversity, last view 29.07.2024. The page has been changed since the time of my first researches. For this article I refer to the English page of Migros. Bio, eco and sustainable production The case of Migros and Coop Paola Cotticelli-Kurras Abstract: The paper is dealing with a brief investigation on terms belong‐ ing to the sphere of sustainability referred to product or commercial names which occur in the captions to the current rhetoric of organic, green, and eco-sustainable production. My corpus shows two case-studies that consist of both paper advertising material and documents collected in an eco-sustainable manner from websites or homepages of some large companies, manufacturers and retailers such as Migros and Coop. 1 I have chosen two different fields of sustainable productions, one for each company: textiles in relation to climate, and energy. The focus is placed on verbal contextualization characterized by adjectives and adverbs to underline and evoke a series of associations in the consum‐ ers or in any case possible buyers. First, the strategies of the companies as well as labels and product names are presented and at the end a comparative analyzis of the selected keywords is offered. 1 Migros The first case-study analyzes the presentation of the Migros company’s policy of sustainability. 2 Advertising on textiles and own behavior to energy are in detail <?page no="50"?> 3 From an image of a Migros product flyer published on Wir Brückenbauer (1957) one can see the products traded, including textile products (https: / / e-newspaperarchives.ch/ ? a =d&d=MIM19570315-01.1.9, 30.07.2024). It is interesting to read the entire history of Migros under: history.migros.ch/ it/ timeline.html. 4 The following links with last view on 26 April 2023 is still available but its contents has been in the meantime exchanged: https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ it/ sostenibilita/ pro dotti-sostenibili/ nostri-progressi/ produzione-tessile-sostenibile.html. For the current content see footnote 5. 5 The actual original Italian texts are updated here in the footnote: “Alla fine del 2018 il 66.4% di tutti i prodotti tessili della vendita al dettaglio affidata alle cooperative era contrassegnato dal marchio Eco o rispondeva a standard internazionale equivalenti. In questo modo Migros è riuscita ad aumentare del 0.2% la percentuale di prodotti tessili certificati rispetto all’anno precedente. Per quanto riguarda l’abbigliamento, invece, tale percentuale è stata pari al 78.9%. Per Migros è importante che i propri prodotti tessili siano realizzati secondo principi di sostenibilità sociale e ambientale. Per questo cerca costantemente di ampliare il proprio assortimento di prodotti certificati. Dal 2017 Migros ha adottato al pari delle proprie direttive ecologiche gli standard internazionali per il settore tessile GOTS, Bluesign e Oeko-Tex Made in Green”. https: / / report.migros.ch/ 2018/ it/ rapporto -sulla-situazione-2018/ prodotti/ non-food-2/ . Last view 29.07.2024. 6 https: / / migros.ch/ en/ content/ sustainability> -labels -textiles, last view 29.07.2024. discussed in order to comment the semantic fields and the represented values according to the advertising materials. 1.1 Textiles Textiles are an integral part of our everyday life and one of the largest economic sectors of all: favorite pajamas, comfortable sheets or children’s soft socks. They belong to Migros’ products since 1952 with the opening of the first Migros supermarket. 3 Migros 4 claims to have been pursuing this policy since the end of the 1990s, and to have developed a standard in 1996 with the Eco label to support environ‐ mentally friendly textile production and healthy and safe working conditions. Since 2018, Migros has also collaborated with other famous international textile brands that guarantee ecological, traceable and socially responsible fabric production, as they affirmed in previous documents. 5 The company introduces its textile labels under the headline: Our labels for sustainable textiles with the declaration: “Textiles shouldn’t just look good, they should be produced sustainably, too! ”. 6 The text continues with the declaration of Migros’ mission: “Through various initiatives, Migros is making every effort to offer textiles which are produced in a manner that is socially and environ‐ 50 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="51"?> 7 Sometimes the links are only in one language, or two, mostly in Italian and in German. In this case, the link joints food products (! ): https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ de/ verantwo rtung/ nachhaltigkeit/ nachhaltige-produkte, last view 29.07.2024. 8 I refer to the homepage: https: / / migros.ch/ en/ content/ sustainability> -labels -textiles, last view 29.07.2024. Here, the larger group of products is listed under the label ‘Migros Essentials Eco Friendly’. 9 “This label makes it easier for customers to shop sustainably.” This is the end of the statement by Migros. Eco friendly is defined through the fact that those products “fulfill at least one of the… Migros Bio Cotton standards”. 10 For more details see: global-standard.org, this link follows the textual illustration of this label. mentally responsible”. It follows a link with further information on sustainable textile production. 7 In Fig. 1-1f below, a choice of brand products of sustainable textiles declared for cotton products and guaranteed by the brand Migros Essentials Eco Friendly is represented. 8 From a grapho-iconographic point of view, the headline on this brand contains the Eco Friendly flower (so defined on the home page) as symbol of sustainable shopping for Migros Essentials customers. 9 Fig. 1: the iconographic representation of Migros essential - eco friendly. Among the chosen labels we highlight those referred to cotton products. The actually strongest label is GOTS: GOTS. This abbreviation stands for Global Organic Textile Standard and will now be used for most of our organic cotton textiles. GOTS is in fact the international reference standard for the processing of natural fibers grown according to organic criteria throughout the entire distribution chain. 10 Also the phonosymbolic image of this acronym (GOTS) was certainly not left to chance either. This is nowadays the most used label among Migros’ current textile products. Bio, eco and sustainable production 51 <?page no="52"?> Fig. 1a: Logo of the GOTS textile products. The second label is “BIO Cotton Migros. These textiles are made of organic cotton that has been processed in an eco-friendly manner. The label is only used occasionally and will be replaced by the GOTS label”. In fact, only a few products are left under the label. Fig. 1b: Specific label for cotton products. Furthermore, new labels are now available. Fig. 1c-1f: Further labels used by Migros. BCI is the third label (Fig. 1c). Migros collaborates with the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’, to improve cotton cultivation around the world. We are aiming for 75 % of our cotton to be ‘more sustainable cotton’ by 2025. ‘More sustainable cotton’ refers to the following standards: Better Cotton, recycled cotton and organic cotton. Better Cotton is sourced through a mass balance system and is not physically processed separate to the end product. 52 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="53"?> The fourth one (Fig. 1e) is: “Made in Green. The materials of ‘Made in Green’-cer‐ tified products are tested for harmful substances. They are produced in envi‐ ronmentally-friendly facilities and at safe and socially responsible workplaces.” The fifth (Fig. 1 f) is “Bluesign. You can find bluesign textiles at SportXX: the bluesign label assures consumers that textiles are made with optimised production processes that use resources sparingly.” And finally we find the sixth one (Fig. 1d), “ECO Textilien, Textile, Textiles”, where the kind of products is occurring in the three languages of the countries where the chain is most widespread. The guidelines of sustainable production are no longer downloadable. The key terms of the captions are therefore extracted from the above-men‐ tioned texts and arranged in the following table that aims at focusing how the captions have been constructed in correspondence with the respective keywords and their explanation. The table aims also to show the choice of semantic fields addressed in the texts and referred to the Migros brands of ‘bio cotton’ products: - Keywords in the label Keywords for material Keywords for processing MIGROS BIO COTTON Bio cotton Textiles are made of organic cotton Processed in an eco-friendly manner GOTS (global organic tex‐ tile standard) Organic textile standard Grown according to organic criteria Processing of natural fibres along the entire distribution chain BCI Better Cotton Initiative Better Cotton, recy‐ cled cotton and or‐ ganic cotton. More sustainable cotton Sourced through a mass balance system and is not physically pro‐ cessed separate to the end product Made in Green Certified products Tested for harmful substances Produced in environ‐ mentally-friendly facili‐ ties and at safe and socially responsible workplaces Bluesign Textiles at SportXX Textiles are made with optimised pro‐ duction processes Sparingly used resour‐ ces ECO Texti‐ lien Textile, Textiles Eco textiles Environmen‐ tally-friendly pro‐ duction Product ecology and safe working conditions Tab. 1: Keywords occurring in the Migros brands. Bio, eco and sustainable production 53 <?page no="54"?> 11 This happens controlling the use of fertilizers and natural products against parasites, as we can read in other passages of Migros’ declarations. Migros pursues a global approach to organize textile production and its supply chains in a more sustainable way. In the following, I analyze the semantic connotations as literary meanings occurring in the presented brands that purchase sustainable fabrics to greater sustainability for the consumers. 1. Under the policy ‘Productive ecology’, we can account for the following key words: eco, used both as adposition as well as a label - whose correspondence in the common language is organic, which is to be added to the key words. Furthermore, we find the adjective sustainable, environmentally-friendly (pro‐ duction), product ecology, sparingly used resources, not physically processed separate to the end product and tested for harmful substances. The best example for this is the elaboration of the products from Bio Cotton and GOTS. They are processed in an eco-friendly manner and with processing of natural fibers along the entire distribution chain, underlining that the employed cotton is grown according to organic criteria. 11 This fact corresponds also to the specification of the product (GOTS) in terms of processing of natural fibers. Furthermore, safe working conditions guarantee a performance of Processing according to the rigorous criteria of the Migros Eco standard, ensured along the entire distribution chain coupled with safe and socially responsible workplaces together with mass balanced system. 2. Interesting is the use of comparatives, which seems to be new: Better Cotton as textile fiber as well as the label Better Cotton Initiative. Cotton is here more sustainable and textiles are realized through optimised production processes. Also the statement certified products is an ameliorative strategy. 3. A third characteristic is the use of colors as suggestion motifs: green is symbol for green ecology, productivity, synonym for organic and natural fibers. The color is used in the logos of the brands Better Cotton and Made in green of Oeko Tex, where we can also read inspiring confidence, another suggestive slogan (see Fig. 1 above). Finally, the symbol of the ecofriendly is a green flower/ leaves. Also the logo of GOTS is a green circle with a white shirt in the middle. The other occurring color is blue: it is in the name of a label bluesign, in its logo and it that of ecotextiles, textilien, tessili (see Fig. 1 above). A comparative interpretation of the semantic connotations and possible associ‐ ations of such linguistic elements underlying the sustainability characteristics of both Migros and Coop products is provided in the last section (§ 3). 54 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="55"?> 12 https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ en, last view 29.07.2024. 13 https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ en/ responsibility> / sustainability / biodiversity, see foot‐ note 2. 14 Thomas Paroubek, head of Sustainability and Quality Management, Migros Cooperative Association at Migros since 2018: “Teniamo fede alla nostra ambizione di acquistare solo tessuti ecologici e socialmente sostenibili per le nostre marche proprie”. 15 https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ en/ responsibility> / sustainability, last view 29.07.2024. 1.2 Sustainability In the Migros homepage, 12 sustainability appears among the listed heads (home, about us, sustainability, jobs & careers), and it is along the chain of three links: Responsibility, Sustainability, Biodiversity. 13 Under sustainability all the commitments in terms of responsibility are illustrated, here is the introductory text with the headline More for sustainability: Sustainability is part of our culture, and we still have plenty more on our agenda. We are constantly expanding our commitment to sustainability. Our focus is on environ‐ mentally friendly and socially responsible products for sustainable consumption and a broad commitment to the climate. We aim to achieve circularity wherever possible and promote social cohesion. In fact, the programmatic statement from the Sustainability and Quality Man‐ agement Department follows: “We remain faithful to our ambition to purchase only ecological and socially sustainable fabrics for our own brands” (Thomas Paroubek). 14 What we know from a marketing point of view is that the wider the offer of clothing and fabrics, the more complex the production chains. Migros’ commitments are extremely articulated and imply the following behavior, which are listed to be clicked under the abovementioned online text: 15 “Sustainability strategy, Sustainability guidelines, Sustainability reporting, Packaging and recycling, Sustainable products, Climate and energy, Biodiversity, Food waste, Podcast”. Among all these, we highlight only two points, “Strategy and Guidelines”, which of course cover all Migros’ products, and are valid not only for no-food products such as textiles: Strategy: this point has the title Our strategy for greater sustainability: “Trading sustainably, offering fair and environmentally friendly products, and contributing to the common good in the process - this is our mission and is at the heart of our sustainability strategy”. The following links explain their commitments: “Sustainability mission statement; Product range strategy and services; Climate & energy strategy; Strategy for closing the loop; Cohesion Bio, eco and sustainable production 55 <?page no="56"?> 16 The commitments are: Our corporate responsibility; Environmental standards; Social standards; Raw materials; Product safety; Transparency; Animal welfare; Responsible marketing. The used semantic treats are very clear: responsibility, environment care, welfare, natural materials, safety, and reliability. strategy; Materiality analyzis; Governance; Partnerships”. All these principles are depicted in coloured windows below the main text on the homepage. The first statement is “we make life more sustainable”, also remarked through a comparative, which appear also in both titles of the here commented items (greater sustainability and in the text above mentioned: “more for sustainabil‐ ity”). The promised behavior in production is embodied in the packaging, in recycling, they commit to improvements in standards and manufactured prod‐ ucts. They are engaged in production reducing carbon as well as biodiversity footprint and in campaigns which advise avoiding food waste. Guidelines: at the homepage under this section, it is possible to click each item with special commitments, 16 which are illustrated in coloured windows as well that represent each principle they appear for: the responsibility of the corporate implies its fulfilment of legal duty of care, defending human rights along the value chain, they introduce a risk analyzis in order to reach a positive long-impact, and safety in the production. The welfare towards the environment and animals is made visible, animals are kept in an appropriate manner. Finally, marketing is also the expression of fair and responsible dissemination and campaigns. 1.3 Example products After the commitments and the engagement principles, I introduce only a couple of textiles products as exemplification. Examples are shirts, tights, swimsuits. Below I comment on the image and packaging of some products (see Fig. 2a-2e below). The Migros supermarket is offering 101 bio products for women, while only 69 for men, overall, they have 176 on the market, some more for baby products, and they all are available also online. Most organic products carry the GOTS label, some also eco-textiles, and come from the Migros essentials brand. 1.3.1 In the picture, see Fig. 2a below, we recognize the GOTS symbols, and the material is pure cotton qualified as Bio Cotton. The products from Migros essentials can be easily identified through the green leaves symbol for ecological and sustainable production in the packaging. 56 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="57"?> Fig. 2a: Athletic shirt for men. Fig. 2b- 1.3.2 The tights are from the label O E K O - T E X® MAD E IN G R E E N , which produces also lycra material. The corporate declares: “The material of the products is certified ‘Made in Green’ and is certified by the manufacturer. They are manufactured in a highly eco-compatible and safe and socially friendly manner” (https: / / migros .ch/ en/ content/ sustainability-labels-textiles, last view 29.07.2024). 1.3.3 Only a few of the recycled products are still on the market, including a women’s swimsuit from the Migros Essentials brand. The product has no pack‐ aging. The information comes from the homepage. Among the characteristics relating to the country of origin of the product, it is stated that: “Country of production: The Indication of Origin is shown on the packaging in the store”. Fig. 2c Fig. 2d Bio, eco and sustainable production 57 <?page no="58"?> The label for this product is GRS. GRS is another label at Migros linked with recycled material: “From origin to final product: the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) checks recycled material. Rigorous and stringent criteria are applied for environmentally friendly and socially responsible production”. The main key words we already encountered and commented on are: “environ‐ mentally friendly and socially responsible production”, and the eco-sustainabil‐ ity is characterized by the brand Migros essentials, with the green leaves symbol (see Fig. 2a). 1.3.4 Finally an example for the label ECO textile. Fig. 2e For this product, a baby pajama from ECO textile, the paratext on the packing is interesting: “By choosing our cotton products you are supporting the Better cotton mission, investing in Better Cotton”. On the packaging the symbol ECO textile is not evident, I found it in the description on the home page. The keywords are the comparative use of the adjective Better Cotton, the mission, the behavior of the customers in supporting Migros’ mission. 58 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="59"?> 17 Here I refer to the link commenting their environmental policies: coop.it/ ambiente. The homepage of Coop is only in Italian. 18 We highlight the document named: Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), which is one of the 9 institutionalized partnerships of Horizon Europe with an expected budget until 2027 of 2 billion euros between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). 19 In Italian the original text: “Il nostro impegno per l’ambiente. Vogliamo proteggere il nostro pianeta, perché è l’unica casa che abbiamo”, see https: / / coop.it/ storie-e-impegn o/ ambiente (Last view 03.08.2024). 20 https: / / coop.it/ storie-e-impegno/ ambiente/ impegno-terra, last view 29.07.2024. 2 Climate and energy: the case of Coop The second case study, the supermarket Coop, is addressed to consider their policy with respect to climate and energy aspect. 17 As introduction, I remind that Coop has an unbeatable slogan to involve the consumer: “la Coop sei tu”, ‘The Coop is you’, directly involving the consumer also in the responsibility. Many keywords from the Coop homepage that I quote in the following sections are very helpful to illustrate their mission. 18 2.1 Environment Coop declares on the home page in the section ‘Stories and commitment, Commitment for the environment’: “Our commitment to the environment. We want to protect our planet, because it is the only home we have”. 19 Today more than ever it is essential to invest in environmental protection policies because these are precisely the basis of food safety and people’s health. Coop introduces directly some concrete actions aiming to: 20 • reduce the consumption of resources, promote the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity, • reduce polluting emissions, • reduce the production of waste and directly involve the players in the production chains, from products to Coop brand from the management of the sales points to the transport of goods. In general, Coop products are designed and manufactured with the aim of min‐ imizing the waste of resources and the emission of substances that are harmful to the environment. Coop adopts certification schemes in its products and is committed to promoting reduction, reuse, recovery, and recycling strategies. Bio, eco and sustainable production 59 <?page no="60"?> 21 See https: / / coop.it/ il-prodotto-coop/ produttori-cioccolato-solidale, last view 29.07.2024. 22 See for this: our ethic codex: htpps: / / coop.it/ / sites/ default/ files/ 2022-06/ Codice_di_con dotta_SAC1_ITA_REV4_02.01.2020.docx.pdf, last view 29.07.2024. Fig. 3 2.2 Ethic / ethical Ethical aspects are well represented by the production of cocoa: Coop states that the cultivation of cocoa and its subsequent processing follow the principles of sustainable agriculture that avoids the excessive exploitation of natural resources and labor. 21 Ethic is symbolized by fair and ethical work: 22 Coop has always worked following rigorous ethics and was, indeed, in 1998 the first Italian company to adhere to the SA 8000 Ethical Standard, implementing new tools to monitor the issue of workers’ rights. The company asks all suppliers of branded products, as well as those of non-branded products in the fruit and vegetable sector, to sign our code of ethics based on the principles of the SA 8000 Standards, the ILO (International Labor Organization) and Women’s Empowerment of the United Nations. The corporate believes in fairer and more ethical work and we are committed to achieving it every day together with our suppliers to combat gender disparity, discrimination based on race or religion, child labor, forced labor, gang mastering, and guarantee contractual regularity, health and safety, optimal conditions of the working environment, freedom of association and contract. Since 1998 Coop has never stopped: implementing constant control of the production sites up to the farms, also through anonymous interviews with workers and collection of information from local 60 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="61"?> 23 “Coop in ogni sua attività adotta il principio dello sviluppo sostenibile inteso come lo sviluppo diretto al continuo miglioramento della qualità della vita sulla terra delle attuali e delle future generazioni, assicurando a tutti i popoli il godimento dei loro diritti e delle loro libertà” (Dichiarazione sui principi guida per uno sviluppo sostenibile, UE 2005). stakeholders, and a progressive involvement and empowerment of the actors in our supply chains. In case of non-compliance, we ask for an immediate improvement plan or, depending on the severity, we exclude the structures involved. Fig. 4a Fig. 4b 2.3 Commitment for sustainable Development “In all its activities, Coop adopts the principle of sustainable development understood as development aimed at continuously improving the quality of life on earth for current and future generations, ensuring that all peoples enjoy their rights and freedoms” 23 (Declaration on Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development, EU 2005). For this reason, they claim to work every day for the welfare for the earth and for animals, also making use of the voluntary commitment of their members and workers. Since the Coop is a cooperative that has many members, through the concrete commitment of members and workers, who voluntarily organize and promote various initiatives in the territories where the Cooperative operates, they are able to involve the new generations in various actions over time, consisting in days Bio, eco and sustainable production 61 <?page no="62"?> 24 It is possible to find out more about the projects under coop.it/ oasi-urbane. 25 “La mattina di venerdì 10 dicembre è stata inaugurata, all’interno di Parco Sant’Angelo, una nuova oasi di biodiversità a disposizione del quartiere e di tutta la città. L’intervento che Coop Centro Italia ha promosso in partnership con PlanBee e l’Associazione “Ya Basta”, gestore del Parco dal 2020, ha visto la piantumazione di un frutteto di piante storiche autoctone umbre, di arbusti tipici del sottobosco regionale e di un’area di erbe aromatiche in diversi punti del Parco, correlati da apposita cartellonistica illustrativa, con l’obiettivo di ricostituire dei micro-habitat in armonia con il contesto preesistente. Dopo l’installazione a metà ottobre del dispositivo “mangia plastica” Seabin sul Lago di Piediluco, la riqualificazione del Parco Sant’Angelo di Perugia rappresenta un’ulteriore azione concreta di un impegno storico che Coop Centro Italia promuove sul territorio in favore della sua salvaguardia e più in generale della tutela dell’ambiente” (coopcent roitalia.it/ la-buona-spesa/ ambiente/ coop-ambiente, last view 05.08.2024). 26 The slogan in Italian sounds as follows: “Coop e Lifegate insieme per ridurre l’inquina‐ mento delle acque dalla plastica”. of cleaning green areas, river or lake banks, realization of awareness projects on waste collection and recycling, and of collaborations with corporations and associations, finally practicing educational workshops with local schools. The key commitments are expressed as follows: respect for the environment is an inspiration for the management criteria of the Coop supply chain; reduction of freight transport aims to reduce emissions into the atmosphere, information tools provide to increase environmental awareness. Coop accounts for some projects which testify its commitment which have been realized in many regions in Italy. 24 In the following the description of some of them over time: 1. As first example, I introduce an experiment for biodiversity oasis at the Sant’Angelo Park in Perugia thanks to the Coop Centro Italia project, which consisted in planting of an orchard of historic native Umbrian plants, typical shrubs of the regional undergrowth and of an area of aromatic herbs in various points of the Park, correlated by specific illustrative signage, with the aim of reconstituting micro-habitats in harmony with the pre-existing context. The redevelopment of the Sant’Angelo Park in Perugia represents a further concrete action of a historic commitment that Coop Centro Italia promotes in the area in favor of its protection and more generally the protection of the environment. 25 2. A second example is an initiative to reduce water pollution from plastic from Coop and LifeGate together. 26 62 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="63"?> 27 “Un mare di idee per le nostre acque è la campagna di Coop per la tutela dei nostri mari, fiumi e laghi. L’obiettivo di ridurre l’inquinamento da plastiche e microplastiche verrà perseguito attraverso la tecnologia, con nuovi speciali localizzatori e dispositivi Seabin “mangiarifiuti”, e l’impegno di squadre di sub, oltre alla rinnovata collaborazione con la barca Anywave e Findus. Fino ad oggi, grazie alla campagna, sono state raccolte, grazie al posizionamento di 46 dispositivi Seabin in tutta Italia, 32 tonnellate di rifiuti, pari al peso di 2 milioni e mezzo di bottigliette di plastica.” (https: / / coop.it/ campagne/ un-mare-di-idee-per-le-nostre-acque, last view 05.08.2024). Fig. 5: Picture illustrating Coop’s commitment in protection of environment. A sea of ideas for our waters [hyperbole, A N ] is Coop’s campaign for the protection of our seas, rivers and lakes. The objective of reducing pollution from plastics and microplastics will be pursued through technology, with new special locators and Seabin ‘garbage-eating’ devices, and the commitment of diving teams, in addition to the renewed collaboration with the Anywave and Findus boats. To date, thanks to the campaign, 32 tons of waste have been collected, equal to the weight of 2 and a half million plastic bottles, thanks to the positioning of 46 Seabin devices throughout Italy. 27 The new Seabin adds to the one installed in October 2020 on Lake Trasimeno. The two devices, as of December 31, 2022, have collected over 1,164 kilograms of floating waste, equal to the weight of over 77,600 half-liter plastic bottles. The collected waste consisted in: 70 % waste from materials that are harmful to the environment such as plastics, microplastics, cigarette butts and sanitary absorbent materials; 20 % of contaminated moist organic mass (wood, leaves, branches, pieces of wood and algae) against which several fragments of plastic and polystyrene can be seen remaining Bio, eco and sustainable production 63 <?page no="64"?> 28 “Il nuovo Seabin si aggiunge a quello installato nell’ottobre 2020 sul Lago Trasimeno. I due dispositivi, al 31 dicembre 2022, hanno raccolto oltre 1.164 chilogrammi di rifiuti galleggianti, pari al peso di oltre 77.600 bottiglie di plastica da mezzo litro. I rifiuti raccolti sono suddivisi in: - 70 % rifiuti da materiali dannosi per l’ambiente come plastiche, microplastiche, mozziconi di sigarette e materiali assorbenti igienici; - 20 % di massa organica umida contaminata (legno, foglie, rami, pezzi di legno e alghe) rispetto alla quale si notano diversi frammenti di plastica e polistirolo rimasti intrappolati, soprattutto nel materiale algale; - 10 % di massa organica umida non contaminata.” (https: / / coop.it/ campagne/ un-mare -di-idee-per-le-nostre-acque, last view 05.08.2024). 29 The slogan in Italian sounds: Toh! Chi si rivede: il nostro impegno per l’utilizzo della plastica riciclata continua, available under https: / / coop.it/ benessere-della-terra/ econom ia-circolare. trapped, especially in the algal material; and 10 % of uncontaminated wet organic mass. 28 3. A third example is referred to production of objects from recycled materials This commitment is introduced on the homepage by the slogan: “Oh! Who’s back! : Coop’s commitment for circular economy”. 29 Fig. 6a: Cycle of recycling chain sustained for Coop’s recycled objects. The picture 6a illustrates the three steps of recycling materials very well, consisting in collection of plastic waste, delivery to a recycling establishment that produces new material, and production of household products with a minimum of 80 % recycled plastic. “Since 2017 we have embraced the philosophy of the circular economy. The materials that make up our products and their packaging, in fact, are recovered 64 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="65"?> 30 Here the new products by Guzzini for Coop: https: / / easycoop.com/ offerte/ offertespeci ali/ collezionamento-guzzini.html, last view 29.07.2024. 31 It is available under: https: / / coop.it/ sites/ default/ files/ 2022-06/ coop-rapporto-sostenibi lita-2021-web-compresso.pdf, last view 29.07.2024. 32 It is available under: https: / / spinosimarketing.com/ it/ consulente-societa-consulenza-m arketing/ strategie-di-green-marketing/ strategie-green-marketing-coop-italia.html and reinserted into the economic cycle with a new function.” Coop started from the choice to use recycled plastic in the composition of bottles and other Coop’s brand packaging. They are now working to include other materials such as paper, aluminum or polystyrene. Coop considered as a last challenge the creation of durable products, created with post-consumer recycled materials. This is how the innovative line “Toh who is back! ” (“Chi si rivede”) presents itself. On the homepage, some of these products are depicted, as the following figure shows: Especially a collection of some household pieces, made by Guzzini, and made up of over 70 % recycled bio-based plastic. 30 Fig. 6b: A special series of home tools from recycled material. Finally, it is also interesting that the sustainability report illustrates which values are joined with and guaranteed by the brand Coop: 31 they are safety, ethics, ecol‐ ogy, convenience, and transparency. Furthermore, since Coop Italia is one of the eco-sustainable companies that implemented green marketing strategies, and radically changed its corporate structure, implementing profound changes in sustainable production, reducing the ecological footprint, it expressed through articulated strategies its positioning and mission. 32 Bio, eco and sustainable production 65 <?page no="66"?> 33 The connotations and associations based on the lexical elements contained in the self-presentations on the Migros and Coop homepages are analyzed here according to the semantic fields as presented in Cotticelli-Kurras (2014) and Ronneberger-Sibold and Wahl (2014) and reproduced in Table 2. The main strategies are: 1. Environmentally friendly goods and services with reduced environmental im‐ pact. 2. Waste reduction and material recycling. 3. Reduction of goods transportation to decrease atmospheric emissions. 4. Employee training: Coop provides environmental education and information tools to employees and collaborators to promote environmentally respectful practices. 5. Consumer and member education: Coop provides environmental information and education tools to members and consumers to enhance their environmental awareness. 6. Research, experimentation, and innovation aimed at waste reduction. 7. Rejection of genetically modified products. 8. Animal welfare protection: Coop avoids the use of substances obtained through violence against living beings. 9. Forest conservation: Coop uses wood and cellulose from certified sources or recycled products. 3 Concluding comparative semantic analyzis After analyzing the statements by Migros and Coop referred to the own policy concerning their products, strategies and commitment in ecological production, ethical commitment and care for welfare of environment and animals, it was possible to focus on a choice of occurring key words. These are related to specific semantic connotation domains, which are characteristic for their advertisements, slogans, and products presentations. The principle domains are represented through the associations ‘bio, purity, nature, wealth’ and the related connotations footing in the semantic fields O R D E R AN D W E AL TH ; moreover the associations ‘nature, ecologic, organic, progress’ are connected with the domain of P R O G R E S S ; finally the associations ‘reliability, safety, harmony’ in connection with the domain of T R AN Q U IL LIT Y . 33 Aiming at giving an overall classification of such domains, in which the values of the described companies are inscribed, I refer here to a table representing a general overview of such semantic relations. The table is elaborated on the basis 66 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="67"?> of the Maslow’ pyramid of human needs (1970) according to Cotticelli-Kurras (2014). The semantic fields (or domains) occurring in the quoted texts and products - to be understood as human values and needs - with their associations are highlighted in bold. Connotation domains Associations Power nobility, military, control, speed, shine of power Independence freedom, independence, individuality, spontaneity Curiosity the world, exotic, international, progress, magic Physical perceptions cosmos, physical dimensions, sensory perceptions (light, hard, dark, taste…) Order and wealth wealth, wellness, nature, bio, purity, fresh Saving modesty, accuracy Tradition, religion, honor antiquity, religion, esotericism, history, good times, crafts, art, home Progress progress, comfort, convenience, nature, ecologic, beauty (not sensual) Social contact fun, games, summer, sun, holiday, humor, parties, com‐ munication High quality scientific, high quality, technical universality Status luxury, wealth, enjoyment, beauty, modernity, technology, industry, hi-tech Aggressivity aggression, fight Romanticism and sensuality arts, beauty, sexuality, sensuality Physical activity sports, fitness, strength, youth, movement, mobility Tranquillity sensitivity, harmony, family, childhood, reliability, safety, comfort Tab. 2: Table of connotation domains and related associations. In a subsequent table, I put in relation the collected terms as adjectives, nouns and verbs from the brands, or the slogan related to them, from the statements and protocols available on the homepages of the companies with the semantic domains. These terms seem to correspond well to the associations identified in the first table and correspond to the semantic fields that are the object Bio, eco and sustainable production 67 <?page no="68"?> of our investigation. Furthermore, after this analyzis, a new semantic field needs to be added in the second table expressing P H Y S I C AL P E R C E P TI O N S with the associations of ‘sensorial perception’ blue and green is to be added. As a result of the current analyzis we can state that the linguistic material expressing the companies’ policy regarding green and sustainable production is well represented through three main semantic fields. O R D E R AN D W E AL TH is the main semantic field, in which sustainability is to be inscribed, represented by the key words ‘eco/ -logy, eco-friendly, right, nature, fish, good water and air, animal welfare, bio, well-being’. A second field is P R O G R E S S , with its associations, such as ‘progress, comfort, convenience, nature, ecologic, beauty (not sensual)’, and the key words: ‘Organic, natural, environment, eco-sustainability, (the image of a) green leaf, animal welfare, recycling’. Finally, the field T R AN Q U IL LIT Y , especially for the associations ‘reliability, safety, comfort’, are represented by the key words ‘guarantee, traceable, socially responsible, safe working, sustainability, values, product safety, responsible production, take care, health, ethic, protection, sure’. Table of connotation domains and related associations Verbs, adjectives and adverbs Connotation domains Associations and Details - Power nobility, military, control, speed, shine of power - Independence freedom, independence, in‐ dividuality, spontaneity - Curiosity the world, exotic, interna‐ tional, progress, magic - Physical perceptions cosmos, physical dimen‐ sions, sensory percep‐ tions (light, hard, dark, taste…) -Green, blue Order and wealth wealth, wellness, na‐ ture, bio, purity, fresh Eco/ -logy, eco-friendly, right, nature, fish, good water and air, animal welfare, bio, well-being Saving modesty, accuracy - Tradition, religion, honor antiquity, religion, esoteri‐ cism, history, good times, crafts, art, home - 68 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="69"?> Progress progress, comfort, con‐ venience, nature, eco‐ logic, beauty (not sen‐ sual) Organic, natural, envi‐ ronment, eco-sustaina‐ bility, green leaf, animal welfare, recycling Social contact fun, games, summer, sun, holiday, humor, parties, communication - High quality scientific, high quality, technical universality Quality assurance, tech‐ nology, boats, devices Status luxury, wealth, enjoyment, beauty, modernity, tech‐ nology, industry, hi-tech - Aggressivity aggression, fight - Romanticism and sensuality arts, beauty, sexuality, sen‐ suality - Physical activity sports, fitness, strength, youth, movement, mobility Cyclist, movement Tranquillity sensitivity, harmony, family, childhood, relia‐ bility, safety, comfort Guarantee, traceable, so‐ cially responsible, safe working, sustainability, values, product safety, responsible production, take care, health, ethic, protection, sure Tab. 3: Table of connotation domains and related associations with collected terms. Even though we have chosen different areas of sustainable production and environmental policy for the two companies presented, namely textiles and energy, it can be concluded that both have chosen comparable and effective strategies. Both have paid great attention to the presentation of strategies and commitment in the descriptive texts on their respective homepages and in programmatic texts, Guidelines and the like. Furthermore, they have tried to identify recurring key terms on the packaging, expressed through adjectives (‘sustainable, green, better cotton, natural’), nouns, morphological derivation techniques (using ‘eco-, green’), visual and associative symbols such as those of colours, also with reference to environmentally friendly production that give rise to the associations described in the table. 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Webpages https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ it/ sostenibilita/ strategia-obiettivi/ riconoscimenti-sostenibil ita/ riconoscimenti.html https: / / corporate.migros.ch/ it/ sostenibilita/ prodotti-sostenibili/ nostri-progressi/ produz ione-tessile-sostenibile.html https: / / insidemarketing.it/ sostenibilita-e-pubblicita-digitale-dati-ias/ https: / / legalforcreativity.it/ pubblicita-sostenibilita-ambientale-2021-green-marketing/ 70 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras <?page no="71"?> https: / / mase.gov.it/ pagina/ lo-schema-nazionale-made-green-italy (Ministero dell’Am‐ biente e della sicurezza Energetica) https: / / mase.gov.it/ pagina/ il-regolamento-l-attuazione-dello-schema-made-green-italye-l-adesione-allo-schema https: / / mase.gov.it/ sites/ default/ files/ archivio/ allegati/ impronta_ambientale/ 2021_06_2 8_Manuale_Utilizzologo_MGI.pdf https: / / coop.it/ ambiente https: / / coop.it/ / sites/ default/ files/ 2022-06/ coop-rapporto-sostenibilita-2021-web-compr esso.pdf https: / / spinosimarketing.com/ it/ consulente-societa-consulenza-marketing/ strategie-digreen-marketing/ strategie-green-marketing-coop-italia.html Bio, eco and sustainable production 71 <?page no="73"?> Green, Fair, Responsible Promoting sustainable safari holidays in Tanzania Marie A. Rieger Abstract: Tanzania is a prime example of the paradox that tourism is an economic necessity for the host country, while at the same time human activities are destroying the ecological and social foundations that have made the country a first-class destination for nature-based tourism. Sustainable tourism development seems to be the only way to maintain both the country’s attractiveness and the much-needed income. Using safaris as an example, this study explores the role that sustainability plays in promoting Tanzania as a tourist destination. First, it examines whether names, logos and/ or claims are used to promote companies as sustainable. The analyzis of a corpus of 146 tour operators shows that only very few providers have used these marketing tools to date. In a second step, the small group of providers with “green” names is analyzed to determine how much attention is actually paid to the topic of sustainability on the respective websites. The results show that a “green” company name can certainly serve as an initial orientation. However, in order to find truly sustainable companies, it is essential to read the websites carefully. <?page no="74"?> 1 On this topic, see: https: / / unwto.org/ tourism4development2017 (Accessed: 3/ 7/ 24). 2 See: https: / / unwto.org/ sustainable> -development (Accessed: 3/ 7/ 24). Today that great devouring has begun. It will end only when all of humanity, joined together in a great frenzy of greed, has eaten up the earth, the air, the sky. Amitav Ghosh, Flood of Fire (2016: 509-510) 1 Introduction In 2015, the UN General Assembly declared 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. 1 The UN agency UN Tourism specifies the first of the three dimensions of sustainable tourism development as follows: “Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes, and help‐ ing to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity”. 2 Indeed, the attraction of many holiday destinations lies in the idea of pristine nature and an unspoilt environment: “In recent years, nature-based tourism has become one of the most critical components of the tourism industry” ( Jones et al. 2023: 1). Still more important for the present study, “the subset of wildlife tourism within nature-based tourism has seen comparatively more growth than the other types of tourism” ( Jones et al. 2023: 1). At the same time, wildlife tourism is particularly threatened by irresponsible human behaviour, which is constantly destroying natural habitats and leading to climate catastrophe. Especially for countries that are highly dependent on income from tourism, there is no alternative to sustainable tourism development in order to make the industry more resilient and to preserve the very basis of their business model, i.e. an environment that remains as intact as possible. Tanzania as a tourist destination combines both aspects, namely the great economic importance of the tourism industry, whose success in turn is largely based on the idea of a supposedly wild and unspoilt natural environment. The World Bank Group estimates that the tourism sector accounts for 17 % of Tanzania’s GDP and is the country’s third largest employer (WTO 2023: 6), while “over 50 % of tourism activities in the country are nature based, focusing mostly on protected areas wildlife resources” (Mgonja et al. 2015: 264). The Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) itself defines the “development and promotion of sustainable tourism” (MNRT 2021: viii) as one out of eight core objectives. The targets already achieved include increasing the 74 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="75"?> number of licensed tourism operators from 1,242 in 2016, when the MNRT was established, to 2,051 in 2020 (MNRT 2021: 31). Customers have also become more aware of social and environmental issues, and studies show that tourists who already have sustainability concerns “are ready to pay a premium to patronise travel companies that preserve nature and show respect for local culture when choosing a holiday” (Kanza et al. 2021: 50). Sustainability can therefore be a major competitive advantage for safari tourism in particular. This is where commercial names come into play, whose function is “to steer the choices of consumers and investors and whose use has economic objectives. […] A typical commercial name refers to a business or to various products, and its purpose is to help the name owner with marketing and sales” (Sjöblom 2016: 453). Against this background, the present study examines two sets of questions. First, do safari operators in Tanzania use their names to showcase themselves directly as sustainably operating companies? And second, what structure do the names have? Is their message reinforced by corresponding logos and claims? In a second step, I analyze whether the sustainability concept suggested by the name and logo and/ or claim is explained on the website and substantiated by concrete measures and/ or certificates. To this end, the theoretical foundations are outlined in section 2. The first part deals with the concept of sustainability and its application in tourism (2.1), while the second part focuses on company names within the sustainability discourse (2.2). Section 3 presents the method for collecting the corpus of Tanzania safari providers and the criteria for analyzing it (3.1), as well as selected quantitative results related to the corpus as a whole (3.2). The results of the qualitative analyzis of the sub-corpus, consisting of the tour operators whose names may suggest sustainable business practices, are discussed in section 4. The article concludes with a brief evaluative summary (5.). 2 Core Concepts Sustainability and sustainable tourism are very complex concepts, in both their theoretical and practical dimensions. To even begin to describe them would go far beyond the scope of this article. Section 2.1, therefore, highlights only some of the aspects that are particularly relevant to this study, while the second part deals with the category of company names within the sustainability discourse (2.2). Green, Fair, Responsible 75 <?page no="76"?> 2.1 Sustainable tourism Buzzwords such as ecotourism, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism, ethical and responsible tourism show that the importance of sustainable business practices has been recognised by at least parts of the tourism industry. However, it should be borne in mind that the implementation of sustainable tourism is very complex and places high demands on all those involved: To achieve sustainable levels of tourism requires management, marketing, promo‐ tional development, product and capacity development to be wholly integrated with an ethical and responsible approach. Whilst traditionally, tourism has sought to maximise people flows, ethical and responsible tourism seeks to regulate flows to ensure that footfall does not damage unique heritage and cultures whilst preserving historical and physical environments. Thus responsibility in tourism is concerned with creating and agreeing a balance between socio-economic objectives which bene‐ fit communities and the preservation of the human, cultural and physical environment (Koščak/ O’Rourke 2021: 1). What is important in this context is that sustainable tourism is not just about nature: “The growing debates on sustainable tourism highlight the essence of the sustainability paradigm as the balance between economic growth, environmental preservation and social justice” (Kanza et al. 2021: 36; my emphasis). With regard to wildlife tourism, Jones et al. (2023: 11) specify that the “crucial elements in an ecotourism approach to wildlife destination sustainability center around on‐ going learning, continuous monitoring, support for biodiversity conservation, widespread local benefits, institutional support, and community empowerment.” At the same time, the overused concept of sustainable development runs the risk “of becoming a cliché […] to which everyone pays homage but nobody seems to define with precision and exactitude” (Mensah 2019: 2). It remains to be seen whether the tour operators analyzed here are merely paying homage to the idea of sustainability or actually putting it into practice. 2.2 Company names This paper deals with company names: “The term company name is an expression which consistently refers to a certain business, identifies a company and its activities, and distinguishes them from other companies” (Sjöblom 2016: 454; emphasis in the original). Nübling et al. (2015: 278) point out that in saturated markets - to which the tourism sector undoubtedly belongs - the name is often the only unique selling point that distinguishes a provider from its competitors. Company names belong to the group of commercial names. This generic 76 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="77"?> heading is to be understood as an umbrella term for company and product names, trademarks and brand names. The US company Lexicon Branding, which specializes in the naming of brands, makes the following statement on the importance of commercial names: A corporate name or a product name is important because it represents an opportunity to introduce an idea about the company—what it stands for and, if possible, how it will act in the marketplace. […] The reality is names don’t have to be clever or creative but, to be strategic, they must help to tell the company’s story (Lexicon Branding 2024). The significance of commercial names therefore goes far beyond their distin‐ guishing function: Naming is a part of business communication. With names, a company creates a suitable image of itself and, as is known, images have a strong influence on people’s behaviour. A name symbolizes the identity of the company or the product (Sjöblom 2016: 454). In the present context, a well-chosen name can give a company a “green” identity and tell the story of sustainable business practices. In her article on sustainability in company names, Ingrid Spitzner (2018) explores very similar questions to the present study, namely how the company names she analyzed reflect the concern for sustainability and how the sustain‐ ability parameters of ecology, economy and social issues are reflected in them (Spitzner 2018: 163). In contrast to the present study, she examines names of German companies from the food and agricultural sectors as well as from the cosmetics industry. Another selection criterion is the year of foundation, so that her corpus includes, on the one hand, companies that have been on the market for a very long time and, on the other, young companies. The results of her research show that the group of companies that were founded long before the concept of sustainability emerged do not change their names. After all, traditional names are a value in themselves, so the reference to sustainability may be made by adding a claim. But even among the younger companies, only a small number refer to the sustainability aspect in their names. Typical name elements in these cases are Öko- ‘eco-’, Bio-, Green-, Fair- und Natur ‘nature’ (Spitzner 2018: 172). 3 Data collection and quantitative results This section describes the method of data collection and analyzis (3.1) and presents selected quantitative results of the overall corpus (3.2). Green, Fair, Responsible 77 <?page no="78"?> 3 As Google does not differentiate between upper and lower case, the search engine considers the entries “Name National Park + Safari” (German) and “Name National Park + safari” (English) to be identical. The German spelling of Tansania, on the other hand, differs from the English form Tanzania. A complete list of search terms can be found in Appendix 7.1. 3.1 Data collection The data for this study is based on an internet search conducted with Google in February 2023. Safari tourism in Tanzania is in the high-price segment, i.e. aimed at an affluent international clientele that is likely to use the internet as a source of information when planning a trip. For tour operators, the Internet not only gives them the opportunity to reach this audience, which is invaluable for local providers in particular. The web presence also enables them to present in detail their business practices and their own position on sustainability. There are four ways of directly presenting a company as sustainable: A) linking the website with corresponding keywords; B) name; C) logo; D) claim. This study used the keyword strategy for data collection, while making the B to D marketing strategies the subject of the data analyzis. The search for safari providers in Tanzania was based on a series of search terms, both in German and English. In addition to the general destination of Tanzania in combination with the terms tourism and safari, the search also looked for safaris in four national parks and game reserves. The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater are the two destinations with the highest number of visitors. The other two areas are located in the south of the country, which is difficult to access and therefore less frequented. The Selous Game Reserve is the oldest protected area in Tanzania and the largest protected area in Africa. In 2019, its northern area was re-designated Nyerere National Park, making it the newest national park in Tanzania. In this way, the government hopes to boost tourism in the south of the country and thus relieve the pressure on the northern areas, which at times suffer from overtourism. To begin with, the search was carried out with each core search term, e.g. Tanzania Tourism. The core search term was then expanded to include the terms sustainable/ nachhaltig and ecofriendly/ umweltfreundlich, e.g. Serengeti Safari sustainable/ nachhaltig; Serengeti Safari ecofriendly/ umweltfreundlich. This resulted in fourteen searches per language plus four searches in which German and English did not differ (e.g. Ngorongoro Safari), i.e. 32 searches in total. 3 For reasons of feasibility, only the first twenty results of each search were analyzed. Booking platforms, travel guides and comparison portals were excluded. 78 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="79"?> 4 The term “green” is used here and in the following as a practical shorthand for the search terms sustainable/ nachhaltig and ecofriendly/ umweltfreundlich and as a reader-friendly code for the entire concept of sustainability. 5 Percentages in the tables are generally rounded. 3.2 Quantitative results Hence, 146 tour operators (henceforth: TO) could be found that include safaris in Tanzania in their programme. With regard to the total number of Google matches, it is interesting to note that in the German-language search, the term nachhaltig ‘sustainable’ is clearly the preferred option with 98 %, compared to umweltfreundlich ‘eco-friendly’ (2 %). In English, sustainable also has more matches, but at 59 % compared to 41 % for eco-friendly, the difference is far less marked. As Table 1 shows, 117 TO (80 %) were among the first twenty matches, from one to a maximum of three times, and only fourteen TO (10 %) ranked more than six times. It is interesting to note that 90 TO (just under 62 %) were only able to rank in connection with the search terms sustainable/ nachhaltig and/ or eco-friendly/ umweltfreundlich and only 28 (19 %) exclusively without “green” search terms. 4 Matches per TO 1 2-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 16 27 N° TO (n=146) 67 (46 %) 50 (34 %) 15 (10 %) 8(5 %) 4(3 %) 1(0,68%) 1(0,68%) TO found with “green” search terms only 90 (62 %) - - - TO found only without “green” search terms 28 (19 %) Tab. 1: Frequency of occurrence of TO. 5 As Table 2 shows, 48 of the 146 TO offer international destinations, of which 38 (79 %) ranked only in connection with “green” search terms. 32 TO promote destinations on the African continent, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa. In this group, 19 TO, i.e. 59 %, ranked only in connection with the “green” search terms. 18 TO specialise in East Africa and 48 in Tanzania. What is striking here is that 35, i.e. 73 % of the Tanzania specialists were only found in combination with the “green” search terms. Their share is therefore far higher than that of the Africa and East Africa specialists. Green, Fair, Responsible 79 <?page no="80"?> 6 The list of the thirteen TO (with URLs) can be found in Appendix 7.2, alongside the other named TO (Appendix 7.3). Destinations Worldwide Africa East Africa Tanzania N° TO (n=146) 48 32 18 48 TO found with “green” search terms only 38 (79 %) 19 (59 %) 10 (56 %) 35 (73 %) Tab. 2: Destinations offered and share of matches with “green” search terms. The quantitative analyzis of the results shows that the search terms sustainable and ecofriendly, as well as the German nachhaltig ‘sustainable’, lead to high match rates. The providers of safaris in Tanzania have therefore recognised the concept of sustainability as a competitive advantage. However, if we analyze the TO on the other three options mentioned in 3.1, we find that only a few companies use their name, logo and/ or claim to focus on sustainability. In particular, only thirteen TO (just under 9 %) use their name as an advertising medium for sustainability, all of which ranked only in combination with the “green” search terms. Table 3 shows that five of the thirteen TO with a “green” name are companies registered or specialised in Tanzania. In contrast, only one company based in East Africa (excluding Tanzania) and two companies specialising in East Africa have “green” names. No TO from Southern Africa or specialising in Southern Africa with “green” names could be found. - International Africa East Africa Tanzania Headquarters 7 0 1 5 Destinations 6 0 2 5 Tab. 3: TO with “green” names: headquarters and destinations offered. Table 4 shows the thirteen TO whose names might stand for sustainable business practices, as well as the location of their headquarters, the destinations offered and the number of total matches: 6 80 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="81"?> 7 Although the TO Eco Africa Climbing specialises in climbing Kilimanjaro, it also offers other Tanzanian destinations, including safaris. 8 Unless otherwise stated, the details analyzed below are taken from the homepage of the respective TO. The corresponding URLs can be found in the TO list in the appendix (see note 6). Name (13/ 146) Headquarters Destinations Total matches Dream Eco Safari Tanzania Tanzania 12 Eco Adventure Safaris Uganda East Africa 5 Eco Africa Climbing Tanzania Tanzania 1 Fair Away Germany International 6 Fair Travel Tanzania Tanzania 6 Fair Voyage Switzerland International 2 Green Light Ventures UK Tanzania 3 Green Tours Tanzania Norvegia / Tanzania Tanzania 10 Natürlich Reisen Germany International 2 Natouralist Germany International 2 Nature Responsible Safari Germany / Tanzania East Africa 7 Nature Tours Switzerland International 2 travel-to-nature Germany International 1 Tab. 4: The thirteen “green” names with headquarters, destinations offered, and total matches. 7 4 Qualitative analyzis This section is concerned with a qualitative analyzis of the thirteen TO with names that may be read as an indication of sustainable business practices. To this end, I examine the formation of the names, the design of the logos and any existing claims (4.1). 4.2 investigates whether the sustainability suggested by the name, logo and/ or claim on the website is underpinned by verifiable facts. Ultimately, the question is whether the “green” image really serves customer orientation or whether it is rather a form of greenwashing. 8 Green, Fair, Responsible 81 <?page no="82"?> 4.1 The interplay of name, logo and claim A comparison of all the names in the corpus reveals two similarities. First, they consist almost exclusively of elements from the lexicon and onomasticon of natural languages, primarily English. They therefore convey a meaning. Secondly, the vast majority consist of more than one unit. Typical examples are African Spice Safaris, Explore Tanzania, Tailormade Africa Safaris and Unforgettable Travel. Twelve of the thirteen “green” names also contain only elements from the lexicon of natural languages and consist of two or three units. As Table 5 shows, the formative elements can be assigned to four semantic groups. All names contain an element that specifies the what, i.e. it is a tourist offer. Two names also contain the where and two others an upgrader. A further element contained in all names indicates the specific nature of the offer, namely that it may be ecologically and/ or socially sustainable tourism. Ten names also have the specifying element in first position prominence: What Upgrader Particularity- Where Upgrader What Where - - Fair - - - Away - - - Fair - - - Travel - - - Fair - - - Voyage - - - Natür‐ lich - - - Reisen - - - Nature - - - Tours - - - Nature Respon‐ sible - - Safari - - - Green Light - - Ventures - - - Eco - Africa - Climb‐ ing - - - Green - - - Tours Tanza‐ nia - - Eco - - Adven‐ ture Safari - - Dream Eco - - - Safari - travel-to - nature - - - - - Tab. 5: Formative elements of twelve of the thirteen “green” names analyzed. 82 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="83"?> 9 Of the remaining 133 TO, only two use logo and claim (Accept Reisen, Yugen Earthside), only one the logo (Lets Go Travel), and nine only the claim (African Travels, Akwaba Afrika, &Beyond, Colors of Zanzibar, Evaneos, Klüger Reisen, Nomadic Experience, Roam Wild Adventure, Trip Legend) to promote themselves as sustainably operating companies. The reference to ecological sustainability is quite clear in Eco and Green, while Fair, which appears three times, explicitly focusses on social sustainability. The names with an element based on the term Natur/ nature, on the other hand, are somewhat less explicit. The only exception here is Nature Responsible Safari, which, in combination with the second element Responsible, clearly refers to ecological sustainability. In Natürlich Reisen, literally ‘naturally + travel [verb, infinitive]’, the element Natürlich can be read as both a derivation of Natur ‘nature’ and the opposite of künstlich ‘artificially’, while Nature Tours and travel-to-nature can also be read as a reference to what is known as nature tourism or nature-based tourism. This form of travelling can be conceived as sustainable, but can also be generally understood as “travel for the purpose of enjoying undeveloped natural areas or wildlife” (Sneha/ Nagarjuna 2023: 383). Natouralist, the name of a German TO, is missing from Table 5 because it is the only example of a Konzeptform (Platen 1997), i.e. a name that is not taken directly from a natural language but still conveys a meaning. The name is the result of a so-called Wortkreuzung (Nübling et al. 2015: 271), i.e. a blend of - presumably - naturalist and tourist. In this case, too, the message remains vague. Table 6 shows which of the thirteen TO analyzed also use the logo and/ or claim to reinforce the message of sustainability: 9 Name “Green” logo “Green” claim Eco Adventure Safaris x Eco-Friendly & Sustainable African Safaris Eco Africa Climbing x We are a Sustainable Travel Company in Tanzania Doing Ethical Kilimanjaro Climbs Fair Travel x Your footprints matter Green Tours Tanzania x Do tourism, work for environment Dream Eco Safari x - Nature Responsible Safari x - Fair Away x - Travel-to-nature x Einzigartige Naturreisen vereint mit Ar‐ tenschutz - seit 1997 ‘Unique nature tours combined with spe‐ cies conservation---since 1997’ Green, Fair, Responsible 83 <?page no="84"?> 10 A “green” logo means that it predominantly uses the colour green and/ or contains stylized animals and/ or stylized plants. 11 I must emphasise that the results of the study carried out in February 2023 are shown here. The current TO websites may therefore differ. A follow-up study by the author Name “Green” logo “Green” claim Fair Voyage - Tailor-Made Trips by Sustainability Leaders Green Light Ventures - Sustainable Adventures to TZ Natürlich Reisen - - Nature Tours - - Natouralist - - Tab. 6: The interplay of name, logo and claim. 10 Table 6 shows at a glance that the nine TO, whose names already clearly refer to the topic of sustainability, reinforce this message with logos and/ or claims. The probably deliberate ambiguity of the name travel-to-nature and its logo, which shows an exotic frog, is resolved by the claim: it is about nature tourism and ecological sustainability. To sum up, it can be said that ten of the thirteen TO analyzed here promote themselves as sustainably operating companies through the interplay of name, logo and/ or claim, while three TO have a rather vague reference to nature tourism in their name, which is clarified by neither the logo nor the claim. The next section deals with the question of whether the expectations fuelled by the name, logo and claim are underpinned by information about sustainable business practices. 4.2 Sustainability - homage or lived practice? To answer this question, the websites of the thirteen TO were analyzed to determine the actual significance and credibility of the concept of sustainability suggested by the names. The following aspects were analyzed: 1) Is sustainabil‐ ity thematised on the homepage (H)? ; 2) Does the topic appear in the menu bar and/ or as a sub-item of the main menu (MB)? ; 3) Is the concept of sustainability defined (D)? ; 4) Is there a quality seal for sustainability (QS)? ; 5) Is there detailed information on the topic of sustainability that goes beyond the mention of buzzwords (Info+); 6) Are concrete implementation measures listed that fit in with the sustainability concept explained (Imp)? The results are shown in Table-7: 11 84 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="85"?> (together with Vincenzo Amendolara) in June 2024 on possible changes of the issues investigated here was presented at the ICOS Congress 2024 in Helsinki. Name H MB D QS Info+ Imp Eco Africa Climbing x x x x x x Fair Away x x x x x x Fair Voyage x x x x x x Green Light Ventures x x x x x x Green Tours Tanzania x x x x x x Natürlich Reisen x x x x x x Fair Travel x x x - x x Nature Responsible Safari x x x - x x Nature Tours x x x - x x travel-to-nature x x x - x x Eco Adventure Safaris x x - - Code of conduct Paper re‐ cycling Dream Eco Safari x - - - - Walking, biking Natouralist - - - - - Plastic-free safaris Tab. 7: Importance attributed to the concept of sustainability on the website. Table 7 shows that ten of the thirteen TO analyzed make sustainability an explicit topic and address it - more or less - in detail. The specific implementa‐ tion measures and certifications mentioned offer future travellers guidance and create trust. In the case of three TO, however, it must be noted that sustainability is more of a buzzword than a description of specific business practices. The Eco Adventure Safaris website does have a very detailed code of conduct, but the only concrete measures relate to the responsible use of paper, which also includes recycling. At Dream Eco Safari, sustainable practice is limited to offering walking and biking safaris, and Natouralist restricts itself to the promise of plasticand emission-free safaris. Green, Fair, Responsible 85 <?page no="86"?> 12 On the current struggle between the Maasai and the Tanzanian government, see the dedicated page of the Oakland Institute (https: / / oaklandinstitute.org/ capitalizing-on-c haos [Accessed: 3/ 7/ 24]), where a number of publications can also be downloaded, as well as Amnesty International 2023. On the accusation that the Tanzanian government is not taking the interests of all population groups into account, see Minde 2024. The current conflict also replicates colonial patterns. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, Maasai were resettled in what is now Kenya. The measure, which served white settler interests, had catastrophic effects on the groups involved in the forced resettlement. On this topic see Hughes 2006. On colonial conservation and wildlife policies in German East Africa (present-day Tanzania) and its long-term consequences, see Gissibl 2016. 5 Conclusion The study showed that although many TO offering safaris in Tanzania associate their websites with “green” keywords, only a few use the company name, logo and/ or claim as an advertising medium for sustainable business practices. A closer analyzis of the websites also revealed that a “green” name can be useful for the initial orientation of potential customers, since most of these TO address the issue of sustainability and try to convince customers of their commitment by providing certificates and/ or mentioning specific measures. A recent study confirms that this private commitment exists in Tanzania, but its authors also emphasise that Notwithstanding the efforts of some private sector operators including energy con‐ servation, recycling and waste reduction, triple bottom line accounting and voluntary environmental accreditation […] it is difficult to imagine the formulation and imple‐ mentation of any approach to sustainable tourism in the absence of strong government planning and development control. This difficulty arises primarily because the public sector usually has a mandate to represent the whole population, not just particular interest groups or stakeholders (Kanza et al. 2021: 39-40; my emphasis). How difficult it actually is to do justice to all population groups is currently very evident in Tanzania, where groups of Maasai are being systematically chased off their ancestral land. The measure, labelled “resettlement”, is ostensibly intended to protect nature. However, there are indications that the aim is to promote elite tourism, which is so profitable for the country and therefore so urgently needed. 12 Jan B. Shetler shows impressively in her book Imagining Serengeti how false the alleged contrast between humans and nature is. These misconceptions include the image of the Serengeti as “entirely wild and natural, without history or social context” (Shetler 2007: 2), which dates back to colonial times. Therefore, even though the circumstances have changed dramatically, “addressing the 86 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="87"?> challenges of conservation must begin with the understanding that the Serengeti is a profoundly humanised landscape” (Shetler 2007: 60; my emphasis). Only centuries of interaction between humans and nature have turned the Serengeti into a modern tourist magnet. References Amitav, G. (2016). Flood of Fire. London: John Murray. Amnesty International (2023). We have lost everything. 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A History of Landscape Memory in Tanzania from Earliest Times to the Present. Athens: Ohio University Press. Sjöblom, Paula (2016). Commercial Names. In: Hough, Carole (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Oxford: OUP, 453-464. Sneha, N./ Nagarjuna, G. (2023). Experiential Tourism. Nature-based Tourism Trends in India. In: Mandić, Ante/ Walia, Sandeep K. (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Nature Based Tourism Development. New York: Routledge, 383-395. DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003230748-28. Spitzner, Ingrid (2018). Nachhaltigkeit in Firmennamen - Ein Ranking in der Namensges‐ taltung. Onomastica Uralica 14, 161-176. Download: https: / / mnytud.arts.unideb.hu/ o nomural/ kotetek/ ou14a.html (Accessed: 3/ 7/ 24). WTO = World Tourism Organization (2022). Tourism Doing Business - Investing in the United Republic of Tanzania. Madrid: UNWTO. Download: https: / / unwto.org/ investm ent/ tourism-doing-business-investing-in-the-united-republic-of-tanzania (Accessed: 3/ 7/ 24). Appendix 7.1 Google search terms Google search terms English German Tanzania tourism Tansania Tourismus Tanzania tourism sustainable Tansania Tourismus nachhaltig Tanzania tourism eco-friendly Tansania Tourismus umweltfreundlich Tanzania safari Tansania Safari Tanzania safari sustainable Tansania Safari nachhaltig 88 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="89"?> Tanzania safari eco-friendly Tansania Safari umweltfreundlich Ngorongoro safari Ngorongoro safari sustainable Ngorongoro Safari nachhaltig Ngorongoro safari eco-friendly Ngorongoro Safari umweltfreundlich Serengeti safari Serengeti safari sustainable Serengeti Safari nachhaltig Serengeti safari eco-friendly Serengeti Safari umweltfreundlich Selous safari Selous safari sustainable Selous Safari nachhaltig Selous safari eco-friendly Selous Safari umweltfreundlich Nyerere safari Nyerere safari sustainable Nyerere Safari nachhaltig Nyerere safari eco-friendly Nyerere Safari umweltfreundlich Tab. 8. 7.2 Tour Operators with “green” Names Dream Eco Safari https: / / dreamecosafari.com Eco Adventure Safaris https: / / ecoadventuresafaris.com Eco Africa Climbing https: / / eco-africaclimbing.com Fair Away https: / / fairaway.de Fair Travel https: / / fairtravel.com Fair Voyage https: / / fairvoyage.com Green Light Ventures https: / / greenlightventures.co.uk Green Tours Tanzania https: / / greentourstanzania.com Natouralist https: / / natouralist.de Nature Responsible Safari https: / / natureresponsiblesafari.com Nature Tours https: / / nature-tours.ch Natürlich Reisen https: / / natuerlich.reisen travel-to-nature https: / / travel-to-nature.de Tab. 9. Green, Fair, Responsible 89 <?page no="90"?> 7.3 Other Tour Operators mentioned &Beyond https: / / andbeyond.com Accept Reisen https: / / accept-reisen.de African Travels https: / / africantravels.com Akwaba Afrika https: / / akwaba-afrika.de Colors of Zanzibar https: / / colorsofzanzibar.com Evaneos https: / / evaneos.com Klüger Reisen https: / / klueger-reisen.com Lets Go Travel https: / / uniglobeletsgotravel.com Nomadic Experience https: / / nomadicexperience.com Roam Wild Adventure https: / / roamwildadventure.com Trip Legend https: / / triplegend.com/ en Yugen Earthside https: / / yugenearthside.com Tab. 10. 90 Marie A. Rieger <?page no="91"?> * F. Cotugno is responsible for Section 4; S. Merlin Defanti is responsible for Section 2; V. Pisaniello is responsible for Section 3 and its subsections. The authors take joint responsibility for Sections 1 and 5. To bio or not to bio A linguistic investigation of green policies in Italian retail products Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello * Abstract: This paper examines the linguistic features of a set of brand names, labels, and slogans related to green policies, and analyzes their effectiveness in the Italian retail market. After collecting a microcorpus, we examine, mostly following a qualitative approach, the textual and linguistic data emerging from it, especially focusing on lexical, morphological, and syntactic strategies used to convey messages about product naturalness and environmental impact, in terms of sustainability of the manufactur‐ ing process, waste management, and recycling. Moreover, we consider packaging-related semiotic aspects and other linguistic and paralinguistic phenomena, as the integration of different languages. In addition, we analyze consumers’ perception of sustainability messages in the context of sustainable retailing through a questionnaire. Our findings indicate that consumers perceive green messages as calls to action, highlighting a collaborative effort between producers and consumers to promote environmental sustainability. 1 Introduction Studies in the field of Economics and Marketing are focused on the social aspects related to the communication of sustainable retailing. Previous studies emphasized the role of sustainability-oriented messages in conceiving effective promotional strategies (van Doorn et al. 2021), in the light of a growing interest in the implementation of green policies in fields such as renewable sources or <?page no="92"?> 1 We wish to thank F. Meledandri for sharing references. 2 For the Italian context, the works of P. Cotticelli-Kurras (in particular, Cotticelli-Kurras 2008, 2012, 2013, 2018) are of a special importance in the description of morphological strategies both in creating and perceiving brandnames, as well as for the understanding of the historical and sociocultural factors involved. See also Cotticelli-Kurras, this volume. the food industry (Anser et al. 2020), and a new paradigm in the field defined as “Sustainable Retailing” (Vadakkepatt et al. 2021). From a competition-based perspective, such messages are used to emphasize the role of manufacturers in entering the market with sustainable products. Their aim is twofold: on the one hand, green features highlight companies’ sustainability values, sometimes aiming to enact greenwashing strategies (Correa et al. 2017; Braga Junior et al. 2019). At the same time, they spur consumers to behave responsibly, being more favourably disposed to buy such products. 1 In parallel, studies in the field of Linguistics, going deeper into the aspects related to the language, have been interested in the textual and linguistic component of the message, considered at the different levels of analyzis, in the framework of the study of brand names. 2 In this paper, we wish to highlight the linguistic implications of such a socio-economic cultural background by means of a) analyzis of a microcorpus collected for the research (Sections 2 and 3) and b) the analyzis of a sociolin‐ guistic questionnaire (Section 4). Integrating these two methods, we aim at surveying the manifold linguistic features that emerge from the study of brand names, labels, and slogans related to green policies. 2 The creation of a microcorpus: textual and paratextual aspects Our research implied the collection of data to be analyzed from an eminently qualitative approach. We collected a microcorpus of about sixty retail products sold in Italian supermarkets, pertaining to a number of selected categories: namely food, cosmetics, personal hygiene, and household care. For each of them the texts have been transcribed and analyzed according to the graphemic and paragraphemic aspects: particularly, we focused on layout and font (style, size, capitals, bold, italics etc.), together with the presence of icons and symbols, colours of texts and background. Although it is not large (65 total entries, as for some the different parts of the packaging have been separated due to the length and relevance of the text itself), the corpus collected nonetheless demonstrates the effectiveness 92 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="93"?> 3 Similarly, the study of Niceforo (2023) explored a corpus of Italian television commer‐ cials about food and drinks, reaching interesting results, complementary to the present research, which challenge “the traditional imbalance between passive consumers and aggressive marketers” (Niceforo 2023: 186). 4 See also Lezioni di Etichetta, a television and radio advertising format of the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) with a smiling and somewhat childish voice in contrast with the long explanation of the text transmitted by the label, possibly used in order to contrast an eventual dislike towards the amount of information from the consumer’s perspective. 5 The word is modelled on that of greenwashing, for which see Correa et al. 2017; Braga Junior et al. 2019. See also Torelli et al. (2020) and Lobin (this volume). 6 As an example, the slogan of the Rio Mare tuna pâté of the early 2000s could be mentioned: “voulez-vous paté? ” (would you like to paté? ), which phonetically reproduces an alleged French verb, possibly *pater, here expressed in the form of a past participle graphically identical to the name of the product, namely the tuna pâté, except from the accent. The real etymology of the word pâté is from a previous pasté (12 th century), a participial adjective derived from pâte (< Lat. pasta), according to the Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française (https: / / dictionnaire-academie.fr/ article/ A9P0933). of sustainability-oriented messages when it comes to a successful positioning of products in the retail market. 3 From the textual point of view, we observe the presence of extensive explanatory texts, which explain the green properties of the product, placing emphasis on the meaning of key terms such as biologico (also in capital letters), or on what Marrone (2022) defines as “l’impero del senza” (‘the empire of without’), in the correspondent Italian expressions of without hydrogenated fats, without colourants, without preservatives, or additive-free, dye-free etc. As for the paragraphemic aspects, the initial capital letter is used, for instance, in the word Natura, in fact personified as an entity to be saved and at the same time a saving entity that fights against parasites, diseases, and weeds. The extensive explanation of this type of label is necessary, according to the manufacturer, because of the invisibility of these positive factors, according to the additional attention of the consumer in reading the label. 4 The use of foreign languages is also part of communication strategies. Suffice it to recall the phenomenon known as francolavage or Frenchwashing 5 , namely the patina of Frenchness of some products which can be linguistically expressed, 6 or only graphically, involving, e.g., the colours of the flag or French symbols such as the Tour Eiffel. The same goes for products with an “Italian sound” abroad. The percentages convey safety to the consumer, and they are frequently used both to enhance the quality of the product and its sustainability: 100 % pomodori italiani. 100 % bottiglia riciclabile (‘100% Italian tomatoes. 100 % recyclable To bio or not to bio 93 <?page no="94"?> 7 RPET means Recycled PET. PET is the acronym of Polyethylene terephthalate. 8 The text is originally in English. The same label adds further information in Italian: 98 % Ingredienti Naturali (‘98% natural components’). bottle’); Bottiglia con 10 % di RPET.  7 Sono 100 % riciclabile. (‘Bottle with 10 % RPET. I am 100 % recyclable’); 85 % in meno di plastica 73 % in meno di emissioni di gas serra rispetto ad una bottiglia in PET da 1 litro (‘85% less plastic 73 % less greenhouse gas emissions compared to a 1-litre PET bottle’). For the latter statement, in particular, the wording has more phatic value than referential value, because, in our view, uncommon environmental engineering skills would be required of the consumer for the exact understanding of the textual content. In sum, the message sounds ecological without being fully comprehensible through the approach to greenmarketing strategies, which sometimes turn into greenwashing (Torelli et al. 2020). The emphasis is also placed on 0 % in order to highlight the naturalness of the product, in line with the narration of “x-free” and “without x” messages, mentioned above: 0 % Sles/ Peg/ Parabens. Silicones/ Mineral Oils. Artificial Colors.  8 The mention of “zero” also appears in letters: San Benedetto ECOGREEN. CO 2 IMPATTO ZERO. San Benedetto compensa al 100 % le emissioni di CO 2 eq per tutta la Linea Ecogreen acquistando crediti per finanziare progetti di tutela ambientale. (‘San Benedetto ECOGREEN. CO 2 IMPACT ZERO. San Benedetto compensates 100 % of CO 2 eq emissions for the entire Ecogreen Line by purchasing credits to finance environmental protection projects’). Claims characterized by ambiguity and vagueness are also present (cf. Niceforo 2023: 185): an example is given by a washing-up liquid, whose label places the emphasis on the container and not on the content. The container is indeed made of plastic, but the plastic is said to be 100 % recyclable and contains an unspecified percentage (which may seem like 100 % but the label doesn’t openly say it) of recycled plastic. The conjunction con (‘with’) is also frequent in reference to both ingredients and packeging, and contributes to giving value to the responsible choices of producers and consumers: con plastica riciclata (‘with recycled plastic’), con ingredienti naturali (‘with natural ingredients’), con olio di oliva (‘with olive oil’) etc. Another relevant strategy in communicating safety and quality guarantee is the insertion of certificates and labels from recognized organizations, such as the label AIAB - Associazione Italiana per l’Agricoltura Biologica (‘Italian Association for Organic Agriculture’), the certificate of BIO released by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, the certificate FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) etc. Even if the consumer does not know exactly 94 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="95"?> what a particular acronym corresponds to, it still conveys an idea of high quality, safety and control over people’s health and the environment. The issue of layout and “mise en page” is also relevant in analyzing the whole semantics of sustainability texts: Greimas (1984) described the properties of such a “topological device” determined by the arrangement of the elements on the image field in dialogue and mutual order. Sometimes there is redundancy and overabundance of the same information on all sides of the packaging using different linguistic and para-linguistic strategies. A facial cleanser provides an example among many others: La tua detergenza viso a zero plastica. Scrub pulizia profonda (‘Your zero plastic facial cleanser. Deep cleansing scrub’). This claim appears on the side of packaging, in handwriting italics, recalling the idea of a home remedy. The choice of material (neutral uncoloured cardboard) gives additional authenticity and naturalness to the product. The reference to the concept of “plastic-free” concerns both the cardboard packaging and the absence of micro-plastics in the product itself: No alla plastica! Prova il nostro primo detergente solido con una confezione in carta completamente riciclabile. La formula non contiene né sapone né microplastiche (‘No to plastic! Try our first solid detergent with fully recyclable paper packaging. The formula contains neither soap nor microplastics’). It is worth noting the use of capital letters in the claim: NIVEA si prende cura della tua PELLE E DEL PIANETA (‘NIVEA cares for your SKIN AND THE PLANET’), the latter words being capitalized with a graphic intent that goes beyond the analyzis of the syntax, given that it does not include the words della tua (‘of yours’). Finally, the expression 100 % del totale (‘100% of the total’) sounds a little bit unusual and not fully understandable. In this product, as in several others in the corpus, a link is provided in order to expand consumer awareness of the good practices of the producer: such a strategy refers to a virtual extension of the explanation (Ventura Bordenca 2022: 10). As for the main non-linguistic strategies, the choice of colours and packaging materials, together with the presence of images such as leaves or trees, wood and string, recall values of simplicity and naturalness. All these elements contribute to the creation of thematic isotopies (Greimas/ Courtés 1979) such as wild nature, ethical nature, rustic nature (Ventura Bordenca 2022: 118-120). In general, the analyzis of the corpus shows that green is still the colour of the ecological choices even in the imagination of consumers, as we will see in the responses to the questionnaire (section 4). However, in recent years organic companies have reacted to this spread of green (which has now become commercial, Ventura Bordenca 2020: 127) by focussing on earthy colours (white, ochre-yellow, orange) or on transparency, gold, and black. The two dimensions, the conventional and the organic, have mixed in certain aspects so that a brand To bio or not to bio 95 <?page no="96"?> 9 https: / / mase.gov.it/ sites/ default/ files/ archivio/ normativa/ rifiuti/ Linee_guida_etichetta tura_ambientale_27.09.2022.pdf. like Natura has decided to abandon green and use soft or bright colours to enter into competition with traditional products. The implicit message wanted by the producer is the following: even an organic product has the same price as a traditional product, choose it! 3 Some linguistic features of “green” messages Messages related to “green” topics that can be found on the packaging of commercial products can be traced back to three main, partly interrelated topics. Some of them aim to emphasize the naturalness of the product; some concern the sustainability of the manufacturing process; others involve the sustainability of waste management and/ or recycling process. Messages related to the first two topics are entirely centred on the merits of the producer, who made responsible choices in selecting raw materials and adopting sustainable means of production. Messages related to the third topic, although also mostly emphasizing the merits of the producer, often contain an appeal to the consumer to behave responsibly and contribute to the recycling effort, thus often exhibit‐ ing a conative function. On the normative side, one should note that some of these indications respond to specific obligations. E.g., according to the D.Lgs. 116/ 2020, packaging must be appropriately labeled to facilitate its collection, reuse, and recycling. However, the Linee Guida sull’etichettatura degli imballaggi ai sensi dell’art. 219 comma 5 del D.Lgs. 152/ 2006 e ss.mm issued by the Italian Ministero della transizione ecologica clarify that such labeling must be done “nella forma e nei modi che l’azienda ritiene più idonei ed efficaci per il raggiungimento dell’obiettivo” (p.-3), 9 which means that the obligation only concerns the presence of these in‐ dications, while their wording entirely depends on the choices of manufacturers, which makes it interesting for us to analyze the strategies chosen. 3.1 Naturalness of the product Messages related to the naturalness of the product commonly consist of brand names, slogans, or even broader texts containing expressions, either in Italian or in other languages, related to the semantic domain of nature. In our corpus, we have brand and product line names such as Buongiorno natura (‘good morning nature’); Verde officina (‘green workshop’); vivi verde (‘live green’); 96 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="97"?> 10 There is a huge debate - and, as a consequence, massive bibliography - on the categorial status of the so-called affixoids or combining forms (also referred to by other terms in the different linguistic traditions; see Haidacher 2022 for an overview). As far as the Italian situation is concerned, one can refer, e.g., to Iacobini 2004 and Iacobini/ Giuliani 2010, with further references. Think Natural; Tempo natural & soft; Naturally clean; Planta viva (‘living plant’); etc., as well as slogans like la natura dentro (‘nature inside’); dal 1852 la natura ci ispira (‘since 1852 nature inspire us’); promote your natural style; etc. As far as organic products are concerned, a number of brand names and slogans include the common affixoid bio, 10 which may appear both isolated and in combination with other expressions, with different solutions about its position (before or after a head noun, if present) and composition with other elements (separate, hyphenated, or written solid); see, e.g., Pollice bio (‘bio thumb’); il BIO che vuoi tu (‘the BIO that you want’); bio maschera nutriente (‘nourishing bio mask’); amo essere bio (‘I love being bio’); bio dal 2018 (‘bio since 2018’); Maison bio; etc. As can be seen, bio generally displays an adjectival function, both attributive (e.g., Pollice bio) and predicative (e.g., amo essere bio), as is expected given its origin from the adjective biologico through clipping. However, it can be occasionally employed as a noun (see especially il BIO che vuoi tu). Compounds with bio can be both nouns and adjectives, according to their head element. Slogans or slogan-like brand and product line names consisting of sentences generally display indicative forms (cf., e.g., amo essere bio; il BIO che vuoi tu), but imperative forms also occur, creating messages with a clear conative function (e.g., vivi verde, Think Natural, promote your natural style). 3.2 Sustainability of the manufacturing process, waste management, and recycling Messages emphasizing the merits of the manufacturer in choosing a sustainable production are often combined and sometimes overlap with messages stating the manufacturer’s commitment to the recycling effort and encouraging the consumer to take part in it. Therefore, we chose to deal with these two types of messages together. Expressions related to the sustainability of both manufacturing process and waste management often involve the affixoid eco, from ecologico, which, as in the case of bio (see § 3.1 above), may appear both isolated and in combination with other elements, with the same variation already observed for bio about the way of composition with other elements (separate, hyphenated, or written To bio or not to bio 97 <?page no="98"?> solid). However, unlike bio, it displays a marked preference for the prenominal position; see, e.g., Eco detergenza (‘eco cleansing’); Ecoenergia (‘eco energy’); Ecogreen; Eco friendly; Eco pack (although pack eco is also found); The Eco-Trendy Choice; Ecowood. Sometimes, bio and eco can also be combined together: in our corpus we have Ecobio and Eco-bio beauty, but also Formula eco-biologica (‘eco-organic formula’). Adjectival forms in -bile (Italian) and -able (English) are commonly found in messages related to waste management (cf., e.g., biodegradabile, ‘biodegrada‐ ble’, compostabile, ‘compostable’, riciclabile, ‘recyclable’, etc.): they implicitly highlight the good choices made by the manufacturer but also encourage the consumer to behave responsibly when disposing of packaging. On the other hand, the verb riciclare also frequently occurs in the past participle, which only highlights the producer’s good choices in the manufacturing process, i.e., the use of recycled raw materials (e.g., 100 % carta riciclata, ‘100% recycled paper’). The two strategies are sometimes combined together in polyptotic constructions such as 100 % riciclabile con plastica riciclata (100 % recyclable with recycled plastic’); Flacone riciclato e riciclabile (‘recycled and recyclable container’), etc. When messages related to sustainable production consist of verbal sentences, they generally include indicative verbal forms, especially in the (exclusive) first-person plural (e.g., promuoviamo l’utilizzo di confezioni sempre più sosteni‐ bili, ‘we promote the use of increasingly sustainable packaging’; ci prendiamo attivamente cura degli oceani, ‘we actively care for the oceans’; etc.). Conversely, messages about waste management and recycling often include imperative and hortative forms. Some of the latter directly address the customer with a second-person singular imperative (e.g., Fai un gesto concreto per migliorare l’ambiente, ‘make a concrete action to improve the environment‘; Contribuisci anche tu alla cura dell’ambiente, ‘contribute you too to the care of the environ‐ ment’, etc.), while others employ an inclusive first-person plural that ideally presents producer and consumer as united together in the recycling effort; see, e.g., Aiutiamo l’ambiente (‘let us help the environment’, included in an infographics on an egg box instructing about its disposal along with paper); Facciamo bene all’ambiente. scopri sul retro come riciclare questo imballo (‘let us do good to the environment. Find out on the back how to recycle this packaging’, but note the shift to the second-person singular). In some cases, one observes the strategy that can be described as “talking packaging”, i.e., messages include verbal and pronominal forms in the first-per‐ son singular referring to the packaging itself; see, e.g., Sono 100 % Riciclabile. Lo sapevi? (‘I am 100 % recyclable. Did you know? ’); La plastica è un materiale prezioso […] Non abbandonarmi (‘plastic is a valuable material […] do not 98 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="99"?> abandon me’); La natura ti fa bene. Fai bene alla natura! Riciclami! (‘nature does you good. Do good to nature! Recycle me! ’). Sometimes, it is the product that is “talking” rather than the packaging; cf., e.g., Ho a cuore l’ambiente. La mia confezione è fatta per l’87% da materiali vegetali (‘I care about the environment. My packaging is made 87 % from plant materials’), occurring on the packaging of a juice by Zuegg. This opens the use of the same strategy to also convey messages on the naturalness of the product; cf., e.g., Sono fatto con ingredienti 100 % di origine naturale. Non contengo coloranti e conservanti (‘I am made with 100 % naturally sourced ingredients. I contain no dyes or preservatives’), on the same packaging. On the lexical level, ambiente (‘environment’) frequently occurs in a number of sentences and phrases concerning the sustainability of both manufacturing process and waste management (sustainability that sometimes becomes, in these messages, concrete action aimed at the well-being of the environment); see, e.g., Meglio per l’ambiente (‘better for the environment’); Facciamo bene all’ambiente (‘let us do good to the environment’); Abbiamo a cuore l’ambiente (‘we care about the environment’); Carrefour e il suo impegno per la tutela dell’ambiente (‘Carrefour and its commitment to the protection of the environment’); Fai un gesto concreto per migliorare l’ambiente (‘make a concrete action to improve the environment’); Contribuisci anche tu alla cura dell’ambiente (‘contribute you too to the care of the environment’). Less common in our corpus are messages including pianeta (‘planet’); e.g., gentile con il pianeta (‘kind to the planet’); Nivea si prende cura della tua pelle e del pianeta (‘Nivea cares for your skin and the planet’). Analogous messages with a more specific scope can be occasionally found, e.g., Buono col mare (‘good with the sea’) on a canned tuna pack. In some cases, slogans concerning environmental sustainability are paired with those related to the health of the consumer; e.g., Gentile con il tuo intimo … gentile con il pianeta (‘kind to your intimate … kind to the planet’); Nivea si prende cura della tua pelle e del pianeta (‘Nivea cares for your skin and the planet’). Finally, in some cases, word plays involving the brand name may appear in slogans related to green policies. In our corpus, we have two examples: A Misura d’ambiente (‘environmentally friendly’), which introduces some information about the manufacturer’s commitment to environmental care on a cereal box of the brand Misura, and Questo imballo è un progetto inaturale (‘this packaging is an inaturale project’), found on different packagings of products prepared by the hypermarket Iper, la grande i, although the choice of inaturale, combining i (i.e., the hallmark of the hypermarket) with the adjective naturale, rather recalls the adjective innaturale ‘unnatural’. To bio or not to bio 99 <?page no="100"?> 4 A sociolinguistic insight: the questionnaire For this research, we created an online questionnaire using Google Forms and distributed it to a diverse audience. We deliberately included other linguists in our sample to avoid metalinguistic considerations that might distort responses and lead to results that are not necessarily genuine or reflective of the general consumer population. The questionnaire allowed us to gather interesting insights into consumers’ understanding and perception of environmental sustainability messages. Most respondents were women, representing 68 % (22) of the sample of thirty-one participants (see Figure 1). All participants were native Italian speakers, mostly women, located in different regions of Italy and Europe, including countries such as Denmark and the United Kingdom. This geographical diversity, although not very large in terms of numbers, helped us to capture a wide range of perspectives and experiences (see Figure 2). Fig. 1: Gender representation of the participants. 100 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="101"?> Fig. 2: Diagram of the represented places of origin of the participants. Fig. 3: Age of the participants. The age distribution of our respondents primarily fell into the 30-40 age range, with a significant portion in the 40-50 age range (see Figure 3). This demo‐ graphic typically has a steady income and some level of financial independence, which makes them more likely to make conscious and considered purchasing decisions. They can often evaluate products not just on price but also on factors such as environmental impact and sustainability. To bio or not to bio 101 <?page no="102"?> One of our questions examined how the preference for “Eco-biological” prod‐ ucts aligns with recent directives on conscious energy consumption in product production. The graph illustrates a notable preference towards these types of products (see Figure 4). However, the higher costs associated with eco-biological products often lead consumers to choose less expensive alternatives. 35 % of respondents said that they find these eco-friendly products desirable, indicating a significant interest tempered by cost considerations. Fig. 4: Representation of the attitude towards ‘organics’. We presented images containing significant advertising messages as part of our study to understand how the producer and consumer relationship is perceived within the context of environmental responsibility. As pictured in Figure 5, the sample from an egg carton shows the sentence Aiutiamo l’ambiente (‘we help the environment’/ ‘let us help the environment’) understood by the consumers not as a mere statement but as an exhortation. Such an image, according 102 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="103"?> Fig. 5: Advertisement about environmentalpolicy. to our interviewees, suggests that while the producer engages in conscious production methods, the ultimate responsibility for environmental preservation is transferred to the consumer. Similarly, on the cake packaging in Figure 6, the sentence Facciamo bene all’ambiente (‘We do good for the environment’) was interpreted not as a declaration of the producer’s active engagement in environmental protection but as an invitation to the consumer to participate in these efforts, with the 44 % of the interview‐ ees opting for the message “Join us to help the environment” as an implicit message conveyed by the advertising campaign in question. This suggests consumers view such messages as calls to action rather than passive statements. Other interviewees interpreted the advertisement as a statement: “We, the produc‐ ers, are interested in the preservation of the environment” in 12 % of cases; 33 % indicated both possibilities, seeing both an assertive value and an inclusive value towards the consumer. Fig. 6: Advertisement about environmental policy. Fig. 7: Advertisement about environmental policy. To bio or not to bio 103 <?page no="104"?> Figure 7 allowed the interviewees to identify which element present on the label was the most indicative and most clearly and directly conveyed the message of environmental sustainability. The image is indeed rich in appealing aspects for the consumer, from the colour of the label to specific terminology such as the reference to CO 2 emissions. This question revealed that among various label elements, the “zero CO 2 emissions” claim was perceived as the most salient regarding environmental protection for 20 % of the interviewees. This technically specific and measurable claim resonated more strongly with respondents than general environmental statements. Another relevant element flagged by the interviewees is the label Ecogreen, with 15 % of the interviewees considering it the most salient element. In our questionnaire, we also asked the interviewees to provide an opinion regarding two fundamental elements in the context of ecological campaigns, namely assessing the relevance of specific terminology such as bio and eco in the advertising scenery in favor of environmental protection. The term bio received an average score, with the Likert scale peaking at level 3 (33 %), indicating a neutral stance among respondents. In contrast, the term eco yielded a more definitive result. The Likert scale showed an increasing trend towards levels 5 (34 %) and 4 (32 %), indicating strong agreement and a clear association with environmental sustainability. The interviewees’ attention to salient elements such as Eco-bio or scientific terminology like CO 2 emissions was further investigated through the same questionnaire by asking for more information on the perception of terms like Eco-Energia (‘Eco-Energy’). Indeed, the vast majority of interviewees (77 %) understood Eco within the term Eco-energy to mean energy produced in an environmentally sustainable manner. Only a smaller portion (14 %) associated this interpretation with the concept of energy produced with economic savings. This consensus highlights the strong link between the term and environmental protection. Another important area of research was to ask respondents to make a specific comparison between two different brands and slogans aimed at environmental protection and the conscious choice of natural products (see Figure 8). This binary choice showed that most respondents, when faced with a choice between two different products such as a gentle cleanser and a solid facial scrub, chose the latter 80 % of the time against 20 % of the other option offered. The words La tua detergenza viso a zero plastica (‘Your zero-plastic facial cleanser’) in italics on an almost rustic packaging, reminiscent of the kraft paper used in last century’s packaging, suggesting a sense of naturalness, prevailed over the 104 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="105"?> plastic packaging, albeit recycled, the leaf-shaped label with the words vivi verde (‘live green’) and the typical colouring in shades of green. Fig. 8: Advertisement about environmental policy. When respondents were allowed to name a new beauty product, most chose the option “Eco beauty” (44 %). This choice reflects the findings from the Likert scale regarding the positive perception of the terms Bio and Eco, suggesting that these terms effectively convey environmental benefits. We conducted an additional test to assess the impact of colour on perception. We wrote “ECO” in red, a term with high salience and another one in green, associated with the eco-bio world but having different nuances depending on the context (see Figure 9). The results showed a preference for the green term, with feedback indicating that the red colour was seen as a distracting element. This suggests that colour plays a crucial role in the perception of environmental messages. Fig. 9: Combination of semantic content and colours. Summarizing the data collected, Eco emerged as the most salient term regarding recycling, environmental protection, and consumption optimization. Green is To bio or not to bio 105 <?page no="106"?> crucial in message perception, along with essentially designed packaging. The various advertising messages were seen as invitations rather than declarations of intent from the producer. In the first part of this presentation, it was rightly emphasized that producers must show their merits (partly because the law requires it). Our questionnaire highlighted how consumers perceive this as an invitation to collaborate, creating an ideal marketing scenario where the producer builds a trust-based and cooperative relationship with the consumer. 5 Final remarks The analyzis of data, coming both from the microcorpus collected and from the sociolinguistic questionnaire, could shed light on the use of patterns and strategies that emphasize the sustainability-oriented nature of the retailing products taken into consideration. The linguistic analyzis has focused on lexical, morphological, and syntactic strategies of conveying messages, particularly on some relevant aspects, as a) the desired naturalness of the product (linguistically visible in brand names and slogans containing words related to the semantic domain of nature, affixes like eco-, bio-, etc.); b) the environmental impact, which includes both the sustainability of the manufacturing process and the sustainability of waste management and/ or recycling process; and c) the pack‐ aging-related semiotic aspects, intended as collateral support for the message. The multimodal nature of the texts, claims, and messages, could be interpreted by intertwining verbal and non-verbal signs (colour associations, pictures, text layout) to enhance the range and effectiveness of the sustainable nature of such products. The results suggest that the implementation of marketing campaigns emphasizing the sustainable nature of goods could be then interpreted as a strategy to boost sales and to strengthen customer loyalty schemes via the so-called Green effect (Venhoeven et al. 2020). References Anser, Muhammad Khalid/ Yousaf, Zahid/ Usman, Bushra/ Nassani, Abdelmohsen A./ Qazi Abro, Muhammad Moinuddin/ Zaman, Khalid (2020). Management of water, energy, and food resources: Go for green policies. Journal of Cleaner Production 251, 119662. Braga Junior, Sergio Silva/ Pagán Martínez, Marta/ Correa, Caroline Miranda/ Cox Moura-Leite, Rosamaria/ Da Silva, Dirceu (2019). Greenwashing effect, attitudes, and beliefs in green consumption. RAUSP Management Journal 54 (2), 226-241. Correa, Caroline Miranda/ Braga Junior, Sergio Silva/ Da Silva, Dirceu (2017). The Social Control Exerted by Advertising: A Study on the Perception of Greenwashing in Green 106 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="107"?> Products at Retail. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science 19 (2), 1-9. Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola (2008). La struttura morfologica dei marchionimi italiani nel XX secolo (fino agli anni ‘80). In: Arcamone, Maria Giovanna/ Bremer, Donatella/ De Camilli, Davide/ Porcelli, Bruno (eds.). I nomi nel tempo e nello spazio. XXII Congresso Internazionale di Scienze Onomastiche, Pisa 28 agosto-4 settembre 2005. Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 695-709. Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola (2012). I nomi commerciali a cavallo di due secoli: continuità e innovazione. In: D’Achille, Paolo/ Caffarelli, Enzo (eds.). Lessicografia e onomastica nei 150 anni dell’Italia unita. Atti delle Giornate internazionali di Studio, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, 28-29 ottobre 2011. Roma: Società Editrice Romana, 321-347. Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola (2013). Italian Commercial Names: Brand and Product Names on the Globalised Market. In: Felecan, Oliviu/ Bugheşiu, Alina (eds.). Onomastics in Contemporary Public Space. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 257-276. Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola (2018). Gli studi sul linguaggio pubblicitario: un flashback nel XX secolo. In: Bombi, Raffaella/ Costantini, Francesco (eds.). Percorsi linguistici e interlinguistici. Studi in onore di Vincenzo Orioles. Udine: Forum, 145-157. Doorn, Jenny van/ Risselada, Hans/ Verhoef, Peter C. (2021). Does sustainability sell? The impact of sustainability claims on the success of national brands’ new product introductions. Journal of Business Research 137, 182-193. Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1984). Sémiotique Figurative et sémiotique plastique. Paris: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Greimas, Algirdas Julien/ Courtés, Joseph (1979). Sémiotique. Dictionnaire raisonné de la théorie du langage. Paris: Hachette. Haidacher, Bernhard (2022). The concept of confix in German, French, and Italian - a comparative study. Würzburger Beiträge zur Romanistik 8, 63-83. Iacobini, Claudio (2004). Composizione con elementi neoclassici. In: Grossmann, Ma‐ ria/ Rainer, Franz (eds.). La formazione delle parole in italiano. Tübingen: Max Nie‐ meyer Verlag, 69-95. Iacobini, Claudio/ Giuliani, Alessandro (2010). A multidimensional approach to the classification of combining forms. Italian Journal of Linguistics 22 (2), 287-316. Marrone, Gianfranco (2022). L’impero del senza. Prometeo 158, 116-119. Niceforo, Marina (2023). Eco-Friendly Language, Sustainability Claims, and Power Relations in Green Advertising Discourse. Lingue e Linguaggi 58, 173-196. Torelli, Riccardo/ Balluchi, Federica/ Lazzini, Arianna (2020). Greenwashing and environ‐ mental communication: Effects on stakeholders’ perceptions. Business Strategy and the Environment 29, 407-421. To bio or not to bio 107 <?page no="108"?> Vadakkepatt, Gautham G./ Winterich, Karen Page/ Mittal, Vikas/ Zinn, Walter/ Beitel‐ spacher, Lauren/ Aloysius, John/ Ginger, Jessica/ Reilman, Julie (2021). Sustainable Retailing. Journal of Retailing 97 (1), 62-80. Venhoeven, Leonie A./ Bolderdijk, Jan Willem/ Steg, Linda (2020). Why going green feels good. Journal of Environmental Psychology 71 (1), 101492. Ventura Bordenca, Ilaria (2022). Food packaging. Narrazioni semiotiche e branding alimentare. Milano: Franco Angeli. 108 Francesca Cotugno, Stella Merlin Defanti, Valerio Pisaniello <?page no="109"?> Zigns of Var Reflection of the Russian - Ukrainian war in Russian commercial signs Ilia Baranov Abstract: The study considers graphic and semantic ways of producing pro-war and peaceful commercial signs in Russia in 2021-2023. The number of trademark applications possibly reflecting Russia’s military operation against Ukraine is small. Most of the applications with signs supporting the war were submitted in March and April 2022. Although both countries involved in the conflict use Cyrillic, the main connection with the military operation in Russian commercial names is through the use of the Latin letters Z and V, with Z being used more often than V. 0 Introduction On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. A week earlier, the first sightings of the Latin letters Z, V, O, X, K, A (in descending order of frequency) on Russian military equipment near the Ukrainian border started to appear in mass media. Photos of marked military equipment in the news caused an explosive increase in the popularity of these symbols in patriotic media and social networks from the very first days of the war. Almost immediately they were picked up by state propaganda. On March 3, 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry published several posts on Instagram in which Z was interpreted as “Zа победу”, ‘for the victory’, “Zа мир”, ‘for peace’, “Zа наших”, ‘for our [soldiers? brothers? ]’, and V as “Сила V правде”, ‘power is the truth’, “Задача будет Vыполнена”, ‘The task will be completed’ etc. (Wikipedia 2024, s.v. Z military sign). The origin and meaning of the signs Z, V etc. on Russian military equipment remains unclear. We share the assumption that this is a marking to reduce losses from “friendly fire”, adopted at military exercises where both sides use the same equipment. The weapons of Russia and Ukraine are also similar. It should be <?page no="110"?> 1 We further call the units of the material under study the word “signs” (instead of “names”), because a number of them indicate a connection with the war not only by verbal, but also by visual means, being in the border area between names and pictorial signs. 2 Applications for trademark registration received from February 24 to March 24, 2022 (5460 applications), from July 21 to 25, 2023 (1005 applications) and from July 13 to 25, 2021 (3203 applications) were reviewed. According to the identified words and topics, an additional search for applications for 2022-2023 was conducted on the website znakoved.ru. The collected material is fully posted online (Zigns of Var data sheet 2024). noted that Latin letters that are being used in this conflict between two countries with a Cyrillic script. On May 19, 2022 the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Latin letters V and Z are not official military symbols and “do not carry a special [semantic] load” (РИА Новости 2022). From the first day of the war, applications with such symbols began to arrive at the Russian trademark registration office. In this study we try: 1. To find out how Russia’s war against Ukraine has affected the creation of commercial signs 1 in Russia. 2. To identify and to describe commercial signs that are exploiting the current military agenda. We are not referring here to the reaction of the State, expressed in the approval of some and rejection of other trademark applications related to the war. We will only point out that among the Z signs in section 1.1, two are registered, the rest are denied registration. 1 Data The primary material was collected by continuous sampling on the website of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FIPS 2022). This agency keeps records of trademarks in Russia 2 . We have identified four main groups among the signs related to the war, in descending order of frequency in our sample. • Signs with enhanced letter Z and V (1.1); • Signs containing military-related words except of enhanced Z and V (1.2); • Signs pointing to the peace (1.3); • Signs with a Ukrainian theme (1.4). There are no pro-military signs containing other letters (O, X, К, A) in our sample, except for a few signs where O is present together with Z and V at the same time, for example, ZØV, ZOV∞ CUBEBAR. Also, due to the small 110 Ilia Baranov <?page no="111"?> 3 McDonald’s suspended all its activities in Russia shortly after the outbreak of the war. Currently, the McDonald’s identity is not used in Russia. number, we do not consider signs with the abbreviation СВО/ SVO, for example SVODKA, SVOHEAT. Although this very small number is remarkable compared to the popularity of other pro-military signs. The Cyrillic acronym СВО ‘special military operation’ is the official Russian name for the war against Ukraine. In applications in Latin, it is written transliterated as SVO but not translated *SMO, probably because the signs are designed for a Russian audience and are better recognized in the form SVO. Unlike Z signs, the Latin letters in these patriotic signs are not motivated by the signs on the military equipment. We suppose that they are used as a symbol of prestige or high quality. Also, SVO is the long-existing international code of Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, and now it looks ambiguous. 1.1 Signs with enhanced Z, V, or Z and V 1.1.1 Pure Z signs The first subgroup of applications is simply Z sign, variously stylized (Fig. 1). A single letter cannot be registered as a commercial name, so all signs in this subgroup contain additional elements to create uniqueness. The belonging of the Z sign to the war in our examples is indicated by imitation of a brushstroke, the use of khaki, rigid graphics or a St. George ribbon with black and orange stripes, a popular military-patriotic symbol (Wikipedia 2022, s.v. Ribbon of Saint George). If there is no other military element in the sign except Z, the applicant may not have meant support for the war. However, in the context of patriotic propaganda that privatized Z, any Z sign cannot remain neutral and is read as pro-war. The last sign in Fig. 1 is made of the golden arches of the McDonald’s logo, which indicates attempts at illegal expropriation of foreign intellectual property. 3 Zigns of Var 111 <?page no="112"?> Fig. 1: Pure Z signs. 1.1.2 Z signs with words Signs in this subgroup contain a graphically highlighted separate Z sign, and words without an initial Z. These words can be names, descriptors, or slogans. Signs in this group are distinctly pro-war as they contain war-tinged or patriotic vocabulary or/ and graphics. Fig. 2: Z signs with pro-war words. It is not clear whether the signs on Fig. 3 support the war. Z sign in them can be highly stylized, the meaning of the words is neutral, and they have no war-tinged or patriotic graphics. An interesting application is Z RED LINE, submitted on the day of the start of war. In English, the collocation ‘red line’ means recommended safety limit and is often used in diplomatic negotiations. Fig. 3: Z signs with neutral words. 112 Ilia Baranov <?page no="113"?> The signs of subgroup 1.1 are located at the border between commercial names and pictorial trademarks. On the one hand, it is impossible to register a letter as a verbal sign, but it does not cease to be a pronounceable word, that is, it is a full-fledged, albeit as short as possible, name. On the other hand, on military equipment, in propaganda or in street graphics, as well as in the signs of subgroups 1.1 and 1.2, Z may cease to be perceived even as a letter, becoming a non-alphabetic (for Cyrillic) symbol with the name “zet”, like a peace sign or a swastika. Considering that there are non-alphabetic characters among the symbols on military equipment, we can say that the signs under discussion only look like letters Z, V and O, but they were not originally intended as letters. 1.1.3 Latin signs containing enhanced Z Unlike previous applications, the Z in these signs is exactly the letter that is part of the name, and it can be highlighted in various graphical ways, as well as repeat Z twice or more: Z mobile, Z-Market, ZSweetlife, IZZIHOME, iZZZi Hotel, ROCKZZ. Doubling the Z may also be due to an attempt to make the name more original in order to increase the chances of registration. Despite this, even such common words as “jazz” or “pizza” could seem to support the war. The Izzy Hookah sign in Fig. 4, in addition to doubling Z, also contains a separate letter Z, stylized as “7.”, so it also applies to subgroup 1.2. Fig. 4: Latin signs containing enhanced Z. Like Z, made up of the arches of the McDonald’s logo (Fig. 1), the Z NEZPRESSO application is trying to use the fame of the international brand NESPRESSO against the background of news about the departure of its owner Nestle from the Russian market. Rotating the letter N of the original logo turns it into a Z. In some signs, Z represents the number 2. A mirror combination of numbers 22022022 ‘February 22, 2022’ in Fig. 5 looks more attractive than the actual date of the beginning of the war. Perhaps that is why some people consider it the Zigns of Var 113 <?page no="114"?> supposed date of the invasion (Day Z). The use of V in the sign on the right leaves no doubt about its pro-war symbolism. Fig. 5: ZOZZ signs. 1.1.4 Signs with the name of the letter Z (Fig. 6) These signs contain the name “zet” used more often than “zed”. We did not find applications with enhanced “zi”. It is not known whether signs in this subgroup are related to the war. However, right here and now they all seem to support the war to people sensitive to the military agenda. The ZetOveR sign can be even perceived as anti-war by analogy with the expression ‘game over’. Fig. 6: Signs with the name of the letter Z. 1.1.5 Cyrillic names with Z instead of another letter (Fig. 7) A Latin letter in a Cyrillic name is already highlighted. Most often, Z replaces the Cyrillic letter З, less often С or Ж. Replacing some Cyrillic letters of a name with Latin ones cannot be called an innovative technique. Patent attorneys have been recommending this for several years so that the claimed name differs more from similar signs, which increases its chances of registration. Since the meaning of the words in the name is not related to the war, it is not always possible to determine whether this is a pro-war sign or not. Only the context forces us to interpret such signs as pro-war. The sign Полная Zопа 114 Ilia Baranov <?page no="115"?> ‘bad zhit’ clearly does not approve of the war. So one can sell the war not only to those who support it, but also to those who are dissatisfied. This is a rare example in our sample of using a pro-military sign in the opposite meaning, so called symbol hijacking, see Омелин (2008). Fig. 7: Cyrillic names with Z instead of another letter. It is often unclear whether Z is highlighted for patriotic or other reasons (Fig. 8). Izeta is the applicant’s personal name, but she highlighted the Z, not the first letter, as usual (as in the ZHIGUNOV sign, derived from the last name of the owner). Fig. 8: Z signs, zone of uncertainty. The applications of ZSwL and ZSLife are submitted for registration by the same company as the applications of ZSweet Life, Сладкая Zизнь, ZСладкая жизнь, Zigns of Var 115 <?page no="116"?> and ZСвит лайф. If one is not aware of this fact, then the support for war in the first two applications is not obvious. We suppose that the less motivated the presence or highlighting of Z in a sign is, the more the sign looks pro-war. Businesspersons should take into account such perception of their signs, new or retained. 1.1.6 De-zed signs Examples of abandonment of Z in a trademark after Z-day are difficult to track. This is mainly the PR of foreign brands. Media wrote that Samsung Company is removing the Z from the name of its phone range, Galaxy Z Flip. However, this is done only in the Baltic States and Ukraine. In Russia, the company filed this sign for registration a month after the outbreak of the war. In 2022, a large Russian confectionery factory changed the Z graphic in the logo of its chocolate brand O’ZERA ‘lakes’ to O’3ERA with the same meaning, so that now it is either the number 3, or the archaic form of the letter Z, or the Cyrillic letter З (Соколов 2022). 1.1.7 V signs Signs with V are less common in applications of the studied period. Here we see the same highlighting techniques as with Z (Fig. 9). In the surname Vagner replacing W with V may be just a simplification of transliteration, but now it is associated more with a large private military company than with the author of the Walkürenritt. Fig. 9: V signs. 116 Ilia Baranov <?page no="117"?> As in the case of Z, there is a zone of uncertainty regarding the interpretation of V signs (fig. 10). Are these signs pro-war, or are they quietly supporting the war, or are they accidental? People need more context to resolve whether the VARMAN sign means ‘War man’ with a pro-war sign of V, or whether it is just an Indian surname. Applicants find themselves in an ambiguous position when they highlight the V initial in their personal name or surname. Fig. 10: V signs, zone of uncertainty. Sign Законная помощь призывникам ‘Legal assistance to conscripts’ (fig. 10) is probably adjacent to a veiled offer to avoid conscription. This is indicated by a gap in the contour of the military chevron, where the V check mark leads if you write it by hand. If this is the case, then this is another rare attempt of the symbol hijacking (see section 1.5 above). 1.1.8 V+Z signs The highlighted Z and V together make the symbolism of the sign more distinctly pro-war than signs where only one of these letters is highlighted. We can see German and even Italian languages added to the frequent English in signs supporting the war. The simultaneous presence of Z and V in Cyrillic names in all the examples found means support for Russia in the current war. Zigns of Var 117 <?page no="118"?> Fig. 11: V+Z signs. 1.1.9 Z/ V paired signs Sometimes applications with Z and V are submitted in pairs (Fig. 12). And if the COLA V sign itself does not look explicitly pro-war, then paired with COLA Z there is no doubt. Fig. 12: Z/ V paired signs. 118 Ilia Baranov <?page no="119"?> 4 Of the top 15 Russian video games, only one has a Russian title and two titles have been translated into Russian (Примаков 2023). Of the 20 most popular games of 2023, there is not one with a Russian title (Белик 2023). If Z and V are not highlighted in the sign, then it does not look to support the war. However, there are enough signals in the first sign on Fig. 13 to doubt its neutrality, apart from the time of application: victory, zet, 2022, Z and V in the monogram. The rest of the signs in Fig. 13 were probably not conceived as pro-war. Fig. 13: V+Z zone of uncertainty. 1.2 Signs with war semantics except Z/ V signs In peacetime, names containing military vocabulary are mainly used for teen‐ age and male entertainment. For example, these are titles of video games, traditionally in Latin graphics 4 . Now such applications look ominous, but we cannot distinguish among them the signs related to the war against Ukraine: WARLOCK, WAR STATION, DYNAMITE, SKL WARRIOR, HOLY GUNS. For non-military goods and services with war-associated names excluding Z/ V signs, we assume that Cyrillic signs are more likely to exploit the current military agenda than signs in Latin (Fig. 14). An interesting sign is ДЕЛО МОЛОДЫХ ‘A matter for the young’, which does not contain explicit military vocabulary. However, this is a quote from a popular Russian rock song that translates as “A war is a matter for the young, it’s an anti-wrinkle remedy”. Zigns of Var 119 <?page no="120"?> Fig. 14: Signs with war semantics except Z/ V signs. 1.3 Signs with peace semantics The Russian word мир means both ‘world’ and ‘peace’. Against the background of war, the word мир in any sign can be perceived as a hint of peace, even if it means world. However, to say exactly what is it — world or peace — can only be said about the signs registered in a pair with a translation into a language in which there is no ambiguity. 1.3.1 Мир ‘world’ (Fig. 15) Fig. 15: Signs with мир ‘world’ semantics. The word мир ‘world’ has remained extremely popular in small business for more than 20 years, denoting the abundance and variety of the assortment. For example, in 2021, more than a quarter of the company names on the Krasnodar 120 Ilia Baranov <?page no="121"?> 5 Previously, the same sign was submitted for registration on November 19, 2021. map contained the word “мир” (Дробан 2022: 1076). During the study period, about the same 300-350 applications with the word “world” were submitted as in 2021 or in 2020. 1.3.2 Мир ‘peace’ In our sample of applications, signs with the word мир ‘peace’ were much fewer than military signs. Their number has not changed compared to previous years. Prospect Mira ‘Peace avenue’ is a real hodonym in Moscow and it is frequent in other Russian cities. In the two signs at the bottom right of Fig. 16, the word мир is present in both meanings, peace and world. In July 2023, among almost 5,000 applications, we found about 30 applications with a military theme and only 2 applications with a мир morph. Fig. 16: Signs with мир ‘peace’ semantics. 1.3.3 Peace Only a few signs with the English word “peace” were found: Peace in You, Peace of mind, PEACEBIRD. The application Peace in You was filed by LG Electronics Inc. exactly on February 24, 2022 (now registered) 5 . Sadly, the word “peace” is sometimes used to play upon its consonance with the Russian obscene word with meaning of ‘vagina’: PEACE ДАТСКИЙ ДОГ ‘peace Great Dane’, PEACE DATA, LOVE PEACE DOG. Zigns of Var 121 <?page no="122"?> 1.3.4 Worlds for peace? We can see three areas of uncertainty of the meaning of the word мир in the signs containing it. Firstly, these are signs where the word мир was probably conceived as ‘world’, but associations with ‘peace’ appear, mostly by graphic symbols (Fig. 17). The ЧИСТЫЙ МИР ‘pure world’ sign acquires an association with ‘clear peace’ due to the dove of peace and the olive branch. The name Радужный мир ‘rainbow world’ also acquires a shade of ‘peace’, as if calling for reconciliation of the straight majority with LGBT minorities. СТРОЙ МИР ‘build world’ looks like a typical acronym for the construction industry, or maybe as a call to build peace. Fig. 17: Zone 1 of uncertainty among мир signs. 1.3.5 War of worlds? The second group of names contains the word мир ‘world’ with the addition of military semantics. Some of them were simply names of computer games, but now they sound ominous. Песни русского мира ‘songs of the Russian world’ are not just Russian songs. The “Russian world” term in the XXI century began to denote an aggressive political concept calling for the “protection” of Russian people living in neighboring countries. Fig. 18: Zone 2 of uncertainty among мир signs. 122 Ilia Baranov <?page no="123"?> 6 However, old toponyms named after Ukrainian realities remain in Moscow: Kievskaya metro station, Kievskiy railway station, Ukrainskiy boulevard, and popular restaurant chains also kept their names: Корчма Тарас Бульба named after a novel by Gogol, Одесса мама ‘Mom Odessa’, contains the name of a big Ukrainian city. 1.3.6 Peace of war? In the third area of uncertainty (Fig. 19) мир ‘peace’ is more or less associated with war. МИРОВАЯ is a settlement, an agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant in court, but also means a world war. Миротворец ‘peacemaker’ is the one who stops the war or reconciles the warring parties. Госпиталь in Russian means primarily a military hospital. Fig. 19: Zone 3 of uncertainty among мир signs. 1.4 Ukrainian theme The authorities may regard even a neutral mention of Ukrainian realities in advertising as an anti-Russian statement. 6 Therefore, we have found only a few applications pointing to Ukraine. The signs Малороссия ‘Little Russia’ (an old name of Ukraine within the Russian Empire), Другая Украина ‘other Ukraine’ and Настоящая Украина ‘real Ukraine’ probably support Russia in the war. Zigns of Var 123 <?page no="124"?> Fig. 20: Signs with Ukrainian theme. 2 Discussion The most frequent signs of support for the war were and still are the Latin letters Z and V. Table 1 shows an approximate count of the characters in our sample by topic and how to express these topics. It can be seen that there are significantly more signs for expressing a pro-war theme based on the letter Z than there are signs based on the letter V. The letter V in pro-military signs is more often used in conjunction with Z. Content / Theme Pro-war Peaceful Ambivalent Neutral Total by content Z signs 61 3 - 33 97 V signs 8 - - 23 31 Z+V signs 23 - - 7 30 Мир ‘peace’/ ‘world’ - 19 4 11 34 Ukraine 7 - - 11 18 Other 43 2 1 67 113 Total by theme 142 24 5 152 323 Tab. 1: Summary of the distribution of V and Z and related meaning 124 Ilia Baranov <?page no="125"?> Why did Z surpass the other signs of support for the military operation, alphabetical or not, in popularity? In the early days of the war, non-alphabetic signs (a circle in a triangle, a crossed-out circle, etc.) were found on photos of military equipment much less often than letters. They do not have generally accepted short names, so they are more difficult to convey by text and voice compared with letters. As for the letters O and A, in addition to the rarity of their appearance in photos of military equipment in the media, their lesser expressiveness played against them. These are the letters of the Russian alphabet, and O is the most frequent, and A is the third most frequent letter. In addition, these are vowels, that is, they are not sufficiently tangible to symbolize such a harsh matter as war. K and X are expressive letters, but we rarely see them in photos of military equipment, and these letters are also in the Russian alphabet, that is, they are more familiar to the eye than purely Latin letters. The most frequent signs of support for the war were and still are the Latin letters Z and V, with Z more significantly frequent than V. The advantage of Z over V is not obvious. Both letters are graphically expressive, both are foreign consonants, both were most often found in photos of military equipment. V is a symbol of victory, although Z is more expressive phonetically. The Z sign is less resistant to symbol hijacking than V: unlike V ‘victory’, Z does not have a well-known decryption, so it is easy to assign a new meaning to it. After the outbreak of the war, some bloggers deciphered Z as Zapad ‘West’. This is the topos of the enemy, unlike V = Vostok ‘East’. Z is also the first letter of the surname of the President of Ukraine Zelensky, a 90° turn turns it into N - the first letter of the surname of the famous Russian opposition politician Navalny, and the combination of a straight and rotated Z forms a swastika. However, all of these deciphers did not interfere with the pro-military meaning of the Z sign. We assume that a certain preponderance in the frequency of the appearance of military equipment with the Z sign in photographs in the early days of the war and the somewhat greater graphic and phonetic expressiveness of alveolar fricative Z compared to labiodental (Russian) V were decisive factors in consolidating Z as the main symbol of approval of the war. In addition, Z as a trademark was very rarely found in applications before the war. The reviewed applications for the same periods of 2021 and 2023 did not contain a single Z sign. The absence of Z among the previously submitted applications could create the illusion for new applicants that this sign is relatively free for registration. Zigns of Var 125 <?page no="126"?> 7 Peace signs are also found in pre-war applications. The semantics of peace in them does not depend on the sign creation time, compared with Z signs, where support for the war was not read until Z-day. 3 Conclusion Signs on Fig. 21 look like they support the war, but they are all submitted for registration before Day Z. The appropriation of a neutral symbol by propaganda leads to the fact that now all of them can be perceived as pro-war. 7 Owners of such signs are forced to choose: to keep a sign that has become pro-war against their will, or to change it at the risk of losing recognition and bearing the cost of restyling. Do the owners of the signs consider themselves hostages of the situation or are they happy about the conjuncture? Fig. 21: Applications with war semantics filed before February 24, 2022. When marketers find something popular in the current agenda, “they may be tempted to cash in on popular enthusiasm for it” (Matenaer 2023: 90). Russia’s war with Ukraine has been revealed in Russian commercial names since its first 126 Ilia Baranov <?page no="127"?> 8 Except military equipment producers. day. Most of the applications with names supporting the war were submitted in March and April 2022, and then their number fell to less than one percent of the total number of applications. The privatization of the letter Z by military propaganda has led to the fact that any sign containing an emphasized letter Z is now read as pro-war, regardless of the time of its creation and the will of its owner. As my colleagues from brand naming services privately reported, some customers have set out a condition: not to use letter Z in the name at all. Other colleagues reported in 2024 a refusal to register an application that included the highlighted letter V. The reason for the refusal was that V is a symbol of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has officially stated that the letters Z and V are not military symbols (РИА Новости 2022), and there are signs registered after February 24, 2024, with the letter V highlighted. Patriotic support for the war has left the commercial agenda as quickly as it came, but the topic of peace has almost disappeared. The word мир ‘world’ is still popular, but the word мир ‘peace’ has almost disappeared from applications. One can say that now Russian business 8 support or do not support the war — but in silence. And these conclusions are still relevant in July 2024. References FIPS (2022).-Trademarks — Official Bulletins. Available at: https: / / www1.fips.ru/ publi cation-web/ bulletins/ UsrTM? selectedYear=2022&; selectedMonth=13 (accessed Jul 8, 2024). Matenaer, Paul M. (2023). Never Tell Me the Odds: How to Avoid Infringement When Alluding to Copyrighted Works in Branding. Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property 22, 1, 86-136. Wikipedia (2022). Ribbon of Saint George Available at: https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Ri bbon_of_Saint_George (accessed July 8, 2024). Wikipedia (2024). Z (military symbol). Available at: https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Z_(mi litary_symbol) (accessed July 8, 2024). Zigns of Var data sheet (2024). Available via via short link: bit.ly/ 3XY05cj and via direct link: https: / / docs.google.com/ spreadsheets/ d/ 1UVDKcPAuFvnJzX2rf YQnxLLejdbnQ cfv8WHX1BQqat0/ edit? usp=sharing(accessed July 11, 2024). Zigns of Var 127 <?page no="128"?> Белик, Виктор (2023). 20 самых популярных игр в России в 2023 году по версии QIWI. Блог “Играть или нет”. Oct 1, 2023. Available at: https: / / dzen.ru/ a/ ZRV42nav M0Y2Pg0n (accessed July 9, 2024). Дробан, Виктория (2022). Вербализация концепта МИР в современных российских эргонимах (на материале рекламного дискурса). Филологические науки. Вопросы теории и практики 15, 4, 1075-1079. Avaliable at: https: / / gramota.net/ materials/ 2/ 2022/ 4/ 16.html (accessed Jul, 14, 2024)/ Омелин, Михаил (2008). Символы в контексте политической коммуникации. In: Степанов, Валентин Н. (ed.). Партийное строительство и формирование общественной инициативы в регионах России. Ярославль: РИЦ МУБиНТ, 66-70. Avaliable at: https: / / omelin.ru/ publications/ 10/ (accessed July 11, 2024). Примаков, Kирилл (2023). Лучшие российские игры - 15 проектов от российских разработчиков. Сетевое издание KANOBU. Apr, 18, 2023. Available at: https: / / kanobu.ru/ articles/ luchshie-rossijskie-igryi-15-proektov-ot-rossiiskih-razrabotchiko v-377608/ (accessed July 9, 2024). РИА Новости (2022). Минобороны не считает буквы Z и V официальными воинскими символами. May, 19, 2022. Available at: https: / / ria.ru/ 20220519/ mino borony-1789452602.html (accessed July 8, 2024). Соколов, Стас (2022). Теперь без Z: владелец “Яшкино” и “Ярче! ” изменил написание популярного бренда шоколада. Сетевое издание “НГС.НОВОСТИ”. Sep, 16, 2022. Available at: https: / / ngs.ru/ text/ food/ 2022/ 09/ 16/ 71638718/ (accessed July, 8, 2024). 128 Ilia Baranov <?page no="129"?> Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ A discourse analyzis of three contemporary crises Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin Abstract: The World Economic Forum coined the term ‘polycrisis’, accord‐ ing to which multiple crises change the ordinary lives of everyone, as they intrude into all areas of daily life. By selecting three contemporary crises, namely COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine invasion, and FTX collapse, we analyze discourses surrounding sponsorships in times of multiple crisis, based on press articles, tweets etc. and fifteen interviews with amateur football players. Although sponsorship itself is not called into question, our analyzis highlights the importance of the nature of the crises, the reaction of customers/ fans and the sponsor’s image for a sustainable partnership. Further research projects should focus primarily on country-specific insti‐ tutional framework, the increased reactions of different fan-types, and the social conflicts that arise in the course of sporting events and their impact on the image of the sponsor. 1 Sports sponsorship in times of ‘polycrisis’ We currently live in a world that is characterised by a simultaneousness of very different crises (Kemfert et al. 2016, 4-9). In its Global Risks Report (Heading and Zahidi 2023, 6-12), the World Economic Forum even coins the term ‘polycrisis’, meaning that current crises cause future crises and that this bundle of very different - primarily but not exclusively - global crises reinforce each other. In the same context, the word of the year 2023 in Germany, chosen every year by the Association for the German Language (Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache), was Krisenmodus, meaning a period dominated by crises and accompanied by the impression that there is no way out of them (Bär 08/ 12/ 2023). Well-known examples are the ongoing global climate crisis, and also the ongoing Ukraine <?page no="130"?> conflict, which, in addition to the human suffering in Ukraine, is also leading to a worsening of global poverty, since, according to the Global Risks Report, the costs of staple foods and energy are increasing exponentially. These crises change the way all people live together, as they penetrate almost all areas of everyday life. The numerous crises have had a direct impact on the vulnerability of the areas affected and the resulting growing sense of uncertainty about the institutions in modern (Western) societies, as well as on their resilience (Christmann et al. 2014, 143-154). The latter term has been increasingly used since the economic and financial crisis of 2008/ 2009 in (global) economics and urban development, as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wink 2021, 1-5) describing the ability of a system or organisation to react to both internal dysfunctions and/ or external shocks that cause a disruption in order to avoid negative consequences in the short, medium, and long term (Wink et al. 2016, 11-16). Based on these thoughts, Koch and Berron (2021b, 296-300) transfer the resilience concept to sociolinguistics arguing that it helps to understand how proper nouns, although often remarkably long-lasting and stable, might change their ascribed meaning due to social, political, or economic crises. However, little research has been done so far on the extent to which contem‐ porary crises affect everyday leisure activities such as the ‘consumption’ of professional sports (Lavric and Pisek 2024), for example, through a re-evaluation of the main sponsor by a sports club or its supporters, or conversely, sponsors have to rethink, or even cease their financial commitment. A prominent example of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on professional football is the failure of British football club Tottenham Hotspurs to find a naming sponsor for its newly built home stadium. According to media reports, the pandemic prevented the sale of the naming rights worth around £ 25 million per season (Dixon 03.04.2020). Also noteworthy - against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - is the immediate termination of contract between Schalke 04, a prominent German football club from its long-time shirt sponsor, the Russian energy supplier Gazprom, which supported the heavily indebted football club with around €15-20 million annually until 2022 (La Libre Eco 28/ 02/ 2022). Finally, another prominent example is the reassignment of the naming rights of the FTX Arena to Miami-Dade County due to the insolvency of the cryptocurrency trading platform. FTX, which was incidentally broadly involved in sports sponsorship, had secured the naming rights of the Miami Heat home for the period 2021-2040 for $135 million (Pereira 11.01.2023). 130 Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin <?page no="131"?> The aim of our contribution is therefore to explore how consumer of profes‐ sional football as well as amateur football players from France and Germany re-evaluate the commitment of long-time sponsors - whether in form of shirt or naming rights sponsorship - in times of multiple contemporary crises. The focus is on sponsors whose reputations have always been viewed critically, especially by die-hard supporters, but which have been reassessed in the wake of the contemporary crisis. To this end, we conduct a discourse analyzis based on three case studies representing three - quite different - major crises. In order to guarantee a discourse analyzis that is both exhaustive and in-depth, we first analyze (social) media cursively and contextualise our findings by using 15 semi-structured interviews with German and French amateur football players. We begin our contribution by presenting some theoretical reflections on the evolution from traditional sponsorship to (re-)naming practices in modern sport and the three research questions arising from them (2). We then explain our methodological approach (3) before presenting our initial empirical results (4). Finally, we will discuss and contextualise our results and outline future steps (5). 2 From traditional sponsorship to (re-)naming practices in modern professional sport: introductory remarks Modern professional sport is not any longer conceivable without sponsors (Gleich 2020, 160). Even critical voices are not generally opposed to sponsors who want to support a sports club, but only to supposed excesses (Del Percio and Duchêne 2012, 55-66). Sponsorship in modern professional sport is a fairly new marketing instrument that is constantly adapting to new environmental conditions (Demir and Söderman 2015, 273-275). While forms of sponsorship that seek to increase the prestige of a city were already in evidence in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 20th century individual sportsmen - Jesse Owens sprinted in Adidas shoes - as well as other sport events were sponsored, the sports sponsorship ‘revolution’ was the consequence of the growing media coverage and live broadcasting of sporting events, particularly on television, in the 1950s and 1960s (Deloitte 2020, 3-5). In France, the first sponsorship agreement was signed by the Ligue de Football Professionnelle (LFP) with the mineral water producer Vittel in 1968. This stipulated that the first and second division teams would wear shirts bearing the sponsor’s name Vittel (Perennou 20/ 02/ 2019). In Germany, in addition to tradi‐ tional shirt sponsorship, which was introduced in 1973 by liquor manufacturer Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ 131 <?page no="132"?> Jägermeister as the shirt sponsor of Eintracht Braunschweig (Woisetschläger et al. 2013, 8-13), the naming of stadiums especially in the wake of the World Cup 2006 (Vuolteenaho et al. 2019, 771) and the use of brand ambassadors or influencers, who use their image and reach as athletes to generate attention and a positive brand image, are becoming increasingly important (Gleich 2020, 162-164). Several experimental studies confirm that the perceived match between the sponsor’s brand and the sponsored team/ athlete/ sporting event determines the success of the sponsorship (Gleich 2023, 1-7). In this context, in addition to the duration of the commitment (Kwon and Shin 2020, 172-179), specific emotional situations such as moments of Schadenfreude, especially in the case of rivalry (Kim and Kim 2018, 548-550; Tyler et al. 2021, 712-715), sporting success and first and foremost the team identification have a positive effect on the assessment of the sponsor brand (Gerritsen and van Rheenen 2017, 378-383). Generally speaking, the higher the identification and / or the stronger the fan affiliation with the team or the athlete), the higher the perception, the assessment of the product quality will be more positive and the purchase intention will be higher (Mazodier et al. 2018, 33-36). In addition, this visual overlap also influences the evaluation of the sponsor among fans who identify strongly with the team (Henderson et al. 2019, 56-64). To determine the degree of congruence between the perceived image of the sponsor and the values of the club or fan community, we use the concept of ‘sponsorship-fit’ introduced by Woisetschläger et al. (2014, 1491-1493). According to this, the higher the degree of perceived overlap of fundamental values, the higher the acceptance of the shirt sponsor/ name donor. However, this agreement is constantly being critically reviewed and can be re-evaluated - especially in times of ongoing crisis and constantly changing conditions. A significant present-day example is the joint decision of Bayern Munich and Qatar Airways - also due to uncountable media-effective protests by fans denouncing human rights violations in Qatar in the course of the World Cup 2022 - to let the five-year cooperation expire in 2023 (FC Bayern München 28/ 06/ 23). Following the assumption of a potential hypercommodification of everyday leisure activities in public space, the fan researcher Giulianotti (2002, 30-40) develops an ideal-typical fan taxonomy. He distinguishes between marketand consumption-oriented football ‘fans’, respectively ‘flâneurs’, and ‘followers’ or ‘supporters’, who as traditionalists reject the consumption-oriented football en‐ tertainment industry. Moreover, as committed members of the local community who identify strongly with their local club, ‘supporters’ develop a sense of 132 Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin <?page no="133"?> place for ‘their’ stadium and/ or ‘their’ kop. Therefore, the shirt sponsoring but especially the naming can be interpreted as a threat to their ‘collective identity’ (Koch and Berron 2021a, 151-153) thus reinforcing the importance of a proper language naming strategy also at a linguistic level (Koch and Gautier 2022, 320). Thus, the naming practice can be seen as a marketing communication technique applied by (commercial) organisations, the aim of which is to acquire the right to give a company or brand name to a facility, a place such as a stadium, or an event (Delattre and Aimé 2010, 53). Although place naming has been a common practice for many years, both Rose-Redwood et al. (2010, 456-458) and Bering (2007, 442-446) note a paradigm shift in the latter since the 2000s. In contrast to philanthropic donations made to honour funders ostensibly, naming now centres on the temporally limited logic of profit maximisation, which Rose-Redwood et al. (2019, 752) describe as an act of creative destruction of urban space. It is essential that the new (commercial) name is adopted - unquestioned - in the everyday language use of the (local) population or consumers. In addition, linguistic adoption - in contrast to conventional sponsoring - in traditional and/ or social media is decisive for successful naming, especially when further knowledge components are activated in addition to linguistic knowledge (Heinemann and Heinemann 2002, 3rd Chapter). For example, commercial stadium names such as the Allianz Arena in Munich, in contrast to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, trigger different associations and are judged completely differently (Koch and Gautier 2024a, 392-395). Lecarpentier (2022, 380-384) shows using a diachronic linguistic analyzis of German and French stadium names that the different (re)naming practices in Germany and France is also due to the fact that stadiums in France are frequently named of personalities (eponyms) who have rendered outstanding services to the country (“morts pour la France”), like the Stade Bauer in Paris and/ or to the club, like the Stade Gaston Gerard in Dijon. While the high level of identification of fans with these eponyms leads to a stronger emotional commitment to the name donor, which in turn prevents name sponsorship, Bering (2007, 442) notes a clear trend towards the deletion of the topographical and local roots once so typical in Germany. Taking up both ideas, Bach et al. (2022, 320-322) argue that the acceptance of naming also depends on whether the grammatical construction of the com‐ mercial name corresponds to the frequently and more or less cross-linguistically stabilised used pattern <[ergonyms/ econyms] + [APPELLATIVE]> likewise Allianz Arena in contrast to Groupama Stadium in France (Koch and Gautier 2024b). Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ 133 <?page no="134"?> From these theoretical considerations, we derive the following three research questions: First, we wonder whether crises significantly influence the sponsor‐ ship practice as such. Secondly, we want to find out to what extent the nature of the crisis influences the ‘sponsorship-fit’, that is to what extent the image of the sponsor is subject to a re-evaluation by the consumer. Finally, we want to find out to what extent the linguistic construction of sponsorship names changes due to a crisis and thus a reassessment of the ‘sponsorship fit’. 3 Methodological approach and case selection Discourse analyzis, initially developed by linguists based on Foucault’s work, is now extremely interdisciplinary. It studies primarily forms and content of political, media and, increasingly (Unger 2016, 3-4), economic and other specialized messages and interactions (Gautier 2019, 371-373), by placing them in their historical, social and political context (Spitzmüller and Warnke 2011, 67-69). The overall aim of this approach is to understand the reason for the behaviour of social and/ or economic actors (Bonnafous and Krieg-Planque 2013, 223-228). In concrete terms, we have chosen three major contemporary crises - that are as different as possible so to highlight the possible factors influencing the sport sponsoring in times of crisis, such as the duration of the crisis, the geographical spread and the economic impact. After identifying basic economic data on the respective crises, we examined press articles, tweets, and messages on football fan forums. The collected data is contextualised through 15 semi-structured interviews with German and French football fans and/ or amateur footballers (Helfferich 2014, 565-573). We thus consider that all these utterances constitute an identifiable discourse in the aforementioned meaning. Considering Busse and Teubert (1994, 16-18), we could conclude that it forms a discourse whose focus are the naming strategies. In this particular context, we appeal for a kind of “discourse onomastics” (De Stefani 2016, 56-61). The case study method is a well-known and often used research method, especially in the social and economic sciences (Šťastná et al. 2024, 507-509). The advantage of this combination of methods is that real life-like phenomena can be studied analytically, empirically and discursively from the narrative structure of case studies (Dumez 2015, 44-46). Moreover, comparing different cases, although not compulsory, permits us to reveal the particularities of each case and, also, to underscore its generalisations (Dumez 2015, 45; Swanborn 2018, 2). In addition, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with French-speak‐ ing and German-speaking amateur footballers in order to highlight any dif‐ 134 Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin <?page no="135"?> 1 For this contribution, we used MAXQDA Analytics Pro Version 2022. 2 Own translation from German into English. ferences in the perspective on the impact of contemporary crises and their socio-economic impact as well as to be able to assess the impact of the language itself. Interviews lasting 30 minutes approximately were conducted by students from SciencesPo Paris (Campus Nancy) and the Université Bourgogne Europe (UBE); and subsequently analyzed using qualitative data analyzis software (Kuckartz 2014, 123-154). 1 To this end, we only interviewed amateur footballers, who are themselves fans of professional football. We assume that amateur footballers are more rooted locally in their association and therefore more attached to traditional denominations. 4 Three contemporary crises and their impact on sponsoring in sport Once COVID-19 developed into a pandemic at the end of 2019, there was an enormous uncertainty about the legal consequences (Beuselinck 10.04.2020) and the lasting economic damage among both amateur and professional sports actors and sponsors (Repenning et al. 2021, 13-19). For example, many sports clubs were unclear whether their sponsors would continue to support them generously or whether dwindling visibility would prevent continued commit‐ ment due to a lack of spectators at sports venues (Palierse 29.08.2020). A French football fan we interviewed summed it up as follows: I think that without any sponsor many clubs die. In addition, it is evident that we think of COVID-19. It has a big financial impact. There are also a lot of clubs that are losing money on the purchase of players, on their infrastructure, so they are obliged to be supported by sponsors (Transcription 1, pos. 38). 2 Surprisingly, there are hardly any examples to demonstrate these fears: one is the suspension of the cooperation between Girondins de Bordeaux and Bistro Régent (Le Parisien 04/ 04/ 2020), another is the late payment by Accor, Paris Saint-Germain’s shirt sponsor until 2023 (Sévérac, 03.04.2020). On the contrary, an astonishing stability can be observed in the partnerships entered into. The main reason for this is that the ongoing media coverage - in Germany, Bundesliga matches were only suspended for two months and then continued to be shown only on camera (SPORTBUZZER 06/ 08/ 2021) while in France the break lasted 166 days (Le Monde/ AFP 21/ 08/ 2020) - ensured the visibility of the sponsor, at least to a limited extent. In addition, a mutual Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ 135 <?page no="136"?> 3 Own translation from German into English. 4 Own translation from German into English. understanding, mutual solidarity in the knowledge that the crisis was neither predictable nor self-inflicted could be observed. In the best-case scenario, the sponsor even benefits from the crisis through its visible loyalty to the club, as the fans then rate the sponsor as a credible partner more positively than ever before. The fact that sponsorship contracts are (or must be) terminated under pressure from consumers, especially die-hard fans, is demonstrated by many examples in the wake of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Many Western companies such as Adidas and Nike immediately terminated their commercial interests in Russia (Dellatto and Bissada 16/ 05/ 2022). Conversely, several European sports clubs terminated their sponsorship contracts with Russian sponsors. For example, Manchester United terminated its five-year, £40 million contract with Aeroflot as early as just one day after the invasion (Stone 25/ 02/ 2022). Similarly, the Russian gas supplier Gazprom was heavily involved in Euro‐ pean sports sponsorship, including as a shirt sponsor of Schalke 04 (see above). What is particularly astonishing here is the reaction of decision-makers who welcomed this decision and emphasised that it will ultimately have a positive economic impact. The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, said: I invite everyone who has always wanted to be a sponsor of a second-division club to support Schalke now. (…) It’s a good opportunity and certainly has double the advertising value if you were to do it in this situation (ZEIT ONLINE 01/ 03/ 2022). 3 In addition, there were countless reactions from otherwise rival football fans (sport.de 24/ 02/ 2022), who welcomed the move, as observed in the following quote from an interviewed German football fan. At the same time, however, they called for more sensitivity in the choice of sponsors: Other clubs also have Gazprom. So, I really do not want to talk about the situation, the current situation, in Russia and Ukraine, but of course you have to think about whether it’s time for clubs that have Gazprom as a sponsor, for example, whether you want it, like it, or can support it… (Transcription 13, 36-37). 4 However, Schalke 04 was caught unprepared by the termination of the contract. The sponsor’s jersey logo was hastily pasted over as a new jersey sponsor under 136 Florian Koch, Laurent Gautier, Matthieu Llorca, Javier Fernandez-Cruz, Daniel Sebin <?page no="137"?> less favourable conditions could not be found. Finally, their stadium sponsors - the Veltins brewery group - took their place (Witte 01/ 08/ 2023). In contrast, the abrupt bankruptcy of the trading platform FTX triggered a veritable earthquake in the area of sports sponsorship in the USA. The brand sponsored multiple teams from different sports, their leagues and also outstanding athletes. Apart from the $135M naming contract with Miami Heat, FTX also signed a five-year sponsorship contract with Formula 1 for $100M and a ten-year $210M naming contract with the TSM FTX e-sports team (Parker 04/ 06/ 2022). What is special about the FTX bankruptcy, apart from the abrupt end and thus the necessity to find pragmatic solutions in the short term, was that there were hardly any reactions from fans and the accompanying sound changes. Rather, the example of the Miami Heat venue shows that pragmatic new naming agreements were concluded. The FTX Arena became the Miami Dade County Arena and finally the Kaseya Center for a similarly high price as FTX (Gothne and Livingston 04/ 04/ 2023). 5 Discussion and perspectives Based on these preliminary results, the research questions can be answered as follows: first, it is obvious that crises have a profound impact on sports sponsorship. However, the nature of the crisis is crucial and provokes divergent reactions from the sponsorship partners, as well as from the customers. The COVID-19 crisis was characterised by a strong uncertainty about its im‐ pact on sponsorship practices and future developments. These facts ultimately led to a stabilising solidarity effect between the partners. Both the sudden FTX bankruptcy and the unforeseen Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of contract cancellations. The reactions of the fans and consumers in the course of the respective crises were also different: While the FTX bankruptcy took place almost silently, both the contract terminations in the course of the Russian invasion and the retention of the partnership during the COVID-19 crisis were considered in an extremely positive manner and even led to an improved image of the (new or loyal) sponsor. Finally, no differences can be found with regard to relevant linguistic constructions. Rather, commercial names that are no longer acceptable are simply pragmatically replaced by new ones without questioning the commercial driven naming practice in general. Further research projects should delve into the following aspects: firstly, the country-specific institutional context seems to play a significant role. The different reactions of sponsors of German and French football clubs indicate that Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ 137 <?page no="138"?> the institutional framework - the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was much shorter in Germany than in France - is significant. Secondly, it can be assumed that different fan types - supporter/ follower vs fans/ flâneur - react differently to crises and sponsors. It would therefore be interesting to find out which factors are significant. Finally, it seems that social conflicts are discussed more in the course of sporting events. Therefore, it would be revealing to learn, especially for the clubs and their sponsors, how social conflicts can be discussed in the course of events in such a way that the image of the sponsor is judged positively. 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Sport sponsoring in times of ‘polycrisis’ 143 <?page no="145"?> The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis Diego Poli Abstract: The concept of crisis is analyzed in terms of its conditions of validity and legitimacy, and it is constantly evoked in relation to intersections, thereby challenging the sciences to confront each other in the interpretative field of its categorisations, within narratives that strive to authenticate critical conflict. The Enlightenment marked the onset of a new situation, wherein the structural condition of history was modelled under the banner of the crisis. Born as a moral question and aimed at the discussion of absolutism, the crisis ultimately played an all-round political function. A systematic investigation into the evolution of theories concerning the concept of crisis is therefore essential, in order to trace its origins and transformations up to its utilisation in the contemporary global context. At the turn of the last millennium, crisis was ubiquitous and was employed as a conceptual framework for theoretical agendas, presenting itself as a paradigm of modern thinking. A modicum of crisis! The concept of crisis emerges within the narrative that strives to substantiate its legitimacy, and from a philosophical perspective, it can be regarded as the on‐ tological structure of conflict in history. The concept of crisis constantly evokes intersections, thereby challenging the sciences in the field of interpretation. The critical significance of this phenomenon is not explicitly articulated in the discourse surrounding the strategies that have shaped every phase of culture, differentiating it from the intellectual tradition. This is due to the expansion of the global marketplace and the emergence of worldwide communication sys‐ tems, which are dominated by audiovisual, digital mass media, and information technology. Influential individuals have been grappling with responses to this convergence, engaging in a struggle for truth at the heart of these crises. <?page no="146"?> The advent of the new millennium coincided with a series of crises that were both tangible and discursive, distinguished by their manipulation (Cruickshank 2009). The contemporary era is one characterised by globalisation and the potential for apocalyptic severity, engendering panic, and exerting a profound influence on behaviour, attitudes and identity (Lee 2015). As crises are perceived to be ubiquitous, some analyzes step back from their cycle of production to consider not only the reasons for which crises are declared, but also the analytical work enabled by their concept. This raises certain questions while foreclosing others (Roitman 2014). In the medical field, the term crisis is traditionally employed to denote a critical juncture in the progression of a disease or condition, where a definitive decision must be made, often with life or death implications. It is crucial to recognise that a crisis does not signify the disease itself, but rather the state of having to make a decisive choice from a set of given alternatives due to a sudden and often adverse shift in circumstances. In Old Greek, the analyzis of validity and legitimacy conditions may be expressed by the noun krísis (κρίσις) ‘judgement, choice’, and the verb krínō (κρίνω) ‘to distinguish, separate, estimate, interpret, come to issue, adjudge’ (Poli 2022-2023). In defining his philological activity, the Stoic philosopher Crates of Mallos (fl. 2 nd cent. B.C.) distinguished his position as a kritikós (κριτικός) from that of the grammatikós (γραμματικός), the ‘grammarian’. The former is distinguished by his comprehensive expertise in all facets of philosophical knowledge relevant to language, while the latter’s role is to provide explanations of literary texts from a circumscribed vantage point of textual particulars (Montano 2015: 148-150). The interpretation of nature has been delineated with the objective of ach‐ ieving its definition and the potential, if not the reality, of an active government. The concepts of crisis, critical, to criticise, have been distinctly maintained in a separate category from problem. During the English Renaissance, Bacon advanced a perspective on the merits of scientific progress, underpinned by his conviction that mastery over nature is contingent on understanding. He contended that science and human capability are inextricably linked, suggesting that knowledge empowers research to subjugate nature through a methodology of natural knowledge that can be characterised as scientific insofar as it aims to be replicable and founded on the observation of the natural realm (Henry 2002). The creation of an experiment that provides a definitive result, thereby removing all other potential hypotheses or theories (experimentum crucis), and the subsequent process of systematically eliminating any obstacles to genuine 146 Diego Poli <?page no="147"?> scientific inquiry (pars destruens) and gaining momentum in presenting an argument (pars construens) are both positive steps towards the acquisition of knowledge. In the context of Western culture, the concept of crisis, which is defined by its propulsive force, is evident in German Kritik, representing the keyword of the three volumes Immanuel Kant devoted in the years 1781-1790 to determine the limits and scope of metaphysics. In his polemic opposition to the construction of a Kritik, Johann Georg Hamann identifies Metakritik as the discipline entrusted with ascertaining the transcendental instances of the cognitive faculty prior to the analyzis of given objects. In the revision of Kant’s legacy by Friedrich Hegel, the purpose of critique is to further the integration of the autonomous individual into an ethical community. The process of thinking is regarded as both dialectical and critical, with the objective of finding a solution that lies in overcoming the crisis point. The Enlightenment brought about a new deal, when the structural condition of history was modelled under the banner of the crisis, which, having arisen as a moral issue, aimed at the discussion of absolutism and concluded by performing an all-round political function. The notion of crisis as a metaphor for anarchy, and the potential role of the corps politique, i.e., le peuple, in maintaining order and find a balance, was first explored by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his work Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique, Geneva 1762. This concept was further elaborated and discussed extensively in subsequent works and debates. Claude-Henri Saint-Simon, an advocate of scientific advancement, identified the driving force behind societal innovation as the crisis itself (cp. Introduction aux travaux scientifiques du XIX e siècle, 2 vols., Paris 1808), which he regarded as an inevitable agent of change (D’Amato 2005). In this way, Saint-Simon has opened up the possibility of interpreting Auguste Comte’s conviction that the modern age is marked by a persistent state of crisis (époque critique), which can be surmounted through the transition to a positive doctrine (cp. Discours sur l’esprit positif, Paris 1844). The concept of crisis has been theorised by Reinhart Koselleck, drawing upon the philosophical contributions of Carl Schmitt, within the pragmatics and philosophy of history. In this sense, Koselleck’s approach positions the crisis as the genetic intersection of modernity and the transcendental constant that provides the condition of its possibility (Imbriano 2016). In the late Modern Age, and even more so in the present, when the culture of crisis begins to spread in Western society, crisis becomes a recurring category The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 147 <?page no="148"?> in global communication, indicating the triggering of a chain reaction (Gilbert 2019). A seminal moment in this paradigm shift was the confluence of two major financial crises: the stock market crash on Wall Street in 1929 and the Great Recession in the 30s, with subsequent extreme stress in financial markets and banking systems caused by the subprime mortgage crisis between mid-2007 and early 2009. This crisis can be conceptualised as a conditioned reaction, which expanded in a complex web of interlinkages from the United States’ economy to the global financial system, till the geographical boundaries of the world. A significant number of banking institutions experienced substantial losses, leading to their reliance on government support to prevent bankruptcy. The repercussions of this reversal lingered, perpetuating an enduring state of crisis that permeated any ensuing market volatility or stagnation in subsequent years. The crisis is radicalised in the language matrices used to describe states of disturbance and pathology in the languages of the social, economic and financial sciences, in political science, and in historiography (Colloca 2010). The term crisis has been transposed into the language of psychology, where the term depression covers the condition of rapid and extreme mood transformations. Depression is linked up with abnormal and abrupt swings in the level of production, thereby disturbing the economic system. The term crisis is associated with the transition to a deteriorating condition of coexistence and customs, while, in the mental image of individuals, it belongs to the usual order of life, characterised by deep existential distress and moral uncertainty, and marked by alienation. It is experienced as a continuous state of alertness, anticipating an event that is always imminent but never materialises; an occurrence which is always about to happen, and invariably fails to do so. Recent discourse has centred on the identity crisis precipitated by the development of AI. In essence, the term crisis has become a word that, due to its inflated usage, evokes fear; however, its universal adoption has also led to an anaesthetic effect. In a process of discontinuity and disruption, the concept of crisis has evolved beyond its traditional use to denote a singular moment of decisive judgement. Instead, it is now employed as an experiential category, representing a prolonged and potentially persistent state of conjunctural limitations and multiple situations of human existence. The concept of crisis has been used as a frame for legitimising theoretical agendas, presenting it as a paradigm of modern thought. However, as history is noted by recurring patterns within structures, the metahistorical analyzis of crises necessitates a contemporary interpretation 148 Diego Poli <?page no="149"?> of the past that can examine the projection of the present into the future (Fusaro 2012). Crisis and catastrophe The concept of crisis is one that is often employed to describe a phenomenon that has the capacity to interfere with the overall functionality of a system. However, it does not necessarily result in the compromise of the structure to the extent that its integrity is affected by the catastrophe. Catastrophe has been adopted from the domain of tragic theatre, where it signifies the crucial juncture in which the plot reaches its “denouement”, i.e. the culmination of the dilemma. The concept of crisis also relates to the would-be resolution in the succession of explosion-implosion-collapse, whereby systems proceed in accordance with relative adaptation parameters, concealing critical signals until a final cataclysm with its sequence of flood- purge-natural upheaval. Catastrophe is realised through a vision of nature that emphasises disconti‐ nuity and rupture as the primary drivers of change. The postulate for catastrophe is predicated on the consideration of time, which does not act as a background to phenomena, but is a property of material organisation. This is because it is not the matter that moves through time, but time that moves through matter via memory. Calamity is associated with oblivion, the withdrawal of that which has not been recorded (Blanchot 1980) - the unrememberable, where fragmentation disrupts continuity, as if it were the demand for futurity of a perpetual other (Hill 2012). The global pandemic of coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2) has demonstrated how the contemporary world faced its most significant peacetime misfortune. National leaders have adopted a response to the pandemic that mirrored the tendency to approach natural disasters with a sense of inevitability, leading to a cycle of panic and neglect. The Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Apocalypse are archetypes that reiterate the distant past, justified by a providential and cathartic history. These archetypes are examples of humanity’s limitations against the formed and forming nature (natura naturans) that, by its own motion or divine will, displays an irrepressible power. In light of this, Jean-Pierre Dupuy (2004; 2005) proposed enlightened catastrophism (catastrophisme éclairé) as a theoretical framework to facilitate a new awareness. Mythologies are qualified by a sequential progression of events, unfolding a process of degradation that culminates in a decline from a golden age to The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 149 <?page no="150"?> less noble metals. Empires succumb to crisis and subsequently to catastrophe. Even the genetically reconstructed Proto-Indo-European, as described by nine‐ teenth-century language theorists, was a garden abundant of roots, a rich source of which the languages directly derived and preserved only in a limited quantity. The theory of natural catastrophes proposed by Georges Cuvier was contingent upon the supposed evidence substantiating mass extinctions and the absence of transitional forms between species. This would imply that the Earth would be subject to catastrophic events of short duration and violent character, thereby contradicting the gradualism in the evolution advocated in France by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck. The subsequent development of this genre, popularised by Hollywood cin‐ ema, has led to a prolific production of dramatic representations capable of occurring at any moment in time and place. This genre draws upon both mag‐ nificent and expensive special effects, as well as the exploitation of deep-seated hidden fears concerning environmental disasters, much like the horror film genre. The financial success of such films is predicated on the premise that the audience will engage in the sublimation of their fears, which are then rendered as integral components of the performance. In the domain of technological ethics, ecological movements have also been observed to adopt a similar approach, a phenomenon that can be seen in certain aspects of the management of the recent pandemic, which have been criticised for their reliance on sterotyped elements reminiscent of alarmist campaigns. A brief overview of a select group of theorists Karl Marx beholded critique as a crisis theory, the primary function of which was to highlight the contradictions of the present time and to encourage the struggle that signals the path toward a new society (Benhabib 1986: 102-143). In the 20 th century, numerous theorists employed a discourse of crisis to delineate their conceptualisations of modernity (Benhabib 1986; Gilbert 2019). In the discourse surrounding the utilisation of crises as explananda for research, prominent theorists such as the aforesaid Koselleck, Georg Lukács, Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas and Hans-Georg Gadamer have engaged in profound reflection on its role within the realms of the humanities and social sciences. The dimensions of critique as elucidated by Hegel and Marx undergo a radical transformation in the oeuvre of the Frankfurt School, particularly as expounded by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno (Wiggershaus 1994). In the contemporary context, the foundation of a theoretical approach pertains to the domain of global communication. 150 Diego Poli <?page no="151"?> In the 80s of the last century, the mathematical study of the interruption of a continuum, and thus the breaking of a structural balance in biological morphogenesis suggested to René Thom the formulation of the catastrophe theory (Woodcock/ Davis 1978). Thom intended to address the processes in which rapid transitions split apart continuity, envisioning the complexity of the world with a new perspective. From the realms of algebraic topology and biology he turned to apply differentiable mappings to economics, behavioural science, neuronal functions and language (Thom 1990). Thom’s work foresaw the potential for predicting disastrous occurrences such as earthquakes or the outbreak of war, thereby establishing the foundations for the more influential chaos theory. According to Reinhart Koselleck’s postulates (Koselleck 1988), the aim is to reconstruct the genesis of modernity (Neuzeit) in order to facilitate a compre‐ hensive understanding of its conflictual dynamics and degenerate aspects. The Enlightenment sowed the seeds of the modern tensions and constraints, promising a unified and peaceful world; however, the result was the opposite. Koselleck’s assessment of the modern world as an epoch in constant crisis is rooted in the Enlightenment critique of the State and the delegitimisation of instrumental sovereign decisions and political coercion. Koselleck attributes this division to the historical and philosophical formali‐ sation of crisis from the point of view of conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte), with the aim of centring the ways in which the interrelated set of factors and events determining the state attributable to a critical situation and the communicative methods underlying its narration are brought into being. In the relationship between thought and practice, and between language and history, it is a matter of an interpretative history (reflektierte Geschichte) that, by addressing general history (Weltgeschichte) to philosophy, enables its universal significance. Timing history and spacing concepts produce in parallel the distinction between experience and expectation from which crisis originates. The modern age (Neuzeit) is steeped in a crisis into which it is permanently plunged, precipitated by the anticipation of a future that is open to utopian ideals of fulfilment (Koselleck, 2002, 2006, 2018). The poetry of catastrophe The genre of poetry has historically been a vessel for the exploration of a multitude of situations labeled by despair and disillusionment, occupying the liminal space between the present moment and the future. Within this space, a The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 151 <?page no="152"?> proliferation of representations of disasters has emerged, seeking to interpret the signals that evoke an apocalypse imbued with a secular millenarianism. As Lord Byron himself observed: “I had a dream, which was not all a dream” (l. 1). In his poem “Darkness”, written in 1816, the eruption of the volcano Tambora, which occurred in the then part of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), is depicted in a dreamlike manner, overturning the established order (ll. 46-54). […] And War, which for a moment was no more, / did glut himself again: a meal was bought / with blood, and each sate sullenly apart / gorging himself in gloom: no love was left; / all earth was but one thought — and that was death / immediate and inglorious; and the pang / of famine fed upon all entrails — men / died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh; / the meagre by the meagre were devour’d […]. Byron had imagined a darkening of the Earth and the subsequent dissolution of the social order. In his final season of speculation, the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi meditates on the seemingly limitless power of nature. In the work entitled Nature and an Icelander (Dialogo della natura e di un Islandese), one of the tales of his Moral Fables (Operette morali), Leopardi depicted the nature as “the figure of an immense woman sitting upright on the ground” (“forma smisurata di donna seduta in terra”), with her back and elbow resting on a mountain. The subject is not artificial, but alive, and is detailed with a “countenance both beautiful and terrible” (“mezzo tra bello e terribile”). Nature is indifferent to the expressions of lamentation regarding the suffering and the accusations shouted in her face by an Icelandic traveller. Nature’s definitive response is manifested in action, as a formidable wind, which had materialised during the Icelander’s discourse, rendering him lifeless on the ground. Nature “built over him a superb mausoleum of sand” (“gli edificò un superbissimo mausoleo di sabbia”), beneath which the Icelander experienced complete desiccation, resulting in his metamorphosis into an exemplary dehy‐ drated mummy. He was subsequently discovered by a group of travellers, who then placed him in a museum of some city in Europe. In the “ruined fortunes” on which Leopardi’s La ginestra (The gorse) reflects, Nature is responsible for inflicting all sorts of suffering through its destructive force. Composed in 1836, during the poet’s final months, the poem features the wild broom as a symbol of resilience in the face of desolation, set against the backdrop of the barren slopes of the “destroyer Vesuvius”. The “famous cities” of yore, strewn with “barren ash”, and heaped with “hardened lava”, and the fragility of life on the volcano’s slopes induce a sense of the futility of human endeavours and recall the transience of existence. 152 Diego Poli <?page no="153"?> The Anthropocene The validity of Anthropocene as a scientific designation for the current geo‐ logical era remains contested. Nevertheless, its underlying premise, i.e. the increasing influence and impact of humans on Earth systems, has gained traction among academics, the media and the public. The impact of human activities on the climate, biodiversity loss, and deterioration of forest ecosystems is widely acknowledged, with accelerated rates of species extinction being a key consequence. Invasive species and other disturbances have become increasingly prevalent in these ecosystems. Contemporary societies are confronted with a series of novel inquiries, including the implications of humans’ role as a geological force that has emerged as the predominant agent shaping the climate and nature in the context of an influence and shaping on a global scale, and the methods through which this global problem can be addressed. The concept of the Anthropocene challenges the foundations of humanities scholarship by calling for a disciplinary breadth with an engagement with the natural sciences, and an approach to the human and social sciences which have already tackled ecological questions (Horn/ Bergthaller, 2019). The significance of these signals, which are occurring with greater frequency than ever before, has prompted questions regarding the well-being of civilisa‐ tion, its memory and archives, the scope of humanistic inquiry, and emotional responses to the end of nature and the looming threat of extinction crisis (Lewis/ Maslin 2015; Gemenne/ Rankovic 2021; Pinto 2022). Human activities have had a pervasive and persistent influence on the planet’s equilibrium processes, causing modifications to the environment and the climate. These mutations impact ecosystems and societies, and can become irreversible once critical thresholds are exceeded. The ecological implications of these changes have been compounded by the need to ensure a sanitary ambiance, resulting in significant alterations to the socio-political, economic, financial and cultural systems. This has given rise to a number of questions surrounding the processes of transformation of civilisation and its capacity for resilience. In this regard, Charles Baudelaire advanced the following stance (Baudelaire 1920: 36, § xxii): The world is going to end. The only reason it could last is because it exists. This reason is weak, if compared to all those annotating the opposite, and especially to this one: what does the world have to do now under heaven? The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 153 <?page no="154"?> ‘Le monde va finir. La seule raison, pour laquelle il pourrait durer, c’est qu’il existe. Que cette raison est faible, comparée à toutes celles qui annocent le contraire, particulièrement à celle-ci: qu’est-ce que le monde a désormais à faire sous le ciel? ’ It appears that the prevailing conditions that enable the world to continue func‐ tioning are rooted in its inertia, which persists despite ongoing and seemingly inexhaustible depletion. The evolution of catastrophes can be observed from two distinct perspectives. The first encompasses catastrophes that do not exhibit an immediate triggering event, such as a sudden rupture. The climate crisis, for instance, lacks a discernible timeline and apparent incidents. It is not indicated by a sudden deflagration or otherwise, and it does not result in casualties due to toxicity or infection. The phenomenon in question can be defined as a gradual process, marked by its latent, silent and creeping nature. Examples of such phenomena include rising sea levels and deforestation. It could be argued that such events occur in a pseudo-natural way on a trajectory towards a cataclysmic event, which is often confused with the idea of progress. The pandemic of coronavirus disease originally enters into the second per‐ spective, where the combination of events leads to catastrophe. The fortuitous concatenation culminating in an incident is well-documented, with an official date and location, and the possibility to trace sequence of events. The initial outbreak of the virus, officially designated as Case 1, occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on December 31, 2019, and was reported to the authorities. This outbreak has a prolongation that persisted into the following year and continues to the present day. Within this category, the following accidents are to be considered: - On 10 July 1976, a major industrial incident occurred at a chemical plant in Seveso (Italy), resulting in the dispersal of dioxin into the surrounding area of Milan. This misfortune led to a significant increase in the incidence of cancer and abortion among the local residential population (Robbe 2016); - In 1981, in light of the emergence of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a state of global alert was declared. The response to AIDS, as with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, was one of global concern, with the perception that it was an adversary to eradicate, representing a significant threat to global health (Sontag 1989); - On December 3, 1984, a toxic cloud emanated from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The cloud released gas that caused deadly spasms among thousands of people (Kurzman 1987); - On April 26, 1986, at Chernobyl, in Ukraine (which was part of the Soviet Union at the time), a detonation occurred within the reactor core 154 Diego Poli <?page no="155"?> of the power plant, resulting in catastrophic consequences due to exposure to nuclear radiation and subsequent fallout (Plokhy 2018); - On March 11, 2011, the tsunami that struck Japan was the immediate cause of the release of artificial radioactivity into the ocean at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. This resulted in radioactive contamination due to loss of cooling water (Cleveland/ et al. 2021). The Earth continues to serve as a stage for the hidden reality of latent catas‐ trophe situations caused by nuclear testing, among which the great forgotten is the primary testing venue installed at Semipalatinsk in the former Soviet Union (present-day Kazakhstan), known as “The Polygon”. During the years of the Cold War, more than 450 atomic bombs were here detonated, with no regard for their effect on the local people and surroundings. As posited by Paul Virilio, the advent of technology is inextricably linked to the potential for accidents to occur (Virilio 1977). Furthermore, in the context of technological evolution, the imperative for safety is often superseded by the pursuit of innovation, resulting in delayed prevention measures. As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic progresses from the second to the first perspec‐ tive, it is becoming increasingly evident that the current situation is not a discrete event, but rather an integral part of a larger, unavoidable continuity, where the accident is a process that has already unfolded (Horn 2018). It can be reasonably assumed that in a manner analogous to the enhancement of ecological consciousness that has occurred in the wake of accidents, the emergence of a health consciousness is a likely consequence of the ongoing pandemic. The progression of the world is predicated on the paradox of its own impending demise. This suggests that the fascination with disaster is indicative of the human relationship with the future (Horn 2018). Rewriting the disaster narrative A particularly salient aspect of the genre of fantasy is its tendency to delve into the collective subconscious, evoking a dystopian world that is perceived as a reflection of our own reality. This depiction of dystopia is frequently characterised by an environment perceived as alienated and devoid of hope, where oppression prevails and catastrophic events loom large (Muzzioli 2007). The employment of such experimental narrative techniques gives rise to the question of whether it might be beneficial to engage in a rewriting of the disaster narrative, without adhering to the directives of those responsible for preparing the means conveying the narrative of disaster and crisis. In this case, The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 155 <?page no="156"?> the narrative would diverge significantly from the one to which we have become accustomed, as would be facilitated by the established communicative devices. Catastrophes as harbingers of the future are indicative of the contemporary collective imagination (Horn 2018). Furthermore, specific objects serve to illu‐ minate the complex interplay of economic, material, and social forces, thereby offering insights into the interconnected histories of humans and the natural world that will shape the future of our planet (Mitman/ Armiero/ Emmett 2018). The origins, implications, and potential dangers of the Anthropocene have led to a renewed consideration of the fundamental composition of human history. These objects, in this sense, can be likened to fossil remains utilised by paleontologists in order to infer past conditions of life. These objects, in their conceptualisation as imaginary tools, serve to obscure their own manipulation, thereby maintaining a significant ideological residue that cannot be overlooked. This remnant suggests and alters the way in which the existence and survival of the community is conceived. The domain of safety sciences encompasses the examination of potential hazards associated with the malfunction or sudden failure of objects and technical systems. These risks are investigated through the utilisation of narratives that govern a range of probable and possible scenarios. These narratives progress through the concept of catastrophe, whereby the hazard is distinguished for imprecision, error and interference, leading to an escalation in intensity and a thickening of the plot. The conflict over resources and the struggle for survival, which first appeared in literature in the work of Byron, had already been elucidated in sociological terms by Thomas Malthus (An essay on the principle of population, London 1798). The text predicts a fate of death, famine and pestilence for the most impoverished, due to the exponential growth in births in comparison to the reduction in harvests. The concept of a community of survival emerges, in which humanity is confronted with an external/ foreign (alien) enemy, in the guise of a belligerent and invader, or, more frequently, an internal/ guest foe, getting involved with of the human community, violently torn in itself. However, there is the counterpart of a newly compacted social and sociable community, allied in order to confront the hitherto invisible adversary. In Don DeLillo’s The silence. A novel (New York 2020), the narrative is set against the backdrop of a technological crisis, with the fictional characters caught up in a phenomenon known as the zero-out, which is described as a digital pandemic that leads to the sudden and simultaneous failure of all technology systems 156 Diego Poli <?page no="157"?> worldwide. The result is a state of darkness that engulfs entire towns and, by extension, potentially the entire planet. The novel’s themes of ambiguity and paradox within the transhuman condi‐ tion are a compelling subject for further exploration in an alternative dimension. In a recent development, Elon Musk has proclaimed the advent of the cyborg epoch, heralding the integration of human brains with AI. Management of crisis communication A substantial body of knowledge regarding crisis communication has been amassed in recent years, as decision-makers face considerable challenges in rectifying negative images. In today’s world, a negative image can prove to be more detrimental than ever, even in instances where it is not grounded in factual evidence (Coombs/ Holladay 2010). The applied approach to organisational crisis has given rise to a voluminous array of research findings and best practice observations by academics and practitioners specialising in management and communication. This has enabled the advancement of the field of crisis communication and the identification of significant insights into resources for future directions. Media are prone to negative news, as evidenced by the early days of printed journalism when publishers recognised the commercial viability of stories pertaining to feelings, suffering and violence. This tendency persists to the present day. In the past, crises used to cause the same damage as the present ones. However, today the extensive media coverage of crises management information exerts a significant effect on the course of events, particularly on decision-making during the event itself (Avraham/ Ketter 2008). According to the holistic consideration of Fearn-Banks (Fearn-Banks 2016: 2): Crisis communication is the dialogue between the organization and its public(s) prior to, during, and after the negative occurrence. The dialog details strategies and tactics designed to minimize damage to the image of the organization. It is evident that there is a symbiotic relationship between crisis management procedures and crisis communication procedures. The management of business crises is often carried by the utilisation of language and its metaphorical domains, which serve to enhance its symbolic representation. Jane Gravells has identified a series of linguistic patterns that demonstrate an evolution from a level of immediate depiction to a different coverage. This coverage positions the crisis as having conventional meanings within various social contexts, including the arts, business, and the environment (Gravells 2017). The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 157 <?page no="158"?> In this context, the primary objective is to formulate strategies that will rectify, or at the very least enhance, the unfavourable perceptions of a given product (Avraham/ Ketter 2008). It is widely acknowledged that both terrorism and natural disasters, such as tsunamis and the impact of the pandemic have caused significant disruption to tourism. However, it is equally evident that media endeavour to re-establish control through a collective response, involving a dynamic interplay of creative redeployment and business communication. Gravells employs Peircean semiotic categories to posit the conceptual bench‐ marks for exploring crises, demonstrating how an initial iconic representation is succeeded by an indexical phase progressing towards a symbolic meaning that is projected to a gradual distancing from reality and to the intersection with a discursively naturalised icon (Gravells 2017). Organisations do not merely collect news from the beginning; rather, they have access to a constant information network, including press releases from companies, institutions, and news agencies such as Reuters and Agence France Presse. These agencies disseminate news via cable to other sectoral bodies, including newspapers, television, and radio. The immediate access to infor‐ mation increases the reiteration of messages, and the repetition popularises linguistic forms, phrases, and slogans, making recurrence a noteworthy feature of discourse strategies. The language employed by media must be regarded as an intertextual construct comprising a plurality of voices, within a debate encompassing both professional journalists and web participants. Presently, the dissemination of news through online technologies, such as social media platforms, exerts a significant influence on our global understanding (Macgilchrist 2007). The aforementioned sharing of sources also sheds light on the extent to which journalists exhibit a convergence in the presentation of information, utilising identical nomenclature and, notably, neologisms, calques and loans. Furthermore, crises are no longer perceived as singular events, but rather as a continuous process consisting of prevention, response, and recovery. Crisis and SARS-CoV-2 In the midst of the substantial body of literature concerning SARS-CoV-2 (Vila Maior/ Camis-o 2022), we will explore the immediate impact its short-term ramifications had on certain cultural responses in Italy. We will offer insights into the implications of an overarching, multifaceted pandemic crisis, with consequences extending beyond public health safety to political, economic, legal, corporate communication, and institutional arenas. 158 Diego Poli <?page no="159"?> While we are conscious of the necessity to evaluate the stringent contingency measures employed to rectify disruption and limitations in educational systems (Breslin 2021), we elect to defer the assessment of the potential for reinterpreta‐ tion to a pedagogical analyzis grounded in global data and experiences (Leask/ Younie 2022). The repercussions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have resulted in the introduc‐ tion of numerous technical terms into the Italian lexicon, as evidenced by the 2023 edition of the Devoto/ Oli dictionary, which incorporates a selection of neologisms, including: - ecoansia, denoting a trepidation concerning the environmental predicament of the Earth, afflicted by seismic events, hailstorms, floods, and conflagrations; - permacrisi, signifying an extended period of insta‐ bility and uncertainty, with its first occurrence being attributed to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, swiftly followed by the war in Ukraine; - decumulo, meaning the economic decline in household income, accentuating the diminution of domestic activities. In the aftermath of the pandemic, a substantial corpus of essays has been pub‐ lished with remarkable expediency, with a considerable proportion dedicated to the monitoring of vocabulary. Noteworthy among them are the real instant books published by Antonelli (2020), Arcangeli (2020), Lubello (2020), Malagnini (2020), Sgroi (2020), Pietrini (2021), Romeo (2021). Innovations in institutional and technical communication were discussed by Bombi (Bombi 2020), di Pace and Pannain (di Pace/ Pannain 2021). In this regard, we would also like to recall the contributions patronised by Accademia della Crusca, which were published in the journal Italiano Digitale. These contributions focused on single terms that had an important load on the communicative landscape, including: COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), coronavirus, pandemia, lockdown, quarantena (quarantine), distanziamento sociale (social distancing), droplet, DAD, data breach. Furthermore, a general survey in two parts was offered by Claudio Marazzini, the then President of Accademia della Crusca (Marazzini 2020a; 2020b). A considerable proportion of the lexical field under consideration has been shaped within the context of transnational media and social networks. This examination of keywords, neologisms and pseudo-special terms that circulated during the health emergency has been conducted for the purpose of highlighting the flows of communication that intertwined the media discourse. Once the emergency has ceased, the instability of this lexicon has become evident. Researchers’ attention swiftly shifted from institutional and professional channels to social media, comprehending the investigation of short texts, The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 159 <?page no="160"?> slogans, and hashtags, and ultimately, the comical content of the various memes that gained widespread circulation during the period of enforced isolation. In numerous countries worldwide, SARS-CoV-2 has been employed as a case study in securitisation processes, as it was represented as a substantial threat not only to the State but also to citizens (Vila Maior/ Camis-o 2022: 84-85). The employment of bellicose and aggressive rhetoric has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for capturing attention, enhancing communication, and galvanising action. This approach fosters a sense of urgency and risk, which is particularly salient in the context of a complex situation involving an invisible opponent. This sense of urgency and risk is often compared to the metaphorical representation of the virus as a foreign invader of the body (Vankovska 2020). Despite the fact that this concrete communicative habit was adopted by many leaders, journalists and scientists, some faced up, alerted and warned of the potential perils of accepting this analogy, that included the legitimisation of authoritarian governmental measures, and implied that those who died did not fight hard enough (Semino 2021). The World Emergency SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Ethics Committee (WeCope) explicitly called for the cessation of the utilisation of war metaphors (Arawi/ et al. 2020). Concurrently, the virus has been conceptualised as an invading and eradicat‐ ing force from within the body, a notion that has been employed by the medical lexicon to reinforce the metaphor of military confrontation, with the expectation of ultimately prevailing over the adversary. Medicine thus acquires a patriotic spirit, as this specialized lexicon becomes both familiar and productive. In Italy, as early as March 2020, Cassandro (Cassandro 2020) titled its analyzis “We are at war! ” (Siamo in guerra! ), pointing out that the SARS-CoV-2 emergency is being treated almost everywhere in the language of war. There is talk of trenches, of being positioned in hospitals, of being on the front line against the virus. A few days later, the online magazine “Vita.it” (March 26, 2020) was published under the title “Virality in the war language” (La viralità del linguaggio bellico). Grandi and Piovan addressed the communication framework in “MicroMega”, noting the use of the war metaphor in official media and informal communication (Grandi/ Piovan 2020). The emphasis on the coinage of phrasal sequences that mix military and sanitary lexicons, such as medical guard, immune defences, target cells, invasive tumours, elicits a wide range of responses. One particular aim is to make the listener weaker and more fearful, and therefore more willing to obey. 160 Diego Poli <?page no="161"?> It is evident that the discourse surrounding the health emergency was imbued with a pronounced military undertone, a recurring topic in news media that frequently adopted an alarmed stance (di Pace/ Pannain 2020). The volume by Perucchietti and D’Auria is specifically devoted to the exami‐ nation of aspects of war rhetoric (Perucchietti/ D’Auria 2020). It is evident that the use of such terminology engenders a state of war, facilitating a militarised management of the territory and resulting in a scenario where all measures are perceived as acceptable and digestible (Grandi/ Piovan). This makes easy to restrict the personal liberties, as the perception of a disease as a war renders individuals obedient and acquiescent (Cassandro 2020). It has been posited by certain authors that a shift in focus is required in order to explore the reasons that may have convinced politicians, if not to select, to accept the metaphor and help in its dissemination (Battistelli 2020; De Bernardi 2020). The pervasiveness of terms belonging to the semantic field of war in the communicative procedures steered by experts, or self-proclaimed experts, and opinion-makers appears to be a persistent form of unthinking behaviour that cannot be reduced to mere lexical sloppiness (Testa, 2020). In examining the oratory of the heads of government of EU countries, it is evident that the speeches of Merkel and Conte, delivered in 2020, at the onset of the national emergencies, reveal a notable absence of military metaphors. This observation is particularly evident in the speeches of Giuseppe Conte, delivered on March 4, and Angela Merkel, delivered on March 18. Conversely, Emmanuel Macron’s March 16 speech, distinguished by its rhetorical density, featured the term guerre on various occasions. “All shall be well! ! ” The sentiment of optimism and confidence is encapsulated in the slogan “Andrà tutto bene! ! ” (“All shall be well! ! ”), incessantly repeated in Italy during the months of the lockdown, to instil comfort and hope. It has even been adopted as the title of a single published by the singer Elisa, in collaboration with Tommaso Paradiso, and released on 10 April 2020. The dictum has its source many centuries back, originating from the monastic environment. It is expressed as “All shall be well, and all shall be well” (McGinn 2012: 454-455), a refrain adopted by Julian of Norwich (1343-1416), who notably chose to reside in a state of perpetual seclusion as an anchoress, a decision that coincided with the city’s suffering under the devastating impact of the Black Plague. The conceptual agenda in the narrative construction of crisis 161 <?page no="162"?> In her Revelations of divine love, written in 1393 (chap. 27, in Watson/ Jenkins 2006), Julian announces: Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to me, answered by this word and said: “It behoved that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”. ‘Synne is behovabil, but al shal be wel and al shal be wel and all maner of thyng shal be wele’. The infinite tenderness descends from Christ himself and traces are recognised by the English mystic in the manifestations of creation, which represent the sole space left for illumination, given that, as a result of sinning, human beings have become blind (Watson/ Jenkins 2006). Because of her vision, it can be posited that the experience of Julian’s suffering can be transfigured through the existence of love. The incarnation and crucifixion of Christ serve as a guarantee that the love of God is present in distress, given that His passion and death embrace each pain of every single human (Maynard 2006). In Julian’s original theory of vision, the love of God, as the essence of everything (love is oure Lordes mening), has the power to change the evil into the good ( Jantzen 1999; McGinn 2012: 425-470). In “Little Gidding”, the fourth and final poem of Thomas S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, Julian’s optimism is conveyed through her words and interpreted in terms of renewal. Prior to the inception of a revitalised existence for the society, purification must be achieved through a purgative fire (V 42-46): And all shall be well and / all manner of thing shall be well / when the tongues of flames are in-folded / into the crowned knot of fire / and the fire and the rose are one. References Antonelli, Giuseppe (2020). L’influenza delle parole. Milano: Solferino. Arawi, Thalia/ et al. (2020). 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New York: Dutton. 166 Diego Poli <?page no="167"?> The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level Daiana Felecan Abstract: The Romanian language has proven to be extremely dynamic as a result of its unprecedented development with lexemes which belong to the common vocabulary of the Covid-19 pandemic or which had already existed in language but, in the context of the pandemic, were brought to the foreground of linguistic interest. The situation is similar in other lan‐ guages, as some of the newly coined words and borrowings were recorded in dictionaries. From the inventory of words connected with the pandemic, this paper will refer to words of solitude, i.e. words whose meanings include the idea of seclusion, a dimension which has defined human individuals who have been living under the threat of the terrible disease. Some of the aforementioned words are quarantined, social/ physical distance, isolation stretcher, mask etc., and they will be explored with respect to their meaning and occurrence in linguistic contexts that testify to their high frequency of use. The corpus was compiled from online media sources and consists of some of the words that refer to individuals’ experience of (self-)imposed isolation. This study does not claim to be exhaustive, as the inventory examined on this occasion is sure to be developed by means of further analyzes. Psycholinguistic and lexical-semantic terminology as well as that from the field of philosophy of language will contribute to the definition of the methodological profile of this research. 1 Homo singularis vs. homo socius Upon birth, the human individual is only half of the complete being it aims to become. Unless they find their other, the human individual will have to bear their solitude as a curse their entire life. The datum of human beings is that they are meant to live among others of their kind, to share a language and the surrounding reality with them. Throughout history, at critical crossroads, the feeling of togetherness has kept the human being safe from solitude, and <?page no="168"?> it has offered support and guidance to pass the initiation rites that they had to undertake. Only the practice of solidarity helps the human being by turning borderline situations into fleeting moments which are more easily overcome. Loneliness is a condition that wears down a person, drains them of their stamina, and eventually becomes difficult to handle. Adam needed Eve to acknowledge that wherever Eve was, there was Eden. A human being needs the company of its kind in the quest to find answers to ardent rhetorical questions. There may occur episodes of existential crisis in which the Sisyphus within is overflowing with anguish, and of this feeling the other is born. When alone, the human being is deprived of the dimension of intersubjectivity, although it is paradoxically, yet necessarily encoded in one’s DNA. They feel the poignant need for the presence of another human being with whom they could share their moments of sadness and exuberance. This need is materialised on the level of factum and verbum. Thus, there are situations in which the other should be an active support, but on certain occasions, the other must be a good listener and adviser. To help us solve our spiritual needs, the other becomes our confessor through their readiness to take over some of our burden and carry it on their shoulders. The greatest punishment brought upon a human being is being sentenced to loneliness. It is then that the poems of the most aggrieving alienation are etched into the walls of the prison of one’s soul. Language has become articulate to help people communicate with other people. This is the case of natural speech, used in face-to-face communication and untarnished by any auxiliary surrogates. When the human being is sentenced to the absence of speech, the situation is perceived as a trauma that is difficult to overcome, if at all. For the modern human being, who tends to be estranged from the society, the punishment of an accumulation of loneliness could be overwhelming. The experience of excessive solitude usually occurs during periods of global crises, such as wars and pandemics. This paper refers to the critical situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. 2 Alienation of the modern human being The time of the present-day individual develops along a single coordinate: haste. Time is divided so scrupulously that the human being does not have moments to spend on introspection. However, there seems to be plenty of time for “socialising.” In this context, socialisation needs to be redefined. It seldom takes place in real time and space. Moreover, the spontaneity and authenticity of real-world verbal exchanges have been replaced with mediated communication (usually facilitated by the screens of mobile phones, computers, and other devices). It is superficial, fragmented speech that interlocutors indulge in when 168 Daiana Felecan <?page no="169"?> they are not busy earning a living. Speakers do not actually communicate, they chatter and prattle under the spell of the spiritual void which has taken control of their lives. For instance, the corporate employee may work in a large office, surrounded by numerous peers, but their socioemotional dimension is severed. They no longer know how to communicate beyond the transmission of factual information. The incapacity of self-sharing has affected all social and professional classes: the human being has stopped communicating because it does not have anything to convey. There are two authorities to which an individual may turn when they feel the utter need to communicate about themselves: the therapist/ psychiatrist and the priest. Nevertheless, these figures can only help things to take a turn for the better if they are considerably skilled in their field. Otherwise, the human being, who is in search of existential solutions, fails to make up for the feeling of spiritual emptiness. In such a situation, the human being does not need the support of a good listener, but that of a good guide, and supervisor of moral, affective, and spiritual credits. Although we are a part of the world, we experience flares of loneliness. As it has already been mentioned, we hide behind a screen which does not act as a mediator, but as a border between the world and ourselves. We do things in haste, live every day in the spirit of mercantilism, and quickly exchange a few words, but not thoughts. This could be a case of fear of genuine communication. We have grown so deeply estranged from one another that we are afraid to look each other in the eye and empathise. We may be sitting at the same table, but we do not really see one another. We do not sit up straight and look each other in the face. On the contrary, our necks are bent, and our heads are bowed down. Of all the senses, the only one to be exploited is touch: our fingers are almost always in contact with the screens of our smartphones. It is quiet around us because we converse by means of text messages. Sometimes, when words are too “expensive”, we use emojis which allegedly express our emotions. Our children are born with the ability to use devices. The young ones do not distract their parents from going about their daily chores as long as they are holding a device. In these circumstances, we are faced with the danger of forgetting articulate language or at least of falling out of practice in this field. We used to experience the joy of meeting someone, as testified by the polite words which were exchanged on such occasions. However, nowadays we live in a time of hesitation and escape. We bar the windows to the world and fence ourselves in a kind of self-imposed seclusion, in which every external stimulus is perceived as a threat if it implies taking us out of our comfort zone. Our favourite habitat is the space which facilitates the entry into the virtual world. We only pretend to be interested in any other activity that requires the surprise The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 169 <?page no="170"?> 1 “Isolation during the pandemic has compelled us to become withdrawn and intro‐ spective. The questions we asked ourselves have allowed for the development of a new way of thinking about how we would create a different future from the one we had envisaged. The pandemic has shown us how quickly global infestation can happen. It has been an incredible testimony to network theory and the power of viral dissemination. In a way, this implies a fusion between the individual and the collective dimensions” (Sfetcu 2020: 4, orig. Romanian). 2 “[…] The virus is an invitation to contemplate our frailty. It has the capacity to define freedom in more solemn terms: to be free is to do what must be done in a specific situation” (Sfetcu 2020: 3, orig. Romanian). of meeting other people. We become detached from public life and engaged in a private life filled with moments of reciprocated joy. We like and share posts that capture events in other people’s lives, while under the heartening illusion that we do not have to partake in ours. An individual’s solitude does no longer imply expectation, but actually relishing the idea of solitude. This is what the profile of the modern human being looked like at the end of the year 2019, which marks the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 3 Isolating from each other The Covid-19 outbreak brought a mirror before our faces, which were drawn with cold and solitude. This mirror revealed our real selves to us. 1 Our unfiltered images proved that we were unprepared to face a pandemic at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Restriction was the imperative word we learned quickly, and it referred to suspending the close contact with other human beings. Not only did we embrace solitude and willingly retreat into our virtual places of refuge, but the pandemic lawfully sentenced us to isolation, albeit imposed from the outside. We should have felt comfortable, especially since the cancellation of face-to-face meetings and the abolition of such encounters were now decreed by state authorities. The fear of contagion gradually, yet indisputably, permeated our habitual existence. For a while, it functioned as a distance-imposing order. However, during the second and third years of home isolation, we learned to coexist with the enemy, but we simultaneously began to feel an old, fragile longing for being in the presence of other people. It would be an exaggeration to lade the semantics of the term coexistence with the fierce desire to meet other human beings. The joy to see one another was tempered. One would be more entitled to claim that people experienced a feeling of rebellion against the interdictions to move freely and the violation of this freedom. 2 It could even be advanced that isolation has made us more reluctant to connect with the others and has quenched our desire to see them again. Moreover, it led us 170 Daiana Felecan <?page no="171"?> 3 A description of the effects of the pandemic on the Romanian language is proposed by Manu Magda (2022: 298-323). to consider every person that coughs, sneezes, or does not wear a mask as a potential virus “donor”. This aspect has made us grow apart even more. It turns out that we were not longing to meet other people, but to evade the restrictions, get out of the house, go (window) shopping, and other actions that we gladly rediscovered. Our minds were replete with the alarmist news that the media was feeding us: the terrifying number of deaths, an even bigger number of infections, insufficient or potentially biased data about the vaccines (see the news about the casualties and side effects of AstraZeneca). While people were fighting the unknown, a metalanguage of the pandemic developed. The vocabulary of every language became extremely dynamic in this field, with hundreds of lexemes temporarily entering the basic word-stock due to their excessive use. The mass media and social media have had a decisive impact on this situation: “The mass media has overwhelmed individuals every day with information about the coronavirus, and people’s lives have suffered dramatic changes due to the pandemic” (Felecan, Felecan, Bugheșiu 2024: 205). Every news bulletin began with updated information about the spread of the virus among the population, announcements about the number of deaths, and safety measures that had to be followed strictly. This approach of the media awoke in the audience uncertainty and fear. The tentacles of these feelings spread until nowadays, and it is difficult to tell when they might fade. 4 Lexemes of solitude This section looks at several words and phrases which have become a part of the basic word-stock 3 due to frequent use. At the same time, they have had a significant effect on the collective mentality. The words and phrases illustrated below are associated with feelings of fear, isolation, danger, precaution, and disappearance - in a word, solitude. The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 171 <?page no="172"?> 4 “Linguists generally acknowledge the role played by the Covid-19 health crisis in the quantitative and qualitative development of the lexical stock of all languages. The lexicographic studies and works clearly show that the disease caused by the Coronavirus has facilitated the entry in current use - via the mass media and social networks - of several types of lexical units: lexemes deliberately created to name new referents, scientific terms (notably medical ones) that were previously unknown to the general public, as well as preexisting words in the language whose meaning has evolved by adapting to the pandemic context” (Stoichițoiu Ichim 2022, orig. French). 5 “Nothing is safe from the ‘touch’ of the deadly virus. Thus, it was only a matter of time until our words, and everyone’s words implicitly, were affected. Linguists, sociologists, and psychologists have to deal with a significant wave of raw material, new research theories, and new specialised methodologies. A new type of discourse, a new dimension of communication, and a new kind of reasoning have appeared” (Pleșu 2021, orig. Romanian). 6 See the large number of studies about the language of the pandemic: Bergeras 2021; Cabot 2022; Cîțu 2020; Cosmescu 2020; Craig 2020; Dictionnaire COVID 2020; Ducos 2021; Felecan D., Felecan O. 2020, 2021; Felecan O. 2022a, 2022b; Felecan O., Felecan D., Bugheșiu 2024; Lardellier 2021; Le grand dictionnaire terminologique 2021; Lexique sur la pandémie de COVID-19 2021; Peters 2020; Rey 2020; Stroia 2020; Zafiu 2020b, 2020c, 2021a, 2021b; Zanola 2020. 7 Adriana Stoichițoiu Ichim (2022) draws attention, on the one hand, to the neologisation of the Romanian language by means of borrowings. This testifies to the well-known hospitality of the Romanian language, which lies in the great ease of accepting foreign words and phrases. On the other hand, the author emphasises the creativity of present-day Romanian, as illustrated by the use of various types of calque formations and formal and semantic neologisms. Stoichițoiu Ichim (2022) concludes that “with regard to the relationship between hospitality and creativity, French loans continue to be the main means of developing the Romanian vocabulary with words related to the pandemic (lexemes which are already recorded in dictionaries, or which have recently It is clear that, since the end of the year 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented 4 specific newspeak 5 within every language. 6 The history of humanity has witnessed other devastating diseases (which seem to be recurring every century! ): the plague - 1720, cholera - 1820, the Spanish flu - 1920, Covid-19 - 2020. However, with the exception of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that the others developed such an extended lexical-semantic field. A significant part of the pandemic-related vocabulary was acknowledged and recorded in dictionaries (the latest edition of Dicționarul ortografic, ortoepic și morfologic al limbii române [The Romanian dictionary of orthography, orthoepy, and morphology], 2022, includes some of these lexemes). The Romanian language is very open to foreign borrowings. Some are calque formations, others are neologisms, but there are also certain words taken from the source language as such. At the same time, it is a language which allows for the creation of new words from already existing lexemes. Thus, Romanian is equally defined by hospitality and creativity 7 . This research refers only to 172 Daiana Felecan <?page no="173"?> been adopted). The number of English borrowings which have preserved the etymo‐ logical spelling is much smaller. With respect to creativity, of the above-mentioned three processes of neological creation the most productive means of vocabulary enrichment consists of phraseological calques, followed by semantic neologisation” (orig. French). 8 “A paradox is emphasised; it was dawning for a long time, but it has now become increasingly relevant. I am referring to the relationship between isolation and massifi‐ cation, communication and solitude. People are ‘quarantined’ at home, but they are communicating across the world… We receive all kinds of messages, we share them and trigger new calls for information: personal interpretations, good news, bad news, conspiracy theories, and jokes” (Pleșu 2021, orig. Romanian). those words and phrases that semantically include the idea of the solitude to which the human being has been subjected by virtue of circumstances. As if it were not enough that a pandemic estranges and ends lives, people invent a parallel language rich in lexical items. This is the result of the contribution of the health authorities, the mass media, and the untrained individuals, whose lexical interventions may be ironic and humorous, as they are meant to de-escalate the situation (see, e.g., the lexeme covidit in the glossary below). It almost seems that people could live and get along using only the parallel language, without taking into consideration the rest of the word-stock. Within this metalanguage, there are what one could call the lexical items of solitude. Although some of these words and word sequences designate ways of taking safety measures, in general they clearly prove the extent of the threat that such a cataclysm poses for the human being. While the safety measures may imply postponing the impact of danger, temporary protection or security, none of them guarantees complete safety or the elimination of danger. The pandemic being may have had the experience of several types of claustrophobic spaces: isolation stretchers, spaces designed for (self-)quarantine/ isolation, and hospital rooms/ departments for Covid-19 patients. At the same time, during the pandemic the human being had to protect its health more resolutely by wearing safety masks, washing/ disinfecting their hands, abandoning commonplace gestures (hugging, kissing other people and objects of religious devotion), adopting new rituals (mandatory distancing from other human beings), and severely restricting the possibilities to leave the house. This form of house arrest (#stayhome) is the sentence one received simply for being contemporary with the cruel disease. 8 The following section does not claim to be an exhaustive inventory of lexemes of solitude. Their choice is based on a corpus of texts selected from online sources. For the examples to be understood by a wide readership, the contexts in which the words listed occur are taken from online sources in English. The linguistic contexts and sources in English are similar to their Romanian counterparts. These mainly consist of online mass media articles and press The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 173 <?page no="174"?> releases issued by the authorities on their electronic outlets. The fact that cognate English and Romanian linguistic contexts have been found for every term/ phrase analyzed proves that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives in a similar manner regardless of their geolinguistic belonging and that the vocabulary bears witness to this impact. Only the most frequent terms/ phrases have been recorded. The etymology is indicated for every example, or whether it is a Romanian coinage. The Romanian inventory of the lexical field of solitude generated by the Covid-19 pandemic is certainly broader than the list recorded in this research, but future studies will make up for this gap. 5 Glossary and contexts autoizola (verb, ‘to self-isolate’, from Fr. s’auto-isoler) - “Privacy protections built into the software mean officials cannot see who it has told to self-isolate, and users cannot be fined for ignoring the app’s guidance” (https: / / bbc.com/ news/ technology-5473353 4); autoizolare (feminine noun, ‘self-isolation’, from Fr. auto-isolement) - “The self-isolation period has been extended to 10 days for those in the community who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms or a positive test result” (https: / / gov.uk/ government/ news/ s tatement-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-on-extension-of-self-isolation-period-3 0-july-2020); autoizolare la domiciliu (noun phrase, ‘self-isolation at home’, cf. Fr. auto-isolement à la maison) - “Passengers will be able to book a test from a provider on a GOV.UK list before arriving in England. If they choose to book a test, they will need to state this on their passenger locator form prior to arriving and then go straight into self-isolation at home as usual” (https: / / gov.uk/ government/ news/ test-to-release-england-introduc es-testing-strategy-for-international-arrivals); autoizolare voluntară (noun phrase, ‘voluntary self-isolation’, from Fr. auto-isolement volontaire) - “Hundreds of Yukoners have used the government-funded voluntary self-isolation facilities in the territory, according to the Yukon’s department of Health and Social Services” (https: / / yukon-news.com/ news/ yukons-voluntary-self-isolation -facilities-have-put-up-2458-yukoners/ ); carantina (verb, ‘to quarantine’, ‘to detain in or exclude by quarantine; to establish or declare a quarantine’, https: / / merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/ quarantine; Romanian back-formation carantină) - “A Hong Kong official says people on board a cruise ship that was turned away from a Taiwanese port will be quarantined until they are checked for the new virus” (https: / / cbc.ca/ news/ canada/ canadians-coronavirus-cruise-ship-ja pan-1.5452345); 174 Daiana Felecan <?page no="175"?> carantinare (feminine noun, ‘quarantine’, ‘detention in or exclusion by quarantine’) - “In practice, both quarantine procedures, which are carried out in centralised government facilities, have often been enforced for longer than the mandated periods” (https: / / ft. com/ content/ 709e95e6-cc63-4fe0-9c4a-5683c87f7e7b); carantinat (masculine/ feminine noun, adjective, ‘quarantined’) - “57 quarantined passen‐ gers arrive at Omaha airport en route to Camp Ashland” (https: / / wowt.com/ content/ news/ Flight-with-Americans-quarantined-for-coronavirus-departs-from-China-5676 37871.html); carantină (feminine noun, ‘quarantine’, from Rus. karantin, https: / / dexonline.ro/ definitie / carantin%C4%83) - “Today’s evacuation of about 180 passengers from the cruise ship Diamond Princess to serve another period of quarantine back in Australia has raised questions about the best way to control spread of the coronavirus” (https: / / theconv ersation.com/ yes-australians-on-board-the-diamond-princess-need-to-go-into-quara ntine-again-its-time-to-reset-the-clock-131906); carantină instituționalizată (noun phrase, ‘institutional quarantine’; from Fr. quarantaine institutionnalisée, En. institutional quarantine) - “The rules mention that even defence, paramilitary, railways, DRDO, ISRO, and PSU officials are to undergo institutional quarantine at designated guest houses” (https: / / thewire.in/ government/ bjp-minister -dv-sadananda-gowda-quarantine); carantină națională (noun phrase, ‘national quarantine’; from Fr. quarantaine nationale, En. national quarantine) - “The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, also told Americans to ‘hunker down’. But this is still just a recommendation, and claims about a national quarantine are unfounded” (https: / / theverge.com/ 2020/ 3/ 16/ 21181506/ coronavirus-rumor-viral-t rump-stafford-act-national-quarantine-misinformation); carantină parțială (noun phrase, from En. partial quarantine) - “Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is entering a partial quarantine after making a ‘low-risk’ contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19” (https: / / npr.org/ sections/ coronavirus-live-updates/ 2020/ 05/ 09/ 853304 106/ fda-commissioner-enters-self-quarantine-after-exposure-to-coronavirus); carantină totală (noun phrase, from En. full quarantine) - “Dr. Megan Ranney, the associate dean at Brown University’s School of Public Health, tweeted Monday that a major reason the federal government altered isolation requirements is due to the economic strain of a full quarantine” (https: / / npr.org/ sections/ coronavirus-live-upda tes/ 2021/ 12/ 27/ 1068358102/ cdc-quarantine-covid); carantinesc (adjective, ‘quarantinesque’ Romanian formation) - “Could anything be more quarantinesque than a twenty-three-minute livestream performance on Zoom? Art emerging in difficult times - exile, war, illness, pandemic - often comes formatted in The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 175 <?page no="176"?> ways reflective of the maker’s situation” (https: / / art.newcity.com/ 2020/ 11/ 20/ 60wrd -min-covid-edition-alex-chitty-monika-plioplyte-barbara-diener-dasul-kim/ ); distanțare fizică (noun phrase, cf. En. physical distancing) - “In light of new data, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday relaxed its physical distancing guidelines for children in schools to recommend most students maintain at least 3 feet of distance” (https: / / edition.cnn.com/ 2021/ 03/ 19/ health/ cdc-physical-distancing/ inde x.html); distanțare socială (feminine noun, from En. social distancing) - “Before New York City announced it would be shutting down restaurants and bars, they were supposed to be operating at half capacity to maintain social distancing and soften the economic impact. But in small restaurants, that may still mean you’re too close to other diners. It’s also not possible to maintain true social distance from the people preparing or serving the food” (https: / / nytimes.com/ 2020/ 03/ 16/ smarter-living/ coronavirus-social -distancing.html); distanță (feminine noun, ‘distance’) - “To avoid this possible exposure, you may want to avoid crowded areas, or keep distance between yourself and others” (https: / / cdc.gov/ coronavirus/ 2019-ncov/ prevent-getting-sick/ prevention.html); distanță fizică (noun phrase, ‘physical distance’, see distanțiere); distanță socială (noun phrase, ‘social distance’, see distanță, distanțiere); distanțiere (feminine noun, Romanian formation from distanță, cf. En. distancing) - “The announcement marked an abrupt turnaround from a week ago when Trump said he was convinced the distancing restrictions were causing irreparable damage to the economy” (https: / / edition.cnn.com/ 2020/ 03/ 29/ politics/ trump-coronavirus-press-con ference/ index.html); educație online (noun phrase, from En. online education) - “Global school shutdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed online education and virtual school‐ ing to the forefront of the political agenda” (https: / / lens.monash.edu/ @education/ 20 20/ 04/ 30/ 1380217/ online-learning-rethinking-teachers-digital-competence-in-light-o f-covid-19); hard lockdown - “Germany will go into a hard lockdown from Wednesday, with all schools and shops closed, as it battles to control a big surge in coronavirus infections” (https : / / ft.com/ content/ 99327e7b-4d58-40c4-9957-dd8fd92a6da7); izolare totală (noun phrase, cf. Fr. confinement total, En. total lockdown) - “Italy has been put under a dramatic total lockdown, as the coronavirus spreads in the country” (http s: / / edition.cnn.com/ 2020/ 03/ 09/ europe/ coronavirus-italy-lockdown-intl/ index.html); izolare voluntară (noun phrase, cf. Fr. confinement volontaire, En. voluntary lockdown) - “Tielmes in Madrid, La Barquilla in Cáceres and Valleseco in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria are all back on voluntary lockdown and, within the next few hours, major new 176 Daiana Felecan <?page no="177"?> measures are to be announced for Catalonia” (https: / / mirror.co.uk/ travel/ europe/ gra n-canaria-goes-voluntary-lockdown-22568732); izolator (neutral noun, ‘isolation room’) - “Concerns were raised yesterday by a hospital staff member who detailed COVID infection control breaches including a patient leaving an isolation room and walking through the emergency department” (https: / / abc.net.au/ news/ 2021-06-11/ nt-health-covid-patient-royal-darwin-hospital-isolatio n-breach/ 100207366); izoletă (feminine noun, ‘isolation stretcher’) - “After transporting each highly contagious patient without an isolation stretcher, helicopters must be disinfected, which can take up six hours, according to LAR [Luxembourg Air Rescue]” (https: / / airmedandrescue .com/ latest/ news/ luxembourg-air-rescue-keep-staff-safe-using-isolation-stretchers); “The etymology of this term is difficult to determine. At a first glance, the word seems to be of Italian origin. However, in Italy the lexeme is not attested. In fact, the Italian correspondent for ‘stretcher’ is barella. In English, this type of stretcher is called stretcher Isolette, with the second component of the noun phrase meaning ‘incubator for premature infants’, a trademark of Dräger Medical. The English verb isolate ‘to separate’ also encompasses the specifically medical connotation ‘to quarantine’” (Zafiu 2020a, orig. Romanian). Certain researchers claim that izoletă is a Romanian formation from the noun izolare ‘isolation’ and the verb a izola ‘to isolate’. This etymology is supported by Zafiu (2020a), who believes the term is derived from the verb izola + suffix -etă, following the model of names of means of transport like cabrioletă ‘cabriolet’, bicicletă ‘bicycle’ etc. încarantinat (adjective, ‘quarantined’, Romanian formation) - “The consulate, though, said that her quarantined status did not necessarily mean that she was infected with the new coronavirus, as Hong Kong had very stringent measures in combating the epidemic” (https: / / philstar.com/ headlines/ 2020/ 01/ 26/ 1987942/ filipina-exposed-novel -coronavirus-quarantined-hong-kong-consulate); lockdown (noun, from En. lockdown) - “A new four-step plan to ease England’s lockdown could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by 21 June, if strict conditions are met” (https: / / bbc.com/ news/ uk-56158405); mască antivirus (noun phrase, cf. En. anti-virus mask) - “Elder has staked out positions and outlined opinions anathema to many Californians, including opposition to the minimum wage, an end to any anti-virus mask mandates at a time when the delta variant is swamping rural hospitals, and that women are inferior to men in decisions involving business and the economy” (https: / / washingtonpost.com/ national/ califo rnia-recall-gavin-newsom/ 2021/ 09/ 04/ c4fb0168-0ab0-11ec-aed3-cbc60cee94e3_story. html); mască chirurgicală (noun phrase, from Fr. masque chirurgical, cf. En. surgical mask) - “A newly published study from the University of Maryland, College Park and The The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 177 <?page no="178"?> University of Hong Kong now shows how surgical masks, in particular, could help prevent people with a viral infection from shedding infectious particles” (https: / / medi calnewstoday.com/ articles/ covid-19-surgical-masks-may-help-but-not-as-first-line-o f-defense); mască chirurgicală de unică folosință (noun phrase, ‘single-use surgical mask’, cf. Fr. masque chirurgical à usage unique); mască chirurgicală pentru copii (noun phrase, cf. Fr. masque chirurgical pour enfants, En. surgical mask for children); mască conformă (noun phrase, from En. conform mask); mască cu filtru cu protecție sporită (noun phrase, ‘mask with advanced protection filter’, probably a Romanian formation); mască cu grad înalt de protecție (noun phrase, ‘mask for increased protection’, probably a Romanian formation); mască cu vizetă (noun phrase, ‘mask with face shield’, cf. Fr. masque à visière); mască de fițe (noun phrase, ‘designer face mask’, Romanian formation) - “In just one day, a huge market opened up: the designer face mask. Corona-related demand has even enabled some fashion labels to reopen their factories, providing desperately needed supplies and, for some, self-expression amid chaos” (https: / / theguardian.com/ us-new s/ 2020/ apr/ 07/ coronavirus-face-mask-fashion); mască de protecție (noun phrase, from En. protection mask, Fr. masque de protection) - “A child wearing a protection mask and gloves is seen at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, after the government allowed domestic flight services to resume, during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 25, 2020” (https: / / thewire.in/ government/ ncp cr-covid-19-orphans-affidavit-supreme-court); mască de protecție neconformă (noun phrase, ‘non-confirming face/ medical mask, coun‐ terfeit mask’, from En. non-conform protection mask, Fr. masque de protection non conforme) - “An increasing number of non-conforming or only ostensibly conforming medical face masks have started to appear on the Swiss market” (https: / / swissmedic. ch/ swissmedic/ en/ medicrime/ news/ warnings/ coroavirus-nicht-konforme-med-gesic htsmasken.html); mască de protecție reutilizabilă (noun phrase, from En. reusable protection mask, Fr. masque de protection réutilisable); mască de unică folosință (noun phrase, cf. En. mask of unique use, Fr. masque à usage unique); mască etanșă (noun phrase, ‘mask creating/ forming an airtight seal’, from Fr. masque étanche); mască facială (noun phrase, from En. facial/ face mask); 178 Daiana Felecan <?page no="179"?> mască FFP2 (noun phrase, from En. FFP2 mask) - “When fitted properly, FFP2 masks promise to filter out at least 94 % of particles but are also more expensive, usually retailing at between €2 and €5 per mask” (https: / / theguardian.com/ world/ 2021/ jan/ 1 8/ germany-weighs-up-mandatory-ffp2-masks-in-shops-and-on-transport); mască FFP3 (noun phrase, from En. FFP3 mask); mască full face (noun phrase, from En. full-face mask); mască N95 (noun phrase, from En. N95 mask); mască neconformă (noun phrase, from En. non-conform/ nonconforming mask); mască personalizată (noun phrase, from En. personalized mask, Fr. masque personalisé); mască respiratorie (noun phrase, in En. respirator mask, Fr. masque respiratoire); mască sanitară de protecție (noun phrase, from En. sanitary protective mask, Fr. masque sanitaire de protection); mască textilă (noun phrase, from En. textile mask, Fr. masque textile); măsuri de izolare (noun phrase, plural form, cf. Fr. mesures de confinement, En. confinement measures) - “While confinement measures are gradually lifted, there is a need to strategically plan the recovery, revitalising the economy and getting back on a path of sustainable growth” (https: / / ec.europa.eu/ commission/ presscorner/ detail/ en/ IP_2 0_652); măsuri restrictive (noun phrase, plural form, from Fr. mesures restrictives; cf. En. restrictive measures) - “When travelling from ‘orange’ or ‘red’ regions, travellers can expect restrictive measures to be imposed” (https: / / ec.europa.eu/ commission/ presscorner/ de tail/ en/ qanda_20_1875); pacient zero (noun phrase, from En. patient zero, Fr. patient zero) - “The man who would become patient zero for the new coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. appeared to do everything right” (https: / / bloomberg.com/ news/ features/ 2020-03-09/ how-coronaviru s-spread-from-patient-zero-in-seattle); pandemiat (adjective, masculine noun, ‘a person affected by the pandemic’); pozitiv (adjective, masculine noun, ‘a person whose Covid-19 test came out positive’); pozitivat (adjective, masculine noun, ‘a person who has been infected with the corona‐ virus’); protecție de față (noun phrase - cf. Fr. protecteur facial, En. face shield); purtător de (corona)virus (noun phrase, ‘(corona)virus bearer’, from Fr. porteur du virus); repozitivat (adjective, masculine noun, ‘reinfected’) - “One reinfected person was fully vaccinated, but had not received a booster” (https: / / nbcnews.com/ health/ health-news / people-reinfected-omicron-variant-fewer-symptoms-small-cdc-study-finds-rcna101 95); Gabriela Pană Dindelegan, corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, has pointed out the occurrence in everyday language of terms related to the Covid-19 pandemic: “‘The dynamic of contemporary Romanian is clear in the following example: the rich present-day pandemic lexicon, with newly coined terms, new The Insularity of (Post-)Pandemic Individuals on the Lexical-Semantic Level 179 <?page no="180"?> meanings or meaning extensions and deviations. Some of these terms developed lexical families and proved to have an impressive linguistic dynamic’ […]” (https: / / mesageruldealba.ro/ 2020/ 08/ 31/ dezbatere-la-academie-de-ziua-limbii-romane-desp re-carantina-comorbiditate-izoleta-pozitivat/ #.Y8ZGPhVBw2w, orig. Romanian). In addition to simple terms, there are numerous derivative and compound forms, even acronyms and initialisms, whose basic significance was lost over time; restricție (feminine noun, ‘restriction’) - “Measure meant to restrain, constrain a right or freedom” (https: / / dexonline.net/ definitie-restric%C8%9Bie, orig. Romanian). “Next week the U.S. will remove the final pandemic-related restriction, a vaccine requirement for Canadian travellers” (https: / / spectrumlocalnews.com/ nys/ buffalo/ politics/ 2023/ 0 5/ 05/ final-covid-border-restriction-will-be-lifted-next-week); shut-down (noun, ‘closing or ending an activity’, En. shutdown) - “Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) delivered 17.9% fewer electric vehicles in the second quarter from the previous quarter, as China’s COVID 19-related shutdown disrupted its production and supply chain” (ht tps: / / reuters.com/ business/ autos-transportation/ tesla-q2-deliveries-fall-chinas-covid -related-shutdown-2022-07-02/ ); simptomatic (masculine noun/ adjective, ‘symptomatic’) - “Substantial vaccination cover‐ age increasing COVID-19 case rates are driving an increase in ‘expected’ symptomatic breakthrough infections in recent weeks, the CDC wrote in the document” (https: / / abcnews.go.com/ US/ symptomatic-breakthrough-covid-19-infections-rare-cdc-data/ s tory? id=79048589); vizieră (feminine noun, ‘visor’, also ‘face visor, face shield’) - “a curved piece of clear material that is worn over the eyes, nose, and mouth and kept in place by a strap (= a narrow piece of strong material) around the head, worn to protect the face or to help prevent the person wearing it from infecting others or being infected with a virus, etc.” (https: / / dictionary.cambridge.org/ dictionary/ english/ visor). “These are the plastic shields that doctors treating Covid-19 patients often wore as part of their personal protective equipment, but now these visors are becoming common in other settings such as shops, beauty salons and bars” (https: / / bbc.com/ future/ article/ 20200 806-are-face-shields-effective-against-covid-19). 180 Daiana Felecan <?page no="181"?> 9 “[…] we can see that the language of work, education, finance, and in the fields of various sciences has changed to different extents. Similarly, people have begun to adapt to the new, unprecedented situations […]. Anyone can make the following extremely simple experiment: take the page of a newspaper of August 2020 and compare it with one from the same month of the previous year, significant lexical differences will be noticed. The page dating from August 2020 is replete with medical terms and phrases, among which carantină (‘quarantine’), COVID-19, ATI (‘ICU’), măști (‘masks’), stare de alertă (‘state of alert’), and medic infecționist (‘infectious disease doctor’) are, unfortunately, quite frequent occurrences […]” (Dimitrescu 2022: 173, orig. Romanian). 10 “The recent lexicon of the pandemic includes old, preexisting words, but which were ‘reactivated’ after two centuries: e.g., carantină (‘quarantine’). These lexemes came together with new words, mostly of English origin, such as lockdown, the neological synonym of the aforementioned term. Thus, the relatively old words in the Romanian vocabulary underwent ‘semantic changes’, they were ‘rejuvenated’ and enriched with present-day meanings […]” (Dimitrescu 2022: 270, orig. Romanian). 11 “Until now, the language of diseases was generally limited to the field of medicine, to the state of the patients, the specifics of the disease, the medical branches to which the diseases pertained, and to the recommended medication. However, an important characteristic of the terminology specific to the Covid-19 pandemic is that it extends beyond the medical terms that entered the common lexicon. It has subtly developed a new language in fields such as work (muncă flexibilă ‘flexible job’, muncă la domiciliu ‘work from home’, telemuncă ‘remote work’, Kurzarbeit, etc.), education (antepreșcolar ‘nursery-age’, cursuri prin rotație ‘rotation model of learning’, învățământ hybrid ‘hybrid learning’, învățământ remedial ‘remedial education’), finance (coronacriză ‘coronacri‐ sis’, taxă de coronavirus ‘coronavirus tax’, coronabond), and commerce (takeaway). These are concepts and terms of which language users, in general, had been oblivious” (Dimitrescu 2022: 272-273, orig. Romanian). 6 Concluding remarks This research enables us to draw several conclusions: • due to its dynamic character, the Romanian language developed a well-in‐ dividualised lexicon of the pandemic; 9 • the lexicon includes neologisms and internal formations; • the glossary recorded in this paper comprises what we have called lexemes of solitude, which are surprisingly numerous and describe states of mind, attitudes, and situations that the human being has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic in 2019; • most lexemes were already a part of the Romanian language, but their use increased with the pandemic. Others were derived from such preexisting lexical units. 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In: Sala, Marianna/ Scaglioni, Massimo (Eds.). L’Altro Virus. Comunicazione al tempo del Covid-19. Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 85-94. 184 Daiana Felecan <?page no="185"?> Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan Abstract: The article looks at certain commercial names which have enjoyed significant attention in the media in the context of the pandemic. The names on which the authors focus their attention were either derived from the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic or have been reinterpreted as being related to it due to linguistic reasons, although they are not historically connected with it. In the latter category, certain toponyms can be interpreted in a similar manner, as this paper will show. The examples investigated were collected from articles which appeared on mass media websites and from social media discourse (especially from memes). They are discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective, merging the approaches of onomastics, socioand psycholinguistics, and brand management. The overall aim of the research is to highlight how people relate to each other and to objects in their environment via the names these entities bear in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. 1 Introduction The rapid spread of the coronavirus in the first quarter of the year 2020 led to a domino of (inter)national lockdowns all across the world. As a consequence, regular activity hit a critical point in many fields, economy included. Neverthe‐ less, the pandemic affected commercial entities not only depending on their line of business or the extent and duration of the lockdown, but also in relation to their name. From this viewpoint, the association of a chrematonym with Covid-19, even when the onym predates the pandemic, can render the respective name and corresponding name bearer either undesirable, or highly desirable in the eyes of potential customers. The article looks at certain commercial names which have enjoyed significant attention in the media in the context of the pandemic. The names on which the authors focus their analyzis were either derived from the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic or have been reinterpreted as being related to it due to linguistic <?page no="186"?> reasons. The former category includes, for instance, the situation of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, whose name had to be changed due to the negative publicity that the vaccine had received in the (social-)media. The latter category comprises names that have no historical connection with this health crisis (they were given before the SARS-CoV-2 appeared), but whose lexical structure is similar to that of the name of the virus or of the disease. This association has prompted certain social groups to reassess certain brand or company names and construe their bearers through the filter of positive or negative connotations that the Covid-19 pandemic triggers in the minds of those members of the society (see the case of the Corona beer brand). In this context, we will also point out how several toponyms were also affected in a similar manner. The examples investigated were collected from articles which appeared on mass media websites and from social media discourse (especially from memes). They are discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective, merging the approaches of onomastics, socioand psycholinguistics, and brand manage‐ ment. The overall aim of the research is to highlight how people relate to each other and to objects in their environment via the names these entities bear in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. We show that the positive or negative connotations that the above-mentioned commercial names have on the level of discourse are attributed by language users depending on their experience of the pandemic. Thus, names generally considered lexically conventional become unconventional in speech due to the associations they develop (e.g., the brand name Corona, which was subjected to reinterpretation during the pandemic). Therefore, this article illustrates both what people communicate about names and what names communicate about people in this time of crisis. 2 Theoretical framework Since it began, the Covid-19 pandemic has been the topic of extensive research in all the fields that is has affected, onomastics included. Some of these studies dealt with the official names of the virus and corresponding disease, and the unofficial designations that various language users employed to refer to them in the mass media or on social media (see, e.g., De Stefani 2021; Felecan Oliviu. 2021; Prieto-Ramos et al. 2020; Rossolatos 2020; Shereen et al. 2020; Vasquez 2020; and the recommendations issued by WHO in 2020). Other articles look at the relationship between anthroponyms and the pandemic in general (see Felecan Oliviu, Felecan Daiana, Bugheșiu 2024), or between names and the pandemic in humorous discourse in particular (see Felecan Daiana, Felecan Oliviu 2020, 2021). Nevertheless, the most numerous studies refer to the various ways in 186 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="187"?> which the pandemic has had an impact on the subfield of trade names, but mostly as regards the changes occurring in the image of the product/ company identified by means of a certain name (e.g., Amankwah-Amoah, Khan, Wood 2021; Corbet et al. 2021; Nagpal, Gupta 2021) and in the behaviour of the consumers (e.g., Jílková, Králová 2021; Kirk, Rifkin 2020; Vázquez-Martínez, Morales-Mediano, Leal-Rodríguez 2021). In other words, little is said about the behaviour of the trade names themselves during the Covid-19 pandemic and the changes that they undergo lexically, semantically, and discursively (if any). Commercial names are conventional onyms from a legal perspective: they are recorded in official documents (just like official anthroponyms, for instance) (Felecan Daiana 2014a: 17; 2014b: 18-19). They have to observe certain naming conventions (both local and European/ international) (Bugheșiu 2015: 68-75). However, trade names are also fundamentally unconventional names (similar to unconventional anthroponyms such as nicknames, bynames, and virtual names) (Bugheșiu 2015: 80, 82; see also Felecan Daiana 2014a: 17, 2014b: 18-19), in that the existence of the entities they designate sometimes depends on the associations that the names can trigger in the minds of target consumers and the behaviours they elicit from them. The unconventional status of trade names is inherent to them. Thus, it is not a feature that should draw our attention anymore. However, in time of crisis, trade names may also suffer, and so their unconventionality is accentuated. If they do not undergo any lexical changes, they may be subjected to various semantic modifications on two interdependent levels: 1. adjusting the image of the designated entities to tally with the expectations of the society in time of crisis; 2. satisfying and educating consumer behaviours under crisis. As we have seen since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the society has had high expectations not only of state institutions, but also of economic units and objects. Their discourse has had to be adapted to meet the current needs of the individuals, which are lower in Maslow’s hierarchy, as opposed to those that can generally be observed during times of stability. These needs were materialised into certain consumer behaviours, such as distrust of products (see the case of the Covid-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca) or hoarding. The latter is defined as the act of collecting and safeguarding a large quantity of possessions (i.e. more than is required for present needs) for future use […]. It is motivated by fear of being caught unprepared […] and is heightened following an adverse event due to an increase in risk aversion […] and anticipated regret […] (Kirk, Rifkin 2020: 125). Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 187 <?page no="188"?> Thus, the ways in which names were employed in discourse have had to trigger appropriate associations in the new pandemic context, rather than the associations they would normally actualise. During crisis, unless the name givers are careful, a previously apt name (Nissan 2013: 28, 33) may become “inapt” or hypermotivated simply by virtue of the connotations with which name users endow it (for the first situation, see below the case of the beer brand Corona, while the latter is illustrated by means of a few trade names and toponyms). 3 Corona, the taste of the pandemic The onset of the spread of the new coronavirus drew the attention of customers worldwide to several established brands whose names included the lexeme corona and which were therefore reassessed in the context of the pandemic: Brands that shared the same name with aspects of the ‘coronavirus’ began to report abnormal losses and sustained periods of trading volatility. While financial market conditions had deteriorated quite extensively, some companies were experiencing added pressures simply because their name or product base had in some way contained the term ‘corona’ (Corbet et al. 2021). The most cited example in this respect is the case of the beer brand Corona, whose socioeconomic path in the year 2020 in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic was the subject of thorough investigations. According to surveys conducted in February 2020 (see the data analyzed by Corbet et al. 2020, Teasdale 2021), Corona had met with poor sales and a damaged brand image due to the perception of the brand and its associative name (Geeraerts 2006: 257) through the filter of the pandemic and its mediatization. According to Corbet et al. (2021), “The intention to buy Corona beer in the United States among adults has fallen to its lowest level in the past two years, while the perception of the brand has also collapsed”. The downfall of the brand seemed to reach another phase in April 2020, when the brewer announced their decision to suspend their activity temporarily, as the product was considered “non-essential” in a pandemic (Barrera 2020). However, by August 2020 Corona was declared the most valuable beer brand in the world despite the decline in sales recorded at the beginning of the year in certain parts of the world, such as China and the USA (Waterworth 2020). The number of sales continued to grow towards the end of the year 2020 as well (Ives 2020). Thus, it would appear that the pandemic actually helped raise even more awareness of the brand and increased the sociability of corresponding drink (see Manning 188 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="189"?> Fig. 1: Logo of the Corona beer brand reima‐ gined by graphic designer Jure Tovrljan. Source: Barnes (2020). 2012: 208) although no clear effort could be identified on the part of the brewer. The negative publicity that the brand received was probably also seen as a means of promoting the product. As opposed to this, being ignored is, from the commercial viewpoint, more damaging. Instead of trying to reinforce the true identity of the brand, the brewer capitalised on the attention the product received particularly on social media platforms. The image of the brand was adapted to life in the context of the pandemic mostly owing to the contribution of the consumers (Ferreira 2020). From being seen as the drink which might get a person infected with the coronavirus (online Google searches include keywords like “corona beer virus”, “beer virus”, or “beer coronavirus” - see Bostock 2020, Saini 2020, Sport.ro 2020), Corona became once again, by mid-2020, a symbol of pleasure and leisure (Ferreira 2020). An interesting aspect about this example is that the connection between the beer brand and SARS-CoV-2 generated a multimodal humorous discourse materialized in memes and other playful designs (see Fig. 1). This tallies with what Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan and Alina Bugheșiu (2024: 208) have underlined as being one of the positive social effects of the pandemic: A positive aspect of the coronavirus pandemic and home isolation has been the proliferation of humour under its most diverse shapes. Despite the social distancing imposed by the authorities in numerous countries, individuals remained connected by means of e-mail and various social networking apps, which have been the vehicle for the dissemination of thousands of (dark humour) jokes (see Felecan and Felecan 2020, 2021) aimed at making people’s lives easier. Most of the memes centred on the Corona beer brand had the potential of harming the brand image. How‐ ever, they instead contributed to its emphasis in the category of goods to which the product pertains (see Fig. 2, 3, 4, and 5), by virtue of the carefully designed brand personality and positive connotations associated with the brand throughout its existence (see Bugheșiu 2015: 105). Moreover, the memes contributed to weaving the brand narrative of Corona from the consumers’ perspective, which was different from the one depicted by mainstream media (see Rossolatos 2020: 2). Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 189 <?page no="190"?> Fig. 2: Coronavirus - health warning. Source: KCAL News (2020). Fig. 3: Coronavirus - beer virus. Source: KCAL News (2020). Fig. 4: Coronavirus - Lyme disease meme. Source: Pinterest (n.d.). - Fig. 5: Coronavirus and Ebola. Source: KCAL News (2020). At the same time, there were memes which hinted at an antibranding campaign behind the exaggeration of the social media, in particular, and the mass media, in general, of the perceived relationship between the brand Corona and the coronavirus (see Fig. 6 and 7). 190 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="191"?> Fig. 6: Coronavirus - Red Bull meme. Source: Reddit (2020). Fig. 7: Coronavirus - Equis meme. Source: KCAL News (2020). Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 191 <?page no="192"?> Despite everything, as Teasdale (2021) underlines, Corona’s 2020 experience is proof that brands are astonishingly resilient. You must work damn hard to damage one. Most consumers just don’t care enough about brands or their associations to be that bothered by negative events, even global pandemics (Teasdale 2021). This testifies to the fact that the “(in)appropriateness of a name lies in the eye of the beholder. Stigma is not a property of names per se, but rather is established interactionally” (De Stefani 2021: 72). Such contextualised matchings are highly subjective and have an aura of the mysterious about them, similar to conspiracy theories. It is clear to see why they tend to become viral rapidly, although they are often ungrounded. Thus, an infodemic web is generated around a commercial entity starting from its name and certain infelicitous associations. Some consumers will fall prey to this kind of fake news, but this is a normal psychological reaction during crisis. However, as the example of Corona beer has proven, most consumers will choose to see beyond the circumstantial associative meanings with which a name is laden. On the contrary, instead of being alarmed, they will use this opportunity to avoid the escalation of an already tense situation by turning a serious discourse into a lighter, humorous one, as the memes above have shown. 4 Under the bad spell of unfavourable associations in the media There are other products or companies whose names comprise the term corona and which were subjected to similar scrutiny in various media outlets at the beginning of the pandemic, when a certain part of the public opinion considered them doomed to extinction within a short period of time. Nevertheless, the consumers’ behaviour demonstrated the exact opposite: they enjoyed greater publicity and hence their profit increased. These examples include Corona Cigar Co., a famous American shop selling various types of cigars (Boey 2020) and Corona chocolate in Egypt (Al-Shamaa 2020). In the same vein, the Indian real-estate developer Corona Buildcon considered to eliminate the term Corona from their name “due to marketing challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic” (Ramnani 2020). Despite the positive feedback from customers, the developer’s marketing associates shared their concern about the name, as they feared that “buyers may not want to purchase a house with the name Corona due to its connotation with the disease” (Ramnani 2020). Nevertheless, the company still 192 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="193"?> operates under this name and even launches new residential projects whose names consist of the lexeme corona: Corona Gracieux (Corona Group 2023). In some instances, although in early 2020 the mass media claimed that certain products and companies, like La Corona cigars, Corona Tools (gardening tools and equipment), Corona Hotels (hotel chain), Corona Jewellery (Canada-based jewellery brand), Corona Furniture company (Mexico), were facing financial instability and dealing with an image crisis (Sport.ro 2020), we could not find any current or previous evidence to support these statements. This could lead us to believe that the initial claims were not based on solid data but were the result of the Covid-19 infodemic. Other examples of products that were not recalled or withdrawn from sale are Corona stockings (https: / / just4girls.ro/ dres-corona -20-den-cu-model-1743.html), Corona handbag (https: / / epantofi.ro/ geanta-furla -corona-1012379-b-bux9-ko0-dalia-f.html), Sensual Corona ring (https: / / glamira .ro/ inele-pentru-femei-sensual-corona-10-mm.html? alloy=white_red-585), and Corona X-Force universal combined drill (https: / / maschio.com/ catalog/ product / corona_x-force/ ro_RO). 5 Negative associations in brand names and their impact on health Not all brands are part of success stories, as undesirable connotations instilled in the mind of the population by the mass media have sometimes led to name change, or re-nomination (Agha 2007: 68). The Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca was renamed Vaxzevria in March 2021. According to Chini (2021), “The vaccine itself remains unchanged, but the Swedish agency considers the new name important, as it is accompanied by other things, such as new labelling and packaging”. However, it should be noted that the name change occurred in the context of the negative publicity the vaccine had received in the media “because of some cases of blood clots and low platelet counts”, although the European Medicines Agency “reconfirmed that the vaccine was safe and effective, and that the benefits outweigh the possible risks” (Chini 2021): “Like all medicines, this vaccine can cause side effects, although not everyone will experience them” (European Medicines Agency 2021: 4). In addition to the specialised information in the mass media, AstraZeneca was severely affected by the negative publicity it received on social networks, where it quickly became one of the main topics for viral albeit medically/ scientifically ungrounded news, as well as alarmist and fake news. By and large, from 2020 and until the first half of the year 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic had to compete against the infodemic that it had generated. Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 193 <?page no="194"?> 6 The Covid-19 pandemic as a background for place (re)branding The lexeme corona is frequently found as a constituent of place names through‐ out the centuries. In the Middle Ages, Corona de Castilla (Fig. 8) designated the state entity resulting from the union of Castilla and León. Corona de Aragón (Fig. 9) was a thalassocracy controlling a large portion of present-day eastern Spain, parts of what is now southern France. It also encompassed a Mediterranean “empire” which included the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and Southern Italy. Fig. 8: Territory of the Crown of Castile, 1640. Source: Wikipedia (Crown of Castile). Fig. 9: Territories under the jurisdiction of the Crown of Aragon in 1441. Source: Wikipedia (Crown of Aragon). 194 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="195"?> Fig. 10: Former seal of Corona City. Source: InlandEmpire.US (2018). In present times, the oikonym Corona has not disappeared, but can be found in various parts of the world where it continues to designate various settlements despite the alleged distress initially manifested by the inhabitants that this name could be associated in a negative way with Covid-19. Corona (Fig. 10) is a city located approximately 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles in western Riverside County, California, and it is known by several nicknames (Crown Town, The Circle City, Crown Colony, Queen Colony, Indianapolis of the West), most of which refer to the meaning of the noun in Spanish. Due to the excessive mediatization of the pandemic upon its spread, such an oikonym was feared by the mass media to be potentially harmful to the image of the inhabitants, as it was believed it could trigger undesirable economic effects (Pringle 2020). In the small town of Corona, New Mexico, the name drew the attention of individuals driving by or through the town. Thus, the settlement became more well-known during lockdown than it had been before the pan‐ demic began. According to Willis (2020), “To no one’s surprise, locals had noticed out-of-towners stopping to take photos on the highway near the town-limit signs, and in front of the Town Hall”. In the two aforementioned situations, the Covid-19 pandemic created the fruitful con‐ text for the settlements to gain publicity. The brand images that these places used to have before the spread of the coronavirus were altered in view of the new meaning associations between the place names and the sociomedical reality. It was not an instance of petty, gluttonous marketing, by means of which the two settlements were trying to capitalise on the Covid-19 crisis, but one whose aim was to underline the importance of the spirit of community during those troubling times, when restrictions meant shortages in various supplies as well as human contact (see Willis 2020). This was even more salient in the case of the neighbourhood of Corona, in the borough of Queens, New York City. One etymological explanation for the name of the neighbourhood states that it was meant to reflect the status of the neighbourhood among the other administrative divisions of the borough. Initially known as West Flushing, Corona neighbourhood was considered the “crown of Queens County” (Antos 2010: 52) when its name was changed in 1870. Paradoxically, in 2020, Corona was among the four neighbourhoods of Queens Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 195 <?page no="196"?> Fig. 11: Monte Corona. Source: Wikipedia (Monte Corona). borough (alongside East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights) with the highest numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths (see Correal, Jacobs 2020). Present-day toponymy records other geographical units called Corona, due to their crown-shaped appearance. Thus, in the Canary Island of Lanzarote there is Monte Corona (609 meters - see Fig.11), a high extinct volcano. In Panama, San Carlos, there is a beach named Playa Corona (MapQuest). In Italy, there are several mountains called (Monte) Corona in Umbria, near Perugia, in Lombardy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia; in Spain - Monte Corona in Cantabria. By means of metonymy, these geographical units transferred their names to accommodation locations (hotels, boarding houses, guest houses) or monasteries (Umbria), which could have - but luckily have not - suffered greatly due to the name and its association with SARS-CoV-2. Under totalitarian governance, such names could be changed to fit certain political, religious, ethnic, economic, ethical and aesthetic frameworks, illustrating “assertions of power over space” (Mácha 2020: 170), like those which were observed in communist Romania (see Felecan Oliviu 2017: 81-83). Names like Corona could have become taboo by being situated at the crossroads between the ethical, aesthetic and political frameworks, with medical implications. 196 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="197"?> Ethically speaking, the communists claimed that the Marxist-Leninist society was perfect […]; settlement names were turned into an instrument of communist propa‐ ganda. The new society had to be proclaimed on the level of onomastics too, by the abandonment of compromised and compromising names and the adoption of new ones in keeping with the philosophy of the political regime (Felecan Oliviu 2017: 83). Starting from the same model of values and taking into consideration current political correctness, geographical names could have been required to be changed for purely subjective reasons, to avoid injuring the reputation of people from regions/ settlements bearing the name Corona. At the same time, such a name change would have affected the identity of local inhabitants, as it would have disrupted the balance between memory and place (see Blair, Tent 2021; Hoelscher, Alderman 2006). 7 Trade names and positive associations during the Covid-19 crisis The association that can be established between the Covid-19 pandemic and a chrematonym can also trigger positive images in consumers’ minds. Thus, for the Indian company Bombay Oxygen Investments Ltd, “[…] the share price has hit the roof for a company that has the word ‘Oxygen’ in its name despite its business having nothing to do with the life-saving gas - something in high demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic” (PTI 2021). The surge in the number of shares sold was fuelled by two aspects: 1. the oxygen crisis with which India dealt in April-May 2021, when the number of cases and deaths skyrocketed, turning India into the epicentre of the pandemic at the time; 2. the customers’ misconstrual of the company’s name in the aforementioned context, as the name seems to imply that the company manufactures and/ or supplies oxygen (a piece of information which continued to appear on the company’s website, although it was no longer accurate during the crisis in India; see PTI 2021). In any other situation, the lexeme oxygen in the company’s name might have been understood as functioning metaphorically, associating, for instance, the need to own the products sold by the company with the need for oxygen. Nev‐ ertheless, the Covid-19 pandemic imposes a different, more concrete framework of interpretation. The company’s name refers to a basic human need, and the massive buying of shares was a manifestation of the struggle for the “survival of the fittest” (Spencer 2017 [1910]: 531). Names in Commerce during the Covid-19 Pandemic 197 <?page no="198"?> 8 Concluding remarks When the reality we knew took an unprecedented turn for the worse at the beginning of the year 2020, the field of economy was one of the most severely affected areas of activity. Some businesses adapted, e.g., restaurants began providing food delivery services. Others, due to the specifics of their trade, reached a standstill and perished (e.g., numerous clothing stores were eventually closed permanently due to lack of customers - see Amankwah-Amoah et al. 2021; McIntosh 2020). And still others took advantage of the situation and actually flourished (e.g., the undeniable soar of e-commerce - see Jílková, Králová 2021). Most importantly, the pandemic renewed our awareness of the importance of trade names, of their relationship with the entity they designate and the target customers. As it has been shown above, chrematonyms comprising the lexeme corona triggered negative and positive associations in the minds of the consumers in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Similar situations were recorded in the past as well: The worst case was probably that of Ayds Diet Candy, an appetite suppressant which was first marketed to the public in the 1930s. By the 1980s, their sales had been so negatively affected by the AIDS pandemic that the company attempted to salvage its product’s reputation by changing the name to Diet Ayds, which, for obvious reasons, did not have the desired effect, and the product was eventually discontinued. In contrast, the sales of an Australian company’s caramel-flavoured Sarsaparilla drink, abbreviated as SARS, went up during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s because consumers viewed it as a novelty item (Bajić 2020; see also Al-Shamaa 2020 for other examples). Such associations were frequently suggested by news in the mass media and posts on social media platforms. Ultimately, whether they had any solid scientific grounds is not essential, because what matters is the way in which they had the power to make the trade names (and commercial entities implicitly) more or less valuable in the eyes of potential consumers. This holds true for place names consisting of the word corona. As Ho & Maddrell (2021: 3) pointed out, The global reach of the pandemic has resulted in new geographies of death, maps of bereavement, personal and collective topographies of loss, as well as wider associated emotional-affective impacts. 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Available at: https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Mo nte_Corona (accessed on March 2, 2025). 204 Alina Bugheșiu, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana Felecan <?page no="205"?> Memetic Logic of a Brand Name The Case Study of Corona Beer Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova Abstract: The article is dedicated to the study of the memetisation of an ergonym, a brand name of Corona beer. The ergonymic component of the meme is frequently expressed by a complete homonym of a pandemic term associated with Covid-19, as it happens to the brand of beer Corona, being much similar to the medical term coronavirus, or corona, now registered by dictionaries. Four trends of the Corona brand name functioning in the memetic discourse were established: the juxtaposition of Corona to other brands and/ or products; the loss of the name Corona or renaming; a verbal play with the brand name Corona; visual pun. The memetic logic of these trends is achieved via semantic or visual antithesis, synonymic juxtaposition, partial synonymy, paronymy, partial parallelism, periphrasis, pun, violation of a phraseological unit, superimposing of images, contributing to the creation of irony, even sarcasm, thus being aimed at a humorous effect. 1 Introduction Our paper concentrates on one of the most important events of the beginning of the XXI century, the pandemic of Covid-19. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the pandemic lifestyle and its perception in the general cultural landscape. The focus of our article is the memetic logic of brand names, more precisely, the brand of Corona beer, during the period of isolation and other hardships of the pandemic times. It indicates a need to understand the role of ergonyms or brand names in the memetic discourse, especially the processes of their memetisation. An ergonym may be understood as “a proper name of an organized group of people: business organization, political party, educational establishment, bank, cultural institution, restaurant, shop” (Karpenko and Neklesova, 2024: 37), while a brand name (or brandonym) as “a subtype of <?page no="206"?> ergonym, a proper name representing a brand” (ibid. 2024: 24), so from now on we use these terms interchangeably in our research. The main issues addressed in this paper are: a) the features of memetisation in the memetic discourse, b) the memetic discourse in the troubled times, c) memetisation of brand names. In times of crisis, people suffer from stress, so in order to weaken, if not eliminate, its effects, they resort to humour, often based on the memetisation of an important event, in our case, the coronavirus pandemic and its attributes. Stress (the Covid-19 pandemic definitely being one) triggers a cascade of stress hormones, which leads to negative physiological changes, often referred to as a fight or flight response — an automatic physiological reaction and an evolutionary survival mechanism. Certain techniques help to counter this response: relaxation, physical activity, and social support, the latter embracing “a life-enhancing social net” (Understanding the Stress Response 2020). In the age of the internet, the last technique has become increasingly popular, including not only relatives, significant others, friends, co-workers and other members of the inner and outer circles but also social networks with their inherent participatory culture, most vividly manifesting itself in creating, remixing, and spreading memes. Recent research (Akram et al. 2021) suggests that anxious individuals felt socially supported by sharing and observing memes related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Research into humour has a long history, although few studies investigated its peculiarities in troubled times in a systematic way. Various research cases on humour (Dundes 1987, Kuipers 2011, Phillips 2024) provide evidence that humorous reactions to tragic events exist and flourish. Humorous vernacular activities during Covid-19, like creating and spreading memes, only confirm this trend. Commenting on jokes, Shifman et al. (2014: 272) argue that they are often “important arenas in which troubling issues are processed and negotiated”. Constant repetition of humorous activities and their iteration contribute to collective resonance and spread of memetic jokes. As Marvin Minsky put it: “Jokes are not really funny at all, but reflect the most serious of concerns; the pursuit of sobriety through the suppression of the absurd” (Minsky 1980: 16). In a similar vein, memes in digital communities are often regarded as jokes. This kind of reputation may be explained due to “their importance in communicating different ideas and adapting to any situation, no matter how serious or banal” (González-Aguilar et al. 2023: 57). Overall, these studies highlight the need of researching human reactions in the cultural landscape of the pandemic and accompanying tragic events. In view that has been mentioned so far, one may suppose that humour is one of the social responses to this kind of events and memes are one of its vehicles. 206 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="207"?> As a more broad term, humour is mainly associated with pleasure and laughter. Sigmund Freud’s theory of humour, particularly detailed in his book “Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious” (1905), is based on the idea that humour acts as a form of relief by allowing the discharge of psychic energy that would otherwise remain repressed. Humour is created when there is an amusing for the human brain discrepancy between what is expected and what actually occurs (Suls 1972), a so-called effect of defeated expectations due to the rhematic violation of the theme of a particular message, discrediting and disabling the predictive function of the mind. Modern neuroscientific studies discovered that humour activates several regions of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, associated with complex cognitive processing, and the limbic system, related to emotional responses (Wild et al. 2003). Humour can be seen as a complex phenomenon involving cognitive recognition processes, emotional responses, and social interactions. It serves multiple functions, from stress relief to social bonding, and engages various aspects of human psychology and neurobiology. Some researchers agree that “humour is a very potent way of drawing symbolic boundaries: a mismatching sense of humour is a social difference hardly ever experienced as neutral” (Kuipers 2009: 219). Lynch maintains, “Humour is a communicative process that is subject to the interpretation of the receiver” (Lynch 2009: 480). Similarly, Shifman et al. (2014: 739) assert that jokes, even translated ones, formulate a global humorous sphere. Considering the memetic discourse, it is important to understand the essence of the term meme. A growing body of literature has investigated memes in various aspects and formats. Our research seeks to provide an account of the process of a brand name becoming an internet meme. Milner (2016: 1) suggests the following understanding of internet memes: they “take the form of pictures captioned on Reddit, puns hashtagged on Twitter, and videos mashed up on YouTube. They can be widely shared catchphrases, Auto-Tuned songs, manipulated stock photos, or recordings of physical performances. They are used to make jokes, argue points, and connect friends”. Along the same lines, Wilkins subsequently argued that “a meme is something (the “smallest” something you can identify) that gets replicated and selected in culture as a unit” (Wilkins 1998). As we can see, the notion of meme is quite broad, thus, almost everything can become an internet meme as soon as it plays a significant role in the cultural landscape and follows memetic logic. As noted by McNamara (McNamara 2011), “it is only a meme when the subject has learnt what the symbol signifies and how to communicate that concept to someone else efficiently and accurately”. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 207 <?page no="208"?> In her seminal paper, Shifman defines an internet meme as: “(a) a group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content, form, and/ or stance, which (b) were created with awareness of each other, and (c) were circulated, imitated, and/ or transformed via the internet by many users” (Shifman 2014: 41). Throughout this paper, the term meme will refer to a carrier of cultural information that passes via social channels, its key characteristics being concise‐ ness and swift distribution. A proper name can obtain memetic characteristics and become a meme or memeplex. Memes as subtexts in internet user-gener‐ ated communicative situations constitute memetic discourse, which can be universally understood, usually unlimited by the boundaries of a particular language. Consequently, the pandemic memetic discourse may be treated as user-generated, recontextualized, and thematically united by the Covid-2019 pandemic collection of viral short texts, videos and/ or images. Thus far, our investigation has argued that meme is a unit of cultural information which constitutes memetic discourse. This section has attempted to provide a brief summary of the scientific literature relating to memes, humour and brand names. The following part concentrates on the memetic logic of Corona humorous trends and illustrates them in more detail. 2 Method Our study investigates recent trends in ergonyms’ functioning, which, due to their complete or partial external resemblance to pandemic medical terms, became one of the foci of participatory culture in the pandemic times. A meme creates “a blind spot” in the knowledge field, deleting a part of the background information. It anchors the core characteristics which constitute the topic of a meme. Likewise, a proper name can be seen as the assemblage of core characteristics, as it bears connotations but does not reveal all the information. Here, the Corona meme takes into consideration only the humorous side based on the play on words, such as pun, excluding other information about the gravity of the Covid-19 disease: “the beer brand Corona, when becoming a meme, was the target of associations that in the texts built negative hypersignification (such as contamination and danger), permeated by a tone of humour” (Costa 2021: 5998). As a result, the memes are conceptualised as involving combinations of different humorous voices (Dynel 2021: 182). The process of memetisation can embrace various types of onyms (Карпенко et al. 2023), including ergonyms due to their complete or partial external resemblance to pandemic medical terms, which may engage the word play with homonyms and paronyms, homonyms 208 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="209"?> being identical words, further subdivided into homophones (words similar in pronunciation) and homographs (words similar in writing), while paronyms being words pronounced / spelt very much alike, but not identical. Though, memetisation embraces a broader range of expressive means, including not only verbal constituents but also visual and audial. Unarguably, one of the brightest cases of such closeness in form with a pandemic appellative is the ergonym Corona, a brand of Mexican beer that exists since 1925. It belongs to a short list of 20 most popular beer brands in the USA, with Corona ® products occupying positions 2, 8 and 12 with the index of fame 97 %, 93 %, and 95 % (The Most Popular Beers 2024). Here, we deal with the brand name Corona, which in the memetic spotlight stands for the whole line of products made in Mexico breweries. Speaking about brands, Danesi noted that “a brand evokes an unconscious system of thought … and is based on a poetic sense of the meaning nuances built into words” (Danesi 2011: 182). The history of brands homonymic to disease outbreaks also includes the case of diet candies Ayds, which was obviously very reminiscent of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), a life-threatening illness. The company sought to change this brand name as the resemblance hurt sales (Diet Candy Seeking Name 1988). Similarly, the use of a hotel brand in association with Covid-19 managed isolation and quarantine facility appeared to be detrimental to its brand Fig., reducing brand loyalty and increasing negative word of mouth (Wisker, Morgan 2023). Simultaneously, popular hotel brands, such as Sheraton, Hyatt, Intercontinental, “might be tempted to take comfort from the experience of Corona, the brand of beer”, remaining with their sales intact (Laufer 2021). Some proper names were “fortunate” enough to be homonymous to pandemic terms, the brightest examples being Corona ® , Delta Airlines ® , planet Omicron. The word corona has three dictionary meanings according to Cambridge Dic‐ tionary: “1) a circle of light that can sometimes be seen around the moon at night, or around the sun during an eclipse (= a time when the moon is positioned exactly between the sun and the earth); 2) the outer atmosphere of a star, for example, the sun; 3) the top rounded part of a body part such as a tooth or the skull” (Corona: Cambridge 2024). None of these meanings coincides with the memetic meaning of coronavirus, corona for short. The same refers to other examples, being the names of letters of the Greek alphabet. Although Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Corona: Oxford 2024) offers the following meanings of corona: “1) a ring of light seen around the sun or moon, especially during an eclipse; 2) infection with or disease caused by a coronavirus”. Omicron also acquires a contemporary meaning Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 209 <?page no="210"?> in addition to the letter of the Greek alphabet: “a variant (= form) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first reported in November 2021 and spread quickly to become the main form of the virus in many places”, the same refers to Delta: “a variant (= form) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first reported in late 2020 and named “Delta” in 2021. It became the main form of the virus worldwide until the Omicron variant appeared in late 2021”. As we see, the English word stock reacts to the dynamic extralinguistic situation through linguistic changes, acquiring new meanings for the existing words in response to the challenges of the modern world. Other onyms seem to be just paronymous to pandemic terminology, i.e. partially resembling it: e.g. Elon Mask (different spelling and pronunciation from the name of a real person, Elon Musk); the Corona-pocalypse (the Apoca‐ lypse is blended with the term, thus forming an occasional portmanteau word); Coronavirus. COVID-19. Kung Flu. Die Kwon Do (pronunciation and spelling are different from Taekwondo, a Korean martial art, though a strong resemblance is preserved). Words belonging to different languages and somewhat similar in pronunci‐ ation and/ or spelling might be involved in creating a meme, as in the following illustrations, where English and French are employed side by side: It’s only Quarantine if it’s the Quarante province of France. Otherwise it’s just Sparkling Isolation; The CDC says it’s not omicron unless it comes from the Omicrônne region of France, otherwise it’s just sparkling covid. Fig. 1: Top 10 most valuable beer brands. (brandirectory.com/ rankings/ beers/ 2021) 210 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="211"?> Fig. 2: The Fast & Furious timeline. This humorous memetic play increased the popularity of the product, bringing corresponding economic consequences. As evidence shows, there was a steady increase in weekly Corona beer sales in the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic (Zheng et al. 2022). The Corona brand remained in the top 10 most valuable beer brands in the summer of 2020 (Erricker 2021), which is clearly illustrated by Fig. 1. Despite the association of the coronavirus disease with the beer, the flood of misinformation and the wave of Corona beer memes, the Corona beer brand suffered very little reputational loss and has found itself the unintentional beneficiary. González-Aguilar et al. (2023) report a somewhat similar case when the brand Casio became a part of the humorous memetic discourse after it was mentioned by pop star Shakira in one of her songs. Humour became one of the touchstones in the viral marketing campaign initiated by internet users in a voluntary and spontaneous way. Corona beer rose to worldwide popularity after the successful launch of The Fast & Furious franchise. Every film in the series incorporated Corona products, thus, the brand became the symbol of a family reunion and an unbreakable bond between the main characters. Fig. 2 illustrates a humorous outline of the plot in the film series. Here, the turn of events is jokingly depicted: 1. The main character apparently receives some messages about possible problems 2. The solution to the problems in the blockbuster-style 3. The celebration of success In the franchise, Corona has become one of the symbols of the long-running film series along with the word “family”. Despite this, the Corona brand was not a popular topic for online memes until the pandemic. The homonymy of the beer brand name and the disease name became the trigger for meme-creating activity after the Covid-19 outbreak. As Lerman states, “If you’re look‐ ing for beer, what beer might come to mind first, or what pops out to you on the shelf in the store? It’s the one that shares a name with the topic that you’re hearing most about” (Nguen 2022). As the online service Google Trends shows (Fig. 3), the word Corona was at its peak in Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 211 <?page no="212"?> March 2020. Before 2020, it was at its lowest since 2004 (the year of the start of the data analyzis). Here, the unfortunate brand name association became the source of jokes based on puns and other expressive means. Fig. 3: Results from Google Trends for the key word Corona from 2004 to the present time. The memetic material for our investigation was collected via different internet resources: Imgur, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, and Telegram channels. Our attention is focused on the instances of memes as each could be copied, distributed, re-edited and reposted many times, which makes counting almost impossible. We decided not to count the acts of spreading (here, we speak about liking, forwarding, sharing, reposting, and including memes in replies) but to concentrate on the generic sample. As we observed the instances of Corona memes, we noticed four trends that significantly contributed to the humorous aspect. 3 Results The process of memetisation has memetic logic, which, according to Milner (2016: 23-39), incorporates multimodality, reappropriation, resonance, collecti‐ vism and spread. This memetic logic can be clearly seen in the Corona trends. Being much alike to the medical term coronavirus, or corona, now registered by dictionaries, the ergonymic component of the Corona memes pool is a part of several humorous trends. They include: 1) the juxtaposition of Corona to other brands and/ or products; 2) the loss of the name Corona or renaming; 3) Corona 212 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="213"?> verbal play; 4) visual pun. The sections below describe how memetic logic is manifested in these trends. 3.1 The juxtaposition of Corona to other brands In this trend, we found out that jokes were based on interactions with other brands or products. The jokes stem from the homonymy between the name of the disease and Corona beer. Among the flood of misinformation about Covid-19, there was also an idea that beer could somehow be the carrier of the virus. This fact was taken very seriously by the management of the company, and they even issued an explanatory video in which the CEO explained the controversy (A Message from Corona Beer 2020). In the trend of juxtaposition we can observe the sanitary measures taken at the production stage, such as distancing, avoiding contact, and wearing masks. In the following example (Fig. 4), coronavirus stands for the brand Corona. Here, the original photo is altered and appropriated for the sake of juxtaposition with another Mexican brand of beer, Dos Equis, or Two X’s, initially called Siglo XX (Twentieth Century). It is produced by the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery and became popular due to the advertising campaign The Most Interesting Man in the World, starring Jonathan Goldsmith, as in the meme below: Fig. 4: The Coronavirus variation of the meme The Most Interesting Man in the World. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 213 <?page no="214"?> In this example, the juxtaposition of two brand names creates a type of semantic antithesis, opposing Corona beer to its allegedly more healthy opposition, represented by Dos Equis. Visual antithesis is created in the next meme (Fig. 5), depicting several bottles of Heineken, a popular Dutch beer, wearing a mask against a bottle of Corona beer. The same idea of another brand of beer being healthy as opposed to Corona is laid bare here: Fig. 5: The visual antithesis of beer brands. Prominent is the following example (Fig. 6), where the opposition between Corona beer and various other beer brands is depicted visually due to the respirators worn by all the bottles except Corona. The verbal component is represented only by brand names, the main accent being made on the visual images of products: Fig. 6: The beer brands are alienating themselves from Corona. 214 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="215"?> The juxtaposition of Corona to other brands is carried out by the employment of visual or semantic antithesis, emphasizing protective means and distancing as if trying to avoid catching the disease, consequently mocking the likeness of the brand name to the virus name. However, the juxtaposition is not always pejorative towards Corona. The following meme (Fig. 7) features two products whose names come from the same semantic field, Corona beer and Virus Vodka, a Ukrainian product launched in 2005, long before the pandemic, the slogans of which are Spread the Virus! and Get Infected! The text layout on both bottles constructs the full name of the virus, imitating compounding, thus uniting them into one semantic unit as a type of synonymic juxtaposition. In this instance, the trend of juxtaposition morphs with the trend of visual pun; on the pages to follow, we dwell on the latter (section 4). Fig. 7: The juxtaposition of two brands: Corona Extra and Virus Vodka. To sum up, this trend of memetic logic in the analyzed sphere is carried out by semantic or visual antithesis or synonymic juxtapositioning through reappropriation, multimodality and spread. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 215 <?page no="216"?> Fig. 8: The brand name is not mentioned but the font clearly refers to Corona Extra. 3.2 The loss of the name Corona or renaming This part of our research dwells on the trend of the loss of the name Corona or renaming. The trend for changing the brand name can be re‐ garded as a strategy to avoid unfor‐ tunate association with the deadly disease, a kind of humorous renam‐ ing, as in the following meme (Fig. 8): Here, “Need new name. Extra” is written in the font usually used by the Corona brand, imitating a standard label or advertisement for this product. Also, the additional word extra makes a reference to the brand’s top-selling pale lager variation of this beer. In the following example (Fig. 9), we can see the sarcastic name change from Corona Extra to Ebola Extra, substituting the homonym of the virus by a partial synonym: the name of another deadly disease ebola hemorrhagic fever, caused by ebolavirus. This change can be viewed as a grave promotion to a much more deadly virus, since the Ebola mortality rate is much higher than that of Covid-19 (39.5% against 1.55%) (Gupta et al. 2021). Fig. 9: The sarcastic name change from Corona Extra to Ebola Extra. 216 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="217"?> Distributed creativity results in variability of meme instances, it reflects com‐ munal reflexive experience and transcends cultural boundaries. The variability of Corona memes is a part of the collective generation process and an integral function of participatory culture, which can be clearly traced in the trends. The trend of renaming became so popular that a variety of memes with relatively similar texts were created, as in the following instance (Fig. 10): Fig. 10: A variant of the sarcastic renaming from Corona Extra to Ebola Extra. A number of memes are engaged in folk onomastic research, being concentrated on the brand name itself, the origin of both virus and beer names, and the consecutive necessity to change the name of the brand by a partially parallel structure, somehow making it less dangerous: from Corona Light to Covid Light. Here, we also can see a failed attempt at mimicry when the act of copying the name Corona went terribly wrong. Notable is an effort of the creator to use suitable graphic representation in order to imitate the original style of the product (Fig. 11): Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 217 <?page no="218"?> Fig. 11: The failed attempt at name change from Corona Light to Covid Light. The complete loss of the name can be exemplified in the following images (Fig. 12 and Fig. 13). In the following illustrations Corona is substituted by the periphrasis “virus named after a beer”: Fig. 12: A sample of a previous brand name substituted by a new periphrasis. 218 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="219"?> Fig. 14: An imaginary humorous offer with the name change. Fig. 13: A sample of periphrasis within imaginary words by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist. In these memes, the opposition between the said and the implied is felt distinctively, so it is possible to speak of the stylistic device of irony when the evaluative components of the connotative meanings of words do not coincide with their denotative meanings, with a distinct tendency to opposition. Also, renaming can be interpreted as a part of a marketing strategy to outrun competitors in the Covid-19 race. In the following instance (Fig. 14), the brand name of Belgian beer Budweiser is the central element of the play on words due to the formant weiser being paronymic in pronun‐ ciation to virus, hence a humorous offer from a competitor: Summarizing the expressive means employed in the trend of re‐ naming the product, we decipher partial synonymy, paronymy, partial parallelism, and periphrasis, all of which contribute to the creation of irony, even sarcasm. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 219 <?page no="220"?> 3.3 Corona verbal play This trend is the strongest in our Corona meme corpus. All of them include verbal play including other semantically connected elements, as in “Corona Extra. Available now with extra virus”; “All I wanted is another round of corona” (Fig. 15): Fig. 15: A scene from The Pirates of the Caribbean with a bottle of Corona crudely photoshopped. The iconic scene from The Pirates of the Caribbean with Jack the Sparrow with a bottle of Corona beer in his hand, running for his life from a bunch of enemy pi‐ rates, illustrates the introduction of two homophones within one short context, thus creating a pun. It should be noted that for a successfully constructed meme based on onymic homonyms or paronyms, immediate recognition of both the mentioned proper name and its implied counterpart is an obligatory condition. Two different meanings of two resembling words are realized within one context simultaneously, which leads to the effect of defeated expectations. The incongruity of humour implies a break with expectations as in the following: “You said you were sick! No, I said I have a case of corona” (Fig. 16), “First case of coronavirus confirmed in the UK! ” (Fig. 17), where a literal case with Corona bottles is confused with the disease case, thus creating a vivid device of a pun: 220 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="221"?> Fig. 16: A variant of meme Woman Yelling at a Cat with Corona pun. Fig. 17: A sample of a break with expectations with the word case as a vehicle. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 221 <?page no="222"?> Fig. 18: The sample with mismatched elements. The addressee perceives this word combination as news about the coronavirus infection, but the graphical representation, which accompanies the message, points to a beer storage box. Addition‐ ally, the layout of the lines strengthens this effect of gradual realization of the true sense of the meme. As a result, two wellknown meanings of two homo‐ nyms are realized within this con‐ text simultaneously, thus creating the effect of defeated expectations. Accordingly, the process results in the cre‐ ation of the stylistic device, or figure of speech, i.e. any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes, clarifies, or embel‐ lishes both written and spoken language (Figure of Speech: Britannica 2024), of pun, which causes a humorous effect. Also, we speak about the mismatched elements, as in “Can’t come to work. Why? Caught coronavirus” (Fig. 18). Here, a person has Corona beer but calls it coronavirus, in this particular context, understood as beer consumption: Another combination of contexts, that enhances the realisation of pun, is illustrated in Fig. 19, where beer consumption and Covid-19 are confused: Fig. 19: The collage of two pictures, a meme Back in My Day and a crate of Corona. 222 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="223"?> The next type of play on words is employed when the bottle or case label of Corona beer is modified by the creators of memes. It is exemplified in Fig. 20, where the word beer is substituted with virus: Fig. 20: The altered Fig. with Corona Extra changed into Corona Virus. In this case, we deal with a violation of a brand name, examples of which were also discussed in the first section of our study (1. The juxtaposition of Corona to other brands). A widely known brand name like Corona, with all its graphic and verbal peculiarities, might be treated as a phraseological unit, intentional change of which creates the stylistic device of a violation of a phraseological unit, observed in many memes as in the example below (Fig. 21): Fig. 21: A T-Shirt where the brand Corona Extra is altered into Corona Virus. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 223 <?page no="224"?> The evidence of violation of the brand name can be clearly observed in the following meme, where the term for a cocktail Margarita is blended with the name of beer (Fig. 22): Fig. 22: The example of blending of names Corona and Margarita resulting in Coronarita. In a similar vein, a popular Fig. with its message might gain a new, unexpected semantic load, achieved not only by the alteration of the Fig. but also due to the violation of the title. images 23 and 24 can be a good illustration of such cases, in which the titles of famous paintings are played on, featuring an imitation of a famous picture by Grant Wood American Gothic and a manipulated portrait of Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci: 224 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="225"?> Fig. 23: The humorous reproduction of Grant Wood American Gothic. Fig. 24: The graphically manipulated Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 225 <?page no="226"?> If the last example might be perceived outside the Corona beer context due to its significant role in art and popular culture, then the following two images (images 25 and 26) undoubtedly are based on the realization of the particular context of Сorona verbal play: Fig. 25: Mona Lisa in Cinco de Mayo context. 226 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="227"?> Fig. 26: Mona Lisa in Covid-19 context. The image of Mona Lisa with a bottle of Corona beer in a mask and som‐ brero impose a new context on a re‐ nowned picture by Leonardo Da Vinci. The instance in Fig. 25 also in‐ cludes a word combination Cinco de Mayo, the name of a national holiday in Mexico, which is turned into Drinko de Mayo with the help of in‐ tercultural patronymic attraction of the first words in Spanish and Eng‐ lish accordingly, thus creating an oc‐ casional word drinko. May 5th was in the first wave of quarantine, so the picture humorously reflects the per‐ ception of the time and new drinking habits during the pandemic. Fig. 26 depicts Mona Lisa in a mask drinking Corona beer through a straw, which may reflect the fear of contact and a tendency of self-isolation. In these cases, the design of the original is preserved, resulting in the recognition of the object. Nevertheless, the text is modified, which may be treated as a stylistic device of violation of a phraseological unit (the defini‐ tion can be extended to an idiom, proverb, quotation, in fact, any well-known phrase that is recognized immediately, the Corona beer label included). The effect of this figure of speech is expectedly humorous. The evidence presented thus far supports the idea that the memetic logic of the verbal play trend is based on collectivism, spread, and resonance. In summary, this section has shown that the third trend of verbal play application is carried out employing puns and violation of phraseological units. It suggests that we can see memetic logic in action, since multimodality, viral spread in the international community realize the dissemination of memes with verbal play. 3.4 Visual pun This part of our study concentrates on the visual aspect of Corona memes. When a meme is created, not only its verbal content is essential, but also visual, since memes, being polymodal, often contain images, less frequently videos and gifs. As Shifman (2014: 56) puts it, “an internet meme is always a collection of texts” which are often complemented with visual features. Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 227 <?page no="228"?> In this trend, most of the memes dedicated to Corona beer engage an Fig. of the bottle (or a case of bottles), which is often superimposed on the Fig. of the coronavirus or vice versa, as in the following instances (images 27, 28, 29): Fig. 27: An example of a visual pun depicting Coronavirus. Fig. 28: An example of a visual pun where bottles of Corona constitute a virus. 228 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="229"?> Fig. 29: An instance of visual pun including Corona beer and lime. The verbal component in the last Fig. (Fig. 29), “Every time I hear about the coronavirus all I keep imagining is…” fully demonstrates as two different concepts mingle together in the mind due to their homonymy. Notable is their graphical representation, blending and superimposing of images. As we see, the meaning of the term pun as a play on words in the process of memetisation is broadened, including not only a linguistic play on words but also a visual play on images, or visual pun, since “the visual representation of an Fig. can create an ambiguity which is considered to be a central figure of creating a pun”, when “an Fig. that depicts objects or the arrangement of objects, in such a way that the names of the objects or their arrangement creates a pun” (Giorgadze 2015: 364). Further, Giorgadze differentiates two types of visual puns (ibid.: 376): when the homophone of the original (notional) word is given in the picture and when the viewer must guess the homophone of the original word given in the picture. The donor domains for visual puns are not restricted by only these two concepts. It is possible to find an image superposition of an architectural landmark of the Salt Lake Mormon temple, on top of which Angel Moroni, who usually symbolizes Christ’s gospel restoration, lost his trumpet during the earthquake, so it was substituted by a bottle of Corona (Fig. 30): Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 229 <?page no="230"?> Fig. 30: Angel Moroni with a crudely photoshopped bottle of Corona beer. The following example is based on the breaking of the established patterns, where there is a coffin and cases of Corona beer in the same trunk, which implies that these objects can participate in the same activity. Thinking of the Fig. of Corona beer as a thing connected with partying, we can say that these two things constitute an unexpected behavior pattern which contributes to a humorous side (Fig. 31): Fig. 31: The visual pun rooting from the violation of established behavior patterns. 230 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="231"?> The humorous effect is strengthened by an allusion to the opening line of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”, being a violation of the phraseological unit (this trend we examined in section 2 of our study). An instance of a visual pun with three components was found (Fig. 32): Fig. 32: The sample with three components. This meme includes such concepts as a computer virus, Corona beer, and coronavirus, making it less easy for comprehension and processing. It is possible to conclude that visual punning occupies an important position in the memetic discourse, superimposing images of two or more concepts, belonging to different domains, in one context. 4 Conclusion The aim of the present research was to examine the memetisation of a brand name of Corona beer during the Covid-19 pandemic. High number of ergonyms appear to be linked to a memetisation cycle. This study set out to assess the effects of Corona brand becoming a part of this cycle due to its unfortunate homonymy with the virus name. Consequently, this fact turned out to be a way to economic success, noted by the internet community as a possible marketing strategy or an advertisement campaign, and memetised accordingly (Fig. 33 and 34): Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 231 <?page no="232"?> Fig. 33: The example of variation of meme Ancient Aliens and Coronavirus. Fig. 34: The example of humorous perception of corona homonymy. Overall, the creativity of internet users resulted in appreciation of Corona brand and also allowed the creation of a viral pseudo-tweet from Corona, explaining the symptoms of drinking beer (Fig. 35). This user-generated collection of memes, vox populi, gave the manufacturer a boost in sales that might linger in the years to come. 232 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="233"?> Fig. 35: The pseudo-tweet from Corona brand. The findings of this research provide insights for memetisation trends in the times of crisis. The results of this study indicate that there exist four humorous trends of Corona beer: 1) the juxtaposition of Corona to other brands and/ or products; 2) the loss of the name Corona or renaming; 3) Corona verbal play; 4) visual pun. The memetic logic of the first trend is released through both semantic and visual antitheses via synonymic juxtaposition. Multimodality and reappropriation can be considered one of the main vehicles of this trend. Another finding is that partial synonymy, paronymy, partial parallelism and periphrasis are apt to be part of the second trend where we can observe the loss of the name Corona or renaming. This trend is highly likely to be a humorous approach of preventing the idea of unfortunate association with the deadly disease. The data of the third memetic trend consists of puns and violation of phraseological units. This evidence can be interpreted as key factors based on violation of the established behavior patterns due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The fourth trend comprises superimposing images of two or more concepts in one context, which also violates expected social patterns, what happens Memetic Logic of a Brand Name 233 <?page no="234"?> due to graphically altered images. All the enumerated expressive means, being closely intertwined and intermingled, pursue one goal of generating irony or sarcasm, which in turn aim to produce a humorous effect. 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Abrufbar unter: https: / / emerald.c om/ insight/ content/ doi/ 10.1108/ CBTH-03-2022-0078/ full/ html (Stand: 28.07.2024) Zheng, Yuqing/ Wang, Lingxiao/ Zhao, Shuoli/ Hu, Wuyang (2022). Product Sales and Unintentional Name Association with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, 1 (2), 136-150. Abrufbar unter: http s: / / onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/ full/ 10.1002/ jaa2.18 (Stand: 28.07.2024) 236 Olena Karpenko, Valeriia Neklesova <?page no="237"?> Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden Individual naming of cars in Sweden Daniel Solling Abstract: This paper deals with the individual naming of cars in Sweden. Data was collected from online surveys, providing information about underlying name bases and naming motives. Is the original commercially used company or product name still visible in these individual names? And is an environmental or climate perspective considered when naming cars in Sweden? These questions are addressed in the paper. 1 Einleitung Autos spielen für viele Menschen eine wichtige Rolle im Berufssowie im Alltagsleben und fast alle haben Gefühle - positive oder negative - ihnen gegen‐ über. Sie können unsere Begleiter im Leben sein und viele Erinnerungen können mit Fahrzeugen generell oder mit einem besonderen Kraftwagen verknüpft sein. In gewisser Weise können wir eine Beziehung zu diesen Gefährten aufbauen. Dinge, mit denen wir emotional verbunden sind, pflegen wir zu benennen. Die individuelle Namensgebung von Autos stellt ein interessantes Forschungsfeld dar, das bislang nur wenig Beachtung gefunden hat. In Schweden, einem Land mit weiten Abständen und mit einer wichtigen Automobilindustrie, besitzen viele Menschen einen Kraftwagen. Diese Studie zielt u. a. darauf ab, die Muster und Motivationen hinter der individuellen Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden zu untersuchen. Außerdem wird in einer separaten Untersuchung auf Umwelt- und Klimaperspektiven bei der individuellen Namensgebung von Autos fokussiert. Der Beitrag gliedert sich folgendermaßen: In Abschnitt 2 wird zunächst der bisherige Forschungsstand dargelegt. Da die individuelle Namensgebung von Autos bislang wenig untersucht ist, werden auch Ergebnisse aus benachbarten Kategorien sonstiger Namen herangezogen. In Abschnitt 3 werden das me‐ <?page no="238"?> thodische Vorgehen sowie die Zusammensetzung der vorliegenden Daten, die auf einer Online-Umfrage basieren, erläutert. Darauf folgt eine ausführliche Auswertung der Daten in Abschnitt 4. Aus Platzgründen können lediglich ausgewählte Bereiche der individuellen Namensgebung von Autos untersucht werden. Ein abschließendes Fazit fasst die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zusammen und bietet einen Ausblick auf Anknüpfungspunkte für zukünftige Forschung. 2 Forschungsstand Wie oben schon erwähnt, liegt bis jetzt nicht viel Forschung zur individuel‐ len Namensgebung von Autos vor. Benachbarte Bereiche bieten in dieser Hinsicht etwas mehr. Beispielsweise untersuchen Baumann und Vogel (2014) Kfz-Wunschkennzeichen in einem deutschen Kontext und Neethling (2009) macht dies für Südafrika. Zu Namensgebung von Produkten liegt umfangreiche Forschung vor. Einen guten Überblick zu Produktnamen von Autos gibt Lötscher (2007). Diese Forschung liegt aber, genau wie Forschung zu Namensgebung von Schiffen und Lokomotiven, etwas weiter weg von dem, was hier untersucht wird (vgl. Ottersbach und Solling 2022 für weiterführende Literatur). Etwas näher kommt die Forschung zu Spitznamen für Automodelle; z. B. haben Wang et al. (2009) für einen chinesischen Kontext dazu geschrieben, Seppälä (2018) für einen finnischen und Nhongo und Tshotsho (2021) für Simbabwe. Kvillerud (1994) untersucht die Verhältnisse in Schweden. Er trennt aber bei der Auswertung nicht immer deutlich zwischen Spitznamen für Modellna‐ men und individueller Namensgebung einzelner Autos. Trotzdem sind seine Beispiele zur individuellen Namensgebung relevant für die vorliegende Unter‐ suchung, da einige Namen auch im hierfür erhobenen Material auftauchen. Zu erwähnen sind hier auch die Studien von Aldrin (2019) zu Individualna‐ men von Sport- und Segelbooten in Schweden sowie von Schybergson (2015) zur individuellen Namensgebung von Segelbooten im zweisprachigen Finnland - viele dieser Namen sind schwedisch. Als Ausgangspunkt für die individuelle Namensgebung von Autos könnte die Namensgebung von anderen Kategorien sonstiger Namen genommen werden, auch wenn die untersuchten Objekte keine Autos sind. Aus diesem Grund ist Forschung von Namensgebung von Haus- und Nutztieren hier relevant. In die‐ sem Bereich hat Leibring (vgl. z. B. 2000) viel zu den Verhältnissen in Schweden geforscht. Für den deutschsprachigen Raum liegen u. a. Untersuchungen von Schwerdt (2007) zu Pferdenamen, Schaab (2012) zu Hundenamen, Kraß (2014) zu Katzennamen und Holzschuch (2015) zu Kaninchennamen vor. Hierdurch hat 238 Daniel Solling <?page no="239"?> sich ein Raster für die Untersuchung der Namenbasen der Namen entwickelt, welches durch Dammel et al. (2015) etabliert wurde. Weitere Modifikationen des Rasters unternimmt Ottersbach (2023) für Vogelnamen. Demselben Raster bedient sich auch Aydin (2018); er modifiziert es auch weiter. Er untersucht die individuelle Namensgebung von Haushalts- und Bürogegenständen; Autos werden aber aus der Studie von Aydin (2018) ausgeschlossen. In einer interkulturellen Studie zur individuellen Namensgebung von Maschi‐ nen und technischen Geräten in Deutschland und Schweden können Ottersbach und Solling (2022) feststellen, dass es durchaus deutliche kulturelle Unterschiede in der Benennungspraxis zwischen Deutschland und Schweden gibt. In beiden Ländern sind Autos die häufigste Art Maschine, die einen Namen bekommen, weswegen eine Vertiefung in gerade diesen Maschinentypus von Interesse ist. Für die vorliegende Studie wurde auch teilweise dasselbe Material wie in Ottersbach und Solling (2022) benutzt. 3 Material und Methodik Das Material für die vorliegende Studie wurde mithilfe zweier Fragebögen erhoben. Der erste, der auch der Studie von Ottersbach und Solling (2022) zugrunde lag, liefert die meisten Ergebnisse. Er wurde dann durch einen zweiten Fragebogen zu Umwelt- und Klimaperspektiven bei der individuellen Namensgebung von Fahrzeugen ergänzt. Der erste Fragebogen wurde im Frühjahr und Sommer 2020, also in der ersten Phase der Coronapandemie, erstellt, und zwar in Form zweier identischer Online-Umfragen zur individuellen Namensgebung von Maschinen und tech‐ nischen Geräten, einer auf Deutsch und einer auf Schwedisch. Sie wurden mit einer Laufzeit von drei Monaten (Mai-Juli) in beiden Ländern in Umlauf gebracht. Aus diesem Fragebogen wurden für die vorliegende Studie einige Aspekte zur individuellen Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden ausgewählt. Autos waren nämlich die größte Gruppe unter den mit Individualnamen ver‐ sehenen Geräten und Maschinen. Die Studie beinhaltet 339 mit individuellen Namen versehene Autos; andere Fahrzeuge wie Wohnmobile, Traktoren oder Mofas, wurden hier nicht einbezogen. Insgesamt trugen 419 Personen mit 795 Namen bei, also benennt im Durch‐ schnitt jeder knapp zwei Geräte bzw. gibt diese in der Umfrage an. Von diesen 795 Namen waren, wie erwähnt, 339 Namen von Autos. Zum Geschlecht der Teilnehmer lässt sich in aller Kürze sagen, dass der überwiegende Anteil der Rückläufe von Frauen eingegangen ist, gut 80 %. Das Alter der Teilnehmer ist Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 239 <?page no="240"?> 1 Für nähere Angaben zu den Teilnehmern dieser Studie vgl. Ottersbach und Solling (2022: 314 f.). recht gleichmäßig über die angegebenen Fünfjahresspannen hinweg verteilt; die Jahresspanne 1970-1974 ist aber die größte. 1 Da einige der Antworten darauf hindeuteten, dass die Art des Treibstoffs, fossil oder elektrisch, bei der Namensgebung eine Rolle spielte, wurde zwischen Ende April und Anfang September 2023 in Schweden eine zweite Umfrage in Umlauf gebracht, in der der Fokus auf die Klimakrise und die Energiekrise in der Welt bei der individuellen Namensgebung von Geräten lag. Die Umfrage war in zwei Frageblöcke aufgeteilt. Im ersten wurde danach gefragt, ob man einem Gerät, das sowohl mit fossilen Treibstoffen als auch mit Strom befördert werden kann, einen Namen gegeben hat und wenn ja, welchen Namen. Im zweiten Frageblock wurde danach gefragt, ob eine Umwelt- oder Klimaperspektive bei der Namensgebung berücksichtigt wurde und ob unterschiedliche Namen an Fahrzeuge vergeben wurden, die von fossilen Treibstoffen angetrieben werden bzw. an Elektrofahrzeuge. Diese Umfrage wurde von 22 Teilnehmern beantwortet, die zwischen 1945 und 1994 geboren wurden; von ihnen waren 10 Frauen und 10 Männer, in zwei Fällen wurde die Umfrage von Pärchen zusammen beantwortet. 4 Analyse der Ergebnisse Die Analyse der Ergebnisse gliedert sich in einige Unterpunkte. Zuerst wird in Abschnitt 4.1 auf die Benennungsmotive der Autos eingegangen, danach folgt in 4.2 eine Übersicht darüber, welche die zugrunde liegenden Namenbasen in den individuellen Namen der Autos sind. Am Ende der Analyse zur ersten Umfrage in 4.3 werden Namen separat betrachtet, die eine gewisse Referenz zu einem Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen aufweisen. Danach werden in 4.4 Ergebnisse der zweiten Umfrage dargestellt. 4.1 Benennungsmotive Benennungsmotive sind die Gründe, die die Besitzer der Autos zur Wahl der konkreten Namen veranlassten. Hierfür stand den Teilnehmern ein Freitextfeld zur Verfügung. Die individuellen Antworten wurden dann in Motivkategorien eingeordnet. Es kommt vor, dass die Antworten länger sind und dass mehrere Motive für einen Namen angegeben wurden. In diesen Fällen wurden die Motive in verschiedene Kategorien eingeordnet, sodass die Anzahl der Motive für die 240 Daniel Solling <?page no="241"?> 2 Dass die gesamte Prozentsumme 99,9 % beträgt, hängt mit vorgenommenen Abrundun‐ gen der Prozentangaben unter den Kategorien zusammen. 3 Sämtliche Zitate im vorliegenden Beitrag sind vom Verfasser aus dem Schwedischen übersetzt. 339 Autos insgesamt 361 beträgt. Motivkategorien mit weniger als fünf Namen und solche Belege, die in keine Kategorie einzusortieren waren, wurden in die Kategorie „Sonstiges“ aufgenommen. Benennungsmotiv Aussehen 22,4 % (81) Kfz-Kennzeichen 21,6 % (78) (fiktives) Vorbild 15,2 % (55) Ableitung von Unternehmens-/ Produktnamen 10,8 % (39) persönliche Assoziation 10,0 % (36) musterhafte Benennung 4,2 % (15) Charakteristika 3,6 % (13) Sprachspiel 2,2 % (8) kultureller Bezug 1,9 % (7) Spaß 1,9 % (7) Verbindung zum Gerät 1,9 % (7) Vorliebe für den Namen 1,4 % (5) Sonstiges 2,8 % (10) SUMME 99,9 % (361) 2 Tab. 1: Benennungsmotive. Wie aus Tabelle 1 hervorgeht, ist die größte Gruppe und somit das häufigste Motiv für einen konkreten Namen das Aussehen des Autos; dies wird in 22,4 % der Fälle als Grund angegeben. Hier tauchen Begründungen auf wie für das Auto Silvester: „Das Auto war silbern“ (NAU 04851-ID 71), auf Schwedisch ‚silverfär‐ gad‘. 3 Die zweitgrößte Gruppe, die mit 21,6 % fast so groß ist wie „Aussehen“, ist „Kfz-Kennzeichen“, wie für das Auto Tyben: „Das Kfz-Kennzeichen war TYB und dann die Zahlen“ (NAU 04851-ID 77). Schwedische Autokennzeichen bestehen meistens aus drei beliebigen Buchstaben und drei beliebigen Zahlen. Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 241 <?page no="242"?> 4 Auf Deutsch heißt die Figur Dorie. Die Namensgebung auf Basis des Kfz-Kennzeichens ist in Schweden seit den 1970er Jahren belegt (vgl. Kvillerud 1994: 231 f. sowie Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 334). Die drittgrößte Gruppe mit 15,2 % aller Antworten ist, dass das Auto nach einem Vorbild, real oder fiktiv, benannt wurde wie z. B. das Auto Valfrid mit der Begründung: „Da das Geld für das Auto vom Onkel meines Vaters geerbt wurde“ (NAU 04851-ID 500) oder Doris nach der Figur im Zeichentrickfilm Findet Nemo (NAU 04851-ID 590). 4 Danach folgt auf Platz vier mit 10,8 % eine Gruppe, bei der der Name von einem Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen abgeleitet wurde, wie das Auto Cleo mit der Begründung: „Weil das Auto ein Clio ist“ (NAU 04851-ID 56). In 10,0 % der Fälle liegt eine persönliche Assoziation bei der Namensgebung vor. In diese Gruppe wurden Antworten einsortiert, die eine für Außenstehende nicht immer nachvollziehbare Begründung haben, wie z. B. für das Auto Bengt oder Bengan (ein schwedischer Männervorname und dessen Hypokorismus): „Es hat gepasst, das Auto sah genau wie ein Bengt/ Bengan aus“ (NAU 04851-ID 402) oder für das Auto Martha: „Das Auto ist braun, breit und kräftig, eine typische Martha“ (NAU 04851-ID 475). Die restlichen sieben Kategorien sind etwas kleiner. 4,2 % der Namen fallen in die Kategorie „Musterhafte Benennung“, die bei Aydin (2018: 110) „Benennung nach Muster oder Konzept“ heißt. Darunter fallen Angaben wie z. B. „Die Autos haben entweder ihren Namen wegen des Kfz-Zeichens bekommen. Die anderen Autos haben ihre Namen nach der Bamsefamilie bekommen“ (NAU 04851-ID 400). Bamse ist eine bekannte schwedische Comic-Buchfigur. Diese Antwort wurde auch den Kategorien „Kfz-Kennzeichen“ bzw. „(fiktives) Vorbild“ zugeordnet. 3,6 % der Belege gehören zur Kategorie „Charakteristika“. Diese umfasst Antworten wie z. B. für das Auto Harry: „Es ist ein schnelles Auto“ (NAU 04851-ID 368) basierend auf das englische Wort hurry, oder für Missan, ein typischer schwedischer Katzenname: „Wurde gebraucht gekauft, älteres Model aber lief gut. Schnurrte wie eine Katze als wir nach Hause fuhren“ (NAU 04851-ID 86). In 2,2 % der Fälle liegen sprachspielerische Namensgebungspraktiken der Namensgebung zugrunde. Dazu gehören z. B. Lepo, der diesen Namen bekom‐ men hat, weil Opel rückwärts Lepo heißt (NAU 04851-ID 85) oder Gevalia (der Name einer schwedischen Kaffeerösterei), weil „[d]as Auto ein durchgerosteter Opel war“ (NAU 04851-ID 412). In 1,9 % der Fälle liegt eine Art ausländischer kultureller Bezug beim Namen vor, wie für Mademoiselle: „Passte gut zu unserem ersten französischen Auto, einem Renault“ (NAU 04851-ID 412). Ironische 242 Daniel Solling <?page no="243"?> Anspielungen und Namen, die durch Situationskomik entstanden sind, sind unter „Spaß“ zusammengefasst; sie sind zu 1,9 % zu verzeichnen. Ein Beispiel ist Blixten (zu Deutsch ‚der Blitz‘) mit der Begründung: „Weil das Auto langsam ist“ (NAU 04851-ID 384). Ebenfalls mit 1,9 % ist die Wahl eines Namens aufgrund der Verbindung zum Gerät zu verbuchen. Die Vorliebe für einen bestimmten Namen spielt zu 1,4 % eine Rolle. In die Restkategorie „Sonstiges“ fallen 10 Belege, z. B. solche, bei denen das Auto nach dem Zeitpunkt seiner Anschaffung benannt wurde wie bei Ellenor: „Ellenor hatte Namenstag an dem Tag, als ich das Auto kaufte“ (NAU 04851-ID 160) oder bei Härken: „Bedeutet zahmer kastrierter Rentierbulle“ (NAU 04851-ID 508). Diese Antwort passt in keine andere Kategorie. 4.2 Namenbasen In Anlehnung an Ottersbach und Solling (2022) und Aydin (2018) soll hier untersucht werden, welche Namenbasen den erhobenen Autonamen zugrunde liegen. Die Einteilung erfolgt nach dem auf Schwerdt (2007) zurückgehenden Klassifikationsraster und unter Berücksichtigung der oben behandelten Benen‐ nungsmotive der Teilnehmer. Erst die Erläuterung der Namen durch die Namen‐ geber ermöglicht die Zuordnung zu einer bestimmten Namenbasiskategorie, denn ein Name kann augenscheinlich einer Kategorie zugehörig sein, aber erst durch die Erklärung des Besitzers wird klar, zu welcher Kategorie der Name gehört (vgl. Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 323). Der Name Doris wird so zu den Fiktionymen geführt, weil der Namengeberin angibt, dass das Auto nach der Figur im Zeichentrickfilm Findet Nemo (NAU 04851-ID 590) seinen Namen bekam. Ohne diese Begründung wäre der Name jedoch zu den Anthroponymen geführt worden. In Tabelle 2 sind alle unter den untersuchten Autonamen ausgemachten Namenbasen mitsamt einschlägigen Beispielen aufgeführt. Ähnlich wie für verschiedene Haustierarten (vgl. u. a. Schaab 2012: 146, Kraß 2014: 10, Holzschuh 2015: 104 und Ottersbach 2023: 141 f.) sowie für nicht-le‐ bendige Objekte (vgl. Aydin 2018: 107 und Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 324 f.) sind auch für Autos onymische Basen am häufigsten. In 54,9 % aller Autonamen ist die Basis ein Name. Die größte Unterkategorie bilden hier die Anthroponyme; 33,6 % aller Autonamen haben, wie die Autos Nils, Hubert und Sally, eine anth‐ roponymische Basis. Vielen dieser Anthroponyme liegen die Buchstaben im Kennzeichen zugrunde, z. B. Nils, gebildet zum Kennzeichen NLS; schwedische Kennzeichen beginnen, wie erwähnt, meistens mit drei Buchstaben. Die zweit‐ größte Unterkategorie bei den onymischen Basen sind mit 16,2 % aller Autona‐ men Namen, die zu Fiktionymen gebildet wurden, wie Bamse, Skalman und Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 243 <?page no="244"?> Namenbasis - Beispiele Basis ist ein anderer Name 54,9 % (186) - Anthroponyme 33,6 % (114) Nils, Hubert, Sally Fiktionyme 16,2 % (55) Bamse, Skalman, Gamla Bettan Theonyme 0,6 % (2) Pandora, Jesusbilen Zoonyme 1,2 % (4) Missan, Grålle (2-mal), Röllan Ergonyme 2,4 % (8) Chevy, Mondi, Gevalia KunstwerkN 0,6 % (2) Black Betty, SVJ Kosmonyme 0,3 % (1) Lilla Björn Basis ist ein Appellativ 21,5 % (73) - Konkreta 17,4 % (59) Pärlan, Burken, Grodan Abstrakta 0,6 % (2) Flyktis, Blåfaran Personenbezeichnungen 3,5 % (12) Agenten, Madame, Slaktarn Basis ist Sonstiges 18,3 % (62) - Syntagmen 12,4 % (42) Lilla blå, Röda blixten, Den lille tysken Adjektive 2,1 % (7) Hård, Trofast, Pytte Hybride 3,8 % (13) Herr Volvo, Golfram, Nisse, Konstantin Opel Basis ist opak 5,3 % (18) Cys, Glegg, Neb Tab. 2: Namenbasen. Gamla Bettan. Bamse und Skalman sind zwei tierische Charaktere eines be‐ kannten schwedischen Comics. Gamla Bettan (‚die alte Bettan‘ [ein schwedi‐ scher Hypokorismus zu Elisabeth]) ist der Name eines Armbrusts in der Zei‐ chentrick-Disney-Version von Robin Hood, die in Schweden jedes Jahr zu Weihnachten gesendet wird und die fast jeder Schwede kennt. Der Name Gamla Bettan oder nur Bettan ist mit 15 Belegen der mit Abstand häufigste einzelne Autoname im Korpus. Des Weiteren gibt es fünf kleinere Untergruppen mit onymischen Namen‐ basen. Im Korpus finden sich zwei Beispiele von Theonymen, Pandora und Jesusbilen. Pandora ist eine unglückselige Frau in der griechischen Mythologie und Jesus bedarf keiner näheren Erklärung. Es finden sich auch vier Zoonyme, 244 Daniel Solling <?page no="245"?> 5 SVJ = Stora vänliga jätten ‚der große, freundliche Riese‘; auf Deutsch heißt der Film wie im englischen Original BFG (steht für Big Friendly Giant). 6 Vgl. Aydin (2018: 107) sowie Ottersbach und Solling (2022: 326), bei denen die Verteilung ähnlich aussieht. Missan, Grålle (2-mal) und Röllan. Missan ist ein typischer schwedischer Kat‐ zenname, Grålle ein typischer schwedischer Pferdename (vorwiegend für ein graues Pferd) und Röllan ein typischer schwedischer Kuhname (vorwiegend für eine rote Kuh). Weiterhin sind acht Ergonyme als Namenbasen im Material vorhanden, wie Chevy von Chevrolet, Mondi von Ford Mondeo und das schon oben erwähnte Gevalia. Eine weitere Unterkategorie stellen Kunstwerknamen dar; sie sind durch zwei Belege vertreten: Black Betty, der Name eines traditio‐ nellen amerikanischen Lieds und SVJ, der Name eines Fantasyfilms von Steven Spielberg. 5 Schließlich liegt unter den onymischen Namenbasen ein Kosmonym vor, Lilla björn für das Sternbild, das auf Deutsch Kleiner Bär heißt. Bei der zweiten übergreifenden Gruppe der Namenbasen besteht die Basis aus einem Appellativ. Dies ist 21,5 % der Autonamen der Fall. Hier sind v. a. die Kon‐ kreta häufig, denn 17,4 % aller Autos haben einen Namen mit einem Konkretum als Basis. Dies bedeutet, dass die Konkreta knapp vor den Fiktionymen die zweitgrößte Gruppe unter den Namenbasen der Autos darstellen. 6 Beispiele für Autonamen mit Konkreta als Basis sind Pärlan (‚die Perle‘ oder eine Bezeichnung für etwas, das man gern mag), Burken (,die Dose‘, in diesem Fall - NAU 04851-ID 208 - eine Beschreibung der Form des Autos) sowie Grodan (‚der Frosch‘ für ein grünes Auto, NAU 04851-ID 669). Im untersuchten Material finden sich lediglich zwei Belege, bei denen Abstrakta die Basis eines Autonamen ausmachen: Flyktis (‚die Flucht‘ [Kuschelform]) und Blåfaran (,die blaue Gefahr‘ für ein blaues Auto, NAU 04851-ID 312). Schließlich finden sich in der Gruppe der Namen mit einem Appellativum als Basis 12 Namen mit einer Personenbezeichnung als Basis. Drei Beispiele sind Agenten (‚der Agent‘), Madame und Slaktaren (‚der Schlachter‘, weil das Auto beim Fahren so viele Insekten tötet, NAU 04851-ID 548). In einer dritten übergreifenden Gruppe der Namenbasen werden sonstige Arten von Namenbasen zusammengefasst. Die größte Unterkategorie in dieser disparaten Gruppe stellen mit 12,4 % aller Autonamen die Syntagmen dar. Unter den Namen mit Syntagmen als Basis finden sich Beispiele wie Lilla blå (‚kleines blaues‘ für sechs verschiedene Autos), Röda blixten (‚roter Blitz‘, ein ironischer Name für ein altes rotes Auto, das gar nicht schnell fahren kann, NAU 04851-ID 39) und Den lille tysken (‚der kleine Deutsche‘ für einen BMW, NAU 04851-ID 456). Die zweite Unterkategorie bei den Namen mit sonstigen Basen stellen die sieben Namen, die Adjektive als Basen haben. Beispiele sind Hård (,hart‘), Trofast (‚treu‘) und Pytte (‚winzig‘). Das Material beinhaltet auch 13 Namen mit Namenbasen, die zur Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 245 <?page no="246"?> Gruppe „Hybride“ gehören. Dies ist eine Gruppe, die Ottersbach und Solling (2022) für die Namenbasen von Maschinen und technischen Geräten in Anlehnung an Ottersbach (2023), wo die Gruppe ‚Mehrgliedrigkeit‘ genannt wird, einführen. Diese Gruppe beinhaltet zum einen Namen, „die aus mehreren Elementen bestehen, die wiederum einzeln betrachtet unterschiedlichen Basen zugeordnet werden könnten“ (Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 328). Bei diesen Namen ist also eine Basis nicht auszumachen. Hierzu gehören Belege wie Herr Volvo (Personenbezeichnung + Ergonym), Golfram (Ergonym Golf + Anthroponym Wolfram). Zum anderen enthält diese Gruppe „auch Namen, die zwar eingliedrig, aber dennoch doppeldeutig hinsichtlich ihrer zugrundeliegenden Basis sind“ (Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 328), wie Nisse (Anthroponym [Nisse ist ein schwedisches Hypokoristikum zu Nils] + Ergonym [von Nissan]. Außerdem werden Namen mit sprachspielerischen Intentionen zu den Hybriden geführt (vgl. Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 328), wie der Name Konstantin Opel, der sowohl die Marke des Autos enthält als auch auf den früheren Namen von Istanbul, Konstantinopel, alludiert. Auch Aldrin (2019: 96f.) identifiziert unter den Namen der von ihr untersuchten Sport- und Segelbooten in Schweden sprachspielerische Namen (bei ihr ordlekar ‚Wortspiele‘ genannt). In einer vierten Gruppe werden 18 Namen mit opaken Namenbasen einsor‐ tiert. Das sind Fälle wie Cys, Glegg und Neb, die keinerlei Bedeutung haben. Diesen Namen liegen häufig, wie bei den Namen mit anthroponymischer Basis, die ersten drei Buchstaben des Kfz-Kennzeichens zugrunde. Es ist für die Namenbasen der Autonamen zu bemerken, dass keine Topo‐ nyme, Verben, Onomatopoetika oder (Zahlen-)Codes, die als Namenbasen ande‐ rer nicht-lebendiger Objekte zu finden sind (vgl. Aydin 2018: 107 und Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 324), Namenbasen unter den Autonamen ausmachen. 4.3 Referenz zu Unternehmens- und Produktnamen In einem Beitrag, der im Rahmen der Konferenzreihe „Names in the Economy“ entsteht, sollte ein Blick auf die individuelle Namensgebung von Autos aus einer kommerziellen Perspektive nicht fehlen. Auch die Anmerkung von Ot‐ tersbach und Solling (2022: 330), dass es in ihrer Studie auffällt, dass „die […] Befragten insbesondere bei der Benennung von Autos offenbar gerne auf den ursprünglichen, zu kommerziellen Zwecken geschaffenen Namen zurückgrei‐ fen“, veranlasst dazu, in diesem Abschnitt den Fokus auf Autonamen zu legen, bei denen die Namengeber trotz individueller Namensgebung noch Teile des ursprünglichen Unternehmens- oder Produktnamens bei der Namensgebung behielten und teilweise auch bewusst damit spielten. 246 Daniel Solling <?page no="247"?> Im untersuchten Material wurde bei der Namensgebung in 12,4 % (42) der insgesamt 339 Autonamen Bezug auf einen Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen genommen. Hier werden auch drei Fälle berücksichtigt, bei denen die Namen‐ geber bei der Namensgebung der Autos andere kommerzielle Namen als den ursprünglichen Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen der herstellenden Firma des Autos verwendet haben. Hierbei handelt es sich um das oben erwähnte Auto Gevalia, das ein durchgerostetes Auto war und nach einer schwedischen Kaffeerösterei benannt wurde (NAU 04851-ID 412), das Auto Bobby, das das erste eigene Auto - ein rotes - der Namengeberin war und deswegen nach ihrem ersten eigenen Spielzeugauto, einem roten Bobby Car, benannt wurde (NAU 04851-ID 460), sowie das Auto Juhlin, das so heißt, weil es blau ist und die Namengeberin ihre erste - sicherlich blaue - Jeanshose in einem Klamottenladen namens Juhlins erwarb (NAU 04851-ID 342). In Anlehnung an Ottersbach und Solling (2022: 329) wird im Folgenden zwischen Unternehmensnamen (UN), dem Namen des Herstellers, und Produkt‐ namen (PN) unterschieden. Innerhalb dieser Gruppen wird dann jeweils zwi‐ schen Namen unterschieden, die den Unternehmens- oder den Produktnamen zur Gänze beinhalten, und solchen, die von dem Unternehmens- oder dem Produktnamen formal abweichen, aber dennoch daran angelehnt sind. Für die Einteilung wurden auch in diesem Fall erläuternde Hinweise der Namengeber berücksichtigt (vgl. Ottersbach und Solling 2022: 329). Die Verteilung der Namen mit Bezug auf Unternehmensund/ oder Produktnamen nach diesen Kriterien wird in Tabelle 3 dargestellt. Phänomen - Beispiele Unternehmensnamen (UN) 54,8 % (23) - UN vollständig enthalten 14,3 % (6) Gevalia, Sune SAAB, Skrotopeln an UN angelehnt 40,5 % (17) Sabina-(< SAAB), Tessie-(< Tesla), Volvik (< Volvo) Produktnamen (PN) 45,2 % (19) - PN vollständig enthalten 19,0 % (8) Golfram (< VW Golf), Fabian-(<-Škoda Fabia), Octavia-Blake-(<-Škoda Octavia) an PN angelehnt 26,2 % (11) Saxen (< Citroën Saxo), Buster (< Plymouth Duster), Maggie-(<-Renault Mégane) SUMME 100 % (42) - Tab. 3: Referenz zu Unternehmens-/ Produktnamen. Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 247 <?page no="248"?> Von den 42 Autonamen mit einer Referenz zu einem Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen haben 54,8 % einen Bezug auf einen Unternehmensnamen und 45,2 % auf einen Produktnamen. In 14,3 % der Fälle ist der Unternehmensname vollständig enthalten - in Tabelle 3 ist der jeweilige Unternehmensname fett abgebildet - wie in den Namen Gevalia, Sune SAAB (Sune ist ein skandinavischer Männervorname) und Skrotopeln (‚der Schrottopel‘). Deutlich häufiger ist je‐ doch, dass der Autoname stattdessen an einen Unternehmensnamen angelehnt wird; dies kommt in 40,5 % der 42 Namen vor. Hier gibt es Beispiele wie Sabina (von SAAB), Tessie (von Tesla) und Volvik (von Volvo). Der Produktname wird in 19,0 % der Autonamen vollständig enthalten - in Tabelle 3 ist der dazugehörende Unternehmensname unterstrichen. Hier gibt es Beispiele wie Golfram (von VW Golf sowie eine Konturkreuzung mit dem Männernamen Wolfram), Fabian (von Škoda Fabia) und Octavia Blake (von Škoda Octavia; Octavia Blake ist zudem eine Figur in einer Netflix-Serie). Etwas häufiger ist, dass der Autoname an einen Produktnamen angelehnt ist, auch wenn der Unterschied nicht so groß ist wie bei den Unternehmensnamen. In 26,2 % der Belege wird der Name nämlich an einen Produktnamen angelehnt, auch hier ist der dazugehörende Unternehmensname in Tabelle 3 unterstrichen. Beispielhaft werden hier die Autos Saxen (‚die Schere‘ von Citroën Saxo), Buster (von Plymouth Duster) sowie Maggie (von Renault Mégane) genannt. 4.4 Umwelt- und Klimaperspektive bei der Namensgebung In diesem Abschnitt soll nun auf die in der Einleitung und in Abschnitt 3 erwähnte Untersuchung zu Umwelt- und Klimaperspektiven bei der individu‐ ellen Namensgebung von Autos fokussiert werden. Der Grund dafür, dass diese Umfrage durchgeführt wurde, war, wie in Abschnitt 3 erwähnt, dass in einigen der Antworten in der bisher referierten Untersuchung explizit erwähnt wurde, dass die Art des Treibstoffs, fossiler oder elektrischer, bei der Namensgebung der Maschinen und technischen Geräte eine Rolle spielte. Zwei Beispiele dafür sind Dieseldoris für ein Dieselauto und Elis für ein Elektroauto (el auf Schwedisch heißt ‚elektrischer Strom‘, Elis ist außerdem ein schwedischer Männername). Die zweite Umfrage beinhaltete, wie in Abschnitt 3 bereits genannt, zwei Frageblöcke. Im ersten wurde danach gefragt, ob man einem Gerät von einer Art, die sowohl mit fossilen Treibstoffen als auch mit Strom betrieben werden kann, einen Namen gegeben hat und wenn ja, welchen Namen. Im zweiten Frageblock, der hier besonders von Interesse ist, wurde danach gefragt, ob eine Umwelt- oder Klimaperspektive bei der Namensgebung widerspiegelt wurde und ob unterschiedliche Namen an Fahrzeuge vergeben wurden, die mit fossilen 248 Daniel Solling <?page no="249"?> Treibstoffen bzw. mit Strom angetrieben werden. Wie erwähnt, gingen bei diesem Fragebogen 22 Rückläufe ein. Von diesen enthielten lediglich zehn eine Antwort auf Frageblock zwei und neun dieser zehn Antworten ähneln inhaltlich den folgenden beiden: „Die Namenswahl hat nichts mit einer evtl. Umwelt- oder Klimaperspektive zu tun“ (NAU 04872-ID 8) oder „Nein, Treibstoff/ Motortyp hatte überhaupt keinen Einfluss auf die Namensgebung“ (NAU 04872-ID 5). Es gibt jedoch eine Antwort zu den Autonamen Volvox und Redox, bei der man sieht, dass der Namengeber sich Gedanken in diese Richtung gemacht hat. Auf Frageblock eins antwortet der Teilnehmer: [Volvox] war der Name unseres grünen Volvos 245. Volvox ist eine Grünalge, die in Frischwasser lebt. Sie bilden runde Kolonien, die vielleicht rollen. Das nächste Auto war ein roter Volvo 245, der den Namen Redox bekam, was eine Abkürzung für Reduktions-Oxidation, eine chemische Reaktion, ist (NAU 04872-ID 17). Die Antwort auf Frageblock zwei sieht wie folgt aus: „Der Name Volvox hat eine deutliche Verbindung zur grünen Natur. Der Name Redox spielt auf Redox-Prozesse in der Natur an.“ (NAU 04872-ID 17). Es liegt somit eine Antwort vor, die zumindest auf Umwelt und Natur anspielt, auch wenn die Umwelt- und Klimaperspektive nicht ausschlaggebend für die Namensgebung war. 5 Fazit und Ausblick In diesem Beitrag wurden unterschiedliche Aspekte von Individualnamen von Autos in Schweden analysiert. Der Fokus lag hierbei auf die Benennungsmo‐ tiven, die Namenbasen der Namen sowie die Referenz der Autonamen zum ursprünglichen Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen und einer eventuellen Bezugnahme zu Umwelt- und Klimaperspektiven bei der Namensgebung der Autos. Es lässt sich festhalten, dass die zwei häufigsten Benennungsmotive bei der individuellen Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden das Aussehen des Autos (22,4 %) und sein Kfz-Kennzeichen (21,6 %) sind. Andere recht häufige Motive sind (fiktive) Vorbilder (15,2 %) und eine Ableitung von einem Unternehmens- oder Produktnamen (10,8 %) sowie persönliche Assoziationen der Namengeber (10,0 %). Bezüglich der Namenbasen der Autonamen lässt sich sagen, dass am häufigs‐ ten onymische Basen zugrunde liegen; 54,9 % der 339 Autonamen haben eine onymische Basis. Besonders zahlreich sind Anthroponyme als Namenbasen mit 33,6 %; Fiktionyme kommen in 16,2 % der Namen als Basis vor. Vereinzelt finden Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 249 <?page no="250"?> sich auch Theonyme, Zoonyme, Ergonyme, Kunstwerknamen und ein Kosmo‐ nym als Namenbasen. Eine zweite Gruppe stellen appellativische Namenbasen dar; sie kommen in 21,5 % aller Namen vor. Hierbei sind die Konkreta mit 17,4 % die größte Unterkategorie, während Abstrakta sehr ungewöhnlich und Personenbezeichnungen recht selten Namenbasen der Autonamen bilden. In 18,3 % aller Autonamen treten sonstige Arten von Namenbasen auf, von ihnen sind Syntagmen mit 12,4 % aller Namen am häufigsten, aber auch Adjektive und verschiedene Arten von Hybridkonstruktionen kommen unter den Autonamen als Namenbasen vor. 5,3 % der Namenbasen sind semantisch opak. Von den 339 Autonamen haben 42 (12,4 %) eine Referenz zu einem Unter‐ nehmens- oder Produktnamen. Es gibt eine leichte Tendenz, sich eher von Unternehmensnamen inspirieren zu lassen als von Produktnamen. Sowohl unter den Autonamen, die von einem Unternehmensnamen stammen, als auch unter denjenigen, die von einem Produktnamen emanieren, ist es gewöhnlicher, dass der Autoname an diesen Namen lediglich angelehnt ist, als dass der Name gänzlich im Autonamen enthalten ist. Es konnte zudem festgestellt werden, dass die Namengeber bei der individuellen Namensgebung von Autos nur in wenigen Ausnahmefällen eine Umwelt- oder Klimaperspektive berücksichtigen. Schließlich bleibt nur hervorzuheben, dass weitere Studien zur individuellen Namensgebung von Autos in anderen Ländern sehr zu begrüßen wären. Nur so wären wichtige kontrastive und interkulturelle Vergleiche in diesem Bereich der Onomastik möglich. Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis Quellen NAU 04851 = Umfrage zur individuellen Namensgebung von Maschinen und technischen Geräten, Institut für Sprache und Folklore, Uppsala NAU 04872 = Umfrage zur Umwelt- und Klimaperspektive bei der individuellen Namens‐ gebung von Fahrzeugen, Institut für Sprache und Folklore, Uppsala Literatur Aldrin, Emilia (2019). Båtnamn som sociolingvistisk resurs: En studie av svenska fritids‐ båtsägares syn på namnvalet. Namn och bygd: Tidskrift för nordisk ortnamnsfors‐ kning 107, 83-107. Aydin, Mehmet (2018). Computer Isidor, Schredder Schröder und Teigschaber Katja: Ei‐ gennamen von Haushalts- und Bürogegenständen. In: Heuser, Rita/ Schmuck, Mirjam 250 Daniel Solling <?page no="251"?> (Hrsg.). Sonstige Namenarten: Stiefkinder der Onomastik. Berlin/ Boston: De Gruyter, 101-120. Baumann, Carolin/ Vogel, Petra M. (2014). Kfz-Wunschkennzeichen in Siegen-Wittgen‐ stein. Beiträge zur Namenforschung 49, 461-484. Dammel, Antje/ Nübling, Damaris/ Schmuck, Mirjam (Hrsg.) (2015). Tiernamen - Zoo‐ nyme: Band I Haustiere (=Beiträge zur Namenforschung 50 (1-2)). Heidelberg: Winter. Holzschuh, Melissa (2015). Lilly, Paul und Krümel: Benennungsmotivik und Struktur von Kaninchennamen. Beiträge zur Namenforschung 50 (1-2), 97-116. Kraß, Peter Maximilian (2014). Von Felix, Lilly und Karl-Doris: Zur Benennungsmotivik und zur Struktur von Katzennamen.-Beiträge zur-Namenforschung-49, 1-26. Kvillerud, Reinert (1994). Vardagliga namn på bilar: En studie om namngivning. In: Jó‐ hannesson, Kristinn/ Karlsson, Hugo/ Ralph, Bo (Hrsg.). Övriga namn: Handlingar från NORNA: s nittonde symposium i Göteborg 4-6 december 1991 (=NORNA-rapporter 56). Uppsala: NORNA-förlaget, 229-241. Leibring, Katharina (2000). Sommargås och Stjärnberg: Studier i svenska nötkreaturs‐ namn (=Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 69). Uppsala: Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur. Lötscher, Andreas (2007). Von Mercedes zu Xsara - Modellnamen für Automobile in geografisch-historischer Perspektive. In: Kremer, Ludger/ Ronneberger-Sibold, Elke (Hrsg.). Names in Commerce and Industry: Past and Pesent. Berlin: Logos, 115-129. Neethling, Bernie (2009). Lifestyle, Worldview and Identity: Names on Customized Vehi‐ cle Registration Plates. In: Ahrens,Wolfgang/ Embleton, Sheila/ Lapierre, André (Hrsg.). Names in Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Ethnic Contact: -Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences: -August 17-22, 2008, York University, Toronto, Canada. Toronto: -York University, 760-765. Nhongo, Raphael/ Tshotsho, Baba Primrose (2021).-The semiotics of unconventional automobile naming in Zimbabwe. Nomina Africana: Journal of African Onomastics 35, 1-10. Ottersbach, Ambra (2023). Hansi, Piepsi und Reinhold: Zur Struktur und Benennungsmo‐ tivik von Vogelnamen. Österreichische Namenforschung 50, 135-158. Ottersbach, Ambra/ Solling, Daniel (2022). Staubi & Robban: Individualnamen für Maschi‐ nen und technische Geräte im deutsch-schwedischen Vergleich. Beiträge zur Namen‐ forschung-57, 311-341. Schaab, Eva (2012). Von Bello zu Paul: Zum Wandel und zur Struktur von Hunderufna‐ men.-Beiträge zur-Namenforschung-47, 131-161. Schybergson, Anita (2015). Kognitiva mönster i namn på segelbåtar i Finland: Tradi‐ tion och innovation. In: Aldrin, Emilia/ Gustafsson, Linnea/ Löfdahl, Maria/ Wenner, Lena (Hrsg.). Innovationer i namn och namnmönster: Handlingar från NORNA: s Individuelle Namensgebung von Autos in Schweden 251 <?page no="252"?> 43: e symposium i Halmstad 6-8 november 2013 (=NORNA-rapporter 92). Uppsala: NORNA-förlaget, 251-268. Schwerdt, Judith (2007). Hipponymie: Zu Benennungsmotiven bei Pferdenamen in Geschichte und Gegenwart.-Beiträge zur Namenforschung-42, 1-43. Seppälä, Janne (2018). Car Nicknames and their relation to the Brand. In: Cotticelli-Kur‐ ras, Paola/ Rizza, Alfredo (Hrsg.).-Language, Media-and Economy in Virtual and Real life: New Perspectives. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 241-252. Wang, Cheng/ Yu, Wenyuan/ Li,-Wenxin/ Xu, Zhuoqun (2009).-A Novel Method of Auto‐ mobiles’ Chinese Nickname-Recognition. In: -Li,-Wenjie/ Mollá-Aliod, Diego (Hrsg.). Computer Processing of Oriental Languages: -Language Technology for the Know‐ ledge-based Economy (=Lecture notes in computer science 5459).-Berlin: Springer, 68-78. 252 Daniel Solling <?page no="253"?> Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? Frames in der Markenkommunkation von Citroën Ami und Fiat Topolino Ecologically sustainable with toasters and iconic mice? Frames in the brand communication of Citroën Ami and Fiat Topolino Sabine Heinemann Abstract: An increasing awareness of sustainability can be observed in society as a whole, which car manufacturers are responding to with a growing number of vehicle models with electric drives. At the same time, the demand for small vehicles in urban centres has increased. Citroën and Fiat are filling precisely this gap with their 2021 and 2023 launches. After some oberervations concerning advertising that emphasises environmen‐ tal aspects linguistically and/ or visually, a brief frame-semantic analyzis of some advertisements and posters (for Renault Zoe, Fiat 500e) is carried out, which show the relevance of frames such as E N VI R O NM E N T / NAT U R E and E L E C T R O M O B ILIT Y . Finally, however, the focus is on examining the importance of these frames in the advertising campaigns for the launch of Citroën Ami and Fiat Topolino. While in the case of the Ami, the focus is on E L E C T R O M O B ILIT Y , but also on U R B ANIT Y and F U N as values of a model-specific frame within the brand, the frames C U L T , ITAL Y , D O L C E VITA , which are built up and used also in other campaigns, become visible for the Topolino, whereas the two supposedly central frames are not addressed. 1 Einleitung: Elektromobilität Im Automobilbereich gilt die Förderung der Elektromobilität zu Lasten des klassischen Verbrennungsmotors aufgrund der Vermeidung des CO 2 -Ausstoßes als umweltfreundlich - wenngleich dies nur für den Endverbraucher gilt, nicht dagegen für die (in der Werbung ausgeblendete) Produktion. Die in den vergangenen Jahren vorgebrachten Probleme (begrenzte Lebensdauer der <?page no="254"?> 1 Auf das Modell Opel Rocks Electric, das sozusagen die Opel-Version des hier interessie‐ renden Fahrzeugs darstellt, wird nicht eigens abgehoben; vgl. aber die Präsentation auf der Unternehmenshomepage: https: / / opel.de/ fahrzeuge/ rocks-electric/ uebersicht.html (Stand: 16.07.2024). 2 Die Referenz auf die Natur ist allerdings kein neues Phänomen; Hansen (2002) zeigt etwa in einer Studie zur britischen Anzeigen- und TV-Werbung auf, wie sich im Laufe der Zeit die Sicht auf die Umwelt in der Produktwerbung verändert. Prinzipi‐ ell kann Natur unterschiedlich fokussiert werden, so als frisch, genuin/ authentisch, verletzlich/ bedroht, nicht perfekt, gute und unverdorbene Rohstoffe liefernd, als ver‐ Batterie, eingeschränkte Reichweite, hoher Anschaffungspreis, geringe Zahl öffentlicher Ladestationen) treten durch die Weiterentwicklung der Batterien sowie staatliche Förderungen stückweise in den Hintergrund. Sozio-politisch zeigt sich - in den einzelnen europäischen Ländern unterschiedlich schnell - eine kontinuierliche Zunahme in der Akzeptanz von Elektromobilität, was nicht zuletzt durch die Klimadebatte bedingt sein dürfte. Die Marktakzeptanz und damit der Verkaufserfolg ist allerdings noch eingeschränkt. Neben umwelt‐ verträglicher Mobilität zeichnet sich seit geraumer Zeit auch ein Trend zu kleineren, stadtgeeignete(re)n Fahrzeugen ab, die vielfach einem individuellen Bedürfnis nach unkomplizierter und effizienter Mobilität entsprechen. Für die Automobilindustrie bedeutet die aktuelle Entwicklung, dass für die Werbung Aspekte wie CO 2 -Ausstoß und Nachhaltigkeit wichtig werden (auch für Autos mit Verbrennungsmotor). D.h. die einzelnen Unternehmen sind gezwungen, eine Modifikation ihres Images (Esch 2018: 64 f., 77-80) und damit ihrer Marken‐ kommunikation vorzunehmen. Über die Einführung neuer Fahrzeuge scheint dies am leichtesten möglich zu sein, wenngleich der seit Bestehen eines Unter‐ nehmens existente Markenframe über sprachliche, visuelle (in der TV-Werbung auch musikalische) Elemente bedient wird. Nach einigen Anmerkungen zur Nutzung der frames U MW E L T F R E U N D LI C HK E IT bzw. E L E K T R O M O B ILITÄT bei Renault Zoe und Fiat 500e werden die Kampagnen zur Einführung von Citroën Ami und Fiat Topolino verglichen. Die Kleinstfahrzeuge sind deswegen interessant, weil beide Unternehmen (wie Opel 1 ) zu Stellantis gehören und hier letztlich „dasselbe“ Fahrzeug in Citroënbzw. Fiat-spezifischer Ausprägung beworben wird. 2 Grüne Werbung und greenwashing Bedingt durch das zunehmende Bedürfnis nach umweltverträglich hergestellten Produkten lässt sich auch eine Zunahme von sprachlich oder visuell auf Um‐ weltaspekte abhebende Werbung feststellen, ohne dass das beworbene Produkt tatsächlich immer ökologischen Standards entspricht. 2 Nicht jede Werbung 254 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="255"?> gangenes Idyll oder als wild, paradiesisch o.ä. (S. 502f.). Gesundheit oder Reinheit sind Aspekte, die insbesondere über Nahrungsmittel, Körperpflegeprodukte, nicht alkoholische Getränke, aber z. B. auch Putzmittel angesprochen werden, idyllische Landschaften werden v.-a. in der Tourismuswerbung genutzt (S.-508f.). 3 Für einen Forschungsüberblick zum Themenfeld greenwashing cf. de Freitas Netto et al. (2020). Interessant ist auch die Differenzierung der Unternehmen nach umweltbe‐ zogenem Handeln und ihrer Kommunikation bei Delmas/ Cuerel Burbano (2011: 67 f.) - am problematischsten ist hier eine schlechte Ökobilanz eines Unternehmens, das aber dennoch positiv über das eigene Handeln berichtet (greenwashing firms) vs. Unternehmen, die nicht positiv kommunizieren (brown firms), Unternehmen, die eine positive Ökobilanz aufweisen und darüber positiv sprechen (vocal green firms) und solchen, die dies nicht tun (silent green firms). Die Autoren diskutieren des Weiteren externe Faktoren, die greenwashing-bedingen (S.-68-77). 4 Im Weiteren seien die „Sünden“ kurz erläutert: 1) Berücksichtigung nur einiger Eigenschaften; Bsp. Papier: neben nachhaltiger Bewirtschaftung des Waldes auch Papierherstellungsprozess wichtig (Treibhausgasemissionen, Bleichung etc.); 2) schwer überprüfbare Umweltaussage; Bsp. Anteil recycleten Papiers bei Kosmetiktüchern; 3) bewusste Irreführung des Verbrauchers; Bsp. Beschreibung eines Produkts als natürlich - auch Arsen, Uran etc. in Natur vorkommend, deshalb aber trotzdem nicht gesund; weitere Beispiele Charakterisierung von Produkten als grün, umweltfreundlich etc.; 4) durch Worte oder Bilder, Bsp. sigelartiger Aufdruck auf einer Packung Taschentü‐ cher, der darauf verweist, das Unternehmen bekämpfe den Klimawandel, s. Vielzahl vermeintlich offizieller Sigel; 5) Unwichtigkeit; Bsp. Verweis auf FCKW-Freiheit trotz Verbots der Substanz; 6) Ablenkung von Umweltauswirkungen durch für bestimmte ist aber zwingend dem greenwashing zuzuordnen. Stöckl/ Molnar (2017: 264 f.) differenzieren Öko- oder grüne Werbung und von greenwashing geprägte Werbung sowie die hier nicht weiter interessierende grüne NPO- oder soziale Werbung, wobei sie gleichzeitig zu bedenken geben, dass prinzipiell zu klären ist, wie groß die Unterschiede zwischen „grüner“ und herkömmlicher Werbung ausfallen muss. Grüne Werbung verweist den Autoren folgend explizit oder implizit auf die Beziehung zwischen einem Produkt/ einer Dienstleistung und seiner biophysikalischen Umgebung (z. B. grüne Energie, Produkte ökologischer Landwirtschaft, biologisch abbaubare Putzmittel, wenig Benzin verbrauchende Fahrzeuge etc.), während bei greenwashing bewusst falsche, vage oder missver‐ ständliche Informationen vermittelt werden, die den Konsumenten glauben lassen sollen, dass das Unternehmen umweltfreundlich agiert oder seine Pro‐ dukte umweltverträglicher sind als sie es tatsächlich sind. 3 Hinsichtlich der Gestaltung der Kommunikation ist hier die Antizipation kritischer Meinungen und Argumente, die andernfalls zu Umsatzeinbußen führen würden, wesentlich. Als Orientierungsrahmen für die Praktiken der Unternehmen können die von TerraChoice auf einer Studie aus dem Jahr 2007 beruhenden „sieben Sünden“ genannt werden: 1) versteckter Kompromiss, 2) fehlender Beweis, 3) Vagheit, 4) falsche Etiketten, 5) Irrelevanz, 6) geringeres Übel, 7) Lüge. 4 Mit Blick auf die Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 255 <?page no="256"?> Produktkategorien zutreffende Behauptungen; Bsp.: Bio-Zigaretten, kraftstoffsparende SUV; 7) falsche Behauptungen; Bsp. vermeintliche Zertifizierung oder Registrierung Produkte (s. falsche Label). hier interessierende Automobilindustrie sind die „Sünden“ 3) und 5) besonders häufig (Stöckl/ Molnar 2017: 270). Auf Bildebene werden insbesondere idyllische Landschaften bevorzugt, er‐ dige Farbtöne wie Grün und Braun verweisen auf Leben, Vegetation und Frische, Blau auf Verantwortungsbewusstsein, Zuverlässigkeit und Ruhe (über die Darstellung von Wasser und Himmel), Weiß auf Reinheit, Friede und Tugend - Grau und Schwarz hingegen werden mit Verschmutzung und Zerstörung assoziiert (Stöckl/ Molnar 2017: 268; Popa/ Petrovici 2014: 74-76). Auch Formen wie Wellen, Kurven, Lichteffekte, florale Motive, die Darstellung organischer Materialien wie Holz, Blätter, Papier, Steine oder Sand werden hierfür gennutzt. Als bildliche Elemente sind zuletzt auch (vermeintliche) Ökolabel wichtig geworden, wobei für den Nutzer nicht immer eine eineindeutige Zuordnung zu vertrauenswürdigen Institutionen gewährleistet ist (optische Ähnlichkeit zu bekannten Sigeln). Auf sprachlicher Ebene finden sich vielfach Elemente wie öko-, grün, umweltfreundlich, CO 2 -neutral, natürlich, regional, verantwortlich, schützen, Umwelt, Energie etc. (am häufigsten dürften Wörter wie natürlich und grün oder ökosein), die als Schlüsselwörter kategorisiert werden können (cf. Janich 2013: 169-171), verschiedentlich, so im Fall von Umwelttechnologie, zusätzlich fachsprachlich erscheinen sollen und entsprechend Assoziationen wie ,wissenschaftliche Fundiertheit‘, ,Expertentum‘, aber auch ,Sicherheit‘ her‐ vorrufen. Wie deutlich geworden ist, erweisen sich die verwendeten sprachlichen wie bildlichen Elemente (wie in der Anzeigen- oder Plakatwerbung) als we‐ sentlich für das Aufrufen bestimmter Vorstellungen von Umwelt und Natur. Sprachwissenschaftlich interessant ist daher ein framesemantischer Zugriff auf entsprechende Werbeanzeigen. 3 Frames in der Markenkommunikation Im Kontext der Bedeutungskonstitution verweist die außersprachliche Ebene (begriffliches Wissen, Assoziationen, epistemisches Wissen) auf die Relevanz u. a. von frames, die mit Fillmore (1985: 223) als „frameworks of knowledge or coherent schematizations of experience“ oder mit Minsky (1975: 212) als „a data-structure for representing a stereotyped situation“ beschrieben wer‐ den können. Für Fillmore ist nicht nur die kontextuelle Beziehung zwischen sprachlichen Zeichen von vorrangiger Bedeutung, sondern auch das (je kultur‐ 256 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="257"?> 5 Als Standardbeispiel wird in der Literatur der frame K I N D E R G E B U R T S T A G angeführt - defaults sind hier G E S C H E N K E , S P I E L E , K U C H E N E S S E N , G E T R Ä N K E etc., wobei z. B. die Art des Getränks, also der konkrete filler (Kakao, Limonade o.ä.) sprachlich spezifiziert werden muss. 6 Cf. ausführlicher zu frames im werbesprachlichen Kontext Heinemann (im Druck). spezifische) Welt- und Erfahrungswissen, das die Grundlage für die (richtige) Interpretation bildet: „by the term ‘frame’ I have in mind any system of concepts related in such a way that to understand any of them you have to understand the whole structure in which it fits“ (1982: 111). Nach Minsky (1975: 212) eröffnen frames Leerstellen (slots), wobei Standardwerte (defaults; konventionalisierte, und damit erwartbare, bzw. prototypische Füllwerte (fillers)) über eine höhere kognitive Salienz verfügen, somit zwar verstehensrelevant sind, aber nicht zwangsläufig versprachlicht werden; konkrete fillers können dagegen nicht vorausgesetzt werden (vgl. Ziem 2008: 93-105; Fraas 2013: 265 f.). 5 Darüber wird zugleich deutlich, dass über die bewusste Wahl der etwa in der Werbung gebrauchten Lexeme wie der bildlichen oder auch auditiven Elemente (die Konstitution des konzeptuellen Wissens erfolgt multimodal) die Evokation von frames steuerbar wird, da aktivierten frames eine regulative Funktion zukommt. Es erfolgt also eine Modellierung einer reduzierten, lediglich als kognitiver Effekt konstruierten Wirklichkeit - essenziell ist dies natürlich bei der Markteinführung neuer Produkte, da frames instantiiert und im Sinne des Unternehmens verankert werden können, auch wird so die Emotionalisierung einer Marke möglich etc. (vgl. Fraas 2013: 267). Über die Dynamik des Konzepts ist im Weiteren aber durchaus eine Veränderung der lediglich konventionell verfestigten Standardwerte möglich (entrenchment; Fillmore 1982: 130; Busse 2012: 627, 639, 656 f.), da in jedem einzelnen Fall (token) notwendigerweise die Aktivierung eines frame erfolgt. Dies ist gerade vor dem Hintergrund von z.-B. technischen Neuerungen, wie im hier interessierenden Automobilbereich, relevant, da so eine mittelfristige Modifikation des Markenframes möglich wird. 6 Im Hinblick auf den Klimawandel dürfte sich in den letzten Jahren ein neuer frame U MW E L TV E R T RÄG LI C HK E IT o.ä. herausgebildet haben und in der Be‐ völkerung weitgehend einheitlich sein. Für den Bereich der Elektromobilität sind frames, die für den Werbekontext verwendet werden können, solche, die auf Natur und Umwelt, aber auch persönliche Freiheit, oder Technologie (im Sinne von verantwortungsbewusstem Fortschritt) abheben, wobei hier aufgrund des Klimadiskurses dem epistemischen Wissen als gesellschaftlich gebundenes und erfahrungsbasiertes diskursives und Überzeugungswissen eine besondere Bedeutung zukommt (s. die Anmerkungen zu den veränderten Naturkonzepten in der Werbung bei Hansen 2002). Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 257 <?page no="258"?> 7 Der Zoe wurde 2024 durch den neuen Renault 5 E-Tech ersetzt, der ebenfalls lediglich in der Ausführung mit Elektromotor erhältlich ist. Der Name wie das (allerdings kantigere) Design verweisen auf den früheren, bis 1996 produzierten Renault 5. Im Fall von Citroën sind neben dem Ami insbesondere Modelle der C3-Klasse auch mit Elektroantrieb verfügbar, daneben weitere großräumige Fahrzeuge. 8 Bei der Werbung für SUVs wird auch häufig die Natur einbezogen, hier aber eher im Sinne von Bezwingbarkeit, d. h. es wird eine gänzlich andere Perspektive eingenommen. 4 Elektromobilität bei Renault, Citroën und Fiat Im Folgenden sollen zunächst jeweils einige Aspekte der Bewerbung des Renault Zoe und des Fiat 500e mit Blick u. a. auf die Nutzung des NAT U R -frames angespro‐ chen werden, bevor auf die technisch weitgehend identischen Miniautos Citroën Ami und Fiat Topolino und ihre Lancierung und mit dieser die Nutzung des Markenframes bzw. die Instantiierung eines jeweiligen submarkenspezifischen frames eingegangen wird. Für beide Kleinstwagen ist stärker als bei größeren Fahrzeugen auch die geringe Größe mit Blick auf die urbane Mobilität zu berücksichtigen. 4.1 Natur in der Werbung: Renault Zoe und Fiat 500e Der kürzlich vom Markt genommene Renault Zoe, seit 2012 als Elektrofahrzeug produziert und 2020 das erfolgreichste Elektroauto Europas (Anschaffungspreis € 32.500,-), 7 präsentiert in einer Kampagne aus dem Jahr 2019 (vgl. Abb. 1) Natur als Ort der Erholung und Entspannung. Sprachlich wird besonderer Wert auf die sehr gute Reichweite und die damit verbundene Freiheit und Unabhängigkeit gelegt. Bildlich unterstützt wird die Aussage durch den Blick in die Ferne, die umfassende Farbkorrespondenz zwischen Meer, Himmel und Auto, der NAT U R -frame wird also insbesondere durch die bildliche Gestaltung evoziert. 8 Eine frühere Kampagne (French Touch, 2013; Abb. 2) stellt den ökologischen Aspekt dagegen visuell überhaupt nicht in den Vordergrund. Die TV-Spots konzentrieren sich ausschließlich auf das einfache Aufladen des Fahrzeugs, gestützt durch zwei Testimonials, den Schauspieler Nicolas Carpentier und ein Kind, optisch sein „Mini-Double“. Die Printanzeigen zeichnen sich durch ein klares Design mit dem weißen Fahrzeug vor blauem Hintergrund aus - die weiße Farbe des Autos (blanc glacier ,gletscherweiß‘) wird mit Reinheit oder Fehlerfreiheit assoziiert, während die blaue Farbe, insbesondere im Kontext des Streifenmusters in einer der Anzeigen, auf den technischen Fortschritt verweist. Die Linien untermauern zugleich die Idee von Sauberkeit und Klarheit. Die einfacher gehaltenen Anzeigen zeigen für den blauen Hintergrund durchgehend eine horizontale Linie (die eine optische Tiefe in die Anzeige bringt), über einen 258 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="259"?> Lichteffekt in drei der hier abgebildeten Anzeigen wird die Schlagzeile stärker fokussiert. Abb. 1: Anzeigenkampagne Renault Zoe 2019. Auch sprachlich wird nicht nur auf die „Nebenwirkungen“ des Elektroantriebs verwiesen (s. v. a. bezüglich des Benzinverbrauchs, vgl. 0 litre aux 100 km), sondern auch auf die Geschichte Frankreichs (Tradition, Révolution (s. frame R E V O L U TI O N )), weiter made in France (für den französischen Markt! ), d. h. Frankreich wird hier als Vorreiter für die Entwicklung der Elektromobilität angesprochen (Révolution, changeons de vie). Nur die (in den Anzeigen nicht genannten) Autofarben zeigen einen Bezug zur Natur, so über das erwähnte blanc glacier, aber auch gris highland (,highlandgrau‘) oder noir étoilé (,sternen‐ schwarz‘). Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 259 <?page no="260"?> Abb. 2: Anzeigenkampagne Renault Zoe 2013. Der Nuova Fiat 500e knüpft an den Kult des Fiat 500 und damit an die Markentra‐ dition an, was nicht zuletzt durch das Design sichtbar wird, das als wesentlicher Positionierungsinhalt für Fahrzeuge und eigenständiges Branding-Element gilt (cf. Baumgarth 2014: 99-106, Kroeber-Riel 1993). Der Relaunch des Nuova 500 erfolgte 2007 zum 50-jährigen Jubiläum der Produkteinführung des gleichnami‐ gen Vorgängers. Der begleitende TV-Spot griff pathetisch wichtige Aspekte des italienischen Lebens seit den 1950er Jahren auf (entsprechend als Retro- oder Ethno-Marketing beschreibbar). Die dominierenden frames in den Anzeigen waren (und sind bis heute) v. a. K U L T und ITALI E N (bedient durch italienbezogene Stereotype, vgl. auch das Sounddesign (mit Filmmusik aus Fellinis Amarcord)), aber auch F O R T S C H R ITT , der auch in den hier vorliegenden Anzeigen evoziert wird (Abb. 3; verso/ lʼalba di una nuova era ,zu/ der Anbruch einer neuen Ära‘; so itʼs time for 500 to inspire change, again; Bentornato Futuro ,willkommen zurück Zukunft‘ - cf. Auch das auffällige Oxymoron). Der frame NAT U R wird u. a. auch hier über die Bezeichnung der Fahrzeugfarben aufgerufen (ocean green, mineral grey, celestial blue; auffälligerweise auf Eng‐ lisch, aber aufgrund der Ähnlichkeit zwischen ocean und it. oceano, mineral und it. minerale sowie celestial/ blue und it. celeste/ blu sind die Farbbezeichnungen weitgehend auch für italienische Muttersprachler verständlich). Das Meer wird sowohl bildlich oder grafisch (Meer/ Hafen, Palme, Segelboot vs. Großstadtsky‐ 260 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="261"?> 9 Wie der partielle Gebrauch des Englischen verweist die italienuntypische Skyline auf einen frame FORTSCHRITT. 10 Zuletzt hat Renault (bis 2023) den Twizy, ein kleines Leichtelektrofahrzeug, produziert. line) 9 als auch sprachlich angesprochen (a vele spiegate (,mit vollen Segeln‘, auch Assoziation des Ablegens, aber auch Aufrufen der festen Wendung a gonfie vele ,sehr gut‘, ,schnell‘ denkbar), silenziosa come una barca a vela (,leise wie ein Segelboot‘)). Als kongruent erweist sich hier auch der Verweis auf das Canvas-Faltdach; der Hinweis auf die aus Ökoleder gefertigten Sitze ist ebenfalls stimmig. Die Referenz auf Wasser und Meer soll betonen, dass das Fahrzeug im Einklang mit der Natur steht, was auch durch das Glasdach gegeben ist, das den Blick auf den Himmel freigibt (100 % amante dellʼaria aperta ,100% Liebhaber der Außen-/ Frischluft‘). Die Farbgestaltung der Anzeigen und Plakate zeigt unabhängig von der Abbildung von Himmel und Meer eine Dominanz von Blautönen, die auch für die Elektromobilität genutzt wird, also ähnlich wie bei Renault eine Referenz auf den wesentlichen technischen Aspekt leistet, z. B. in den Überschriften oder im Fahrzeugnamen selbst über das in die 500 integrierte e (s. auch die Hervorhebung von 100 % elettrica, in der Schlagzeile der ersten Anzeige). Die dritte der angeführten Werbungen bezieht sich wieder deutlicher auf den NAT U R -frame, zum Beispiel durch die Reflexionen (Berge, Meer, Vögel) in der Glasfassade des Gebäudes. Dass es sich bei dem beworbenen Fahrzeug um ein E-Auto handelt, wird durch die Integration einer Ladesäule in die Darstellung unmittelbar fassbar. Die Anzeigen zeigen also jeweils in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß und jeweils zumindest schwerpunktmäßig die Evozierung zum einen des NAT U R -frames, zum anderen eines frames T E C HNIK / E L E K T R O M O B ILITÄT (dem sich Werte zuordnen lassen wie G RÜN , L E I S E , T E U E R , T E C HNIK , B AT T E R I E , LAD E SÄU L E o.ä.). 4.2 Citroën Ami und Fiat Topolino Im Gegensatz zum Renault Zoe sind der Citroën Ami und der Fiat Topolino neue Fahrzeuge, die neben dem Trend zur Elektromobilität auch denjenigen zu urba‐ ner, individueller Mobilität aufgreifen und eine weitgehend neue Autokategorie (als Scooter-Ersatz) repräsentieren. 10 Die Fahrzeuge können in Frankreich bzw. Italien bereits ab 14 Jahren ohne normalen Autoführerschein gefahren werden und sind vergleichsweise kostengünstig (der Topolino ist aber mit einem Listen‐ preis von € 9.890,deutlich teurer als der Ami mit € 7.990,-; in beiden Ländern können staatliche Förderungen in Anspruch genommen werden). Wie gesehen, ist unternehmensseitig v. a. bei der Produkteinführung die kontextbezogene Vermittlung des Markenframes wesentlich, der mittelfristig über den Marken- Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 261 <?page no="262"?> 11 Vgl. https: / / fr.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Citroën_Ami_(2020). Ebenfalls 2021 wurde die Vari‐ ante Cargo vorgestellt; 2022 produzierte Citroën zudem die geländegängige Variante Buggy in begrenzter Stückzahl. Abb. 3: Anzeigen-/ Plakat-Kampagne Fiat Nuova 500e 2020. bzw. Modellnamen hervorgerufen werden soll. Im Weiteren soll die Relevanz des jeweiligen Markenframes sowie die erwartbare Einbindung der frames NAT U R oder T E C HNI C K / E L E K T R O M O B ILITÄT geprüft werden. 4.2.1 Citroën Ami Der Citroën Ami wurde 2021 über eine Werbekampagne lanciert; der Name ami ,Freund‘ weckt Assoziationen wie Vertrauen oder Zuverlässigkeit und verweist auf die früheren Modelle AMI 6 und 8 (die Ähnlichkeit liegt nur im Namen) und damit die Tradition der Marke. 11 Der Ami wird auf den Plakaten und in den posts von 2021 als intuitiv, praktisch, unterschiedlich nutzbar (Leihwagen, Finanzierung, Kauf) und urban beworben. Darin zeigt sich eine Adaption an gesellschaftliche Veränderungen, die sich auch in der semiotischen Aufladung des ë (als Zeichen für Elektromobilität) in der Markenkommunikation nieder‐ schlägt. Die die Kampagne auszeichnende Selbstironie soll Spaß am Fahrzeug 262 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="263"?> 12 Cf. ausführlich zur Entwicklung des Markenframes bei Citroën, mit Bezug v. a. auf die Modelle 5 HP, DS, 2 CV und Ami, Heinemann 2022. Als default-Werte für die Marke insgesamt wurden dabei Ö K O N O M I S C H , I N N O V A T I V , S I C H E R , K O M F O R T A B E L , P R A K T I S C H , F Ü R A L L E isoliert, die durch modellspezifische Werte ergänzt werden ( D E S I G N , S P Aẞ , K L E I N ). vermitteln, aber natürlich auch überhaupt Aufmerksamkeit für die Werbung generieren; in den Plakaten und den posts auf diversen social media-Kanälen wird jeweils eines der Ausstattungsmerkmale aufgegriffen (z. B. die Türen: Le pire ce nʼest pas que ses portes soient montées à lʼenvers, cʼest quʼon la fait exprès. ,Das Schlimmste ist nicht, dass die Türen gegenläufig angeschlagen sind, sondern dass man das absichtlich gemacht hat.‘). Über einzelne Merkmale werden auch andere frames aufgerufen (z.-B. E L E K T R O G E RÄT E : Oui, elle ressemble à un grille-pain. Cʼest pour ça que vous pouvez lʼacheter chez Darty. ,Ja, er sieht aus wie ein Toaster. Deswegen können Sie/ könnt ihr ihn bei Darty kaufen.‘), die dann im Markenframe zusammengeführt werden oder in (absurder) Relation zu ihm stehen. Über die Idee des Flugtaxis (la voiture du future ne vole pas. ,Das Auto der Zukunft fliegt nicht.‘) wird der Ami zum Auto der Zukunft stilisiert, das sich zudem durch eine hohe Umweltverträglichkeit auszeichnet (cf. auch Impressionez vos arrière-arrière-arrière-petits-enfants. ,Beeindrucken Sie Ihre/ Beeindruckt eure Ur-Ur-Ur-Enkel.‘) - der Markenframe unterstreicht u. a. den Ideenreichtum des Unternehmens sowie den technischen Fortschritt (s. auch die digitalen tools des Ami). Auch der Spaßfaktor hat eine gewisse Tradition als Wert des Markenframes (z. B. 2 CV).  12 Werte wie U R B AN , IN DIVID UALITÄT (durch die partielle Personalisierbarkeit) oder IN T U ITIV können als spezifisch für den Ami bezeichnet werden. Die angesprochenen Werte sind schließlich mit dem über den Fahrzeugnamen Ami aufgerufenen frame F R E U N D kompatibel, der als default-Werte G E M E IN S AM ‐ K E IT , HIL F S B E R E IT S C HA F T , S P Aẞ , V E R T R AU E N , Z U V E R LÄS S I G K E IT aufweist. Gerade die Komponente der Z U V E R LÄS S I G K E IT leistet hier sicher, ohne dass in der zugehörigen Werbung darauf abgehoben würde, eine Aufwertung für den Ami; der Spaßfak‐ tor hingegen wird über die sprachliche Gestaltung, aber auch z. B. über die Verwendung der Farbe Orange klar in den Fokus gerückt. Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 263 <?page no="264"?> 13 Die Bedeutung der Firmengeschichte und des Kultcharakters des Fiat 500 wird ein‐ drücklich auch über die auf 1957 Stück limitierte Sonderedition 500 Collezione 1957 erkennbar. 14 Ähnliche Relaunches von Kultfahrzeugen erfolgten mit dem MINI (seit 2001) und dem wenig erfolgreichen (New) Beetle (1997-2019). 15 Topolino ist auch der italienische Name von Mickey Maus, weshalb Fiat im November 2023 zum 100jährigen Jubiläum des alten Fiat-Werks Lingotto (heute Einkaufszentrum, aber auch Sitz der Pinacoteca Agnelli mit umlaufender (alter, aber zu Werbezwecken weiterhin genutzter) Autoteststrecke) in Kooperation mit Disney fünf Einzelstücke mit Mickey Maus-Lackierung präsentiert hat. Vgl. allgemein auch https: / / it.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Fiat_Topolino_(2023). Abb. 4: Plakat-/ social media-Kampagne Citroën Ami 2021 (posts 14.4.2021, 18.4.2021, 21.4.2021). 4.2.2 Fiat Topolino Die Werbekampagne für den Fiat Topolino, aber auch das Design und der Name des Modells sind in mehrfacher Hinsicht interessant. Der Topolino wurde zusammen mit dem Nuova 600 am 4.7.2023, dem Jubiläumstag der Einführung des legendären Nuova 500 (4.7.1957), vorgestellt, womit bereits die Verbindung zur Firmengeschichte unterstrichen wird - der Nuova 500 wurde über 4 Millio‐ nen Mal verkauft, sein Design im Relaunch 2007 aufgegriffen 13 und bildet das Vorbild für das Design der Front- und Heckpartie des kleinen Topolino. 14 Dabei wurde insbesondere der K U L T - und ITALI E N -frame bedient, zumal der Nuova 500 aufgrund seiner langen Marktpräsenz als ein Stück Italien gilt (zumal als Repräsentant des italienischen Wirtschaftswunders) - darüber hinaus kann D E S I G N als wesentlicher default-Wert des (Sub-)Marken- oder Modellframes gelten. Bereits von 1936 bis 1955 wurde das im Design gänzlich anders gestaltete Vorgängermodell, der Fiat 500 (A), produziert, der aufgrund seiner kleinen, runden Form den Spitznamen topolino (,Mäuschen‘) 15 erhielt und, ähnlich wie auch der Fiat 600, hohe Verkaufszahlen erzielte. Das als Name für das neue kleine Elektrofahrzeug dienende Hypocoristicum wie das Design des ursprünglich als 264 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="265"?> 16 Der Nuova 600, auf den hier nicht näher eingegangen wird, bezieht sich auf das Vorgängermodell; in den Posts auf Facebook wird ebenfalls bewusst auf den Fiat 500 Bezug genommen, indem von 500 + 100 ragioni per amarla (,500 + 100 Gründe, ihn zu lieben‘) gesprochen wird; außerdem weist der Nuova 600 eine starke Ähnlichkeit mit dem noch vertriebenen 500x auf, den der 600 voraussichtlich ersetzen wird). Entsprechend ist es kaum verwunderlich, dass der Topolino und der 600 als „kleine“ und „große Schwester“ (italienische Fahrzeugnamen sind feminin) des Fiat 500 bezeichnet werden. 17 Abrufbar über den YouTube-Kanal von Fiat Italien: https: / / youtube.com/ @FiatItalia/ vi deos (Stand: 16.07.2024). Nuova 500 bezeichneten Modells dienen gewissermaßen als Garanten für den Topolino. 16 Die Kampagne zur Einführung des Topolino 2023 in Italien erfolgte v. a. über social media und vier TV-Spots. 17 Auf der italienischen Facebook- und Instagram-Präsenz wird der Topolino vorgestellt mit den Worten Ecco la nuova icona della mobilità. 100 % carica di energia, divertimento ed emozioni. (,Hier ist die neue Mobilitätsikone. 100 % voller Energie, Spaß und Emotionen.‘) oder Ti presentiamo la Nuova Fiat Topolino: lʼicona di stile che trasforma la mobilità urbana è arrivata. (,Wir präsentieren dir den neuen Fiat Topolino: Die Stilikone, die die urbane Mobilität verändert, ist da.‘). Wie in früheren Kampagnen für den Fiat 500 wird auch der kleine Topolino als Ikone, als Revolution für den Stadtverkehr beschrieben und fügt sich damit in den K U L T -frame ein. Die historische Orientierung wird durch den Namen der offenen Variante verstärkt - Topolino Dolcevita -, der auf Fellinis Film und die 1950er Jahre anspielt, die Leichtigkeit des Lebens, die der Topolino verkörpern soll (divertimento, emozioni (,Spaß‘, ,Emotionen‘; vgl. auch die Farbe verde vita ,lebensgrün‘). Interessant mit Blick auf den elektrischen Antrieb ist auch das metaphorisch bedingte Sprachspiel mit 100 % carica di energia (,100% energiegeladen‘), hier auch wörtlich zu verstehen mit der Ellipse von elettrica (,elektrisch‘). Die TV-Spots greifen die Idee des dolce vita auf, zum Teil durch die Bildgestal‐ tung und durch den Song „Love in Portofino“ (im Original gesungen von Dalida), der als Soundtrack fungiert und durch den Rhythmuswechsel eine Adaption oder Neuinterpretation des dolce vita suggeriert. Gleichzeitig wird der Italien‐ bezug über die Eingangsworte des gesprochenen Werbetextes (LʼItalia…, Lʼestate italiana… Dolce far niente in un caldo pomeriggio italiano… etc. ,Italien‘, ,der italienische Sommer‘, ,süßes Nichtstun an einem warmen italienischen Nach‐ mittag‘) verstärkt, das Made in Italy wird über die Einbindung italienischer Luxusmarken betont (Maserati, Damiani, Giorgio Armani (Koffer mit Initialen GA), San Lorenzo Yachts), über die letztlich auch der Topolino aufgewertet wird, wie z. B. im Spot „A misura di città“ (,stadtgerecht/ -freundlich‘), in dem eine Frau Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 265 <?page no="266"?> 18 Der Topolino hat anders als der Ami verchromte Scheinwerfereinfassungen und Stoß‐ stangen, Vintage-Rückspiegel, auch die Radkappen erscheinen hochwertiger; das Falt‐ dach des Topolino Dolcevita wie der Vintage-Gepäckträger verweisen neuerlich auf die Unternehmenstradition (s. allgemein zu den Pressemitteilungen der Stellantis-Gruppe https: / / media.stellantis.com). aus einem Maserati aus- und in einen Topolino einsteigt, auf dessen Seitenscheibe ein Aufkleber zu sehen ist (My other car is a Maserati), oder in dem Spot Gioiello urbano (,urbanes Juwel‘), in dem der Topolino mühelos vor dem Geschäft des Mailänder Juweliers Damiani geparkt wird. Abb. 5: TV-/ social media-Kampagne Fiat Topolino (posts 4.7.2023, 19.8.2023). Neben der Parallelisierung zu Luxusmarken werden auch die geringen Abmes‐ sungen des Fahrzeugs hervorgehoben - nicht zuletzt durch das Querparken oder die Fahrt durch enge Gassen, die es zu einem idealen Stadtauto machen, mit dem man auch in ZTL (verkehrsberuhigte Zonen) fahren darf. Der Spaßfaktor wird zwar durchaus über den Humor in den bisher angesprochenen Spots erkennbar, aber deutlicher umgesetzt wird er in den an der ligurischen Küste spielenden Spots, die den italienischen Sommer und eine gewisse Leichtigkeit thematisieren; hier wird die offene Modellvariante Dolcevita beworben. 18 In 266 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="267"?> 19 Der Spot ist in Kooperation mit San Pellegrino, dem weltweit bekannten kohlensäure‐ haltigen (frizzante) Wasser entstanden. einem der Spots (La più frizzante dellʼestate ,der prickelndste des Sommers‘) 19 werden auch einige der für den Topolino erhältliche Gadgets (v. a. eine kleine Dusche und ein Ventilator) gezeigt. Als Werte des Modell-frames können so sicher K L E IN , IN N O VATIV / E L E K T R I S C H , U R B AN , P R E I S GÜN S TI G , H U M O R , ITALI E N / MAD E IN ITAL Y , K U L T / T R ADITI O N benannt werden, auch wenn gerade der Faktor des elektrischen Antriebs (eine Ausnahme bildet der sprachspielerische Titel des Spots Lʼelettrica eclettica ,der eklektische Elektrische‘) nicht in den Fokus rückt. Nicht erwähnt wird in den Werbespots der Anschaffungspreis (€ 9.890,-, mit Ökobonus ca. € 7.500), der den Topolino wie den Nuova 500 der 1950er Jahre zu einem Auto für jedermann machen soll. 5 Zusammenfassung Die hier behandelten Anzeigen, Plakate und posts zeigen, dass der frame NAT U R zwar bei Fahrzeugen wie Nuova Fiat 500e und Renault Zoe, allerdings nur am Rande beim Citroën Ami und beim Fiat Topolino dominant visualisiert und versprachlicht werden. Im Fall des Ami wird der Modellframe stärker über die Werte E L E K T R O M O B ILITÄT , U R B ANITÄT und S P Aẞ charakterisiert. In den Kampagnen zum Nuova Fiat 500e wird insbesondere der Kultfaktor des 500 aufgriffen, aber auch auf die Umweltfreundlichkeit fokussiert; Elektromobilität wird in den ausgewählten Plakaten stärker betont. Im Falle des Fiat Topolino, obwohl gewis‐ sermaßen als italienisches Äquivalent zum Citroën Ami zu fassen, spielen zwar auch U R B ANITÄT und S P Aẞ oder L E I C HTI G K E IT eine wichtige Rolle, daneben wird aber insbesondere auf den frame ITALI E N mit weiteren Ausdifferenzierungen ( MAD E IN ITAL Y , D O L C E VITA ) sowie den K U L T des 500 abgehoben, wohingegen E L E K T R O M O B ILITÄT und U MW E L T F R E U N D LI C HK E IT nicht aufzutreten scheinen (Ähnli‐ ches lässt sich für die dolcevita by design-Kampagne für den Fiat 500 feststellen), wohingegen z. B. beim Ami sehr wohl auch darauf verwiesen wird, dass das Fahrzeug kein CO 2 ausstößt. Vor dem Hintergrund der Bewerbungen des 500e sowie des 600e (mit Leonardo di Caprio) lässt sich aber festhalten, dass Fiat die unterschiedlichen Kampagnen offensichtlich zur Betonung der einzelnen Aspekte nutzt, sie aber nicht zwingend bereits in der Produktpräsentation des Topolino zusammenführt, der primär - und dies wird mit der Instantiierung des frames im Kontext des Launchs erkennbar - als kleines, spaßiges Stadtauto wahrgenommen werden soll, das allerdings auch Ausflüge an die Küste erlaubt. Der unmittelbare Vergleich der Kampagnen zur Einführung des Ami und des Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 267 <?page no="268"?> 20 Hier wäre bestenfalls die Produktion (und Lebensdauer) der Batterien zu hinterfragen; Materialien wie Propylen scheinen gut recyclebar zu sein, die Produktion dürfte aufgrund der geringen Zahl Bauteile (ca. 1/ 10 im Vergleich zu herkömmlichen Autos) weniger umweltschädlich sein. Topolino zeigt nicht nur eine unterschiedliche Fokussierung, sondern auch die Nutzung des Markenframes bzw. einzelner default-Werte der frames, bei denen es sich im Falle des Topolino um die in den letzten Jahren immer wieder, gerade für Kleinwagen, stark gemachten Werte T R ADITI O N und K U L T mit Blick auf den 500 handelt, der auch im Design evoziert wird. Trotz ähnlich langer Präsenz am Markt wird bei Citroën gerade nicht auf die lange Firmengeschichte abgehoben, wodurch zugleich eine Betonung des defaults IN N O VATI O N , für den das Unternehmen von Beginn an steht, ermöglicht wird. Wenig überraschend ist vor diesem Hintergrund, dass hier weniger als bei anderen Fahrzeugkategorien die Frage eines möglichen greenwashing in den Hintergrund tritt, da Werte wie die genannten die Kampagnen insgesamt wenig „grün“ erscheinen lassen. 20 Bibliographie Baumgarth, Carsten (2014). Markenpolitik. Markentheorien, Markenwirkungen, Mar‐ kenführung, Markencontrolling, Markenkontexte. 4. Aufl. Wiesbaden: Springer Gab‐ ler. Busse, Dietrich (2012). Frame-Semantik. Ein Kompendium. Berlin/ Boston: De Gruyter. de Freitas Netto, Sebasti-o Vieira/ Falc-o Sobral, Marcos Felipe/ Bezerra Ribeiro, Ana Regina/ da Luz Soares, Gleibson Robert (2020). Concepts and forms of greenwashing: a systematic review. Environmental Sciences Europe 32 (Art. 19). Delmas, Magali A./ Cuerel Burbano, Vanessa (2011). The Drivers of Greenwashing. California Management Review 54 (1), 64-87. Esch, Franz-Rudolf (2018). Strategie und Technik der Markenführung. 9. Auflage. Mün‐ chen: Vahlen. Fillmore, Charles J. (1982). Frame Semantics. In: The Linguistic Society of Korea (Hrsg.). Linguistics in the morning calm. Seoul: Hanshin Publishing Company, 111-137. Fillmore, Charles J. (1985). Frames and the semantics of understanding. Quaderni di Semantica 6 (2), 222-254. Fraas, Claudia (2013). Frames - ein qualitativer Zugang zur Analyse von Sinnstrukturen in der Online-Kommunikation. In: Frank-Job, Barbara/ Mehler, Alexander/ Sutter, Tilmann (Hrsg.). Die Dynamik sozialer und sprachlicher Netzwerke: Konzepte, Me‐ thoden und Untersuchungen an Beispielen des WWW. Wiesbaden: Springer, 259-283. Hansen, Anders (2002). Discourses of nature in advertising. Communications 27 (4), 499-511. 268 Sabine Heinemann <?page no="269"?> Heinemann, Sabine (2022): Von Zitrönchen, Enten, Göttinnen und Freunden - zum Mar‐ kenframe von Citroën. In: Lobin, Antje/ Janich, Nina (Hrsg.). Werbende Namen (= Bei‐ träge zur Namenforschung-57 (3)), 257-282. Heinemann, Sabine (im Druck). Frames in der Markenkommunikation. In: Gautier, Laurent/ Varga, Simon (Hrsg.).-Frames und Fachwissen. Berlin/ Boston: De Gruyter. Heinemann, Sabine/ Matriscaiano, Sara (2021). Kult und Mobilität - zur Markenkommu‐ nikation bei-VW Käfer/ (New) Beetle-und-Fiat 500. In: Matrisciano, Sara/ Hoffmann, Edgar/ Peters, Elisabeth (Hrsg). Mobilität - Wirtschaft - Kommunikation: Wie die Mobilität von Unternehmen, Personen, Kapital, Waren und Dienstleistungen die Kommunikation verändert. Wiesbaden: Springer VS,-253-278. Janich, Nina (2013). Werbesprache. Ein Arbeitsbuch. 6. Aufl. Tübingen: Narr. Kroeber-Riel, Werner (1993). Bildkommunikation - Imagerystrategien für die Werbung. München: Vahlen. Meier, Stefan (2010). Bild und Frame - Eine diskursanalytische Perspektive auf visu‐ elle Kommunikation und deren methodische Operationalisierung. In: Duszak, Anna/ House, Juliane/ Kumiega, Lukasz (Hrsg.). Globalization, Discourse, Media in a Critical Perspective/ Globalisierung, Diskurse, Medien: eine kritische Perspektive. Warschau: Warschauer Universitätsverlag, 371-392. Minsky, Marvin (1975). A Framework for Representing Knowledge. In: Winston, Patrick H. (Hrsg.). The Psychology of Computer Vision. New York: McGraw-Hill, 211-277. Popa, Dorin/ Petrovici, Iasmina (2014). Ecodesign in advertising: Aesthetic aspects. Procedia---Social and Behavioral Sciences 163, 73-78. Stellantis-Gruppe (Pressemitteilungen). Abrufbar unter: https: / / media.stellantis.com (Stand: 16.07.2024) Stöckl, Hartmut/ Molnar, Sonja (2017). Eco-Advertising. The Linguistics and Semiotics of Green(-Washed) Persuasion. In: Fill, Alwin F./ Penz, Hermine (Hrsg.). The Routledge Handbook of Eco-Linguistics. New York/ London: Routledge, 259-274. TerraChoice (2010): Sins of greenwashing. Abrufbar unter: https: / / ul.com/ insights/ sins -greenwashing (Stand: 16.07.2024) Wikipedia Citroën Ami. Abrufbar unter: https: / / fr.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Citroën_Ami_(20 20) (Stand: 16.07.2024) Wikipedia Fiat Topolino. Abrufbar unter: https: / / it.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Fiat_Topolino_(2 023) (Stand: 16.07.2024) Ziem, Alexander (2008). Frames und sprachliches Wissen. Kognitive Aspekte der seman‐ tischen Kompetenz. Berlin/ New York: De Gruyter. Ökologisch nachhaltig mit Toastern und kultigen Mäuschen? 269 <?page no="271"?> Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives Antje Lobin Abstract: Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations, Goal 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, which also includes credible consumer information. However, contrary to this claim, a phenomenon that can increasingly be observed in France is that consumers are given the impression - through mentions, allegations, logos and/ or visuals - that a product is made in France even when it is not or not to the extent that is suggested: In terms of communication theory, the topic touches on Grice’s principle of cooperation. In terms of marketing theory, the subject matter is closely linked to the concepts of the nation branding and country of origin. Understanding linguistics as being committed to social responsibility, based on a sample of 50 products containing different types of indication of origin, the aim of this article is to shed light on the various forms of the mentioned borderline marketing practice. As a multimodal phenomenon it affects the verbal and visual codes involved in product packaging. 1 Introduction Goal 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Goal 12.1, which is derived from this goal, focuses on the implementation of the 10-Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, which is to be ensured by the One Planet Network. The 10-Year Framework bundles programs in six different areas, one of which is sustainable <?page no="272"?> 1 THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development (https: / / sdgs.un.org/ goals); Goal 12 | De‐ partment of Economic and Social Affairs (https: / / sdgs.un.org/ goals/ goal12); One Planet network (https: / / oneplanetnetwork.org/ about/ the-one-planet-network) [04.03.2024]. consumer information. Tasks here include implementing the guidelines for credible consumer information developed in the program. 1 This article concerns the indication or highlighting of the French origin of products against the background of required transparent consumer information. The fact that indicating the origin plays an increasingly important role is aptly illustrated by a quote from Yves Jégo, a former French politician who later established the certification mark Origine France Garantie that assures consumers of the traceability and origin of a product. Origine France Garantie is recognized by the Ministry of the Economy. According to Yves Jégo, the 20th century was the century of brands, the 21st century will be the century of origin (Bezat 2015: 64). As explained by Esch/ Langner, branding comprises “all measures […] which are suitable for distinguishing a product from the mass of similar products and which enable a clear assignment of products to a specific brand” (2005: 577, my translation). This marking requirement is met with the following elements: the brand name, the trademark or brand logo and the packaging or product design (Langner 2003: 5). These elements can also be used to refer to the origin of a product, which is increasingly happening as the focus turns to nations and regions. From a naming perspective, Zilg (2013) pointed out that regional language elements, toponyms and deictics are used to indicate locality in brand names (e.g. C O N F I B R E IZH (Bretagne), D O U C E F R AN C E , C O C H O N D ’ A C Q U ITAIN E , S AV E U R S D ’ I C I ). In turn, the present article will focus on packaging, which often does not receive the attention it deserves. In an early linguistic study, Hardt-Mautner (1992: 98, 108) described product packaging as an “exotic” text type. From an economic point of view, Esch (2018: 344) considers packaging as the “face of the brand” and Wiezorek (2004: 1235) ascribes to it a function similar to that of an advertising spot for the brand. A phenomenon that can increasingly be observed in France is that consumers are given the impression - through mentions, allegations, logos and/ or visuals - that a product is made in France even when it is not or not to the extent that is suggested. This marketing technique is called “French washing” or “francolav‐ age” (FIDMIF 2021: 1). It covers a wide range of cases, often including problems of understanding on the part of consumers as well as cases of actual deception on the part of producers and/ or distributors (FIDMIF 2021: 23). French washing not only misleads consumers, it also leads to a loss of revenue amounting to 4.5 billion euros per year (FIDMIF 2021: 4). This practice is contrary to transparent 272 Antje Lobin <?page no="273"?> consumer information as called for in the Sustainable Development Goals and by many consumers. In terms of communication theory, Grice’s principle of cooperation is viola‐ ted, in particular the conversational maxims of quality and manner. The maxim of quality calls for speakers to be truthful, in the sense that they must not say what they believe to be false or what they do not have sufficient reason to believe to be true. According to the maxim of manner, the utterance must be clear, i.e. without obscurity or ambiguity. The lines to lying, which is merely defined as such through the intention, the will to lie (Paveau 2013: 49), are blurred. In this context, various terms have been established for an increasingly mature and responsible consumership, e.g. “le consommateur citoyen” ‘the citizen consumer’, “l’électeur-citoyen-consommateur” ‘the elector-citizen-consumer’ or even the lexical blend “consomm’acteur” (Bezat 2015: 13). Understanding linguistics as being committed to social responsibility, the aim of this article is to shed light on the various forms of the mentioned borderline marketing practice. As a multimodal phenomenon it affects the verbal and visual codes involved in product packaging. The article is structured as follows: First, I will look briefly at the concept of origin labeling from a historical perspective. I will then introduce central concepts from a marketing theory perspective and focus on the legal framework before presenting the results of a survey on origin labeling conducted by the Fédération Indépendante du Made in France (FIMIF) in cooperation with the market research and consulting company IPSOS. Subsequently, based on a field study, I will illustrate how pronounced origin marking is in France and what different forms it can take. In addition to unambiguous cases we often encounter a suggestive practice. In this sense, origin seems to be a gradual phenomenon, and origin marking hides very different realities. 2 Origin labeling - historical perspectives and theoretical framework In a far-reaching perspective, many consider Jean-Baptiste Colbert and his famous factories the precursor of Made in France and the so-called economic patriotism (Bezat 2015: 11). Historically, the appearance of origin marking is a sign of tension. At the end of the 19th century, the United Kingdom imposed the Made in Germany label to stem the tide of products from Germany. However, this protectionist approach had quite the opposite effect and Made in Germany turned out to be an excellent commercial argument for German quality (Bezat 2015: 17, 28). In the 1930s, the effects of the Great Depression in America Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 273 <?page no="274"?> were also felt in France, and with the help of the government, manufacturers founded the organisation Achetez français ‘Buy French’. In the context of the 1981 presidential elections, Produisons français ‘Let’s produce French’ became the slogan of the communist party. The current renaissance of Made in France coincides with the economic depression that has deepened since the 2008 financial crisis. When asked Produire français? ‘Produce French? ’ former French president Nicolas Sarkozy replied non, produire en France (‘No, produce in France’) (Bezat 2015: 29-34). Since 2011, one of the strongest advocates of national industry has been Arnaud Montebourg, who later became the leader of what he himself called la bataille du Made in France (‘the battle for Made in France’) (Bezat 2015: 14). On 19 October 2012, Arnaud Montebourg, then Minister for Economic Affairs, posed in a Breton sailor shirt on the cover of the magazine Le Parisien. On that day, he became “Monsieur Made in France” (Bezat 2015: 26). A lot of media attention has been paid to the documentary Made in France. L’année où j’ai vécu 100 % français by Benjamin Carle, which was broadcast on Canal Plus in 2014 (Bezat 2015: 16). In terms of marketing theory, the subject matter presented in this article is closely linked to the concepts of the nation branding and country of origin. According to Kapferer (2011: 15), the concept of nation branding, for which national identity plays a key role, emerged in the 1990s and has developed considerably since then. It is connected to the field of tourism and the advertising that goes with it and is also associated with made in, although it goes far beyond this (Kapferer 2011: 15). One major goal of nation branding is to enhance a country’s reputation in international relations. Dinnie (2008: 15) defines a nation brand as the “unique, multi-dimensional blend of elements that provide the nation with culturally grounded differentiation and relevance for all of its target audiences”. He also highlights the requirements that need to be met when branding is not applied to products but to a nation: When applying the concept of a brand to nations rather than to mere products, there is an ethical obligation to do so in an honest, respectful manner and to acknowledge the limits of how appropriate it is to treat nations as brands. Nations do not belong to brand managers or corporations; indeed, if they ‘belong’ to anyone, it is to the nation’s entire citizenry. (Dinnie 2008: 15) According to Dinnie (2008: 111), the essence of any nation brand derives not only from the country’s companies and brands but also from its culture in the widest sense - language, literature, music. He considers an awareness and understanding of the core features of national identity a prerequisite for developing nation branding campaigns. 274 Antje Lobin <?page no="275"?> As far as the term country of origin is concerned, Anholt (2007: 10) states: “[T]he country of origin of a product, just like a brand name, is believed to be a short cut to an informed buying decision.” Yet, Dippe (2014: 65) notes that the term country-of-origin effect is not used uniformly. The basic dividing line between the different uses of the term runs along the question of whether the image working within the framework of the country-of-origin effect represents a pure product image or whether other, non-product-related aspects are also relevant. Both domains are closely linked and together constitute the country image, which is used synonymously for the country-of-origin image (Dippe 2014: 67). Usunier/ Cestre (2007: 33) use the term product ethnicity for the associations consumers have with countries and generic products and explain: Product ethnicity may reflect different associative cues: the perceived national origin of the product, its historical place of production, a well-known place of consumption, the country associated with a well-known brand, or the manufacturer’s headquarters. There is much local diversity in the knowledge base underlying product-country associations. (Usunier/ Cestre 2007: 63). 3 The legal framework The regulations at European level and the French legal situation derived from them (Code de la Consommation, Code des Douanes) provide a legal framework both for the use of the Made in origin marking and for affixing the Made in logo to products sold within the European Union. However, in practice, the interpretation of the regulations and the lack of control over origin marking sometimes lead to a misuse of the Made in France label (FIMIF 2021: 7). Applying the European code, French Customs have set three criteria for a business that wants to use the Made in France: a product must have been wholly or partly manufactured in the country, it must have undergone the “last substantial processing” there or have acquired at least half of its factory gate price in France (Bezat 2015: 15). In France, both the DGDDI (Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects), which controls the authenticity of origin marking on imported products, as well as the DGCCRF (Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes), which checks origin marking on the labels of goods sold on the national market, rely respectively on the following articles of the Customs Code and the Consumption Code: Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 275 <?page no="276"?> 2 1. Sont prohibés à l’entrée, exclus de l’entrepôt, du transit et de la circulation, tous produits étrangers, naturels ou fabriqués, portant soit sur eux-mêmes, soit sur des emballages, caisses, ballots, enveloppes, bandes ou étiquettes, etc., une marque de produits ou de services, un nom, un signe ou une indication quelconque de nature à faire croire qu’ils ont été fabriqués en France ou qu’ils sont d’origine française. / 2. Cette disposition s’applique également aux produits étrangers, fabriqués ou naturels, obtenus dans une localité de même nom qu’une localité française, qui ne portent pas, en même temps que le nom de cette localité, le nom du pays d’origine et la mention “Importé”, en caractères manifestement apparents. (Code des douanes - Légifrance (legifrance.go uv.fr)) [04.03.24] 3 Une pratique commerciale est trompeuse si elle est commise dans l’une des circons‐ tances suivantes: 1° Lorsqu’elle crée une confusion avec un autre bien ou service, une marque, un nom commercial ou un autre signe distinctif d’un concurrent; 2° Lorsqu’elle repose sur des allégations, indications ou présentations fausses ou de nature à induire en erreur et portant sur l’un ou plusieurs des éléments suivants: a) L’existence, la disponibilité ou la nature du bien ou du service; b) Les caractéristiques essentielles du bien ou du service, à savoir: ses qualités substantielles, sa composition, ses accessoires, son origine, notamment au regard des règles justifiant l’apposition des mentions “fabriqué en France” ou “origine France” ou de toute mention, signe ou symbole équivalent, au sens du code des douanes de l’Union sur l’origine non préférentielle des produits, sa quantité, son mode et sa date de fabrication, les conditions de son utilisation et son aptitude à l’usage, ses propriétés et les résultats attendus de son utilisation, notamment son impact environnemental, ainsi que les résultats et les principales caractéristiques des tests et contrôles effectués sur le bien ou le service. (Code de la consommation---Légifrance (legifrance.gouv.fr)) [04.03.24] • Customs Code---Article 39: 2 1. All foreign products, natural or manufactured, bearing either on them‐ selves or on packaging, boxes, bundles, envelopes, strips or labels, etc., a trademark, a name, a sign or an indication of any kind likely to lead to the belief that they have been manufactured in France or that they are of French origin, are prohibited on entry and excluded from storage, transit and circulation. 2. This provision also applies to foreign products, manufactured or natu‐ ral, obtained in a locality with the same name as a French locality, which do not bear, at the same time as the name of this locality, the name of the country of origin and the words “Imported”, in clearly visible characters. • Consumption Code---Article L-121-2: 3 A commercial practice is misleading if it is committed in one of the following circumstances: 1. When it creates confusion with another good or service, a trademark, a trade name or another distinctive sign of a competitor; 276 Antje Lobin <?page no="277"?> 4 Il est interdit pour toute personne, partie ou non au contrat, de tromper ou tenter de tromper le contractant, par quelque moyen ou procédé que ce soit, même par l’inter‐ médiaire d’un tiers: 1° Soit sur la nature, l’espèce, l’origine, les qualités substantielles, la composition ou la teneur en principes utiles de toutes marchandises. (Code de la co nsommation---Légifrance (legifrance.gouv.fr)) [04.03.24] 2. When it is based on false or misleading claims, indications or presen‐ tations concerning one or more of the following elements: a. The existence, availability or nature of the good or service; b. The essential characteristics of the good or service, namely: its substantial qualities, its composition, its accessories, its origin, in particular with regard to the rules justifying the use of the terms “made in France” or “Origin France” or any equivalent term, sign or symbol, within the meaning of the Union Customs Code on the non-preferential origin of products, its quantity, method and date of manufacture, the conditions of its use and its fitness for use, its properties and the results expected from its use, in particular its environmental impact, as well as the results and main characteristics of the tests and checks carried out on the good or service. • Consumption Code - Article L-441-1: 4 It is forbidden for any person, whether a party to the contract or not, to deceive or attempt to deceive the contracting party, by any means or process whatsoever, even through the intermediary of a third party: 1. Either as to the nature, kind, origin, substantial qualities, composition or content in useful principles of any goods. 4 Survey FIMIF - IPSOS (2020) To determine the importance customers attach to the indication of origin and the influence this has on their purchase decision, FIMIF and the market research and consulting company IPSOS conducted a survey, which was carried out online between 15 and 22 September 2020 among 1,000 people forming a representative national sample of the population aged 16 to 75 residing in France. The factors age, gender and region were appropriately considered (FIMIF 2021: 9). One question was aimed at finding out which mentions are associated with a French origin. The following markings were available for selection: Made in France (Fabriqué en France), the French flag, Created in France (Créé en France), French Company (Entreprise Française), Designed in France (Conçu en France), the bar code starting with 3, French House (Maison Française), Printed in France Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 277 <?page no="278"?> 5 In this context, we refer to the systematical review and synthesis of empirical research concerning the importance that consumers attach to the origin of food products (Thøgersen/ Nohlen 2022). (Imprimé en France), Packaged in France (Conditionné en France). Results show that the indication Made in France (in the French or English version) is associated with a French origin by 80 % of the respondents. The other percentages are 26 % for the French flag, 24 % for Created in France, 21 % for French Company, 18 % for Designed in France and 14 % of respondents associate the bar code starting with 3 with a French origin. The indication French House marks a French origin for 13 %, the indication Printed in France for 11 % and the indication Packaged in France for 8 % of the participants. In this context, it is remarkable that for about a quarter of French people, the indication Created in France or even the tricolour flag on a product represent a geographical indication of origin (FIMIF 2021: 3). The study also found that 95 % of French people want the geographical origin to be compulsory on all products (FIMIF 2021: 5) and that 83 % consider the country of manufacture or geographic origin of a product before purchasing it. The geographical origin is particularly important for these people when it comes to buying food products (92 %) (FIDMIF 2021: 18). 5 Other sectors in which respondents are sensitive to the country of manufacture are textiles, hygiene products and cosmetics (FIMIF 2021: 18). With regard to the various indications, the FIMIF presents the following conceptual clarifications (FIMIF 2021: 10). Entreprise française (‘French Com‐ pany’) indicates a company which is registered in the Registre français du Commerce et des Sociétés (French Trade and Companies Register), regardless of the country in which the company produces its goods. The indication Maison(s) française(s) (‘French House(s)’) refers - with a certain degree of subjectivity - to a company whose history is linked to France. This notion also has to be distinguished from the place of manufacture. The mentions Conçu en France/ Désigné en France (‘Designed in France’), Création française/ Créé en France (‘French Creation’/ ‘Created in France’) merely express that a product was conceived in France. These concepts imply an intellectual stage, whereas manufacturing refers to a physical or material stage, which can take place in France or elsewhere. Moreover, bar codes (or EAN codes for European Article Numbering, or IAN codes for International Article Number), which are used by trade and industry to exchange consumer goods, also do not indicate the origin of the country of production. The first three digits indicate the country in which the company is registered as a member of the EAN system. In this context, numbers 30 to 37 apply to France (FIMIF 2021: 15). 278 Antje Lobin <?page no="279"?> 5 Field study Based on a sample of 50 products containing different types of indication of origin, the following section shows how pronounced this form of labeling is. The sample was compiled in a field research in August 2023 in a Casino supermarket in France. The presentation of the individual types ranges from cases of clear French origin to more questionable cases. The categories that will be in the focus are: • The use of the national colours on the packaging, also in a ludic way • The use of the French hexagon on the packaging, also in a ludic way • The national colours and deixis • The phenomenon of the indication of origin in percentages • The use of competing indications, that however do not indicate the origin of the product As pointed out in Chapter 4, the national colours play a special role when it comes to indicating or suggesting a French origin. Dinnie (2008: 113 f.) states: […] flags […] are probably the most potent visual expression of national identity. Their recognition levels result in designs of a country’s flag being used as a visual shorthand by products that wish to highlight their country of origin (COO). One problem that can arise from this is that any brand from a given country is free to use a design of the flag in its packaging or other forms of marketing communications, and this makes it difficult if not impossible for nations to ensure that only high-quality products and brands use the flag in their branding. In addition to the actual flag (cf. illustration 1), the national colours are used in a multifaceted way and variety of shapes. These range from mere stripes to the French hexagon. The use of the national colours can also include a ludic component, as can be seen in illustration 2, in which an egg colored in blue, white and red is integrated into a chicken. Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 279 <?page no="280"?> Fig. 1: Peas, brand L U N O R . Fig. 2: Vegetables, brand B L É D I N A . A further example of the ludic use of the national colours is shown on the packaging of a vegetarian filet (cf. illustration 3). Here, a rooster and a hen are in dialogue and make sure of the French origin of the product: Is it French? Yes, Sir! The rooster is considered one of the national symbols of France. The origin is not clear, but it is assumed that the Gallic rooster arose from the double meaning of the Latin word gallus (‘rooster’ and ‘Gaul’). 280 Antje Lobin <?page no="281"?> Fig. 3: Vegetarian filet, brand K O K I R I K I . In illustration 4, the national colours are integrated into a heart shape, which adds an affective component to the indication of origin. Insofar as the brand name LA C H O U C H O U TIÈ R E is a neologism derived from the verb chouchouter ‘to pamper’, the verbal and visual codes are clearly intertwined here. Fig. 4: Almonds, brand L A C H O U C H O U T I È R E . Another way to strengthen the indication of origin is to combine it with a deictic indication, as shown in illustration 5. The national flag is connected to the deictic expression d’ici ‘from here’. Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 281 <?page no="282"?> Fig. 5: Lentil burger, brand H A R I & C O . From its shape, France is often referred to in French as l’Hexagone (‘the hexagon’). Accordingly, among the symbols intended to indicate French origin on product packaging, the hexagon is particularly important. F R AN C IN E , G E R B LÉ , J E AN MA R TIN , P O M B I S T R O , T O R S AD E and many others make use of this symbol, coloring it with the French tricolour. On the packaging of cooking oil of the brand L E S I E U R , the white color component of the national flag is even given the shape of the French hexagon. As has been noticed for the use of the national colours, also the hexagon can include a ludic component. In illustration 6 the hexagon appears winking and downright personified. Fig. 6: Potato chips, brand J A R D I N B I O É T I C . The French origin is often indicated by percentages on packaging. The brands B O N D U E L L E and B LÉDINA , for example, advertise that the product is 100 % or 80 % of French origin. The same holds true for the potatoes of the brand M O U S LIN E (cf. illustration 7) and the flour of the brand F R AN C IN E . 282 Antje Lobin <?page no="283"?> 6 Depuis 1927, nos savoureux bonbons La Vosgienne s’inspirent de la nature pour vous offrir des moments alliant gourmandise et rafraîchissement. Fig. 7: Mashed potatoes, brand M O U S L I N E . By now, it is generally accepted that a 100 % French origin is often impossible to achieve, due to the growing region of certain fruits and vegetables, for example. Nevertheless, cases like the following are questionable: The brand L U S T U C R U sells a pasta product on the packaging of which the main ingredients are shown: tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. In addition, the indication Made in France! appears together with the national colours. However, the indication Made in France! is provided with an asterisk, which leads to the information that tomatoes, basil and mozzarella in particular do not come from France alone, but from the EU. A comparable case is represented by the licorice candies of the brand L U TTI . The packaging states that the product was manufactured in France - except for the sugar. However, this ingredient accounts for a full 73 %. And the edible oil of the brand L E S I E U R also contains a French indication of origin, which in turn refers to the information that the French oil contains non-French linseed and olive oils. The case of the brand L E S V O S G I E N N E S is somewhat different. Vosges is a department in Northeastern France, named after the Vosges mountain range. Neither the product name nor the product description do explicitly refer to France: Since 1927, our tasty La Vosgienne candies have been inspired by nature to bring you moments of indulgence and refreshment.  6 Yet, the deonymic derivation based on the toponym Vosges in conjunction with the possessive our certainly suggests a French origin. Upon closer inspection, we learn that the product was manufactured in Turkey. Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 283 <?page no="284"?> And finally, a whole series of markings could be recorded which appear together with the national colours or the hexagonal outline of France, but do not indicate a French origin, such as: prepared in France (brand P È R E D O D U ), concocted in France (brand V E R G E R D E S AL P IL L E S ), cooked in France (brand B LÉDINA ), packaged in France (brand J E AN - L O U I S B A S S IN E T ), cooked and packaged in France (brand T R O P I C A P É R O , cf. illustration 8). Fig. 8: Olives, brand T R O P I C A P É R O . 6 Conclusion While the use of the labeling Fabriqué en France (Made in France) is regulated by law, there is a multitude of other mentions that purport to indicate origin. These have been flourishing for several years on products that are not necessarily made in France, leading to confusion and even scepticism among consumers as to the reality of French origin (FIMIF 2021: 37). These abusive practices on origin marking devalue French manufacturing and to a certain extent undermine the whole Made in France ecosystem (FIMIF 2021: 4, 8). The case study has shown that the phenomenon goes beyond the mere naming of products. Nevertheless, from a linguistic point of view it would be interesting and desirable to arrive at more systematic results here. However, certain difficulties may arise in data collection. Furthermore, it would be important to look at the situation outside France. In the sense of a linguistics that wants to contribute to societal questions, observations like the ones presented here should go beyond mere description and touch the field of linguistic or semiotic criticism. Indeed, a central function of linguistic criticism is to improve the ability of members of a linguistic community to communicate. This benefits society as a whole. Thus, ensuring transparency and comprehensibility increases social participation, which can be seen as a foundation pillar of democratic societies. 284 Antje Lobin <?page no="285"?> References Anholt, Simon (2013). Competitive Identity: the new brand management for nations, cities and regions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Bezat, Jean-Michel (2015). Enquête sur le Made in France. La marque France à l’épreuve de la mondialisation. Paris: First Éditions. Dinnie, Keith (2022). Nation branding: concepts, issues, practice. 3 rd edition. London/ New York: Routledge. Dippe, Ben (2014). Der Country-of-Origin-Effekt: Länderimage und internationale Markenführung. Determinanten, Potenziale und Wirkungen der interkulturellen Stabilität von Länderimages am Beispiel des Deutschlandbilds in Argentinien und Spanien. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovác. Esch, Franz-Rudolf (2018). Strategie und Technik der Markenführung. 9 th edition. Mün‐ chen: Verlag Franz Vahlen. Esch, Franz-Rudolf/ Langner, Tobias (2005). Branding als Grundlage zum Markenaufbau. In: Esch, Franz-Rudolf (ed.). Moderne Markenführung. Grundlagen, innovative Ansä‐ tze, praktische Umsetzungen. 4 th edition. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 573-586. Hardt-Mautner, Gerlinde (1992). The Silent Salesman oder: Die Verpackung als Werbetr‐ äger. Eine linguistisch-semiotische Annäherung. Fachsprache. International Journal of Language for Special Purposes 14 (3/ 4), 98-110. Kapferer, Jean-Noël (2011). France: Pourquoi penser marque? Revue française de gestion 37 (218/ 219), 13-23. Langner, Tobias (2003). Integriertes Branding. Baupläne zur Gestaltung erfolgreicher Marken. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag. Montebourg, Arnaud (2013). La bataille du Made in France. Paris: Flammarion. Paveau, Marie-Anne (2013). Langage et morale. Une éthique des vertus discursives. Limoges: Lambert-Lucas. Pôle Etudes de la FIMIF (2021). Enquête exclusive. Marquage d’origine et francolavage. (https: / / fimif.fr/ etude-exclusive-sur-le-francolavage [04.03.2024]) Thøgersen, John/ Nohlen, Hannah U. (2022). Consumer understanding of origin labelling on food packaging and its impact on consumer product evaluation and choices. Luxemburg: Amt für Veröffentlichungen. Usunier, Jean-Claude/ Cestre, Ghislaine (2007). Product ethnicity: Revisiting the Match between Products and Countries. Journal of International Marketing 15 (3), 2007, 32-72. Wiezorek, Heinz (2004). Bedeutung der Verpackungspolitik für die Markengestaltung. In: Bruhn, Manfred (ed.). Handbuch Markenführung, Vol. 2. Wiesbaden: Gabler, 1221-1242. Zilg [= Lobin], Antje (2013). T U Y Y O , P R E N D I E V A I , S A V E U R S D ’ I C I - How brand names mirror socio-economic conditions in Romance languages. In: Felecan, Oliviu/ Bughesiu, Alina (eds.). Onomastics in Contemporary Public Space. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 391-404. Branding between country-of-origin effect and French washing: Semiotic perspectives 285 <?page no="287"?> Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti nel settore dell’intrattenimento (para)militare Naming strategies for toys, games and other objects in the (para)military entertainment sector Artur Gałkowski Abstract: The chapter presents a proposal for an analyzis of the names of toys, games, models, interactive and electronic productions commer‐ cialized on the market as objects motivated by the military sector. The naming of these objects has its own specificity. Essentially, they are characterised by their relationship to military language-culture. The name of an object that provides paramilitary entertainment is motivated by authentic historical references, technical nomenclature and a series of creative proposals that are embedded in military discourse. This naming, like the objects to which it refers, suggests a controversial communicative aspect, embedded in a permanent and civilisational determinant. 1 Introduzione a una proposta di sistematizzazione terminologica Il campo dei marchionimi, teoricamente, può annoverare ogni tipo di denomi‐ nazione di oggetti che vengono commercializzati come prodotti materiali e non materiali con qualsiasi destinazione socio-utilitaria. È quindi ammissibile che assumano questo statuto i vari nomi di rappresentazioni delle realtà conosciute nell’ambito militare, vendute come prodotti di gioco per l’intrattenimento o divertimento fra bambini, adolescenti, ma anche persone adulte. Considerando la prospettiva di destinazione, questa categoria di oggetti la definiamo “oggetti d’intrattenimento paramilitari” (OIPM) usati per scopi ludici da individui di tutte le età. In questo studio ci interessano i loro nomi (“nomi di oggetti d’intratteni‐ mento paramilitari” N OIPM ) come uno speciale settore dei nomi commerciali di <?page no="288"?> 1 Il termine utilizzato da Enzo Caffarelli che dice: “I nomi dei giochi talvolta sono marchi registrati e talvolta no. Potremmo battezzarli ludonimi, con carattere ora propriale ora lessicale” (Caffarelli 2018: 505). giocattoli e giochi che costituiscono elementi della comunicazione di marketing su mercati locali e internazionali. Poniamo la tesi che i nomi di una tale caratteristica referenziale creino per se stessi giochi di marketing comunicativi alludendo ad un linguaggio specializzato proprio per l’area militare o, più adeguatamente, paramilitare nel contesto del puro divertimento. Il ruolo dei N OIPM è informativo e determinativo per un dato OIPM, percepibile nei termini d’ispirazione militare. Vogliamo evidenziare quanto il messaggio formattato nei N OIPM possa essere pertinente o stilizzato per quanto riguarda la sua calibrazione linguistico-culturale (lessicale, concettuale e socio-pragmatica). Va precisato che nello specifico l’argomento sottoposto alla nostra analisi non è stato finora investigato. I N OIPM potrebbero essere visti attraverso il prisma dei “crematonimi militari” (cfr. Gałkowski 2017: 67). Tutta l’area delle denomi‐ nazioni commerciali degli OIPM è senz’altro di interesse marchionomastico e interdisciplinare (economico, educativo, stilistico). L’approccio onomastico può contribuire alla spiegazione della scelta dei nomi individuali di giocattoli per mezzo dei fenomeni dell’antropomorfizzazione (cfr. p.es. Vaxelaire 2005: 344; Leibring 2010) o discorsivizzazione ovvero dell’azione socio-comunicativa svolta dal nome dell’oggetto (cfr. Rutkowski, Skowronek 2020: 34-35; Leibring 2002). Va detto che un termine metaonomastico che indicherebbe “nomi dei nomi” di giocattoli e giochi, concettualmente intesi come oggetti di divertimento, non è stato finora proposto. Per ragioni culturali, i nomi di giocattoli e giochi, entrano nell’ambito della ludonomastica, si possono qualificare come ludonimi  1 . Tuttavia, i ludonimi non devono essere per forza “divertenti” (o espressivi); ludici sono i loro oggetti (giocattoli, giochi) e l’atto del loro uso, malgrado nel caso degli OIPM l’aspetto ludico potrebbe essere anche discusso. Senza pretesa di ufficializzazione termi‐ nologica, un’eventuale proposta più puntuale che inglobi anche i N OIPM sarebbe il termine pegniononimi (dal gr. παίγνιον ‘gioco, passatempo’), più precisamente pegniononimi paramilitari ovvero crematonimi ludici paramilitari. Il nostro corpus d’analisi comprende ca. 120 N OIPM di natura prevalentemente deappellativa, ma anche onomaturgicamente diversificata (nomi commerciali neologici e proprializzati), selezionati secondo i criteri metodologici prestabiliti e con lo statuto referenziale corrispondente ad uno dei tipi di OIPM specifici (v. infra). 288 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="289"?> 2 Adottiamo qui il termine internazionale militaria che designa “il complesso degli oggetti, dei documenti e degli articoli che riguardano la storia militare e sono oggetto di collezionismo” (DI.it: s.v.). Le aziende che producono e commercializzano le militaria sono particolari signa temporum. P.es. in Polonia, i negozi con militaria sono oggi molto popolari; vi si possono comprare anche giochi sociali e giocattoli militari per bambini e persone più mature. Crediamo che non sia sbagliato trattare certi OIPM come militaria, soprattutto quando rappresentano oggetti militari di valore storico o vere e proprie armi, ma anche altri arnesi d’intrattenimento utilizzati fra gli appassionati del settore militare. Le fonti dei dati marchionimici estratti sono vari negozi e piattaforme di vendita e pubblicità online (p.es. amazon.it, allegro.pl, aliexpress.com, playsta‐ tion.com, youtube.com, ecc.), siti di produttori e marchi particolari, anche siti e posti di vendita o noleggio reali con le cosiddette militaria 2 . Non ci concentriamo su un mercato particolare né uno spazio limitato ad una lingua, anche se è l’italiano che prevale nel nostro corpus. In effetti, è un’area economica aperta e propria di diverse culture sul piano globale. 2 Il concetto della lingua-cultura militare Come accennato, in questa ricerca si prendono in considerazione nomi di oggetti onimici che si possono classificare come giocattoli, giochi, modellini, produzioni audiovisive e interattive d’intrattenimento paramilitare. I loro nomi (N OIPM ) nella loro struttura formale e semantica comportano un riferimento esplicito o implicito al lessico o ai concetti del campo militare ovvero di guerra, combattimento, lotta, difesa, pericolo, rischio di attacco bellico, scontro fra nemici, ergo alla lingua-cultura militare (LCM). La relazione tra N OIPM e OIPM è di tipo denominativo o associativo. Le co‐ struzioni che formano i N OIPM (termini, parole, transonimi, sintagmi, espressioni) fanno parte della LCM. Dall’analisi si escludono, tuttavia, le denominazioni mi‐ litari degli oggetti che nella loro genesi o destinazione non entrano nell’ambito militare o paramilitare. D’altro verso, si noti che l’oggettività o la soggettività del nome allusivo al vocabolario della LCM può rendere la ricezione dell’oggetto d’intrattenimento come ispirato al mondo militare. Si sottolinei inoltre che molte delle denominazioni che potrebbero portare a delle osservazioni pertinenti riguardo all’uso della LCM sfiorano il campo dei nomi comuni di oggetti militari reali, ma si sottomettono alla nostra analisi onomastica perché sono risultati di processi di onimizzazione (o, speci‐ ficamente, marchionimizzazione). Ad esempio, l’appellativo pistola diventa un marchionimo appena viene utilizzato come un ipotetico nome commercializzato attribuito ad un modello di giocattolo che imita una pistola (cfr. la serie mar‐ Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 289 <?page no="290"?> chionimizzata di termini inglesi che svolgono anche una funzione informativa nella tipologia oggettiva del prodotto: Rubber Band Gun / Machine Gun / Office Toy Gun / Band Shooter; fonte: https: / / etsy.com/ pl/ listing/ 671662095/ rubber-ba nd-gunmachine-gunwood, 8.07.2024). Come in ogni altro campo economico in cui si studiano i marchionimi, l’approccio lessicale si sovrappone a quello onimico e viceversa: il nome generico può svolgere ruoli onomastici diventando deappellativo; il nome proprio può generalizzarsi e designare una classe di oggetti, costituendo così un deonimo nella terminologia o nel linguaggio comune. 3 La metodologia della scelta degli oggetti onimici OIPM Nella classificazione della natura sostanziale degli OIPM si possono indicare sei categorie specifiche determinanti la comunicatività e l’adeguatezza dei pegniononimi paramilitari N OIPM : 1. Giocattoli fantasiosi ispirati ad oggetti militari possibili e scene di scontro bellico (invenzioni creative, spesso divertenti e caricaturali che minimiz‐ zano la ‘gravità’ della realtà di riferimento associativo; cfr. Fig. 1). Fig. 1: Boxing Toy Fighting Robot (https: / / amazon.it/ GIMOCOOL-Giocattoli-Combattime nto-interattivi-Genitore-Figlio/ dp/ B0C1S81YXX, 3.03.2025). 290 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="291"?> 3 La cultura di “giocare alla guerra” è diffusa nel mondo intero, in modo particolare dove le società ricordano un’esperienza tragica dovuta ad un conflitto militare. È sempre il caso della Seconda guerra mondiale che, p.es. nei Paesi del blocco sovietico, fu per decenni vissuta come un evento formativo e quasi identificativo. Si considerino la sua mediatizzazione e la modellizzazione ludica di alcune delle sue testimonianze, come p.es. il carro armato denominato Rudy 102 nella serie televisiva polacca prodotta dal 1966 al 1970 “Quattro carristi e un cane” (pol. Czterej pancerni i pies). Rudy è un nome che malgrado la sua neutralità linguistica (dal nome comune pol. rudy ‘rosso’) è diventato un eponimo militare determinante tanti carri armati prodotti come giocattoli o modellini; anche il numero 102 è entrato nel linguaggio e la memoria collettiva come indicativo di questo tipo di mezzo di attacco militare (cfr. Fig. 3). 2. Oggetti di riproduzione semplificata che si modellizzano su strumenti e mezzi militari autentici, al solito di un’altra dimensione fisica 3 (cfr. Figg. 2 e 3). Fig. 2: Dal blog “Giocattoli militari per un bambino di 7 anni” (manima.pl/ pl/ blog/ zabaw ki-militarne-dla-7-latka-1638017168, 9.07.2024). Fig. 3: Cobi Small Army Rudy T34/ 85 (https: / / archiwum.allegro.pl/ oferta/ cobi-klocki-czo lg-rudy-102-t34-85-czterej-pancerni-i7708621115.html, 3.03.2025). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 291 <?page no="292"?> 3. Armi, mezzi e strumenti reali utilizzati nelle competizioni sportive o giochi sociali, p.es. archi da tiro o fucili con cartucce munite di materiali non pericolosi che servono per marcare il “nemico” (cfr. Fig. 4). Fig. 4: Painball. Paint Blaster 55-50. SupaSplat della marca Kids World (allegro.pl/ oferta/ p aintball-pistolet-na-farbe-50-kulek-okulary-9798096936, 9.07.2024). 4. Vere armi bianche o da fuoco che sono eufemisticamente considerate come “giocattoli” nei giochi per adulti; oppure armi e accessori militari nello spazio virtuale 3D utilizzati nelle gare interattive (cfr. Fig. 5). Fig. 5: Armia 3D (polska-zbrojna.pl/ Mobile/ ArticleShow/ 32906, 9.07.2024). 292 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="293"?> 5. Vari strumenti dell’uso universale o tradizionale venduti come oggetti di divertimento militare primitivo: coltelli, pugnali, lance, asce, mazze, ecc. (cfr. Fig. 6). Fig. 6: Liontouch - Mazza Chiodata del Cavaliere Aquila (https: / / amazon.it/ Liontouch-2 7002LT-Toy-Spada-Leone/ dp/ B008H0L7WK, 8.07.2024). 6. Oggetti meccanici ed elettronici; giochi di strategia, specialmente di tipo wargame: da tavola con accessori di supporto e oggetti di scena, giochi elettronici basati su software particolari e videogiochi tradizionali; i loro nomi costruiscono un repertorio specifico, soprattutto di tipo ideonimico, vale a dire sono dei titoli che trasmettono un’informazione sull’essenza, la destinazione o il contenuto della produzione ambientata nel contesto militare (cfr. Fig. 7, Annibale e Amilcare, il gioco da tavola ambientato all’epoca delle Guerre Puniche, originariamente della marca Avalon Hill; Fig. 8, La Guerra della Triplice Alleanza, un videogioco di strategia della marca Ergo Ludo Editions; Fig. 9, Quartermaster General / QG 1914, una serie di giochi da tavolo strategico, ambientato durante la Prima guerra mondiale; editore Griggling Games). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 293 <?page no="294"?> Fig. 7: Annibale & Amilcare: Roma vs Cartagine (balenaludens.it, 9.07.2024). Fig. 8: La guerra della triplice alleanza (whiteshipgames.it, 9.07.2024). 294 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="295"?> Fig. 9: Quartermaster General 1914 (rebel.pl, 9.07.2024). Può essere sconcertante che nel mondo si producano e si utilizzino per il divertimento così tanti e variegati giocattoli e giochi di carattere militare, che possono anche servire come mezzi di istruzione pratica. Purtroppo, il pericolo di guerra e la necessità di difendersi o attaccare sono iscritte nella natura umana. Lo dimostra la storia, ma è un rischio sempre attuale. Per questo, dal punto di vista psico-sociologico e antropologico si troverebbero tanti argomenti in favore dell’educazione militare e paramilitare. Il mercato, i produttori e commercianti se ne rendono perfettamente conto. La produzione viene accompagnata dalla comunicazione in cui risulta indispensabile la conoscenza della terminologia militare di base. È inoltre utile e giustificata per ragioni di marketing una gamma di soluzioni linguistiche per formare non solo il nome, ma anche dare una prima informazione o definizione concettuale dell’oggetto denominato. Di seguito si veda una tipologia linguistica e onomastico-culturale dovuta ai processi di marchionimizzazione dei costrutti che denominano gli OIPM. Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 295 <?page no="296"?> 4 Classificazione marchionomastica dei pegniononimi militari N OIPM Distinguiamo tre gruppi maggiori dei N OIPM selezionati: I. Nomi speciali (individualizzati, simbolici, espressivi, parlanti) o descrittivi (lessicali) degli OIPM rappresentati soprattutto da armi e altri strumenti militari (cfr. Figg. 10-12). Fig. 10: Boom! ! ! Boom! ! ! (youtube.com/ watch? v=xGyVNO9Cnm4, 24.09.2023). Fig. 11: WW2 camion blitz multiuso. (it.aliexpress.com, 8.07.2024). 296 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="297"?> Fig. 12: Tenda militare (amazon.it/ tessuto-militare-mimetico-impermeabile-elicottero/ d p/ B09F9MN9JG, 23.09.2023). II. Nomi di giochi organizzati, convenzionalizzati o creativi nei termini di regole sociali e istruzioni pragmatiche particolari (al livello intersemiotico e linguistico), giochi provvisti di supporti schematici, strumenti, mezzi e accessori vari (p.es. giochi di ruolo o da tavolo “militari”, come Moves Games Risk Europe, marca Winning Moves Games; cfr. Fig. 13). Fig. 13: Risk (amazon.it, 23.09.2023). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 297 <?page no="298"?> 4 Per la teoria della crematonimia di marketing e ideativa cfr. Gałkowski 2011: sottoca‐ pitoli 3.1 e 3.3. III. Nomi di giochi elettronici e videogiochi “militari” basati su software creativi, ambientati in una trama bellica o parabellica: videogiochi di simulazione, strategia, ruolo, azione, gare di sopravvivenza (p.es. una PlayStation intitolata Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers, marca Kalypso Media; cfr. Fig. 14). Fig. 14: Air Conflicts (https: / / store.playstation.com/ it-it/ concept/ 200266, 3.03.2025). Dal punto di vista onomastico i nomi di oggetti/ entità culturali N OIPM in tutt’e tre i gruppi specificati sono crematonimi di marketing ovvero marchionimi e pragmatonimi (nomi di oggetti materiali, soprattutto nel gruppo I), ma allo stesso tempo (nei gruppi II e III) possono collocarsi nell’uso con funzione dei crematonimi ideativi 4 . In questa seconda prospettiva si potrebbero trattare perfino come ideonimi (nomi-titoli di creazioni che sono frutto dell’attività intellettuale e/ o artistica). I N OIPM del gruppo III appartengono anche alla categoria dei medionimi (nomi di prodotti audio-visivi mediatizzati e interattivi). Per quanto riguarda la formazione lessicale e la motivazione dell’attribuzione del nome individuiamo 10 classi (C) di costruzioni che si incontrano all’interno del corpus dei pegniononimi militari studiati. Le prime tre (C.1, C.2, C.3) illu‐ 298 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="299"?> strano il settore di motivazioni storiche. La classe C.4 s’ispira alla nomenclatura industriale caratteristica per la produzione dei veri oggetti militari. Le classi dalla C.5 alla C.10 illustrano vari processi onomaturgici che portano alla creazione e all’attribuzione di un nome originale ad un OIPM (prevalentemente giochi da tavola, di strategia o videogiochi tipo wargame). La maggioranza delle classi (C.5-C.9) dell’ultimo settore rappresenta i nomi di fantasia, ma anche la C.10 è la prova di una ricerca creativa degli onomaturghi che si servono di strumenti discorsivi caratteristici per il naming contemporaneo impegnato nella comunicazione di marketing la quale deve convincere il cliente o dargli una soluzione pronta e pertinente da utilizzare ulteriormente nel discorso. La classificazione seguente viene riferita a tre tipi di motivazioni maggiori che portano alla creazione marchionimica all’interno delle classi distinte. I. Motivazioni storiche: C1: nomi storici transonimizzati (nomi di armi famose; costruzioni e oggetti utilizzati in battaglie e guerre; luoghi di battaglie; eroi bellici, ecc.). P.es. nomi di spade storiche e/ o leggendarie: Excalibur/ Caliburn/ Escalibor, Clarent, spade di re Artù della marca WOODSY; Durlindana del cavaliere Orlando (< fr. Durandal), il nome largamente utilizzato nel naming dei videogiochi, giochi interattivi ed elettronici “tascabili” (cfr. Figg. 15 e 16). Fig. 15: Spada giocattolo Excalibur (amazon.it/ WOODSY-Giocattolo-Cavaliere-Excalibu r-Travestimento/ dp, 15.07.2024). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 299 <?page no="300"?> Fig. 16: Spada Durlindana (/ lojareidasespadas.com/ it/ spade-e-sciabole/ 995-spada-durlin dana-di-roldan-in-oro-scheda-lunghezza-totale-117-cm-materiale-lama-acciaio-inossid abile-ce-anche-un-personaggio-dur.html, 15.07.2024). C2: nomi storici descrittivi o narrativi (rievocano o suggeriscono una certa situazione bellica, militare, di scontro avvenuta nella storia; cfr. Fig. 17). Fig. 17: Il modellino Cannon Napoleon Battle of Waterloo 1815 (allegro.pl/ oferta/ model-d -242-cannon-napoleon-1-18-12615938312? utm, 15.07.2024). 300 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="301"?> C3: nomi storici simbolici (termini caratteristici per l’essenza di una situazione bellica/ militare conosciuta dalla storia; cfr. Fig. 18). Fig. 18: Il modellino WWII Barbarossa 1941 (ebay.it/ itm/ 374518217738, 15.07.2024). II. Motivazioni tecniche: C4: nomi-codici (soprattutto riprese di codici industriali/ militari autentici o inventati; unità della nomenclatura caratteristica per il linguaggio mili‐ tare, anche segreto, non rilevante la natura, la caratteristica, la funzione, p.es., di un’arma, di un mezzo di trasporto terrestre, marittimo o aereo, di un impianto elettronico, ecc.; cfr. Fig. 19). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 301 <?page no="302"?> Fig. 19: Carro Armato M1340, marca Tamiya (empik.com/ italian-carro-armato-m1340-m odel-do-sklejania-tamiya,p1045934293,zabawki-, 19.09.2023). III. Motivazioni onomaturgiche: C.5: nomi di fantasia descrittivi e/ o narrativi ambientati nello stile delle narrazioni di battaglia e guerra. Esempi di videogiochi: Battle City, Battle Command, Battle Island, Battle Nations, Battle Stations, Battle Tanks, Battle Valley, Harrier Attack, Hearts of Iron, Heavy Metal (cfr. https: / / iC.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Categoria: Videog iochi_di_guerra, 9.07.2024). C.6: nomi di fantasia neologici (anche ibridi; rari nel complesso studiato; ca‐ ratteristici anzittutto per i titoli dei videogiochi fantasy; p.es. Lizardmen, un wargame fantasy della marca Wargames Atlantic; cfr. Fig. 20). Fig. 20: Classic Fantasy (wargamesatlantic.com, 9.07.2024). 302 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="303"?> C.7: nomi di fantasia intertestuali (anche fraseologici, p.es. Para Bellum, una serie di videogiochi di simulazione della marca Aleph Game Studio; cfr. Fig. 21). Fig. 21: Para bellum. (whiteshipgames.it, 9.07.2024). C.8: nomi neutri (onimizzazione di appellativi o espressioni e frasi, anche nomi generici della classe lessicale degli oggetti denominati; p.es. Set di basi militari da combattimento con veicoli, carri armati, aerei da guerra, elicotteri; cfr. Fig. 22). Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 303 <?page no="304"?> Fig. 22: Set di basi militari (amazon.it/ Veluoess-Combattimento-Elicotteri-Giocattoli-Dell Esercito/ dp/ B09JFTHZLH/ ref=sr_1_19? keywords=Aerei+militari&qid=1695123355&s=t oys&sr=1-19, 15.07.2024). C.9: nomi di fantasia metaforici o metonimici (p.es. S.L.C. Maiale with crew, marca ITALERI, cfr. Fig. 23). Fig. 23. S.L.C. “Maiale” with crew, la marca Italeri. (super-hobby.it/ products/ S.L.C.-Maial e-with-crew.html, 9.07.2024). 304 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="305"?> C10: nomi stilizzati su varie ispirazioni (latineggianti o in forme che fanno pensare alle strutture delle lingue morte, p.es. celtiche, orientali, alla terminologia biblica cristiana, alla terminologia bellica letteraria, ecc.; p.es. Bellator, Membranis, Descensus, Imperatrix, nomi di spade laser che si rifanno anche alle produzioni di guerre fantastiche tipo star wars; fonte: https: / / emavoxstudioarC.it/ shop/ spade-leggendarie/ , 9.07.2024). 5 Osservazioni conclusive I N OIPM costituiscono una particolare categoria dei pegniononimi. Sono am‐ bientanti in un contesto speciale, ispirato ad una sfera propria della storia umana e dell’attualità: la guerra e il mondo militare sopportato dalla politica internazionale e dalla natura degli individui che lottano o difendono i loro interessi e la propria vita. Si tratta allo stesso tempo della sfera commerciale, per questo i pegniononimi N OIPM possono essere trattati come marchionimi ovvero crematonimi di marketing. Di per sé non sono militari, ma vista la loro ambientazione possono essere definiti per metonimia come militari o paramilitari. La denominazione dei N OIPM presenta elementi della lingua-cultura militare per eccellenza. Il loro scopo ludico risulta discutibile, ma non è più eliminabile o riducibile dal contesto sociale che concerne lo stesso i bambini e gli individui più maturi. Sono, comunque, ludonimi di valore ambiguo. Formano una ricca tipologia marchionomastica in cui prevalgono i riferimenti a elementi storici della LCM. Un importante gruppo dei N OIPM viene motivato dalla nomenclatura tecnica delle armi, dell’industria della guerra, della terminologia militarie. La maggioranza dei N OIPM risultano creazioni onomaturgiche che alimentano la marchionimia in una data lingua e cultura. In fondo, i N OIPM sono prevalentemente nomi parlanti che aiutano a capire la natura dell’oggetto, il riferimento ad una situazione militare, spesso storica o immaginaria. Malgrado le controversie che possono generare, fanno parte del discorso e della cultura umana in cui la civiltà della guerra può essere anche l’obiettivo del divertimento e dell’educazione. Bibliografia Caffarelli, Enzo (2018). Ludonimi transonimizzati. Rivista Italiana di Onomastica XXIV(1), 505-506. DI.it = Il Nuovo De Mauro, dizionario.internazionale.it. Gałkowski, Artur (2011). Chrematonimy w funkcji kulturowo-użytkowej. Onomastyczne studium porównawcze na materiale polskim, włoskim i francuskim, ed. 2. Łódź: WUŁ. Stratagemmi di denominazione dei giocattoli, giochi e altri oggetti 305 <?page no="306"?> Gałkowski, Artur (2017). Chrematonimia w kulturze współczesnej, Onomastica LXI/ 1, 55-71. http: / / dx.doi.org./ 10.17651/ ONOMASC.61.1.4 Leibring, Katharina (2002). Bultron, Papegojan P och Samiriami - om namn på leksaker. In: Leibring, Katharina/ Nordebring, Anders. Leksaksnamn och järnvägsnamn. Två uppsatser. Uppsala, 5-17. (Namn och samhälle 14.) Leibring, Katharina (2010). Children as name-givers — on the creation, formation and system structure of individual toy names in Sweden. In: Brylla, E., M. Ohlsson & M. Wahlberg (eds.). Proceedings of the 21st ICOS conference in Uppsala. Vol. 5. Uppsala: Institutet för språk och folkminnen, 364-371. Rutkowski, Mariusz/ Skowronek, Katarzyna (2020). Onomastyczna analiza dyskursu. Kraków: Wydawnictwa AGH. Vaxelaire, Jean-Louis (2005). Les noms propres. Une analyse lexicologique et historique. Paris: Honoré Champion. 306 Artur Gałkowski <?page no="307"?> Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist of invest-in-yourself or security-familiarity-sustainability Linnea Gustafsson Abstract: This study explores the role of cosmetic product names in positioning companies according to their self-descriptions and the zeitgeist at their establishment. The product names of nail polish, lipstick, and eyeshadow from these companies are examined for their semantic themes and choices among different languages. Two primary naming positions are identified: an “invest-in-yourself” position, reflecting themes of luxury and self-improvement; and a “security-familiar-sustainable” position, em‐ phasizing stability and environmental consciousness. The study reveals that names not only serve as marketing tools, but also carriers of zeitgeist, influenced by economic, political, and cultural changes over time. Product names from the 1980s companies Face, Isadora, and Depend focus on beauty and success, while those from 2000s companies Estelle & Thild and Idun highlight sustainability and well-being. Building on previous research, the analyzis uses data from six Swedish makeup companies established between 1967 and 2011 and highlights how product names and company narratives interact with societal contexts. The findings suggest that product names reflect the prevailing societal values at the time of the companies’ establishment, indicating a slow evolution in the corporate zeitgeist. This underscores the textual resourcefulness of naming in alignment with both historical and contemporary societal trends. 1 Introduction The oral or written story that a company creates about itself and its products, its origin, and its goals form part of its branding (Rehnberg 2014). As a result, the names can serve as a resource that falls into the brand discourse and interacts with text and the image the company presents of itself and its products. In <?page no="308"?> this way, the product name becomes part of the company’s story and can be considered a minimal text that is important for strengthening the company’s image ( Joseph 2004: 176-181, Bergien 2012: 7). However, the company’s story does not exist without context. In this article, the context will be represented by the zeitgeist in the society. Previously, I published an article discussing the identity relationship between product names and the addressee, i.e., the potential customer (Gustafsson 2020). Here, I aim to delve deeper into the relationship between the product name, the addresser, and the existing societal context. Essentially, although the same data form the basis for both articles, in this paper, I aim to answer the following question: • In what way do their cosmetic product names constitute a resource for positioning companies following their description of themselves and the existing zeitgeist when the companies were established? 2 The companies and products The studied products—nail polish, lipstick, and eyeshadow—analyzed in this study are marketed by six Swedish companies whose main business is make-up production and sales of their brands. Another selection criterion is that the products are sold relatively easily both in regular shops and online. Finally, it is also important that the products are named, and that there is an introductory text on the companies’ websites, as the connection between product name and text is central to the aim of this study. The six studied companies were established at different times: the oldest, Oriflame, was established in 1967 and the youngest companies, Estelle & Thild and Idun, were established in 2007 and 2011, respectively. Three of the companies were established in the 1980s: Face Stockholm (1982), Isadora (1983), and Depend (1989). At the time of data collection from the websites in spring 2018, Isadora offered 344 products for sale, followed by Face with 94 named products and Depend with 93. The companies with the fewest products for sale were Idun (69 products), Oriflame (44 products), and Estelle & Thild (30 products). Thus, the main data consist of 674 product names obtained from the companies’ websites in March (the 15 th and 16 th ), April (the 26 th ), and August (the 17 th and 22 nd ) 2018 (Tab. 1). 308 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="309"?> Oriflame Face Isadora Depend Estelle & Thild Idun Total Number of prod‐ ucts in‐ cluded in the study 44 94 344 93 30 69 674 Tab. 1: The number of products and their names that are included in the study. 3 Starting point in related research Product names have previously been studied within the onomastic community (eg., Kremer & Ronneberger-Sibold 2007; Wochele, Kuhn & Stegu 2012; Boer‐ rigter & Nijboer 2012). For example, Ronneberger-Sibold (2012) discusses the connection between brand names and marketing, Brandl (2007) shows how English product names are becoming increasingly common in Germany, and Buchner (2013) examines how the product names of different models of sugar beet harvesting technology are used for competitive purposes. The names of cosmetic products have also previously been studied on various occasions; one of these is a study of the names in Lush’s catalogue, based on both semantic and linguistic levels (Cotticelli-Kurras et al. 2012). Another study shows that there are gender differences in the names of perfumes (Montes Fernández 2012). These names often contain values that go far beyond the product itself and incorporate eg., ideals such as prestige, beauty, and success (Montes Fernández 2012: 75). Two other studies are based on the names of dishes on restaurant menus. In one, McDonald’s menus in different countries are compared (Lick & Wochele 2012); in the other, the focus is on how menus from different restaurants can signal quality via their dishes’ names (Lavric 2012). These studies have particular relevance for the present research because they show how the names of dishes can comprise words that suggest upgrades and evoke a sense of higher quality, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the products. The upgrades incorporated into the names of the restaurant dishes consist of elements with luxurious connotations, e.g., royal and imperial (Lavric 2012: 221-231; Lick & Wochele 2012: 67, 71). This type of upgrade-signalling naming is often observed in make-up products as well, e.g., majestic in the name Majestic Mauve. Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist 309 <?page no="310"?> 4 Reflection of the zeitgeist It is well acknowledged that first names can reflect the era in which the name bearer was born (e.g., Ainiala et al. 2012: 180-185). To study whether this also applies to product names—here, represented by the names of cosmetic products—I draw from the concept of ‘zeitgeist’ that is borrowed from sociol‐ ogy. Originally formulated by Mannheim (1952 [1923]), whose focus is on generations and generational differences, the concept has since been discussed and further developed by other sociologists (e.g., Pilcher 1994; Krause 2019; Edmunds & Turner 2005). In my understanding of the zeitgeist, I primarily rely on Krause (2019), who argues that the concept does not need to be exclusively tied to a specific generation as it sometimes spans multiple generations—and it does not necessarily impact all groups in society, either. Krause suggests that ‘zeitgeist’ should, instead, be understood as “a hypothesis for a pattern in meaningful practices that is specific to a particular historical time-period, links different realms of social life, and extends across geographical contexts.” In this, she defines it as a broad concept that “ties together political content, lifestyles, biographies, music, art, and everyday design,” that is not sensitive to national borders (Krause 2019: 8). Krause (2019: 7) also discusses the carriers of the zeitgeist, indicating that objects, media, and technologies can be seen as carriers of culture in the same way as people and groups of people are. These elements often last longer than specific situations, and can spread across geographical areas as they change hands and are copied, used, and interpreted (Krause 2019: 7). Thus, many factors in society, such as economic and political changes, influence the zeitgeist or carry the zeitgeist, causing companies and people at a group level to act in similar ways. Therefore, based on the zeitgeist when the companies examined in this study were established—namely the 1960s, the 1980s, and the early 2000s—I will briefly describe Swedish society during each period. During the 1960s, when Oriflame was established, Sweden was governed by the Social Democrats, who had been in power from 1936 until 1976 and advocated a collectivist and solidarity-based ideology with several important reforms to equalize and “unify” society. During this time, Sweden underwent fundamental changes: the economy grew (except during the war years) and a collective welfare state was established. In the 1960s, married women began to enter the workforce, which increased gender equality as they gained access to their own money (Dahlberg 1999: 203-205). The 1960s as well as preceding decades were characterized by significant change and economic growth in Sweden. 310 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="311"?> However, when the companies of the 1980s—Face, Isadora, and Depend—were established, Sweden was experiencing high inflation and a struggling economy despite a concurrent boom in stock purchases, art, real estate, and so on. Politically, this period was marked by an interruption of the long-standing Social Democratic government when a coalition of parties on the right won the election in 1976. In simple terms, society transitioned from being more collectivist to more individualist, reflecting a shift from a more socialist society to a more neoliberal one. As the market economy became the dominant framework in Western societies, this left its mark on the lifestyle, with ideals of being rich, beautiful, and successful spreading through popular culture, such as through the soap operas Dallas and Falcon Crest. Attempts to stabilize the Swedish economy were unsuccessful, and the 1990s saw a financial crisis. The negative consequences of the 1990s crisis, combined with new problems, such as migration, criminality, climate change, and environmental degradation, resulted in decreased societal optimism (Östberg & Andersson 2013: 366-373, 433-435). Therefore, in the early years of 2000, consumption patterns were affected by a growing concern about environmental issues and awareness of sustainability that included increased attention to aspects such as environment, society, culture, and the economy (Ghomshei 2009: 103-104). Trust in politicians declined, and they were no longer believed to be capable of solving the important issues of the time (Edmunds & Turner 2005: 574). Since the 1990s, the Internet and social media have also influenced commu‐ nication patterns among people and within society. Social media polarize us by offering platforms where we form social identities that become more closely tied to our political views (Törnberg 2022). One consequence of this is increased polarization both in public discourse and between individuals, contributing to increased societal insecurity. Given make-up is a product that is primarily aimed at women, an ideology to consider in the paper’s analyzis is the view of femininity and the rise of feminism. After the second wave of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a decline in feminist ideas, and, in the 1980s, the influence of the feminist movement decreased throughout the Western world (Faludi 1993: 81-84, 85-96). Around the year 2000, the movement experienced a renaissance in Sweden; for instance, as evidenced by the formation of a feminist party (Edlund et al. 2007: 49). In marketing, it has long been known that consumption choices are not based only on the usefulness of the products, but also on their symbolic value (Elliot 1997: 286; Sirgy 1982: 289). One way to increase the symbolic value of cosmetic products, which are quite mundane compared with expensive items such as, Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist 311 <?page no="312"?> 1 Face presents its texts in English, even on the Swedish website; therefore, translations are not necessary. for example, cars, is through naming them. The practice of naming cosmetic products is relatively new, as previously, only numbers were used to distinguish between different colour variants. It could be argued that manufacturers have discovered another PR opportunity through names and naming that creates greater attractiveness for the referent (Ainiala et al. 2012: 211) and maybe even a sense of intimacy. Furthermore, naming demonstrates greater care for their products, as manufacturers have made the effort to give them more distinct identities. 5 The text: “About us” To discuss make-up names as a textual position resource and as carriers of a zeitgeist, the analyzis uses the companies’ textual descriptions of their business. The six companies all have websites with a heading of the type “About us” containing text that has been used for the textual links in the analyzis. The texts present the thoughts behind the company, e.g., describing how it was established and the business idea. The companies’ descriptions of how they were respectively established are deeply rooted in the era when they were established. It is within that context and the prevailing zeitgeist of the time that the idea of creating a cosmetics company was established—therefore, in those texts, all companies seem to be bound to the time of their establishment. The genre of the texts is difficult to define because the texts possess traits of several types, which can be categorised as primarily informative or aimed at selling. It is also not easy to determine who the intended interlocutor might be, or, for that matter, who the addresser is. Sometimes, the addresser uses the first-person pronouns I and we and then switches to an impersonal voice that talks about the company in a way that creates more distance for the reader. The texts in which the companies describe themselves are often quite short and might consist of only a few lines. The longest (Oriflame, Isadora, and Face) contain just under 30 lines and the shortest (Idun) uses about 10 lines in its text. In these texts, I have identified the words, phrases, and sentences that are heavy on content; these are exemplified in the quotes below. In the texts from the four companies that were established in the 1960s and 1980s, Oriflame, Face 1 , Isadora, and Depend, examples of buzz words that occur are “framåtanda [thinking forward]” (Oriflame), “drömmar [dreams]” (Oriflame), “success” (Face), “fun” (Face), “förmånliga priser [affordable prices]” (Isadora), “produkter som ger 312 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="313"?> miljontals kvinnor chansen att sätta litet extra guldkant på sin tillvaro [products that give millions of women the chance to add a little extra sparkle to their lives]” (Isadora) and “making women feel good about themselves” (Face). They talk about “fantastiska resultat [fantastic results]” (Depend), “nyckeln till framgång [the key to success]” (Depend), and the company’s niche and how it was discovered. That is, the texts relate to women’s appearance and aspirations, the desirability of the products, and the price. They imply that women should invest in themselves and, in doing so, achieve a glamorous dream world in which they are happy and successful. When the youngest companies, Estelle & Thild and Idun, were established in the 2000s and 2010s, the zeitgeist had changed. This is noticeable in the buzz words relating to the environment, ecology, and sustainability, both for the body and the outside world: “håller huden I balans [keeps the skin in balance]” (Idun), “skyddar och vårdar huden [protects and cares for the skin]” (Idun), “kvalitetskontroll [quality control]” (Idun), “ingredienserna i sortimentet är godkända och håller hög kvalitet [the ingredients in the range are approved and of high quality]” (Idun), “bioaktiva ingredienser [bioactive ingredients]” (Estelle & Thild), “fria från onödiga kemikalier och bekämpningsmedel [free from unnecessary chemicals and pesticides]” (Estelle & Thild), “ekologiskt certifierade [ecologically certified]” (Estelle & Thild), “hållbar skönhetsrutin [sustainable beauty routine]” (Estelle & Thild), “lyxiga ekologiska ingredienser [luxurious organic ingredients]” (Estelle & Thild). These different buzz words show how the focus on women and femininity has shifted and changed between the older and younger companies. When women are mentioned in the older companies’ descriptions, the focus is on appearance. She should “unna sig själv att vara vacker [allow herself to be beautiful]” (Oriflame), “we are all beautiful” (Face), and “prisnivåer som gjorde det möjligt för alla att unna sig denna härliga vardagslyx [price levels that made it possible for everyone to allow oneself to have this wonderful everyday luxury]” (Isadora). In contrast, femininity is not mentioned at all in the younger companies; instead, the focus is on “välbefinnande [well-being]” (Estelle & Thild as well as Idun), “känslig hud [sensitive skin]” (Idun), and “inte skada […] kropp eller […] miljö [not harming […] body or […] environment]” (Estelle & Thild). 6 The names and the Zeitgeist The product names are analyzed from two perspectives. The first is based on different semantic themes and connotations in the names, and the second focuses on the choice of language of the names. Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist 313 <?page no="314"?> 6.1 Product names as carrier of the Zeitgeist The data are complex and elusive, which is why, in this article, I compare two different positions of names that reflect the zeitgeist. The names each appear at an extreme of a continuum. Thus, names that eventually could assume other positions between the two extremes are excluded from the analyzis, which is finally based on 272 names taken from among the 674 names in the main data set. The first product name position is ‘invest-in-yourself’-based and the other is ‘security-familiar-sustainable’-based. When naming make-up products, the names of, e.g., plants, flowers, berries, fruits, and minerals, are often used. 6.1.1 Invest-in-yourself In the data, 197 of 674 (29 % in the main data) and 72 % of the 272 specifically studied names have been assessed as carriers of an invest-in-yourself zeitgeist. Fundamental to analyzis of make-up names is that the name’s main appropria‐ tion derives from the world of shimmer, flare, luxury, and attraction, as this is in the character of the product itself (cf. Montes Fernández 2012: 77) and thus the number could preferentially be too small rather than too large. The names that convey an invest-in-yourself position sometimes have a conversational approach and consist of a motivational phrase, e.g. Be courageous, Follow your dreams, Hello beautiful, Love it, Stronger than you think, and Darling, or express an ambiguity as to whether they refer to an attribute of the product or the consumer, e.g. Fearless, Genius, Gold digger, Modesty, Nude attitude, Provocative, and Sunseeker. Based on the make-up names that appear at the different companies, the invest-in-yourself position is most common among the names of Depend (90 %) and Face (63 %), followed by Isadora (19 %). At Oriflame 11 % of the cosmetic product names are considered to correspond to the invest-in-yourself category, while none of the product names at Estelle & Thild or Idun are placed in this category. The invest-in-yourself position consists of five subordinate name themes. These are 1) wishes for general prosperity (e.g. Have Fun, Joy, New Beginning), 2) appearance (e.g. Bohemian, Chic, Five Star Chic, Preppy), 3) fantasy worlds, i.e., mainly incorporating places and characters (e.g. Atlantis, Dream, Fairy Fun, Gold Flow, Magical Ice, Mermaid Kiss, Mystery, Mystic Forest), 4) attitudes and characteristics (e.g. Attitude, Believe in me, Divine, Fearless, Follow Your Dreams, Genius, Intense, Potential, Priceless, Provocative, So Proud, Stay smart, Stronger than you think, Success, Wise Women), and 5) attraction (e.g. Beloved, Charm me up, Desire, Hello Beautiful, Irresistible, Passionate, Seduction, Spring Fling, Tempting, Closeness). The names may indicate that the consumer is offered ev‐ 314 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="315"?> erything from a magical, romantic fairy-tale world to an exciting and successful personality, or that the consumer already possesses those characteristics. The names themselves do not indicate whether the make-up product bestows these characteristics on its wearer or if the product is best suited to a wearer who already possesses them. 6.1.2 Security-familiar-sustainable As there is a touch of luxury inherent in the make-up product itself, fewer names (75 names (11 % of the 674 names in the main data) and 28 % of the specifically studied 272 names) could be categorized into the security-familiar-sustainable position. Make-up names that convey this position often consist of a descriptive name that focuses on the product, and the aim seems to be for the name to convey as objective a description of the product as possible. The focus is on the domestic, local, and well-known, which convey connotations of stability and being traditional, well-made, secure, and sustainable (cf. Lavric 2012: 225-226). The most obvious descriptive name is colour-based, e.g., Clear, Mörkröd [Dark Red], and Noir. However, it is quite rare that the colour is completely objectively described, and therefore there are only 13 such names in the studied data. Metaphors, which are numerous in the data, are normally not considered as objective as they include more connotations. Yet, within the security-familiar-sustainable position exist metaphors that can be connected to the domestic, i.e., Swedish, aspects. These are plants, berries, fruit, flowers etc. that grow in the country or minerals that occur in Sweden. Consequently, both Strawberry in English and Jordgubb [Strawberry] in Swedish are included, while e.g., Papaya has been excluded as it is not cultivated in Sweden. Other names from domestic berries and fruits, e.g., Hjortron [Cloudberries], Ingrid Marie (a sort of apple), Krusbär [Gooseberries], Körsbär [Cherries], Lingon [Lingonberries], Nypon [Rosehips], Vinbär [Currants], and plants in the local flora, e.g., Kastanj [Chestnut], Lejongap [Lion’s gape], Ormrot [Snakeroot], Pion [Peony], Prästkrage [Dog collar] and Vitsippa [Wood anemone], exist, as well as mineral names such as e.g., Gnejs [Gneiss], Granit [Granite], and Kvarts [Quartz]. These kinds of names were sorted under this position. This position is most common among the make-up brand Idun (58 %), followed by Estelle & Thild (20 %) and Oriflame (16 %). The position also occurs in Isadora (5 %), Face (4 %), and Depend (2 %), but it is significantly less common. Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist 315 <?page no="316"?> 6.2 Choice of language The languages employed in product naming follow often a rhetorical strategy aimed at generating favourable perceptions for the customers and increasing the product’s symbolic value. Among the 272 names representing the two positions assigned in this paper, English was most commonly used (81 %), followed by Swedish (19 %). The fact that English names are more common than Swedish ones can partly be explained by a possible desire for export. In this way, customers can recognize the product regardless of the country in which it is sold, and, in addition, linguistic standardization is a cost-saving factor (Lick & Wochele 2012: 65). It is also worth noting that English is associated with several positive connotations in Sweden, e.g., modernity, internationalism, cosmopolitanism, trendiness, and success (Kelly-Holmes 2005: 104), which very likely influence the choice of language. When the language of the product names is in Swedish, the emphasis is often on both what is perceived as typical Swedish culture (e.g. Hjortron [Cloudberries], Lingon [Lingonberries]) and the typically Swedish form of language, with names that contain the letters å, ä, and ö, e.g., Beröra [Touch], Blåbär [Blueberry], Glädje [Joy], Hjärta [Heart], Mörkröd [Dark red], Närhet [Closeness], Älskling [Darling]. Against this background, a product name in the local language— in this case, Swedish—can be a means to increase the market’s responsiveness to the product (Lick & Wochele 2012: 65-66), as well as to provide a product name that sounds even more secure-familiar-sustainable. 7 Comparison and discussion The zeitgeist that existed when the companies were established is connected to the companies through the descriptive text the use in their branding; because the names follow the same pattern as the companies’ descriptions of themselves, it is possible to conclude that the product names are carriers of the zeitgeist as well as constitute a textual resource. Thus, the product names still carry the zeitgeist existing at the time the company was established. This inertia might be due to each company’s business plan, the niche the company and its products were intended to fill, and the business idea being developed at a specific time—and strongly influenced by the zeitgeist existing at that time—making it difficult to change it quickly. Both the descriptive texts and the product names show differences between the 1980s companies, Face, Isadora, and Depend, on the one hand, and the 2000s companies, Estelle & Thild and Idun, on the other. Through both descriptive texts and product names at Depend and Isadora, it is emphasized that the 316 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="317"?> products will make the woman more beautiful, more desirable, and possibly also happier. The woman’s appearance and the commercial story of the company’s establishment are highlighted as success factors, while, with Estelle & Thild and Idun, the focus is instead on the environment. The aforementioned companies paint a dream-like picture of women’s opportunities in their texts, while the latter combine the view of women with a sustainability perspective. It can be said that Depend’s and Isadora’s presentations and names are clearly more imaginative and dreamy, while Estelle & Thild’s, and Idun’s are more pared back and down-to-earth. This is linked to two separated zeitgeists - one from the 1980s and one from the 2000s. As a result of economic and political changes, the 1980s developed into a decade of individuality where the focus was on “investing in oneself ” (Östberg & Andersson 2013: 305). The zeitgeist and the social issues that were on the agenda when the companies were established seem to have significance for the product names, even much later on. Certain name themes, e.g., appearance and attraction, which are found most commonly at Depend and Isadora, indicate how the internalized male gaze on women is perceivable even in makeup names (cf. Montes Fernández 2012). The femininity brought forward by Estelle & Thild as well as Idun emphasizes other aspects to a greater degree, with the woman herself in focus rather than others’ gaze on her. The woman thereby becomes more clearly a subject instead of an object that others observe. The zeitgeist changed at the beginning of the millennium and new problems emerged. Additionally, trust in both politicians and interpersonal relationships declined, which increased insecurity in society. It is reasonable to assume that the insecurity present in society is reflected in various areas, including company-naming practices. This leads to a trend of returning to basics and seeking greater perceived security, as manifested in names through buzzwords addressing current societal issues and product names that carry connotations of security, familiarity, and sustainability. Both Swedish and English languages are used when naming make-up prod‐ ucts, although English is more frequently used than Swedish. The more exotic, luxurious, and romantic the connotations, the more common it is that English is used in the product names. In cases where Swedish appears, it is mostly in names based on colours and their metaphors. In many cases, the sustainability perspective also coincides with the choice of language, so that names in Swedish carry connotations of home-made and quality that can be perceived as stable, down-to-earth, traditional, well-made, sustainable, and associated with the country of origin (cf. Lavric 2012). Additionally, the use of Swedish names increased at the beginning of the 2000s, likely even further emphasizing a sense Cosmetic product names as a resource for positioning manufacturers in the Zeitgeist 317 <?page no="318"?> of security and familiarity during an uneasy zeitgeist (cf. Lavric 2012; Lick & Wochele 2012). 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Self-Consept in consumer behavior: A critical review. In: Journal of Consumer Research 9(3), 287-300. https: / / jstor.org/ stable/ pdf/ 2488624.pdf. (Accessed 18-10-29). Törnberg, Petter (2022). How digital media drive affective polarization through partisan sorting. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(42), e2207159119. https: / / doi.org/ 10.1073/ pnas.2207159119. Wochele, Holger/ Kuhn, Julia/ Stegu, Martin (eds.) (2012). Onomastics goes Business. Role and relevance of Brand, company and other names in economic contexts. Berlin: Logos Verlag. 320 Linnea Gustafsson <?page no="321"?> Authors Baranov Ilia (independent, http: / / www.brnd.name) Ilia Baranov is a brand name consultant in Moscow, Russia. His papers focus on commercial names and naming, onomastics and brand localization. iliabara@gmail.com Bugheșiu Alina (North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania) Alina Bugheșiu is Lecturer at the Faculty of Letters, North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dr. Bugheșiu has written studies on onomastics in commerce, music, jokes, virtual communica‐ tion. Since 2019, she has been Editorial Secretary of Onoma, the Journal of the ICOS. alina.bughesiu@gmail.com Cotticelli-Kurras Paola (University of Verona, Italy) Paola Cotticelli-Kurras, full professor of historical and Indo-European linguis‐ tics at the University of Verona, president of the CISPELS society. She is a member of the scientific and editorial board of numerous journals and series. Research areas: Comparative syntax and morphology of Indo-European languages, lexicographic interests, Anatolian languages, Ancient Greek, Old Lithuanian, metalanguage and history of linguistics. PI of the research projects: Marie-Curie Horizon (2021-2023); PRIN20172F2FEZ and PRIN 2022ZCE5RA. paola.cotticelli@univr.it Cotugno Francesca (University of Palermo, Italy) Francesca Cotugno is a tenure-track researcher (Rtd-B) at the University of Palermo. Her research interests focus on language contact and change, with a special attention to the Latinization of Britain and Celto-Germanic areas of the continent. She is currently working on Grammaticography and History of Linguistics, Historical Phonology and Morphology within the broader scenario of ancient Indo-European languages, together with Graphematics and the interactions between Linguistics and Paleography. francesca.cotugno@unipa.it <?page no="322"?> Dentella Anna (University of Rome La Sapienza and RomaTre, Italy) Anna Dentella is PhD Candidate in Historical linguistics at the Universities of Roma La Sapienza and Roma Tre. Her main fields of interest are comparative morphology and syntax, ancient Indo-European languages and the history of linguistic thought. anna.dentella@uniroma1.it Felecan Daiana (North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania) Daiana Felecan is Prof. Dr. Hab. at the Faculty of Letters, North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dr. Daiana Felecan has written extensively on topics in the fields of onomastics, pragmatics, discourse analyzis, stylistics, and philosophy of language. daiana18felecan@yahoo.com Felecan Oliviu (North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania) Oliviu Felecan is Prof. Dr. Hab. at the Faculty of Letters, North University Centre of Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. As of 2019 he is Editor-in-Chief of Onoma, the Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS). He has written widely on various topics in the field of onomastics. olifelecan@yahoo.com Fernandez Cruz Javier (University of Málaga, Spain) Javier Fernández Cruz is Assistant Professor at the Department of English Philology of the University of Málaga, specializing in computational linguistics, corpus analyzis, and digital humanities. He holds a PhD in Linguistics and has conducted postdoctoral research as a Margarita Salas Fellow at the University of Bergamo. His work focuses on sentiment analyzis, lexicography, and media discourse. He has collaborated with international research groups in France, Italy and Ecuador and has published on topics such as economics in the press and the language of online narratives. fernandezcruz@uma.es Gałkowski Artur (University of Łódź, Polonia) Dr. habil. Artur Gałkowski, Associate Professor at the University of Łódź (Poland), is a linguist specializing in Italian, French, and Slavic studies. He is an expert in chrematonomastics and onomastic terminology. His latest monograph is Italianità nella marchionimia polacca. Dall’ispirazione all’onomaturgia (2024). artur.galkowski@uni.lodz.pl 322 Authors <?page no="323"?> Gautier Laurent (University of Burgundy, France) Laurent Gautier is Full professor at the Université Bourgogne Europe (UBE) and Director of the Centre Interlangues - Texte, Image, Langage (TIL) (EA 4182). His research focuses on discourse and corpus linguistics as well as cognitive semantics (frames, constructions, metaphors). ORCID: 0000-0002-6210-410X. laurent.gautier@ube.fr Gustafsson Linnea (Halmstad University, Sweden) Linnea Gustafsson holds a PhD in Scandinavian languages and was appointed as a full professor in the Swedish language at Halmstad University in 2024. She takes a special research interest in personal and commercial names. linnea.gustafsson@hh.se Heinemann Sabine (University of Graz, Austria) Sabine Heinemann: 1999 PhD LMU Munich, 2011 Habilitation University of Regensburg, since 2008 Professor (full) at the University of Graz. Main research interests: Cognitive semantics, language change (esp. morphology), minority languages (esp. Friulian), advertising language. sabine.heinemann@uni-graz.at Karpenko Olena (Odesa I.I.Mechnikov National University, Ukraine) Olena Karpenko is an onomastic researcher specializing in name studies and psycholinguistics. Doctor of Philology, Full Professor, Head of the English Grammar Department at Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University. elena_karpenko@onu.edu.ua Koch Florian (University of Burgundy, France) Florian Koch is Senior lecturer at the Université Bourgogne Europe (UBE) and researcher at the Centre Interlangues---Texte, Image, Langage (TIL) (EA 4182). Currently, he leads the DISCLOSE research group. His research focuses on social phenomena - such as the commodification of names - linking sport, politics, linguistics and economics. ORCID: 0000-0002-4897-7174. florian.koch@ube.fr Llorca Matthieu (University of Burgundy, France) Matthieu Llorca is Senior lecturer at the Université Bourgogne Europe (UBE) and researcher at the Laboratoire d’économie de Dijon (LEDI) (UR 7467). His research focuses on the economics of sport, the football industry and the economics of the Olympic Games. ORCID: 0000-0001-7390-4703. matthieu.llorca@ube.fr Authors 323 <?page no="324"?> Lobin Antje (University of Mainz, Germany) Antje Lobin is Professor of Italian and French Linguistics at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz since 2015. She qualified as a university lecturer with a thesis on conversational and media linguistics. In her dissertation she dealt with the formation and meaning of Italian brand names. alobin@uni-mainz.de Longobardi Ferdinando (University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, Italy) Ferdinando Longobardi, PhD, currently teaches General Linguistics at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. flongobardi@unior.it Merlin Defanti Stella (University of Naples ‘Federico II’, Italy) Stella Merlin Defanti is a post-doc researcher in Linguistics at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’. From 2018 to 2023, she has been a member of the ERC Horizon 2020 PALaC “Pre-Classical Anatolian Languages in Contact” and then a research fellow of the project PRIN 2017 SiRe “La Sintassi incontra la Retorica”. She has worked in the field of language variation and change, language contact, the history of linguistic thought and the metalanguage of linguistics. stella.merlin@unina.it Neklesova Valeriia (Odesa I.I.Mechnikov National University, Ukraine) Valeriia Neklesova is a researcher specializing in name studies, meme studies and cultural studies. Doctor of Philology, Full Professor, the English Grammar Department at Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University. neklesova.valerie@gmail.com Pihl Elin (The Institute for Language and Folklore - Isof, University of Uppsala, Sweden) Elin Pihl is currently a research archivist t the Institute for language and folklore in Uppsala (Isof), Sweden. In 2014 she defended her thesis on field names in Uppland, Sweden and has since then worked at Isof. elin.pihl@isof.se Pisaniello Valerio (University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy) Valerio Pisaniello is associate professor of Historical and General Linguistics at the “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti and Pescara. His main research inter‐ ests include Indo-European studies, in particular philology and linguistics of the ancient Anatolian languages, language variation and contact, and graphematics. From 2018 to 2023 he was a member of the ERC Horizon 2020 project PALaC “Pre-Classical Anatolian Languages in Contact”. valerio.pisaniello@unich.it 324 Authors <?page no="325"?> Poli Diego (Emeritus, University of Macerata, Italy) Diego Poli is Professor Emeritus of Historical and general linguistics at the University of Macerata (Italy). His research has investigated specific matters in Celtic and Germanic languages, Latin, and Greek, as well as various topics related to the history of linguistics, and the history of grammar and rhetoric in the Middle Ages. He has organised national and international conferences and is a member of several professional associations. diego.poli@tiscali.it Rieger Marie A. (University of Bologna, Italy) Marie A. Rieger is Associate Professor of German Linguistics at the Faculty of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Bologna. Her main research areas are Colonial and Postcolonial Linguistics, Onomastics, and Intercultural Communication. marie.rieger@unibo.it Sebin Daniel (University of Burgundy, France) Daniel Sebin is a PhD student and researcher at the University of Burgundy and the University of Bucharest. His research focuses on AVT Translation, Integral Linguistics, and Linguistic Landscapes. He also works as a book translator and subtitler. dani.sebin@gmail.com Solling Daniel (University of Uppsala, Sweden) Daniel Solling promovierte 2012 an der Universität Uppsala mit einer Studie zur historischen Graphematik des Deutschen. Danach forschte und lehrte er an mehreren schwedischen Universitäten. Zwischen 2015 und 2018 leitete er ein Forschungsprojekt zu Stammbüchern an der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala. Seit 2017 arbeitet Solling als Forschungsarchivar mit dem Wörterbuch der mit‐ telalterlichen Personennamen Schwedens am Institut für Sprache und Folklore, Uppsala. daniel.solling@isof.se Authors 325 <?page no="327"?> Indexes Brand names AC Biode-41 Adidas-131, 136 Aeroflot-136, 142 Aleph Game Studio-303 AMC Vibro-41 Asahi-210 AstraZeneca-171, 186 f., 193, 199 f. Avalon Hill-293 Bombay Oxygen Investments-197 Budweiser-219 Casino-10, 279 Casio-211, 235 Chevrolet-245 Citroën-10, 248, 253 f., 258, 261-264, 267, 269 Cobi-291 Coop-8, 49, 54, 59-66, 69 f. Corona (beer)-9, 186, 188 f., 192, 205, 211, 213 ff., 220, 222 f., 226-231, 233 Corona Buildcon-192 Corona Cigar-192 Corona Furniture-193 Corona Gracieux-193, 200 Corona Hotels-193 Corona Jewellery-193 Corona Tools-193 Damiani-265 Darty-263 DcBrain-43 Delta Airlines-209 Depend-307 f., 311 f., 314-317 Disney-244, 264 Dos Equis-191, 213 f. Dracula Technologies-41 Eco detergenza-98 Ecoenergia-98 Ecowood-98 Enel-18, 28 Eni-18, 22 Eolos-41 Ergo Ludo Editions-293 Esselunga-49, 70 Estelle & Thild-307 f., 313-317 Expektra-40 Face Stockholm-308 Fiat-10, 253 f., 258, 260, 262, 261, 264-267, 269 Ford-245 Gazprom-130, 136, 140, 142 Gevalia-242, 245, 247 f. Giorgio Armani-265 Global organic textile standard (GOTS)-50 ff., 54, 56 Golf-246, 248 Griggling Games-293 Groupe Wagner-116 Heineken-214 HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology)-40 Instagram-7, 13 f., 18, 20 f., 23 f., 26, 28-31, 109, 212, 265 Iper-99 Isadora-307 f., 311-317 Italeri-304 <?page no="328"?> Jägermeister-132 Jardin Bio étic-282 Juhlins-247 Kalypso Media-298 Kemtecnia-43 Kids World-292 Kirin-210 Lesieur-282 Les Vosgiennes-283 LG Electronics-121 Lite-210 Lunor-280 Maserati-265 McDonald’s-111, 113, 309 Migros-8, 49-58, 66 Minesto-36 Mini-264 Misura-99 Modelo-210 Mousline-283 Nespresso-113 Nestle-113, 139 Netflix-248 Nike-136 Nissan-188, 202, 246 Nivea-99 Northvolt-36, 39 f. Oeko-Tex Made in green-50 OmegaLambdaTech-41 Opel-242, 246, 254 Oriflame-308, 310, 312-315 Peafowl Solar Power-40, 44 Pionerkraft-41 Plymouth-248 Polarium-36, 40 PVComplete-43 Qatar Airways-132, 139 Qualifying Photovoltaics-43 Quantom-41 Red Bull-191 Renault-10, 242, 248, 253 f., 258-261, 267 Ringhel-41 Rivus-40 Rosi (Return of silicon)-41 Saab-248 Samster-40, 44 Samsung-116 San Benedetto-23 ff., 94 Sanlorenzo Yachts-265 San Pellegrino-267 Škoda-248 SolarWorX-43 Sorgenia-18, 25 f. Stellantis-254, 266, 269 Swedish Algae Factory-36 Tamiya-302 Technologies from Ideas-43 TerraChoice-255, 269 Tesla-180, 248 Think Natural-97 Tropic Apéro-284 Turbulent-41 Vaxzevria-193, 199 f. Virus Vodka-215 Vittel-131 Volkswagen (VW)-248, 269 Volvo-246, 248 f. Wargames Atlantic-302 Whiteshipgames-294, 303 Wind-Tuning-Systems-43 Woodsy-299 Z (different trademarks)-111 Z-Brand-114 Zuegg-99 328 Brand names <?page no="329"?> Product names Accept Reisen-83 African Travels-83 Air Conflicts-298 Akwaba Afrika-83 Annibale & Amilcare---Roma vs Cartagine-293 f. Armia 3D-292 Atlantis-314 Attitude-314 Ayds Diet Candy-198 Bamse-242 f. Band Shooter-290 Battle City-302 Battle Command-302 Battle Island-302 Battle Nations-302 Battle Stations-302 Battle Tanks-302 Battle Valley-302 Bellator-305 Beloved-314 Bobby Car-247 Bohemian-314 Boom! ! ! Boom! ! ! -296 Boxing Toy Fighting Robot-290 Caliburn-299 Cannon Napoleon Battle of Waterloo 1815-300 Carro Armato M1340-302 Chic-314 Честь Миротворец-123 Чистый мир-122 Citroën 2 CV-263 Citroën 5 HP-263 Citroën Ami 10, 253 f., 258, 261-264, 266 f., 269 Citroën Ami Buggy-262 Citroën Ami Cargo-262 Citroën DS-263 Citroën Saxo-248 Clarent-299 Classic Fantasy-302 Clear-315 Closeness-314, 316 Cobi Small Army Rudy T34/ 85-291 Colors of Zanzibar-83 Corona X-Force-193 Darling-314, 316 Descensus-305 Desire-314 Дело молодых-119 Diet Ayds-198 Divine-314 DoctorZeta-115 Dolce Mondo-120 Дом Миротворец-123 Dream-85, 314 Dream Eco Safari-85 Другая Украина-123 Durlindana-299 f. Eco Adventure Safaris-85 Eco Africa Climbing-81 Escalibor-299 Evaneos-83 Excalibur-299 Fairy Fun-314 Fearless-314 Fiat 500e-10, 253 f., 258, 260, 267 <?page no="330"?> Fiat 500x-265 Fiat Nuova 500-260, 262, 264, 267 Fiat Nuova 600-264 f. Fiat Topolino-10, 253 f., 258, 261, 264-267, 269 Fiat Topolino Dolcevita-265 f. Five Star Chic-314 Follow Your Dreams-314 Ford Mondeo-245 Fuse Flex Space-113 Genius (makeup)-314 Gold Flow-314 Госпиталь Мирa-123 Harrier Attack-302 Have Fun-314 Hearts of Iron-302 Heavy Metal (makeup)-302 Hello Beautiful-314 Imperatrix-305 Intense-314 Irresistible-314 Izeta-115 Izios-113 Izzy Hookah-113 Jordgubb-315 Joy-314, 316 Kastanj-315 Klüger Reisen-83 Корчма Тарас Бульба-123 Körsbär-315 Krusbär-315 Kvarts-315 La Guerra della Triplice Alleanza-293 Lazik-113 Lejongap-315 Lets Go Travel-83 Lingon-315 f. Liontouch-293 Lizardmen-302 Love in Portofino-265 Machine Gun-290 Magical Ice-314 Малороссия-123 Membranis-305 Mermaid Kiss-314 Migros- BIO Cotton --52 Мировая-123 Modesty-314 Mystery-314 Mystic Forest-314 Настоящая Украина-123 Natouralist-83, 85 Nature Tours-83 Natürlich Reisen-83 NeuroWorld-120 New Beginning-314 Nika Zebra-115 Noir-315 Nomadic Experience-83 Одесса мама-123 Office Toy Gun-290 Opel Rocks Electric-254 Paint Blaster 55-50-292 Para Bellum-303 Passionate-314 Peace in You-121 Peace of mind-121 Песни русского мира-122 Planet Omicron-209 Плодоѵочка-116 Plymouth Duster-248 Potential-234, 314 Prästkrage-315 Preppy-314 Priceless-314 Provocative-314 Quartermaster General / QG 1914-293 330 Product names <?page no="331"?> Радужный мир-122 Ragnarök-116 Raketa-119 Renault Clio-242 Renault Mégane-248 Renault Twizy-261 Renault Zoe-10, 236, 253 f., 258-261, 267 РеZерV-117 Risk Europe-297 Roam Wild Adventure-83 Rozet-115 Rozzeto-126 Rubber Band Gun-290 Rudy 102-291 S.L.C. Maiale with crew-304 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip-116 San Benedetto Ecogreen-23 Seduction-314 Sensual Corona-193 Škoda Fabia-248 Škoda Octavia-248 So Proud-314 Spring Fling-314 Strawberry-315 Строй мир-122 Success-314 Sunseeker-314 SupaSplat-292 Tempting-314 travel-to-nature-83 f. Trip Legend-83 Underwood-126 Vagner-116 Valery Zaharin-115, 117, 119 V Blagonaslediye-116 Victor Zetman 2022-115, 117, 119 Vikenzo house-116 Vizett by Mahaon-126 V mobile-116 V-new-116 Volkswagen Beetle-264, 269 Vproject-116 VZ-117 War legends-126 Wise Women-314 WW2 camion blitz multiuso-296 WWII Barbarossa 1941-301 Ѵдом-116 Yugen Earthside-83 Z6-115 Zapad-Vostok-117 Zavvtra-115, 117, 119 Zebest-115 Zed.t-114 Zedzetter-114 Zerozet-114 Zet-114 ZetOveR-114 Zetskiy-114 Zettains-115 Zet techno-114 Zett professional-126 Zeus-115, 117, 119 Zhigunov electric service-115 Z-Market-113 Z mobile-113 Zona di Vittoria-117 Zozz signs-114 ZSweet Life-115 Zuid Vest-117 Zventa-115, 117, 119 Z-War-126 Product names 331 <?page no="332"?> General Index Acronym-51, 94 f., 111, 122 Advertising-7 f., 10, 13 f., 18, 26, 32, 49 f., 80, 86, 93, 102 ff., 106, 123, 136, 213, 253, 268 f., 272, 274 grüne Werbung (green -)-254 f. soziale Werbung (social -)-255 TV-Spot-254, 258, 265 Advertising language-102, 106 Werbesprache-257 AI (artifcial intelligence)-47, 148, 157 AIDS (syndrome)-154, 165, 198, 209, 234 Anaesthetic effect-148 Antibranding campaign-190 Apocalypse-146 Association 8, 27, 39, 49, 54, 60, 62, 66 f., 69, 104, 106, 122, 133, 135, 185-188, 192 f., 195-198, 202, 208 f., 211 f., 216, 233, 275 Assoziation-249, 256, 262 positive --197 f. Awareness-10, 13, 19, 62, 66, 95, 149, 188, 198, 208, 253, 274, 311 of sustainability-253, 311 Bankruptcy-137, 148 Bio-53, 56, 65 f., 68, 91, 97, 104 ff. Biodiversity-49, 55 f., 59, 62, 74, 76, 153 Biologic-102, 151, 198, 255 Bioprefixoid-65, 106 Brand 7-10, 13, 18, 31, 38, 42, 51, 56-59, 65, 70, 77, 91 f., 95 ff., 99, 106, 113, 116, 127, 132 f., 137, 140, 185 f., 188 ff., 193, 195, 199, 202, 205, 207 ff., 211-219, 223 f., 231-234, 253, 272, 274 f., 279-285, 307, 309, 315, 318 f. communication-253 identity-18 Luxusmarke (luxury -)-265 f. Markenkommunikation-254, 256, 262, 269 reputation-7 storytelling as strategy-202 Branding 7-11, 108, 142, 194, 272, 274, 279, 285, 307, 316 Branding and cognitive linguistics-207 Brand strategy- diffusion-211 emotion-257, 265 language choice-46, 119 local language-36, 38, 40 f., 46, 316 local vs global-35, 145 phonetic appeal-93, 125, 309 symbolic language-17, 157, 311, 316 Brown firm-255 Bundesliga-135, 143 Buzzword-14, 30, 84 f., 312 f., 317 Calque (linguistics)-158, 173 Cancer-154 Car-10, 47, 237, 253, 266, 312 Fahrzeug, Auto (car) 237-243, 245-250, 254, 258, 267 f. Miniauto (minicar)-258 SUV-256, 258 Cartoon- Zeichentrickfilm (cartoon)-242 f. Cataclysm-149, 173 Catastrophe-9, 74, 149 ff., 154 ff., 164 f. natural --150 theory-9, 151, 165 Chaos theory-86, 151, 178, 199 <?page no="333"?> Claim 14, 26, 61, 75, 77 f., 80-84, 86, 95, 104, 167, 170, 173, 177, 271 Climate 7 f., 10, 13, 18, 30, 35, 49, 55, 59, 74, 129, 153 f., 164, 237, 311 Klimadebatte (discourse)-254 Klimaperspektive (perspective)-240, 248 ff. CO2-neutral-256 Collective imagination-156 Colour-18, 54, 69, 84, 92 f., 95, 104 ff., 256, 258, 263, 265, 279-284, 312, 315, 317 Autofarbe (car -)-259 Commitment 24, 55 f., 59, 61-64, 66, 69, 86, 97, 99, 130-133, 135 Communication- global --148, 150 positive Kommunikation (positive -)-255 Company image- Unternehmen Image-254 Conative communication-96 f. Concept shape- Konzeptform-83 Connotation-39 negative --186 positive --189, 316 Consumer- information-271 ff. perception 10 f., 106, 116, 132, 232, 316 trust-85, 106, 187 Conventions-23, 95, 133, 157, 186 f., 200, 257 Conversational maxim-273 Corporate communication-7 f., 13, 30, 158 Cosmetic brand- gender in --311 identity in --10, 307 f., 314 Cosmetic product names-10, 126, 307 f., 314 Country-of-origin-10, 271, 275 Covid-19 9, 87, 129 f., 135, 137 f., 141 f., 149, 154 f., 158 ff., 162-168, 170 ff., 174-190, 192-206, 208-224, 226-236 Crisis-9, 11, 129, 131 f., 134, 136 f., 142, 145-151, 154-158, 162-166, 168, 172, 182, 186 ff., 192 f., 195, 197, 199, 201 ff., 206, 233, 311 financial --130, 164, 274, 311 management-157, 166 narrative construction of --145 permacrisi (permanent crisis)-159 polycrisis-129 Criticism-131, 146, 284 critical discourse-142 Cult-10, 17, 253 Cultural differences- Kulturelle Unterschiede-239, 257 Data breach-159 Deforestation-154 Degrowth- Decumulo-159 Deixis-279 Depression (financial---)-148, 273 Depression (psychological -)-148 Digital culture-7, 13 f., 18, 20 f., 23 f., 26, 28-31, 109, 206, 212, 265 Distance learning- DAD (didattica a distanza)-159 Droplet-159 Dystopia-155 Eco-anxiety- ecoansia-19, 159 Eco-balance- Ökobilanz-255 Eco-certified-20, 22 Eco-communication-14 Eco-friendly-8, 14, 19, 22, 51 f., 54, 68, 79, General Index 333 <?page no="334"?> 102 eco-friendly language-14 umweltfreundlich-78 f., 253, 255 f. Ecological-19, 50, 55 f., 65 f., 69, 73 f., 83 f., 94 f., 104, 150, 153, 155 Eco-neologism-7, 13, 30 Ecoprefixoid-7 f., 13 f., 18-23, 25, 30, 33, 49, 51 f., 54, 56 ff., 65, 68 f., 77, 79, 97, 102, 104 ff., 288, 290 öko--256 Eco-spirituality- eco-spiritualità-20 Eco-terrorism-20 Electric mobility-10, 253 Emotion-44, 132 f., 153, 157, 169, 171, 198, 207, 237 Emotionalisierung-257 emozioni-265 Gefühle-237 Energy-7 f., 13 f., 18, 26-30, 35 f., 39-43, 45 ff., 49, 55, 59, 69, 86, 98, 102, 104, 106, 130, 207 green--28, 35 renewable--27, 35, 45 solar--27, 35, 45 wind--45 Energy crisis- Energiekrise-240 Environment-19, 23, 27 ff., 56, 59 f., 62 f., 66, 68, 74, 76, 95, 98 f., 102 f., 153, 155, 157, 161, 182, 185 f., 253, 311, 313, 317, 319 Ethno-Marketing-260 Extinction crisis-153 Flag-93, 277, 279, 281 f. Football-9, 129-132, 134-138, 140 Frame (semantics)-10, 25, 70, 148, 163, 253 f., 256-265, 267 Frankfurt school-150, 166 Freedom-60, 161, 170, 180 French washing-271 f. FTX (arena)-9, 129 f., 133, 137, 139 ff. Future-22, 28 f., 61, 70, 85, 129, 131, 137, 149, 151, 155 ff., 164, 170, 174, 187, 263 Games-10, 26, 78, 114, 119, 122, 287 video --119 Glocal (global and local)-38 Green-7 f., 13 f., 17 f., 23, 25 f., 28, 30, 32 f., 35 f., 49, 54, 56 ff., 62, 65, 68 f., 73, 77, 79-82, 84, 86, 89, 91 ff., 95 f., 99, 105 f., 108, 260 grün-255 f., 261, 268 Green policy-8, 91 f., 99, 106 Greenwashing-8, 81, 92 ff., 254 f., 268 f. Guarantee-50, 54, 60, 68, 94, 131, 162 Hashtag-21, 27, 160 Humor-9, 173, 186, 189, 192, 205-208, 211 f., 216, 219, 222, 225, 227, 230-233, 267 Hypocorism-242, 244, 264 Iconicity-125, 158, 204, 220, 253 Identity-11, 15, 30, 77, 111, 133, 140, 146, 148, 189, 197, 308, 319 f. crisis-148 Idyll-255 f. Image-9, 16, 69, 95, 109-113, 116, 119, 122, 125, 132, 189, 205, 209, 213 ff., 217, 223, 227-231, 233, 271, 273, 279, 281 bildliche Elemente (image elements)-256 Individuality-317 Internationalism-43, 316 Intertextuality-158 Intertextuality in product naming 16, 106, 110, 113, 125, 159, 234, 281, 303 Invented name- nome di fantasia-299, 302 ff. 334 General Index <?page no="335"?> Irony-9, 205, 219, 234 Selbstironie (self irony)-262 Isolation 9, 160, 167, 170 f., 173 ff., 177, 189, 205, 209 self--174, 227 Italian retail products-91 Italy 10, 18, 62 f., 100, 154, 158, 160 f., 176 f., 194, 196 Jesus-162, 229, 244 Juxtaposition-9, 205, 212-215, 223, 233 Label 8, 49-54, 56 ff., 91-94, 104 f., 178, 216, 223, 227, 273, 275 f. falsche Label (fake -)-256 Labeling-96, 273, 279, 284 Lexicon-13, 19, 30, 33, 82, 159 f., 179, 181 f. LGBT-122 Lie-13, 273 Lüge-255 Loan (linguistics)-158, 172 Locality-35 f., 38, 75, 155, 272, 276, 315 Logo-23, 54, 73, 75, 78, 80-84, 86, 111, 113, 116, 136, 204, 271 f., 275 Ludonym- ludonimo-288, 305 nome di oggetto di intrattenimento paramilitare (paramilitary entertainment object name)-287- 290, 296, 298, 305 Ludonyms- crematonimo ludico paramilitare (paramilitary crematonym)-288 Lyme disease-190 Made in France-273, 275, 277, 283 ff. Made in Italy-265 Makeup company-307 Manipulation-18, 146, 156, 207, 224 f. Maslow’s hierarchy-67, 70, 187 Mass media-109, 145, 171 ff., 185 f., 190, 193, 195, 198, 201 Meme 9, 160, 185 f., 189-192, 201, 205-217, 219-224, 227 f., 231 ff. internet --9, 207 f., 227 memetic discourse-9, 205, 207 f., 211, 231 memetic logic-205, 207 f., 212, 215, 227, 233 Memetisation strategies-205 f., 208, 212, 229, 231, 233 homonymy-9, 211, 213, 229, 231 f. Metaphor 14, 17, 147, 160 ff., 165, 182, 265, 304, 315, 317 Metaphor in branding-14, 197 Metonymy-196, 304 Microcorpus analyzis-91 f., 106 Militaria-289 Military crematonym- crematonimo militare-288 Military language- lingua-cultura militare-289, 305 Misleading-277 bewusste Irreführung des Verbrauchers (deliberate---of the consumer)-255 Vagheit (vagueness)-255 Modernity-147, 150 f., 316 Morphological strategies-92 Multimodality-106, 189, 257, 271, 273 Name element-77, 121 hybrid construction-250 portmanteau word-21, 210 prefix-18 ff., 22 f. prefixoid-22 vielfach Elemente (multiple elements)-256 Names- brand --8 f., 31, 38, 42, 77, 91 f., 96 f., 99, 106, 133, 186, 193, 199, 205, 207 ff., 211 f., 214-219, 223 f., 231, 272, 275, General Index 335 <?page no="336"?> 281, 285, 309 brandonym-205 commercial --7, 9, 49, 75 ff., 109, 111, 113, 126, 133, 137, 185 f. company - 7, 36, 38-44, 46, 73, 75 ff., 86, 120, 186, 237, 318 eponym-133 ergonym-133, 205, 208 f., 231 hodonym-121 ideonimo (ideonym)-298 individual --237 marchionimo (brand name)-289 Modellname (model -)-238, 251, 262 nome codice (code-name)-301 nome neutro (neuter name)-303 nome stilizzato (stylised name)-305 onomastics-199, 217, 309 Onomastik (onomastics)-88, 250 f. pragmatonimo (pragmatonym)-298 Spitzname (nickname)-238, 264 toponym-9, 40, 123, 185 f., 188, 194 f., 198 f., 202, 272, 283 unconventional --187, 200 Naming-7-11, 18, 36, 77, 127, 130-134, 137 ff., 143, 187, 199 f., 202, 237, 251, 272, 284, 287, 299, 307, 309, 312, 314, 316 ff. Benennungsmotive (naming reasons)-240 f., 243, 249 Benennungspraxis (naming praxis) 239 Narrative-14, 94, 134, 145, 151, 155 f., 189, 202, 307, 316, 319 Nation- -al identity-274, 279 branding-271, 274 Naturalness of products-91 Nature-11, 15, 66, 68, 73 f., 76 f., 82 ff., 86 f., 95 f., 99, 106, 129, 134, 137, 146, 149, 152 ff., 253, 268, 276 f., 283 Nature-based tourism-73 f., 83 Neologism-9, 18 f., 23, 30, 158 f., 172, 181, 281 Newspeak-172 Non-alphabetic sign-113, 125 Opacity (semantics)-16, 109, 246, 250 Origin frame-273, 275, 284 f. Packaging-10, 56 ff., 64, 69, 91 f., 95 f., 98 f., 103 f., 106, 108, 193, 271 ff., 276, 279 f., 282 f., 285 Packaging semiotics-91, 106 Pandemy-9, 11, 87, 129 f., 135, 138, 149 f., 154 ff., 158 f., 162, 166 ff., 170 ff., 174 ff., 179-183, 185-189, 192-195, 197 f., 200- 203, 205 f., 208-211, 215, 227, 231, 233 lockdown 159, 161, 163, 176 ff., 181, 185, 195 physical distancing-176 quarantine-159, 173 ff., 177, 181, 209, 227 social distancing-159, 176, 189 Panic-146, 149, 202 Paralinguistic aspects-91 Paronymy-9, 205, 219, 233 Patriotic discourse-109, 111 f., 115, 160 Pattern 25, 35 f., 46, 133, 230, 237, 242, 310, 316 Peace-109 f., 113, 120-123, 126 f., 151 Periphrasis-205, 218 f., 233 Phraseological unit-205, 223, 227, 231, 233 Polygon-155 Production of meaning-7, 15, 17 Progress-44, 66, 68, 146, 154, 156 Propaganda-111, 113, 126 f., 197 state --109 Pun-9, 205, 207 f., 212 f., 215, 220 ff., 227- 231, 233 linguistic play-26, 229 Sprachspiel (linguistic play)-265 visual punning-231 336 General Index <?page no="337"?> Recycling-8, 55 f., 59, 62, 64, 66, 68, 85 f., 91, 96 ff., 105 f. Renaming-9, 205, 212, 216 f., 219, 233 Responsibility 8, 27, 30, 49, 51, 55 f., 59, 68, 76, 85, 91, 94, 96, 102, 152, 155, 256, 271, 273 social --50, 53 ff., 58, 68 Revolution-259 Russia-8, 109 ff., 116 f., 123, 126, 136, 139 Semantic field 27, 50, 53, 66 f., 161, 172, 215 Semantic neologisation-173 Semantic strategy-26, 31, 66, 95 Semiotic individuality-14 Silent green firm-255 Slogan 8, 18, 21 f., 27, 41, 54, 59, 62, 64, 66 f., 91 ff., 96 f., 99, 104, 106, 112, 158, 160 f., 165, 215, 274 Social media-18, 23, 28, 133, 158 f., 171, 185 f., 189 f., 198, 263-266, 311 Society-13, 17, 38, 147, 150, 162, 164, 168, 186 f., 197, 253, 284, 308, 310 f., 317 homo socius-167 societal context-86, 157, 307 f. Solitude-167, 170 f., 173 f. lexemes of --9, 173, 181 Sponsor-129-143 Sport-131, 134 ff., 139-142 Stability-315 Stereotype-256 Sustainability-7 f., 10 f., 13 f., 18 f., 22, 26 f., 30-33, 35 f., 38 f., 42 f., 45 ff., 49-56, 58, 60 f., 65, 68 f., 73-88, 91, 93, 95-99, 101, 104, 106 f., 129, 179, 253, 271, 307, 313- 318 environmental --8, 13, 23, 31, 91, 99 f., 104 Italian---message-8, 91 nachhaltig (sustainable)-78 ff., 253 sustainable energy company-38 sustainable retailing-91 sustainable tourism-74 ff., 82, 86 Swastika-113, 125 Symbol-8, 51, 54, 56, 58, 69, 92 f., 109 ff., 113 ff., 117, 122, 125 ff., 152, 189, 207, 211, 277, 280, 282 hijacking-115, 117, 125 Syntactic strategies-91, 106 Terrorism-158 Testimonial-258 Tour operator-8, 73, 75 f., 78 f. Traceability-272 Trademark-8, 77, 109 f., 113, 116, 125, 177, 272, 276 Transparency in brands 17, 65, 95, 272, 284 Tricolour-278, 282 Ukraine-8 f., 109 ff., 116, 119, 123, 125 f., 129 f., 136 f., 139, 142, 154, 159 Upgrader-82 Urbanity-10, 253 Values, semantic domain of 7, 10, 15 ff., 22, 26, 36, 38 ff., 42-47, 50, 56, 65 f., 68, 77, 92, 94 f., 103, 132, 136, 139, 197, 253, 261, 263, 267, 307, 309, 311 brand values-35 Viral marketing-211 Vocal green firm-255 Wall street-148, 201 War-8 f., 35, 109-114, 116-120, 123-127, 151, 159-162, 164, 168, 175, 240 ff., 247 ff., 299, 305, 310 Wargame-293, 299, 302 Wildlife tourism-8, 74, 76 Zeitgeist-11, 307, 313 f. General Index 337 <?page no="338"?> Sprachvergleich Studien zur synchronen und diachronen Sprachwissenschaft Herausgegeben von Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (Verona), Katrin Schmitz (Wuppertal), Joachim Theisen (Athen) und Carlotta Viti (Nancy) Die Reihe widmet sich in Monographien und Sammelbänden dem Sprachvergleich in seiner ganzen Bandbreite und will dabei bewusst über Grenzen gehen: Grenzen der Sprachfamilien, Grenzen der Theorien und Modelle, Grenzen in Zeit und Raum. Die Studien verbinden eine genaue Datenanalyse der jeweiligen Texte und Sprachen in ihren synchronen oder diachronen Aspekten mit den aktuellsten Erkenntnissen der linguistischen Theorie. Sie erkunden dabei die Möglichkeiten des methodischen Spektrums moderner Sprachwissenschaft und leisten einen Beitrag zu seiner Erweiterung. Die Reihe wird herausgegeben von Katrin Schmitz (Wuppertal), Joachim Theisen (Athen) und Carlotta Viti (Zürich). Publikationssprachen sind Deutsch und Englisch. Über die Aufnahme neuer Titel entscheidet das Herausgeberkollegium mit Unterstützung eines wissenschaftlichen Beirats nach eingehender Prüfung. Bisher sind erschienen: 1 Pauline Weiß Die innere Struktur der DP in den altindogermanischen Artikelsprachen Eine Analyse der Funktion und Verwendung der Artikeltypen 2018, 502 Seiten €[D] 88,- ISBN 978-3-8233-8184-6 2 Chiara Zanchi Multiple Preverbs in Ancient Indo-European Languages A comparative study on Vedic, Homeric Greek, Old Church Slavic, and Old Irish 2019, 436 Seiten €[D] 88,- ISBN 978-3-8233-8274-4 3 Barbora Machajdíková, L’udmila Eliášová Buzássyová (Hrsg.) Greek - Latin - Slavic Aspects of Linguistics and Grammatography 2023, 288 Seiten €[D] 78,- ISBN 978-3-8233-8527-1 4 Juraj Franek, Daniela Urbanová, Ulrike Ehmig Performative Adjuration Formula in Greek and Latin Inscriptions A Survey of Amulets, Curse Tablets, and Funerary Monuments 2025, 363 Seiten €[D] 88,- ISBN 978-3-8233-8546-2 5 Carlotta Viti (Hrsg.) Ancient Greek and Latin in the linguistic context of the Ancient Mediterranean 2024, 459 Seiten €[D] 98,- ISBN 978-3-8233-8585-1 6 Vincent Balnat, Barbara Kaltz (Hrsg.) Genus und Geschlecht in europäischen Sprachen Geschichte und Gegenwart 2025, 468 Seiten €[D] 88,- ISBN 978-3-381-12301-8 <?page no="339"?> 7 Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (Hrsg.) Names in Times of Crisis Age of pandemics, energetic deficiency and war 2025, 337 Seiten €[D] 88,- ISBN 978-3-381-13331-4 <?page no="340"?> ISBN 978-3-381-13331-4 This volume addresses the elds of naming and branding, in particular company and brand names, names in slogans, and advertising language in general, and all other proper names that are of economic interest in times of crisis. The contributions analyze both advertising on social media as well as printed material concerning commercial names, slogans for climate advertising, pandemic situations, new branding, and communication strategies in critical times, such as war and energetic de ciency. The focus of the volume lies in stimulating re ections on how communication with consumers has changed, on current advertising and marketing strategies, and on naming in the face of sustainability and fairness. The current war scenario and the resulting problems concerning energy supplies, the increased migration in the Western European nations, and the political and social pressure to implement ambitious climate goals lead the economy and advertising agencies to profound reconsiderations. Band 7 Cotticelli-Kurras (ed.) Names in Times of Crisis Paola Cotticelli-Kurras (ed.) Names in Times of Crisis Age of pandemics, energetic de ciency, and war