markedness

Definition | Meaning

  1. Any distinctive surface quality which distinguishes a name from its ordinary counterpart in the lexicon.

Example | Illustration

  • a name may be marked graphemically, orthographically, phonemically, morphemically, semantically, syntactically, or in some combination of any or all of these

Etymology | Origin

lingua franca

Definition | Meaning

  1. Any language used as a medium of communication between peoples of diverse speech.

Example | Illustration

  • English is now the lingua franca of Asia, although many varieties of English are spoken there, including Australian English, Hong Kong English, Japanese English, Singaporean English, etc.

Etymology | Origin

lexicon

Definition | Meaning

  1. The inventory of words in a given language, dialect, or idiom.

Example | Illustration

  • the English lexicon can be found in an complete dictionary.
  • this dictionary is an effort to record the lexicon of branding and naming

Etymology | Origin

kenning

Definition | Meaning

  1. A name created from a poetic, compound metaphor.

Example | Illustration

  • The Rain Bird Corporation, an American manufacturer of sprinkler systems, contains a kenning for ‘sprinkler’.

jargon

Definition | Meaning

  1. The specialized vocabulary or set of idioms shared by a particular profession or sub-culture.

Example | Illustration

  • geekspeak

Compare | See

  • idiom

invented spelling

Definition | Meaning

  1. The use of non-standard spelling to achieve a desired effect or to otherwise distinguish a name.

Example | Illustration

  • Cingular is an intentionally altered spelling of the word ‘singular’.