The impact of place names as brands
Malak ALASLI, Institute of Cartography and Geoinformatics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
The study of place names and their regulation is not just of scientific or cultural interest but is critical to the functioning of a society. The toponymic layer of any locality results from a protracted process of historical and linguistic sedimentation. Dealing with place names entails resurrecting historical ties and awakening buried and absorbed cultural and symbolic identities.
The linguistic character of names makes them ideal for building and transferring heritage. The place name, rooted in history and heritage, may also serve as the foundation for its branding. Names, in reality, carry a wealth of subjective and communal meanings that are already existing in a society.
Toponyms and branding are strongly connected due to the former's ability to elicit powerful personal memories. Thus, individuals brand place names based on what those places symbolize and the pictures they elicit, whether via personal experiences, historical information, or media and cinematic depictions. Besides, toponyms are branded from different perspectives. They have the power to brand its inhabitants' character; never ask Rabat locals for directions, never converse with Sale residents after sunset, or never put people of Beni Messara behind you. It may also brand it by portraying the toponym in a context that highlights an event, such as Casablanca in Morocco as the beginning of the first wave of Covid and the emergence of any new Covid variant, or Tetouan as a summer destination. The toponym, therefore, enters the realms of semiotic encoding.
The connotations aggregated in the toponym over decades, if not centuries, are consequently transmitted to the next generations. Hence, this research aims to assess the impact of place names as brands from the locals' perspective. It examines the extent to which place names convey the heritage of a place and how this may be used to exploit the quality of branding. The toponyms collected are analyzed using Language Documentation methods.
Mots clés : toponymy|branding|heritage
A105148MA