What is linguistic screening?
Linguistic screening is a service we offer to clients who need their top name choice or list of leading names thoroughly vetted for suitability in various languages. Specifically, this service analyzes names for semantic meaning, usage, connotation, spelling, sound, and pronunciation.
Why is it a good idea?
Linguistic screening offers our clients peace of mind that the name we create for them will be easily understood, easily pronounced, and not contain any nasty surprises in their target languages, dialects, or countries. (Remember the Chevy Nova? Here’s Zinzin’s take on a legendary, though debunked, cautionary naming tale.)
It’s especially important to perform a thorough linguistic screening when invented names are under consideration. This is because, by definition, invented names are not part of a major global language. Therefore, they have not been vetted by previous cultural usage.
How does linguistic screening work with Zinzin?
Our partner for linguistic and foreign language connotation screening, based in the UK, is one of the best in the business. They have a thorough approach and a unique four-stage process that includes international linguistic connotation screening by native speakers of the target language, conducted by translators in-country.
Target language/dialect options
Afrikaans, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), English (US), Estonian, Finnish, French, French (Canadian), German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian (Bahasa), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Argentinian), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog (Philippines), Taiwanese, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese
Deliverables
- Direct semantic translation: Does the name have a direct semantic translation in the target language or dialect?
- Other meanings: Does the name mean anything in the target language or dialect, including slang? If so, what does it mean?
- Positive connotations: Does the name have any positive cultural associations in the target language, dialect, or country?
- Negative connotations: Does the name have any negative or inappropriate cultural associations in the target language, dialect, or country?
- Pronunciation: Is there any difficulty with pronunciation in the target language or dialect? Does this name mean something different when pronounced in this language or dialect versus the English pronunciation?
- Confusion: Are there other words in the target language or dialect that cause confusion due to spelling, pronunciation, or meaning?
- Competitive context: Are there any other brand names, in any industry, that residents of a particular country might think sound close to the proposed name? Could this cause any confusion?
Timing
For most projects, turnaround for this service is 2-5 days. Timing depends on how many names are screened in what languages and dialects.
Questions about linguistic screening?
Please contact us, so we can discuss your specific naming needs and concerns.