Is Jafaican an affected Jamaican accent, or an emerging sociolect that could potentially overtake Cockney?
Jafaican, Blockney or Multicultural London English (MLE) are all ways to describe an English dialect that has evolved organically through a combination of elements from Jamaican, west African and the Indian subcontinent which emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly in inner London. According to research by Queen Mary, university of London, multicultural English is gaining territory from Cockney. Although its street name implies it is ‘fake’ Jamaican, researchers indicate that it is not the language of white kids trying to ‘play cool’, but rather more likely that it is a language that has evolved due to the growing exposure to a mixture of languages and cultures.
The role linguistics play in brand naming should not be underestimated. When the Toyota Yaris (meaning little lion in Swahili) was launched, its name was questioned because of its phonetic similarity to the cockney rhyming slang for ‘aris’ (aris = Aristotle = bottle, bottle + glass = arse). It was not deemed to be an issue. Cockney is a little used dialect spoken by a small percentage of east Londoners. But suppose this name was to be used for a business that was to be located in East London, or if the name was to be used for an alcoholic drink where the ‘bar call’ is important. In a crowded east end bar this name could easily be mistaken. Phonetics and semiotics are branches of linguistics that could determine the success or failure of names and potentially your business.
There are many issues to consider in the UK alone, languages, regional dialects and accents spoken which mean choosing the right name can become problematic. There is English, Welsh, Gaelic, Urdu, Hindi, Geordie and evolving dialects like MLE to mention but a few, which all create comprehension and pronunciation problems for brand names.
If you multiply these issues by the number of territories in a typical European or Global naming project it is easy to see why we have names in the market like: publishit.com (Publish It), Grey Poupon, Nintendo Wii, Gü (puddings), Bing (Microsoft search engine), Fairy (washing up liquid) and FullChoke (men’s cologne) to name a few.
Linguistics play a small but important role in the naming process. Perfect fit naming is the combination of strategic thinking, creative, legal and of course, linguistic expertise to ensure that the name works harder for your company, product or service.