Linguistic Techniques

10 Linguistic Techniques Used in Polynesian Brands

In marketing onomastics, various linguistic techniques may be used to create names.

We've selected ten Polynesian brands along with their name, logo & technique for each registered brand name.

About Branding The Art of Naming Case Studies

The Description Technique

Va'a is the Tahitian word for traditional canoe. It is combined with the toponym Tahiti, the place of origin of the product.
Description is one of the most employed techniques in brand naming.

The Metonymy Technique

A metonym is a reference to something or someone by one of their attributes.
Aranui means 'great way' or 'big distance' in Tahitian. The Aranui operates between Tahiti and the Marquesas islands, which represents a sailing distance of over 700 nautical miles.
The brand name stands as a part of the whole sailing experience.

The Promise Technique

Hotu means to be fruitful or to grow, as a fruit grows.
This compost potting mix brand name makes the promise of fruitfulness to customers.
Hotu is also the name of the 14th moon in the Tahitian calendar and is an excellent night for planting.

The Theronymy Technique

A theronym is any name derived from the name of an animal.
Many animals are part and parcel of Polynesian society, like the vini, a small, fast and beautiful bird endemic to the islands.
The size, the speed and the beauty of the vini easily explain the choice toward this animal as a brand name.

The Elision Technique

An elision is an omission of a vowel or a consonant in an originally balanced word.
The elision draws the attention of readers as they can't identify at first sight any known word from their lexical stocks.
This forces them to retrieve the original non-elided word, nacra, and reassociate it to the brand name.

The Eponymy Technique

An eponym is a piece of work that bears the name of its creator.
Tekura is thus the name of the businesswoman who owns this travel agency.
Brand eponyms have the advantage of personalizing the brand relationship with the public. This marketing technique is also called Personal Branding.

The Pathetic Fallacy Technique

Taravana is a Tahitian word. In English, it translates into 'the bends'.
Pathetic fallacy is a literary figure of speech that considers inanimate objects as if they had human feelings, thoughts, or sensations.
The pathos in the brand is a call to the human senses and drives consumers into the depths of their gut feelings.

The Toponymy Technique

A toponym is any place name.
At almost 3000ft high, Rotui, also written Rotuʻi, is the mountain which overlooks the factory where the product is manufactured.
The name the brand bears is famous and can be heard in many Polynesian legends where Hiro, the god of thieves, attempted to steal mount Rotui.
The toponymic nature of the brand builds up the imaginary setting of the brand name.

The Oronymy Technique

An oronym is a string of words that is pronounced the same as another one but that is written differently.
Veri Tahiti is an oronym of Very Tahiti, with the words veri and very being two homonyms.
Veri Tahiti means Tahitian centipede in Tahitian language.

The Calque Technique

Calquing is to translate a brand name into another language.
Hōʻē means 'one' in Tahitian. The figure 1 used to be 'tahi' as in many other Polynesian languages, but because of the pi'i - a taboo on royal names - hōʻē replaced tahi.
Calquing is very often observed on white labels.

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