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Multimodality of company names

Paula SJÖBLOM

1. Introduction One of the special characteristics of commercial names is their multimodal nature. Multimodality in communication means that the interpretations are provided not only by linguistic elements (writing and speaking) but also by other semiotic modes, e.g. image, sound and movement, which all are linked together in a socio-cultural context (Kress & van Leeuwen 2001: 20). Even though multimodality has always been present when people communicate with each other, only recently companies have taken more consciously advantage of such potentials in their communication – not least because of the development of the computer-mediated communication (see Garzone 2009: 155). Names, company names as well as brands and product names, are a part of a company’s image-building communication. The key term in the multimodal analysis is semiotic resource, which originates in the work of M.A.K. Halliday. Resources are observable actions and objects that are used in social communication and that have meaning potential which is built by their previous use in social contexts. Language and other semiotic systems always fulfil some functions; they exist because people need them for some purposes (Halliday 1978; Halliday 1985: xiii; van Leeuwen 2005: 3–4, 76–77). Semiotic modes are realizations of discourses. They are semiotic resources that are combined and selected from the available options according to the interests of the communication situation. Modes can be realized in many production media (Kress & van Leeuwen 2001: 21–22). By studying different semiotic modes we can reach a better understanding of the purposed meanings and maybe also of the community’s attitudes and values. A company name is a name that identifies a trader’s business. The referent of a company name is an abstract entity which holds many different angles: the business idea, the products, ways of action, the 352 PAULA S JÖBLOM business culture, and traditions. The image of a company is built by all the activities that the company takes. The name of a company triggers off the image, and companies lead up to have a name that supports the profiled image in the best possible way – taken into consideration the whole society’s values. Because of the multitude of images that a name must convey, it is natural that different modes are brought into play. The multimodality of company names covers at least linguistic and visual elements, but in some cases also other modes are present. The name can involve auditory elements, and even kinaesthetic or tactile modes can be presented in modern company names, thanks to new information techniques. Of course, it depends on the context, how many modes can be brought into play: on a letterhead the company name can be quite different compared to the moving, flashing, and sounding name on the company’s home page in the Internet.

2. Data This article clarifies and presents the multimodality of company names through a data that has been collected by photographing business names in Turku in south-western Finland. Turku is the oldest town in Finland with approximately 175 000 inhabitants. It is one of the most important business and industrial centres and seaports in Finland, and it is also a remarkable centre of higher education with its universities and polytechnics. It is important to note the difference between officially registered company names and the names that can be seen on company signs at the urban landscape. Company name is here understood as the name that the business uses in practice – in other words, the officially registered company names are not under my consideration. The referent of a company name is the abstract business, but also to some extent the concrete premises where the business locates. In these terms it reminds one of a place name as well, although it cannot be cate- gorized as a toponym. The names in the data can be, but necessarily are not, officially registered in the Finnish Trade Register. They can also be so called auxiliary company names that are made for running a certain part of the company’s operations and that are registered in the Trade Register. Some of the names in the data are not registered as MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 353 company names at all, but they just name the shop or restaurant where products or services are sold, and officially the business is run with a quite different company name. For instance, Pikkupubi (‘little pub’) is a restaurant name which cannot be found in the Trade Register; instead, the restaurant is owned by a company called Turun Jokiravintola Oy (‘Turku river restaurant ltd’). The material has been collected in June 2009 by photographing all visible company names in Humalistonkatu-street in the centre of Turku and in Itäharju industrial estate. Humalistonkatu is about 650 meters long and it locates quite next to the most important shopping street. There are many businesses that serve food and drinks on this street. In the other end of the street there is the main railway station of Turku. The names from the Itäharju industrial estate are photographed in Tierankatu-street, which is about 510 meters long, and in a small part of Voimakatu-street, altogether about 670 meters. The most observable landmark is the big hypermarket Prisma with also many smaller businesses inside the building. There are no heavy industrial factories in this area. Such visible brand names that are closely connected to the businesses are also taken into consideration. Sometimes brand names like Kodak or Pepsi dominate over the actual company names in the urban landscape. It is interesting to study how these brand names can for their part provide meanings that affect the general view of the company. The total amount of names is 192, of which 33 are brand names. There are 131 company names and 20 brand names collected from Humalistonkatu, and 28 company names and 13 brand names are from Itäharju. The difference in the amount of names is easy to explain: the companies downtown are mainly shops and restaurants which do not need big storage spaces, whereas the companies in the industrial area locate in big sheds and have a lot of loading and storage space also in their yards. The large number of brand names in Itäharju is because of one big car shop and one electric shop both with several brand dealerships. The company names in an urban landscape are to be seen on windows (at street level or upper floors), on doors, on the building walls (usually above the shop window), and on sun blinds. They can also be printed on signs, which stick out from the building so that 354 PAULA SJÖBLOM pedestrians can easily see them when passing by. This is of course a traditional way of raising the consumers’ attention: earlier these sings only were symbols of certain services or products – like a bagel for baker and a plate for barber. Company names can be seen also on movable, standing signs outside the shop, on flags, and on different kinds of advertising pillars, which either can stay still or spin around. There can be big advertising screens on building walls or by bigger roads, which gives a possibility to connect more movement and maybe some music or other sounds to the company name. In my data, there are all these except the last-mentioned. There is one technical note that has to be mentioned. The name data as a whole is listed as an appendix to the end of this article. In the list the names are written the same way as they are on the signs: small and capital letters, small caps, and orthographic anomalies. In the text the names have been slightly revised because of easier readability. The central revisions are on capitalized words and on initial letters. If there is a capital letter in the middle of a word, it has been retained. Some anomalies in the orthography of combined words have also been revised (e.g. JAZZ KLU BI MONK > Jazzklubi Monk).

3. Semiotic modes and company names Different semiotic modes have their own “grammars”. They follow their own organizing principles and make different functions available. According to Hartmut Stöckl (2004: 25) there still can be some trans-modal operating principles that guide all modes simultaneously; an important one being Halliday’s three meta- functions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. There are also seman- tic ties and analogies between different modes of communication. Language is a boundlessly flexible semiotic resource because of its double articulation: with a limited amount of meaningless phonemes we can produce an infinite amount of meaningful utterances. Language is based on symbolic units with form and meaning, and speakers use these symbolic units to make novel complex symbolic structures. Behind this is their understanding of linguistic convention, their communicative objectives and all matters that they suppose to be relevant (Langacker 1990: 16–17). MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 355

In contrast to language, images have no specific units of which the meaning of an image is constructed. We can understand pictures, however, because of their iconic nature, i.e. the similarity to the real- world objects. In a cognitive point of view, image is a quick mode relative to language, because the recipient does not have to recode it the same way as linguistic expressions have to be recoded (Stöckl 2004: 16–17). Language itself is an abstraction. In relation to multimodality, we have to pay attention to the fact that language in use covers both spoken and written language. They are different registers that use different resources of the linguistic system. Written language has a different function from spoken language. Speech employs aural features like volume, intonation, speed, rhythm. Writing for its part employs visual features like typography, layout, and colours (Stöckl 2004: 11). When we speak, we use also kinaesthetic elements like gestures, and in written language we can use for example tactile elements, like embossed letters. The company names in an urban landscape convey meanings not only by means of linguistic elements, like the words that they contain or their syntactic structure, but also by other semiotic resources. Besides language, the most important is the visual appearance: e.g. the typography, colours, and images. Auditory elements are used as semiotic resources, for instance, if the name has to be pronounced before the whole meaning of the written name is revealed. Movement could be used in company names too, for example by flashing lights, but in my material such moving neon signs are not used. Instead, flying flags straddle and they may bring a kinaesthetic element to the name. Touch, smell and taste are more difficult to add to the name at a town street. For example an Italian restaurant could consciously spread a smell of oregano outside the restaurant, but is this smell and its meaning to be connected with the company name or rather with the company itself? Touchability could be added to the name for example on the shop door, but probably it is very rare and does not exist in my data at all. Next it will be presented how the multimodality of company names appears in the data from Turku. This is not supposed to be a thorough study but just to give some examples of how different modes are made use of and how they function together. 356 PAULA SJÖBLOM

4. Linguistic elements 4.1. Words and their meanings The linguistic characteristics of Finnish company names have been studied widely before (Sjöblom 2006; Sjöblom 2008a). This article concentrates only on some examples and shows how different linguistic features contribute to the emergence of the meaning of the name. One of the most central components is the semantics of the words included in the name, especially in the identifying part (of the name parts, see e.g. Sjöblom 2008a), which is the actual name, the part that separates the company from other companies. This part can be a proper name (personal name, place name or other proper name), a single word or combined words with lexical meaning, a quasi-word, an abbreviation or a number. In the Itäharju material, personal names included in the company names are usually surnames (Turun Juva Oy, Niklaamo Rautio Oy, Pöyry, McDonald’s). There is only one first name included, Tomi-Steel Oy. First names are more common in the names of beauty and food companies in Humalistonkatu. Some examples: Soittojuomala Armas (‘drinking and music bar Armas’; note that Armas is not only a male name but also has an appellative meaning ‘dear’), Muoti Emily (‘fashion Emily’), Parturi-kampaamo Mikko Minna (‘barber- hairdresser Mikko Minna’; Mikko is a male name and Minna a female name), Angelika Turkis – Angelika Furs, Camilla Kampaamo- Hiushoitola (‘Camilla hairdresser-hair conditioner’), Pirjon Bazaari (‘Pirjo’s bazar’), Alvar Baari Bar (Alvar is given after the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, who has designed the building where the bar locates), Saaran Kebab (‘Saara’s kebab’) and Marilyn (a shop that sells women’s clothes). Jussin Tasavalta (‘Jussi’s republic’) is the only name that does not belong to the above mentioned groups of companies, instead, the company sells electronics. It should be noted that the first name Jussi is written with quite small and invisible yellow letters whereas the word for ‘republic’ is written in big dark blue capital letters. A surname or a combination of first name and surname creates an impression of reliability, like in the following: Asianajotoimisto Hakanen (‘lawyer’s office Hakanen’), Kulta- ja kelloliike Ilmari Viitanen (‘gold and watch shop Ilmari Viitanen’), R. Alanko (sells men’s clothes), Asuntovuokratoimisto Vaula oy (‘rental MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 357 apartments office Vaula ltd’), Paperi-Lehto (‘paper Lehto’), Tilitoimisto Matti Laine (‘accounting company Matti Laine’). Using the owner’s name or a place name was the common way of naming companies already in 19th century Finland (Sjöblom 2006: 168–169). Most of the above mentioned personal names come from the owner, except some of the first names (Armas, Alvar, Camilla, Angelika, Emily), which either are foreign names and convey meanings related to those languages or are Finnish but must be interpreted otherwise because of their rareness. A place name in a company name refers usually to the location or to the area of operation of the company (Sjöblom 2006: 169). There are few examples in the Itäharju material: Suomen Autovaruste (‘Finland’s1 car equipment’), Turun Juva (‘Turku’s Juva’), Halikko Pipe (Halikko is a region of Salo town). The same kind of names can be found also in Humalistonkatu: Turun Rakennuskeskus (’Turku’s building centre’), Turun Kristillinen Kirjakauppa (‘Turku’s Christian bookstore’), Turun Silmälaser (‘Turku’s eye-laser’), Naantalin Aurinkoinen (Naantali’s sunshiny’2), Studio Auran Kuva (‘studio Aura’s photo’). Not just towns and areas can be present but also smaller places, like the name of the street (Humaliston Kebab Pizzeria, Humaliston Apteekki) or the house (Kasinonkulman Hammaslääkärit, ‘Kasinonkulma’s dentists’). It is rare but possible that the place name in the company name does not refer to the location or operation area at all: Airiston Apteekki (’Airisto’s pharmacy’, Airisto is a sea area in Turku archipelago), Sevilla Bar y Restaurant, Europe Fashion, Nightclub Zanzibar (bar is written on separate line from Zanzi). There are some company names downtown that include a proper name other than personal or place name or a name-like expression: Pasmina (company that sells women’s clothes), Apollo Live-Klub, Fennia (an insurance company), Jazzklubi Monk, Kauneushoitola Feidia (‘beauty salon Feidia’), Ilmarinen eläkevakuutukset (‘pension insurances’; Ilmarinen is a character of the Finnish national epic Kalevala). The names come most of all from mythology and tales, also newer ones (probably most Finnish people connect the word monk to Monk from a tv-series).

1 I will mark the Finnish genitive form with ‘s. 2 Note that Naantali town is known as the sunniest place in Finland. Naantalin Au- rinkoinen is a café-confectionery. 358 PAULA SJÖBLOM

No doubt, the company names that contain a word or words with lexical meanings have an effect on the interpretation of the name. Some of the names have words in Finnish, which of course are easy to understand, some have words in English or in other languages that may cause different interpretations among Finnish speakers, depending on their knowledge of languages. The choice of language can be a message itself, but I will come to this question later. Herein I will make some observations only of the including words themselves. The meaning relation between the name and its referent can be direct (the name directly describes the referent or the matters relevant to it), indirect (the name contains expressions from a cognitive area closely related to the referent or analogically compared with the referent), or compressed (the name contains parts of several recognizable words and compresses all these words meanings to one expression) (Sjöblom 2006: 204). In the Itäharju area most company names describe directly what the company is dealing with: K-Rauta (‘K-iron’), S-Pankki (‘S-bank’), Sähkö-Max (‘electricity-max’), Turun Itäharjun Sisustushalli (‘decoration hall’), Tomi-Steel Oy, Halikko Pipe. Only few names have indirect (metonymic or metaphoric) meaning relations: Prisma, the name of a hypermarket, is chiefly metaphoric, while it associates the multitude of products on sale with all the colours of a prism. The visual mode with triangles and different colours supports this interpretation. Inside the hypermarket, there is a hairdresser called Tukka Hyvin (‘hair well/ nicely’) which on its part is a metonymic name, while hair well is an expression closely related to the word hairdressing. There are also some quasi-words included in the names that compress meanings, like Rengashotelli Vianor (‘tyre hotel Vianor’). Vianor includes the Latin word via ‘road’ and a part of the word north, northern (see vianor.fi). It could be combined also to Norway, which is the country where Vianor AS was established. Nowadays Vianor is a global tyre and car service chain. Good examples of this kind of naming are also the Nordic bank name Nordea and the Finnish alcohol company Alko. In the data from Humalistonkatu there is more variation in the meanings of company names. Like in Itäharju, many names with lexemes describe the company directly: They tell – in Finnish or in English – if the company is a restaurant (ravintola), bar (baari, pubi) or café (kahvila), if it sells pizza or kebab, clothing (vaate) or gold MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 359

(kulta). The name can inform if there is live music, karaoke or just music (soitto) in the restaurant. It can tell if the branch of business is for instance health (terveys), beauty (kauneus), antique (antiikki), massage (hieronta), pharmacy (apteekki), or insurance (vakuutus). Very many names, however, have also an indirect meaning relation to the referent. This kind of names gives people a little bit more to think; one has to reason why this company has exactly this name. Because of this, a name with indirect meaning relation fulfils one important function of a commercial name: it excites interest and hopefully persuades customers to drop in and buy. There are metonymic names in Humalistonkatu, like Eräpäivä (‘due date’) for a debt collection company, Instrumentarium for an optique and health equipment company, Cup & Pint for a café-bar, Kansan Uutiset (‘people’s news’) for a newspaper, Classic Man for a men’s clothes company, Pikkunaisia (‘little women’) for a company selling small women’s clothes, Mr. Big for a company selling big men’s clothes, Laina- höyhenet (‘loaned feathers’) for a costume rental, Metrosun for a self- service solarium, Park Grilli for a grill in a park, and Pippurimylly (‘peppermill’) for a restaurant, some to mention. Metaphoric names compare the company (target domain) to something else (source domain) and this way tries to connect the (good) characteristics of this source domain with the qualities of the company. At the same time a metaphoric name can also hide such qualities that are not so advan- tageous (Sjöblom 2006: 209–210). Ra- vintola Kilta (‘restaurant guild’) emphasizes at least fellowship and traditions; note also the dated letters and the crown on the logotype (Fig. 1). Fig.1. Ravintola Kilta Vaatesuutarit (‘cloth cobblers’) compares a sewer, who usually was and is a woman, to a shoemaker, who in turn usually is a man. Poiju – Vanhusten tuki- ja kohtauspaikka (‘buoy – supporting and meeting place for the elderly’) compares the organization to a seamark which guides and anchors. Jussin Tasavalta (Jussi’s republic’) emphasizes the fairness and equality of the business, and Finans- 360 PAULA SJÖBLOM situtka (‘finance radar’) for its part the ability to detect and find what has to be found. The short name EOS of a psychiatric research and treatment company seems, because of the capital letters, at first sight to be a totally meaningless abbreviation, but it refers to the goddess of dawn, Eos, from the Greek mythology. Therefore, the name emphasizes the ability of the company to bring light and clarity to the difficult situation of a customer. It is also a metaphor if the company name includes words like bazaar, point (piste), huone (‘room’), estradi (‘estrade’). A compressed meaning relation in the company names from Humalistonkatu is very rare. The bank name Nordea appears in Humalistonkatu like in Itäharju. Another example is Hummpub, a name of a pub, which compresses the meaning of the word pub and the meaning of the Finnish word hummata (‘to revel’). In the brand names – that usually are also names of big, global companies – this kind of meaning relation could be more common, but there is just one in Humalistonkatu: Sonera (brand of TeliaSonera, a Nordic tele- communication company) brings to mind the Latin word sonor for ‘sound’ and reminds one of a woman’s name with its a-ending. In the Itäharju material such brand names are at least Lumiance3 and Biolan, a trademark for environmental fertilizers (in Finnish lannoite). There is no meaning relation between the name and its referent, if it is impossible to interpret the name semantically relying on common- ly understandable words. The name can include quasi-words without any recognizable parts, or meaningless letter combinations (Sjöblom 2006: 225–226). In Itäharju there is an electrical wire designing company called apt. Officially it is registered as APT-Electro Oy, but one cannot see the whole name to the street. Another name consisting of a letter combination is ABC!, the name of a petrol station. How- ever, this combination cannot be held totally meaningless. The name Resal, which belongs to a company making gravures and all kinds of acrylic signs, does not have any clear meaning relation to the referent, either. In Humalistonkatu, there are some names that include meaningless letters or letter combinations, but almost all are combined with a meaningful word, like K-Kenkä (‘K-shoe’), R Kioski (‘R kiosk’), UFF

3 According to the company the name comes from the French words lumière (‘light’) and ambiance (‘atmosphere’) and indicates a provider of lighting that creates atmosphere (Lumiance-lightning.com). MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 361

Second Hand, YH Länsi Oy (‘YH west ltd’; the name of a Western Finland housing company), RVB Wellness & Beauty (beauty salon and day spa). Of the brand names, for example, Kodak is a name with no hidden meanings in it. According to the company, the word Kodak that was first registered as a trademark in 1888 was invented out of thin air by the founder of the company, George Eastman (Kodak.com).

4.2. Syntactic structure The syntactic structure of the name refers to the order of name parts and the cases that are used in the names. It has also a connection to the meaning that the name conveys. The typical syntactic structures of official Finnish company names are just an identifying part, or identifying part followed by the corporate identifier (like abbreviation oy for ‘limited company’), or the identifying part followed by a part that expresses the business idea, or a part expressing the business idea in front of the identifying part (Sjöblom 2006: 198–199). In my data, there are not very many names that have the corporate identifier even though many companies have it in their official name. It is more frequent in the names of the industrial estate (Turun Juva Oy, Mesekon Oy). Studio Auran Kuva, Kauneushuone Crystal, Day Spa Laguuni, Niklaamo Rautio Oy; Pirjon Bazaari, Suomen Autovaruste Ky etc. have a syntactic structure which is typical in Finnish. The actual “name”, the identifying part is in the nominative form after the part that expresses the business idea, or it is in genitive form (ending -n) in front of the business idea expressing part. There are also names that have the identifying part in nominative form followed by the business idea, like Malai Thai Hieronta (‘Malay Thai massage’), Al-Amir Kebab Pizzeria, Angelika Turkis – Angelika Furs, Camilla Kampaamo-hiushoitola (‘Camilla hairdresser hair salon’), Kerho Hiushuone (‘the club hair room’), Long Fong Kiinalainen ravintola (‘Long Fong Chinese restaurant’). This structure is new and originates from foreign languages, especially from English. If a company name has this kind of syntactic structure, the company is either owned by foreigners or it probably will convey an idea of internationality with the name or be somehow fashionable. 362 PAULA SJÖBLOM

4.3. Choice of language The choice of language is an important question. Different languages are possible to identify, depending of course on one’s knowledge of languages. People tend to interpret company names meanings (Sjöblom 2008b), and that is why it is good that the names are in a language that is somewhat understandable. At the same time a company name has to persuade the customer to invest money in the company. The choice of language can convey meanings that are not present in the actual words that the name includes. Like Angelika Bergien (2007: 265) has stated, a French sign La Cosmetique in a French context would relate only to its denotation ‘cosmetics’, but in a German context it is conventionally related to connotational meanings like ‘fashion’. Foreign elements in a name may have a high prestige (Ronneberger-Sibold 2007: 209). It is eye-catching that most (74) of the names in Humalistonkatu are totally in Finnish. They are all kinds of companies: restaurants (Ravintola Viinille ‘restaurant for some wine’), hotels (Omenahotelli ‘apple hotel’), book stores (Pieni Kirjapuoti ‘little book shop’), goldsmiths (Kultasepänverstas Kultasarvi ‘goldsmiths’s workshop golden horn’), health care (Pulssi ‘pulse’), clothes (Vaateliike Pikkunaisia ‘clothing company little women’), finance and insurance (Finanssitutka ‘finance radar’) etc. About one third of the names do not include Finnish words at all, but one has to notice that many of those names contain internationalisms that are quite understandable in Finnish (like kebab, klub, bar). Many (20) names in Humalistonkatu are in English, quite a lot of them hair dressers (Yazz Hair co., P & M Corner) or other companies that do business with beauty (V.O.G Beauty – Values of Great Beauty, RVB Wellness & Beauty), clothes shops (Europe Fashion, Mr. Big, The Earth Collection) or others of the same kind (Metrosun, which is a self-service solarium, Tattoo Studio Black Arts). Angelika Turkis – Angelika Furs is the only name that has the same content both in Finnish and in English, probably because of tourists who buy furs when travelling in Finland. Almost one fifth (28) of the names in Humalistonkatu mix languages in one name. Finnish or English is almost in all names, either together or combined with some other languages, and internationalisms are also in use: Day Spa Laguuni (‘lagoon’), Punanaamio The Fun House (‘red mask’), Kahvila & Baari Cup & MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 363

Pint (‘coffee house and bar’), Long Fong Kiinalainen ravintola (‘Chinese restaurant’), Al-Amir Kebab Pizzeria, Karaoke Bar Silver Moon. One name in the material is in Spanish: Sevilla Bar y Restau- rant, which is the name of a restaurant selling Spanish food. One name, Stellina (a decoration shop), is in Italian. Some names are so called quasi language – they include words that actually are not words of any known language, like Kauneushoitola Feidia (‘beauty salon’; perhaps the name has some connection to the ancient Geek sculptor Feidias), Nordea (a Scandi- navian bank), Pasmina (a women’s clothing shop), Tazzia (a clothing brand), Kodak (a photography brand), Koff (a Finnish beer brand; connected to the name of the producing company, Sinebrychoff), Pepsi (a soft drink brand). There are quite many Finnish names (12/41) in Itäharju, too, but just few English names: Jaguar and Sunwind, which are brand names, and McDonald’s, which is a restaurant name. There are also few names in quasi language, e.g. brand name Saab and company names Mesekon Oy (metal works) and Alko (Finnish alcohol company). Even though English has gained ground in the company names in Finland, it is obvious that the national language has still a firm foothold in a Finnish urban landscape. Companies favour domestic sounding names or names that are quite international, like Avantgarde (hairdresser), Hiushuone Indigo (‘hair room’), Jazzklubi Monk, Kauneushuone Crystal (‘beauty room’), Park Grilli, Stellina (decoration shop), Yazz Hair Co. English is most popular in names of companies that sell beauty products or services and in restaurant names, but one must pay attention that there are at least as many names in these branches in Finnish as there are in English. Naturally, this is just a small sample of names in a small area. There are exceptionally lots of clothing, beauty and hairdressing companies as well as restaurants in the centre of a town compared to many other branches. One must not jump into conclusions about the correspondence between the branch and the language of the name on the grounds of this material. However, the results about the amounts of Finnish and English names are comparable to the results that have been attained in the study of Finnish company names: most of the names contain Finnish words, and English is on a clear second place (Sjöblom 2006: 142). 364 PAULA SJÖBLOM

5. Images and other visual elements When I talk about names as visual entities, I will use the word logo. A logo includes orthographic elements, like capital letters and orthographic norm anomalies, typographic elements, like font and all its effects, the colour of letters and background, and also the shape and geometry of the name. When there is a picture as a part and parcel of the logo, I will use the term logotype. What kind of logos and logotypes can be found in the research area? Visually, company names in Humalistonkatu and in Itäharju differ quite a lot. At the industrial estate, the logos and logotypes are simpler and less colourful. Basic Arial letters are typical, as well as black and blue colours. The smaller companies usually use only one colour, – perhaps for economic reasons –, while the international companies and big Finnish companies have more colourful logos: Vianor with orange letters, Alko with red ones and FläktWoods with green ones, and Pöyry (Finnish surname), K-Rauta (‘K-iron’), McDonald’s and Prisma with an image and several colours on their logotypes. An exception to the lack of colour is the name of a small metal works business, Niklaamo Rautio Oy (niklaamo ‘nickel plating’, Rautio is a Finnish surname): the word niklaamo is written with big, red and rough capital letters, and the surname and the corporate identifier Oy are written with smaller white Arial letters (Fig. 2). Under the name there is a blue oval Fig. 2. Niklaamo Rautio Oy background with red stripes around. The logo looks like self-made and not very smart, but it reveals more effort than the other small companies’ logos, though (compare to Sähköextra and Sähkö-max, Fig 3). Even the big car company MetroAuto has a very simple logo. The different car brands with their colourful logotypes (Saab, Opel, Chevrolet, Subaru and Jaguar4) are much more prominent than the company name itself.

4 The logo of Jaguar is quite simple, but the splendent, three-dimensioned silver animal above the name is eye-catching. MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 365

Except a picture of a thumb-up in the logotype of ABC!-petrol station, there are no obvious pictures on the logotypes in Itä- harju, but only geo- metric shapes, like the red, orange and yellow triangles in the logotype of Prisma Fig. 3. Sähköextra and Sähkö-max hypermarket. Downtown, there are lots of different colours and fonts used in the logos, irrespective of the size of the company. Many logotypes are obviously designed by a professional, and they cohere not only with the business idea of the company but also with the environment. The name itself can be visual, like Ideaestradi (‘idea estrade’), which begins and ends with the same letters, or Otto. (‘withdrawal’), which is a palindrome if the point at the end is not taken into account. In Humalistonkatu, there are more pictures combined with the name, and often the picture adds some essential meanings to the name. A good example of this is the logotype of Kiinteistöpointti Oy LKV5 (‘property point ltd’, Fig. 4). The letters are simple, narrow black capital letters, but in the word pointti the letter O is a big red spot, a red point. The word pointti is very fashionable in spoken Finnish (not recom- mended in the normative Fin- nish): it is widely used in the meaning of ‘(important) viewpoint, nitty-gritty’. Fig. 4. Kiinteistöpointti Oy LKV

5 LKV is an abbreviation of Finnish words laillistettu kiinteistönvälittäjä ’certified estate agent’. 366 PAULA SJÖBLOM

At the same time it has become very popular to have the word piste ‘dot, point’ in company names (Hiuspiste ‘hair point’, Korttipiste ‘card point’, RC-piste ‘rc/radio control point’ etc.). Nowadays also the word pointti is more and more used in company names like the word piste (e.g. Staffpoint in this data). The logo is completed with a drawn picture of a pointer dog on duty on a big red spot pointing towards the name of the company. All these elements, the name, the red spots and the picture, create together the interpretation that exactly this company at this place is capable and eager to find the best solution to the customer’s wishes. Like a pointer dog it will show the right home for the person in need or the right buyer for the person selling a house. In the same building, there is a book store called Pieni Kirjapuoti (‘little book shop’, Fig. 5). The name is written on the window and above the window with simple white Times-type letters, which reminds one of the typography of books, novels. Between the Fig. 5. Pieni Kirjapuoti words there is a picture of an easy-chair that has an opened book on it. The book store is actually not very small, but its business idea is to have a very wide selection of books, also such books that are not very easy to get from the chained book stores. It sells also other things than books with the idea of “beautiful vanity”. There is a red easy-chair inside the shop, and red is also the background colour of the name sign above the window. The words pieni ‘little’ and puoti ‘old fashioned little shop’ with fonts used in books and the peaceful picture convey the image of softness, special service, customer orientation and nice experiences. A third example of company names that have a message- supporting picture included in the logotype is Pulssi (Fig. 6), officially Lääkäriasema Pulssi Oy (‘doctors’ general practice pulse ltd.’). The name is written with white capital letters, and letters p and l have round angels, so that the name gains some visual softness. When pronounced, also the phonemes represent softness: the closures, like p, are very weakly pronounced in Finnish, l is a very sonoric consonant, MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 367

Finnish s is quite soft, especially after round vowels, and the u and i are both narrow vowels (Hakulinen et al. 2004: 37–39). The word pulssi refers of course to heart- beat and that way the arrant name has a metonymic meaning relation to the referent. But the idea is boosted also with Fig. 6. Lääkäriasema Pulssi Oy a red outlined heart behind the name. Heart itself is a symbol of love and care, and red is a colour with many symbolic meanings; in this case, it will probably be connected to life (colour of blood), warmth (colour of fire and heat) and rapidity (colour of danger and alarm, cf. fire brigade). The red heart gives a good contrast to the pure, sterile white letters and the logotype has all in all a fresh and modern spirit. In addition, there are a few more logotypes in Humalistonkatu that include a clear picture. I will mention some of them. Pohjantähti Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö (‘North Star mutual insurance company’) has a logotype which contains the name written with simple black letters on a yellow background and a red arc with a white star on it. Airiston Apteekki (‘Airisto’s pharmacy’) has a picture of a lighthouse between the two sea-blue words. Airisto is a beautiful sea area in Turku archipelago, where many towns-people spend their leisure time. The picture of course also reminds one of the sea. Whether this pharmacy is originally grounded somewhere in the Airisto area, is not known to me. In the name Ravintola Viinille (‘restaurant [let’s go] for some wine’) the i-letters in the word viini ‘wine’ are pictures of wine glasses, the first two are red and the last one is yellow. Karaoke bar Silver Moon is written with silver and red letters on a blue bottom, a crescent silver moon and five little stars as companion. Humaliston Kebab Pizzeria (‘Humalisto’s’) has a logotype with a small picture of a red and a green paprika; the colours of the logotype are white, yellow, red and green. Angelika Turkis – Angelika Furs (Fig.7) has golden script letters on a brown bottom and a picture between the Finnish and the English name. The picture is not very clear, but it seems to illustrate a woman’s head with a fur trim on her shoulders. 368 PAULA SJÖBLOM

As mentioned, the colours can be very informative and emo- tive. The symbols and images that we connect to different colours vary in different cultures. In a Finnish urban landscape, the colours have to wake right associations in Fig. 7. Angelika Turkis Finnish and in Euro- pean cultures. According to Seppo Rihlama (1997: 106) a great deal of our associations are based on nature: sky is light blue, trees and grass are green, fire is red and orange, sunshine and flowers are yellow etc. According to some research results, colours are different also regarding their visibility: most visible is red, followed by green, yellow, white, blue and purple. Most visible colour combinations in text are black and yellow, green and white, red and white, white and blue, and black and white (Faber Birren according to Rihlama 1997: 102). No doubt, many companies try to take these facts into consideration when planning their logos and logotypes. There have already been examples of this above. In the whole material, blue/ white, black/white and red/white are clearly most used main colours. Also red/yellow seems to be very popular, even though it is not mentioned as the most visible text combination. Both red and yellow are eye-catching colours, however. Colours may also have a textual function by forming a cohesive devise like the words of language do (Kress & van Leeuwen 2001: 57). I will mention another few examples of deliberate use of colours in the material. Day Spa Laguuni (Fig. 8) is written on black bottom with quite modern looking capital letters. The letters in the words day spa are smaller and bright blue, while the letters in the identifying part of the name, laguuni, are bigger and turquoise in colour. The letter A is like a roof on a turquoise spot, which on its behalf is a starting point for a blue wave. The meaning of the name, the colours and the picture all together convey the idea of fresh, clean water, and maybe also of exotic, peaceful nature somewhere in the south. This creates a posi- MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 369 tive image in the consumers. As a curiosity: it may be a coincidence, but there happens to be just the same turquoise bicycle in front of the establishment. Fantasiapelit (‘fan- tasy games’) is the name of a company that sells miniature games (like Warhammer), role- playing games, board Fig. 8. Day Spa Laguuni games, cartoons etc. The customers are mainly young people. The name itself is simple with Times-type capital letters, but it is accompanied with a picture of a fire-spew- ing dragon with open wings (Fig. 9). Both letters and the picture are bright green; one Fig. 9. Fantasiapelit could describe the colour also as candy-green. It is a colour that probably appeals to younger people, who usually like bright colours more than older people (Rihlama 1997: 108). Green is not only the colour of nature and rest, but also the colour of harmfulness, spite and destruction (Maurice Déribére 1959, see Rihlama 1997: 107). All these symbolic meanings go well with the contradictory and adventurous world of imaginative games. One example of the use of eye-catching red and yellow is the name of a food shop chain Sale, which belongs to a big co-operative group, S-group. In Turku, it is run by TOK (Turun Osuuskauppa, ‘Turku co-operative society’). The idea of Sale-shops is to be easy and budget corner stores. The colours of S-group are blue and white, like in the flag of Finland. Those colours can be seen on the TOK-sign, but 370 PAULA SJÖBLOM

the shop itself has bright red letters on a yellow background. The forward leaning italic font alludes to fastness: you can do your everyday shopping quickly. The Eng- lish word sale has a meaning relation to cheap prices, but also those who do not know English get the same idea: Fig. 10. Al-Amir KEBAB PIZZERIA the Finnish word ale is ‘sale’ and the first s refers to the S- group. As far as typography is concerned, capital letters are in mainstream. Many names are written totally with capitals, and many names have one name part in capitals, the other part in small letters. Also small caps are in use, which gives an Fig. 11. TATTOO STUDIO Black Arts opportunity to separate initial letters. There seems to be no rule according to which part is in capitals: in some names it is the identifying part, like in Kulta- ja kelloliike ILMARI VIITANEN (‘gold and watch shop Ilmari Viitanen’), in other names the part expressing the business idea can be in capitals, like in KAUPPAHUONE Classic Man (‘trading house’). However, in this name the identifying part, Classic Man, is written with beautiful script letters and it stands out also because of its bigger size. The size of the letters of course has a purpose: the bigger the size the more it is visible. It is interesting that it is not always the identifying part, the actual name, which is most visible. For example, NIKLAAMO Rautio Oy (Fig. 2) in Itäharju, and Al-Amir KEBAB PIZZERIA and TATTOO STUDIO Black Arts (Fig. 10 and 11) in Humalistonkatu emphasize the branch of business. And letters themselves can be meaningful: The brand name Kodak does not mean anything, but according to the founder, the letter k was crucial: he wanted to start and end the word with k, which he considered a strong and incisive sort of letter (Kodak. MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 371 com). Of course, even though he speaks about a letter, he could refer to the sound of the phoneme k, too, and then this would belong to the aural elements of names. Orthographic anomalies are a part of the written language, and this way they belong to the visual elements of the name. According to Ludger Kremer (2007: 182–183), company names have to raise attention, and one way of doing this is to deviate from the orthographic norms. He enumerates different deviations, attractors, that have this kind of function in German company names. In Finnish names, the attractors are partly the same kind, partly different because of the different norms of these languages. In Finnish names Sjöblom (2006: 108) has found the following orthographic anomalies (examples from the present data): 1) the name is written with a small initial (instrumentarium, aschan), 2) capital initials are used also in the middle of the name (Naantalin Aurinkoinen, Tukka Hyvin), 3) whole words are written in capital letters (STAFFPOINT, three BEANS COFFEE HOUSE, YAZZ HAIR CO., Park GRILLI, PRISMA), 4) there is a capital letter in the middle of a word (MetroAuto, FläktWoods, PUNANAAMIO The FunHouse, JUSSIN TASAVALTA, KULTASEPÄNVERSTAS KULTASARVI), 5) compound words are written separately (KOTI PIZZA, instead of “Kotipizza”, ‘home pizza’, KUVA SIRKUS, instead of “Kuvasirkus”, ‘photo circus’), 6) anomalies in the use of the hyphen (Angelika Turkis, instead of “Angelika-turkis”), 7) anomalies in the use of abbreviations (apt should be written in capitals, k.l.u.b.i = kolo / ilta / live).

6. Aural elements Pronunciation could be important for the full interpretation of the name, too. For instance, there are company names like 4 Baby and B- Active Oy in the data of Sjöblom 2006. Such names do not exist in the present material. However, this does not mean that sound as a mode should be ignored. It was already mentioned above with the case of Pulssi that the qualities of the phonemes can be meaningful, too. For instance, the phoneme k, which as a letter is sharp, could be described for its sound as hard and masculine. It is interesting that many Finnish beer brands include k: Karhu (‘bear’), Karjala (an area in the Eastern border of Finland, made over to Russia in WW II), Koff (from the founder’s surname Sinebrychoff), Laitilan Kukko (‘Laitila’s cock’), 372 PAULA SJÖBLOM

Lapin Kulta (‘Lapland’s gold’). In all these names, there are also only back vowels a, o, u. The sound of the brand Koff reminds one also of the sound that comes when one opens a bottle of beer. The pronunciation of a name can be so difficult that it may drive some customers out. This is probably not what a company aims at, but might follow, for example, when a company wants to have a foreign name. Avantgarde, the name of a hairdresser, is familiar in Finnish, but it is quite difficult to pronounce for many Finnish-speakers. Of course, the name conveys meanings of something new and experimental products and that way appeals to certain kinds of customers, who probably do not have difficulties in pronouncing the name.

7. Kinaesthetic elements Kinaesthetic mode is not as important in this kind of material as are linguistic, visual and to some extent also auditory modes. In general, the purpose of movement is just to catch one’s eye. A spinning image on the top of a name pillar or a flashing light letters might not convey any other meanings than just the message: “note this name”. A name on a flag can be seen as an additional message. Flags have different symbolic meanings. They are used as symbols of independent nations or other communities. A flag bundles up people with the same culture or same ideas. Colour symbols are especially important concerning flags; in our culture, for example, a white flag can mean surrender, a red flag communism, and a green flag environmental ideas. Boats use flags for messages. Also the shape of the flag and the way flags are put out lead to certain interpretations. In Finland, a flag in a house yard may arouse associations of a wealthy, harmonious master of the house, who has everything under control and who has a reason for celebration. The above mentioned meanings can be combined also to the name of the company, when it is moving on a flying flag. The more flags there are on a row, the more well-established the business seems to be. MetroAuto in Itäharju has five white flags by the road (Fig. 12). On the roof of this car company, there are the yellow flags of Opel and white flags of Saab. Also the hypermarket Prisma has several green flags besides the road. Downtown, there are not many flags, but the doctor’s practice Pulssi has a white flag flying from the wall. MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 373

Fig. 12. MetroAuto Fig. 13. ABC!

Although movement is not very easy to combine to the name of a company, it is possible to make an impression of movement by a static logotype. ABC! is an automatic petrol station (Fig. 13). The main colour of the station itself is orange with a green roof. The logo is written with yellow letters and black outlines. The font and the exclamation mark create an impression of rapid movement. There is also a picture of a thumb up in the logotype. When adding a gesture (meaning “good for you”) to the name it adds also a kinaesthetic element to it.

8. Brand names and company names Interestingly, brand names sometimes dominate over company names in the townscape. Especially companies that are agents for well- known brands use the brand for marketing the place of business. Some products, like cars and electronics, are for the most part chosen on the grounds of brand, which is easy to notice in the townscape: In the industrial estate, two companies, MetroAuto and Sähköextra, have a very simple and unnoticeable company name in contrast with many eye-catching brand names on their buildings. Downtown, there are three electronics companies (Jussin Tasavalta, Lasku-Laite Oy ‘counting machine’, Highend Studio). Of these three, Jussin Tasavalta has plenty of big brand signs above and at the window, Lasku-Laite advertises only Brother brand, and Highend Studio does not emphasize brands at all. 374 PAULA SJÖBLOM

Humalistonkatu is known of many restaurants and bars. Especially lower grade bars seem to highlight beer brands, as well as kebab restaurants and grills try to gain customers with soft drink brands (like Memory Times, Fig.14). A few beauty (Tigi Colour) and clothing (Tazzia) brands are in sight, but they are not as prominent as the above mentioned. Fig. 14. Memory Times

9. Concluding remarks Company names, like all commercial names, have also other functions than just identifying an entity. That is why the name of a company must convey different kinds of meanings in the minds of customers. Many researchers emphasize these days the multimodal nature of communication. Language is one mode, but also other modes take part in the interpretations. Multimodality is one viewpoint of studying business communication, of which names are a part. In this paper, I have presented how the meanings of company names are constructed by means of different modes. Introduced examples show, that there can be not just a linguistic mode, but also a visual, auditory and kinaesthetic mode present when the meaning of a name is shaping in our minds. On grounds of this small material it may be concluded that in the town centre area names are more multifaceted and use different modes more often than in the area of small industry. Some companies, especially car and electronics companies, tend to ride on known brands rather than on their own name, a matter which also affects the image people get of the company and the company name itself.

MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 375

10. References Bergien, Angelika. 2007. In search of the perfect name. Prototypical and iconic effects of linguistic patterns in company names. In: Ludger Kremer, Elke Ronneberger-Sibold (eds.), Names in com- merce and industry: past and present, 259–272. Berlin: Logos. Garzone, Giuliana. 2009. Multimodal analysis. In: Francesca Bargiela- Chiappini (ed.), The handbook of business discourse, 155–165. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Hakulinen, Auli et al. 2004. Iso suomen kielioppi. [Big Finnish grammar.] Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. Halliday, M.A.K. 1978. Language as social semiotic. London: Arnold. Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. An introduction to functional grammar. Lon- don: Arnold. Kodak.com = http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/ (read 5.8.2009). Kremer, Ludger. 2007. Tendenzen der Namengebung bei deutschen Unternehmen. In: Eva Brylla, Mats Wahlberg (eds.), Proceedings of the 21st international congress of onomastic sciences. Uppsala 19–24 August 2002, 177–192. Uppsala: Institutet för språk- och folkminnen. Kress, Gunther R., van Leeuwen, Theo. 2001. Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. London: Arnold. Langacker, Ronald W. 1990. Concept, image, and symbol. The cognitive basis of grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. van Leeuwen, Theo. 2005. Introducing social semiotics. London: Routledge. Lumiance-lightning.com = http://www.lumiance-lighting.com/pages/ site/about_us.html (read 5.8.2009). Rihlama, Seppo. 1997. Värioppi. [Chromatics.] 6th, revised edition. Helsinki: Rakennustieto. Sjöblom, Paula. 2006. Toiminimen toimenkuva: suomalaisen yritys- nimistön rakenne ja funktiot. [A firm name’s job description. The structure and functions of Finnish company names.] Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. Sjöblom, Paula. 2008a. Jobs vacant: seeking to employ a good company name. The structure, meaning and function of Finnish company names. Namn och bygd 96, 67–82. 376 PAULA SJÖBLOM xx

Sjöblom, Paula. 2008b. Namnens tolkning som en kognitiv process: exemplet kommersiellt namnförråd. [Name translation as a cognitive process: examples from commercial names]. In: Guđrún Kvaran et al. (eds.), Nordiska namn – Namn i norden. Tradition och förnyelse, p. 421–424. Uppsala: Norna-förlaget. Stöckl, Hartmut. 2004. In between modes: Language and image in printed media. In: Eija Ventola, Cassily Charles, Martin Kalten- bacher (eds.), Perspectives on multimodality, p. 9–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Vianor.com = http://vianor.fi/vianor_in_brief (read 5.8.2009).

Paula Sjöblom University of Turku Turku School of Economics Rehtorinpellonkatu 3 FI-20500 Turku, Finland [email protected]

Appendix: The name data

1. Company names 1.1. Humalistonkatu

Aimo Uttula DAY SPA LAGUUNI AIRISTON APTEEKKI EOS Al-Amir KEBAB PIZZERIA ERÄPÄIVÄ Alvar BAARI-BAR Europe Fashion Angelika Turkis FANTASIAPELIT ANTIIKKILIIKE ORTELIUS Fennia Apila Lääkäripalvelu Apila Oy & Apilan Finanssitutka putiikki HIERONTA-AKATEMIA APOLLO live – klub Highend Studio Artimer HIUSHUONE INDIGO aschan HOITOLA AIKA ASIANAJOTOIMISTO HAKANEN HUMALISTON APTEEKKI ASTAR THAI MASSAGE ÖLJYHIERONTA Humaliston KEBAB PIZZERIA Asuntovuokratoimisto Vaula oy HUMMPUB AVANTGARDE Ideaestradi Camilla KAMPAAMO-HIUSHOITOLA ILMARINEN eläkevakuutukset – CHILI palvelupiste CHINESE RESTAURANT GOLDEN DRAGON instrumentarium MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 377

JAZZ KLU BI MONK PARTURI-KAMPAAMO MIKKO MINNA JP-vaate Pasmina JUSSIN TASAVALTA Pieni Kirjapuoti k.l.u.b.i = kolo / ilta / live PIKKUPUBI Kahvila & baari Cup & Pint pippurimylly Kansan Uutiset PIRJON BAZAARI KARAOKE BAR SILVERMOON POHJANTÄHTI Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö Kasinonkulman HAMMASLÄÄKÄRIT POIJU Vanhusten tuki- ja kohtaamispaikka KAUNEUSHOITOLA Feidia posti – posten Kauneushuone Crystal PULSSI KAUPPAHUONE Classic Man PUNANAAMIO The FunHouse kerho HIUSHUONE R KIOSKI KIINTEISTÖPOINTTI R. ALANKO KING’S RUKOUSKESKUS King’s RAVINTOLA Kilta Ministries RAVINTOLA VIINILLE K-KeNKÄ RVB WELLNESS & BEAUTY KORTTELIRAVINTOLA KERTTU SAARAN KEBAB KORUMYYNTI KULTAINEN NORSU SABAILAND THAI HIERONTA KOTI PIZZA Sale Kulta- ja kelloliike ILMARI VIITANEN sevilla Bar y Restaurant KULTASEPÄNLIIKE Orvo Virtanen SILMÄ-PULSSI KULTASEPÄNVERSTAS KULTASARVI SISUSTUSHUONE TEIJA BJÖRKBACKA KUNTOPULSSI SOITTOJUOMALA Armas KUVA SIRKUS (the old name SOKOS HOTEL KUVASIRKKU is also in sight) STAFFPOINT LAINAHÖYHENET Stellina Lasku-Laite Oy STUDIO auran KUVA LIIKENNETURVA TRAFIKSKYDDET SUBWAY LONG FONG KIINALAINEN TA-MUOTIASU RAVINTOLA TATTOO STUDIO Black Arts Malai Thai Hieronta Terveystalo Marilyn THE EARTH COLLECTION MEMORY TIMES PIZZERIA KEBAB three BEANS COFFEE HOUSE METROSUN TILITOIMISTO MATTI LAINE MITTATILAUSOMPELIMO Tyyki TOK TURUN OSUUSKAUPPA MR. BIG TOP in HAIR & COSTUME MUOTI Emily Trenditukka Naantalin Aurinkoinen TURUN KRISTILLINEN KIRJAKAUPPA Naphouse TURUN RAKENNUSKESKUS NIGHTCLUB ZANZI BAR TURUN REUMACENTER Nordea TURUN REUMAYHDISTYS omenahotelli FYSIKAALINEN HOITOLA OP-Henkivakuutus TURUN SEUDUN REUMAYHDISTYS RY Otto. TURUN SILMÄLASER P&M CORNER TURVATIIMI PAPERI – LEHTO UFF Second Hand Park GRILLI V-O-G Beauty – Values of Great Beauty 378 PAULA SJÖBLOM

Vaateliike Pikkunaisia YAZZ HAIR CO. VAATESUUTARIT YH LÄNSI OY VAR import Yono ViherPeukku.fi

1.2. Itäharju

ABC! Nordea Alko OP apt PÖYRY APTEEKKI (Pyhän Henrikin Apteekki; the PRISMA name does not show outside the building) (RENGASHOTELLI) VIANOR FläktWoods RESAL HALIKKO PIPE Sähköextra K-RAUTA SÄHKÖ-MAX Laskenta Juva Oy S-Pankki MAALITUKKU SUOMEN AUTOVARUSTE KY McDonald’s TOMI-STEEL OY Mesekon Oy Tukka Hyvin MetroAuto Turun Itäharjun Sisustushalli NIKLAAMO Rautio Oy Turun Juva Oy

2. Brand names 2.1. Humalistonkatu BANG & OLUFSEN LAPIN KULTA brother LOEWE. elisa NOKIA Coca-Cola PEPSI KARHU PEPSI MAX KARJALA sonera Kodak Tazzia KOFF TIGI COLOUR Kotosalla TOTO LAITILAN Kukko VEIKKAUS

2.2. Itäharju

BIOLAN OPEL CHEVROLET OSRAM Cylinda SAAB HÖGFORS SUBARU JAGUAR SUNWIND LIVAL VEIKKAUS Lumiance MULTIMODALITY OF COMPANY NAMES 379

Abstract: Multimodality of company names The name of a company triggers off multiple images, and companies lead up to have a name that supports the profiled image in the best possible way. One of the special characteristics of company names is their multimodal nature. Multimodality in communication means that the interpretations are provided not only by linguistic elements but by different kinds of semiotic modes, e.g. image, sound and movement, which are linked together. Because of the multitude of associations that a name must convey, it is natural that different modes are brought into play. The multimodality of company names covers at least linguistic and visual elements, but in some cases also other modes are present. Linguistically, the meanings are conveyed by words and their meanings, by the syntactic structure of the expression and by the choice of language. Visually, important aspects of company names are e.g. graphemes, colours, the geometry or shape of the name, and the other visual forms connected to the name. The name can also involve auditory elements: it may be pronounced out loud for to get the full message. Even kinaesthetic or tactile modes can be presented in company names: the new techniques enable movement and the development of printing materials enables experiences through touching the name. This article clarifies and presents how the meanings of company names are constructed from different semiotic modes. This question is contemplated through photographed name examples collected from a shopping area and an industrial area in Turku, Finland.

Résumé: La multimodalité des noms d’entreprise Le nom d’une entreprise évoque des images multiples et ainsi les entreprises sont amenées à avoir un nom qui soutient, de la meilleure manière possible, l’image choisie par l’entreprise. Une des caractéristiques des noms d’entreprise est leur caractère multimodal. La multimodalité dans la communication signifie que les interprétations sont fournies, non seulement par les éléments linguistiques, mais également par différents modes sémiotiques qui sont liés entre eux, par ex. l’image, le son et le mouvement. L’usage de différents modes est naturel à cause de la multitude des associations qu’un nom doit exprimer. La multimodalité des noms d’entreprise comprend au moins les éléments linguistiques et visuels, mais dans certains cas d’autres modes sont présents aussi. Linguistiquement, le sens est exprimé par des mots et leur contenu, par la structure syntactique de l’expression et par le choix de la langue. Visuellement, des aspects importants des noms d’entreprise sont par ex. les graphèmes, les couleurs, la géométrie ou la forme du nom ainsi que les autres formes visuelles associées au nom. Le nom peut aussi contenir des éléments auditifs : il peut être prononcé à haute voix pour obtenir le message entier. Même les modes kinesthésiques ou tactiles peuvent être représentés dans les noms d’entreprise : les nouvelles techniques permettent le mouvement et le développement des matériels d’imprimerie permet les expériences par le toucher du nom. 380 PAULA SJÖBLOM

Cet article étudie et clarifie comment le sens des noms d’entreprise est construit à partir de différents modes sémiotiques. Cette question est examinée avec des exemples de noms photographiés dans le centre-ville et dans une zone industrielle à Turku, en Finlande.

Zusammenfassung: Multimodalität von Firmennamen Firmennamen evozieren viele Vorstellungen, und Unternehmen streben nach einem Namen, der das Unternehmensprofil am besten unterstützt. Ein besonderes Kennzeichen von Firmennamen ist ihr multimodaler Charakter. Multimodalität in der Kommunikation bedeutet, dass das Verstehen nicht nur aus linguistischen Elementen besteht, sondern auch durch verschiedene Arten von aufeinander be- zogenen semiotischen Modes wie z. B. Bild, Ton und Bewegung gekennzeich- net ist. Aufgrund der Vielfältigkeit der Assoziationen, die ein Firmenname vermittelt, werden erwartungsgemäß auch verschiedene Modes verwendet. Die Multimodalität von Firmennamen betrifft in erster Linie linguistische und visuelle Elemente, zuweilen aber auch andere Modes. Linguistisch werden die Inhalte über Wörter und deren Bedeutungen, über die Syntax des Ausdrucks und über die Wahl der Sprache vermittelt. Visuell entscheidend sind bei Firmen- namen beispielsweise Grapheme, Farben, die Formgebung des Namens und andere visuelle mit dem Namen verbundene Aspekte. Der Name kann außerdem auch auditive Elemente mit einschließen: Um seine Bedeutung voll zu erfassen, muss er ausgesprochen werden. Sogar kinästhetische oder haptische Modes können in Firmennamen vorkommen: Neue Techniken erlauben bewegliche Elemente, und die Entwicklung von Druckmaterialien ermöglicht Erfahrungen durch das Berühren des Namens. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt und zeigt, wie die Bedeutungen von Firmenna- men durch verschiedene semiotische Elemente konstruiert werden. Die Frage wird anhand von Fotografien von Firmennamen aus einem Einkaufszentrum und einem Industriegebiet in Turku (Finnland) betrachtet.