A Study Of Chinese Brand Names Of New Period

Trademark is used by manufacturers or merchants to identify their own goods anddistinguish them from goods made or sold by others. It can be any symbol officially registeredand legally restricted, such as a word, number, picture, or design. Here what we study is thewords used in trademarks, that is, the brand names. Chinese brand names are a special kind ofChinese words and an important composing part of Chinese vocabulary. Chinese brand namesof New Period refer to the brand names registered in China since the 1990's, including brandnames composed of Chinese characters, letters and numerals. Based on their relations tomodern Chinese, they can be divided into three parts: ready words in modern Chinese, newlycoined words and loanwords.As a special kind of Chinese words, Chinese brand names must meet particularrequirements in both form and content. The form of Chinese brand names includespronunciation and formation. As for pronunciation, they must be easy to read andawkward-sounding must be avoided. To give the product a sweet-sounding and far-reachingname, some sound patterns can be used, such as the reasonable arrangement of level andoblique tones (in brand names of three syllables), rhyme, onomatopoeia, symphony andrepetition. As for the formation, the syllables should be short to reduce the burden ofmemory. The characters, letters, or numerals that are in accordance with the current socialfashion trend and can be accepted by both the merchants and the consumers should be chosen.The meaning of Chinese brand names is scarcely their propositional meaning. They aredeeply influenced by the Chinese traditional culture. Some employ the symbolic meaning,such as the symbol of animals, vegetables, colors and seasons. Some employ the associationmeaning, such as the association of history events, values and functions. With the looseningof social political environment, the liberation of people's mind and the influence of foreignculture, some derogatory terms are used as commendatory in Chinese brand names. SomeChinese brand names are acronyms, such as the acronyms of company names or managementconcepts, and some use numerals to generalize several qualities or behaviors. The precisemeaning of this kind of brand names cannot be made out without consulting related materials,which will accordingly influence the products' promotion.