English-Influenced Brand Names in Indonesian Contexts: Their Word-Formation Processes, Meanings, and Public Perceptions

Rio Rini Diah Moehkardi, Prof. Dr. I Dewa Putu Wijana, S.U., M.A.; Dr. Tofan Dwi Hardjanto, M.A.

2024 | Disertasi | S3 Ilmu-ilmu Humaniora

Globalisasi telah mendorong orang Indonesia menggunakan bahasa Inggris secara lebih intensif, termasuk dalam menamai tempat usaha, produk, maupun kegiatan kegiatan mereka.  Dibalik marak nya penggunaan bahasa Inggris dalam penamaan tersimpan rasa suka dan tidak suka dengan dominasi bahasa asing ini, sementara itu persamaan juga perbedaan aturan tatabahasa antara bahasa Indonesia dan bahasa Inggris, perbedaan pengalaman hidup dalam mengekspresikan makna kemungkinan berpengaruh pada pembentukan nama. Riset ini bertujuan untuk meneliti bagaimana nama-nama tersebut dibentuk, dimaknai, dan diterima oleh publik. Dengan menerapkan teori teori sintaksis, morfologi, dan onomastik, pola jenis kata, pembentukan kata, dan jenis makna dipetakan, serta persepsi masyarakat diketahui. Nama-nama merek dikumpulkan secara daring maupun luring dengan cara mengambil foto papan nama di mana nama-nama tersebut tercantum. Dengan menerapkan metode kualitatif dengan diperjelas dengan hitungan kuantitatif prosentase, populasi data dikelompokkan ke dalam monomorphemic, derivasi, frasa, klausa, kata majemuk terbuka dan tertutup,  abreviasi, blending, dan reduplikasi. Kata majemuk menduduki peringkat tertinggi dengan 32,4%, diikuti oleh monomorphemis dengan 14,2%. Analisis sintaksi dilakukan pada 347 nama (48%) monrfemis, derivasi, frasa, klausa, dan kata majemuk tertutup. Terdapt 5 jenis frasa kata benda (NP), dan 3 sub-tipe klausa. Bare NP, yang tewrdiri atas nama morfemis dan derivasi, menduduki peringkat tertinggi. Nama monomorfemis nomina mendominasi Bare NP (70,4%), sementara itu name derivasi didominasi adjektifa (48,4%). Klausa imperative mendominasi nama klausa dengan43?ri 42 nama klausal. Karena Sebagian nama mengalami pembentukan katan lebih dari satu kali. Jumlah total kata yang dianalisis secara morfologis menjadi lebih banyak, yaitu 793 name. Dari jumlah ini hanya 74% nya (587 nama) dianalisis secara morfologis karena nama monomorfemis, frasal, dan klausal tidak dianalisis secara morfologis. Analisis morfologis dibagi dalam dua kelompok: formasi gramatikal (derivasi dan kata majemuk) dan formasi ektra-gramatikal (abreviasi, blending, dan reduplikasi). Kata majemuk paling mendominasi dengan 41,6%, diikuti oleh derivasi 18,4%. Blending, tidak dikenal dalam morfologi bahasa Indonesia, tetapi banyak didapati dalam studi ini, menduduki tempat ketiga 18,1?n menduduki ranking tertinggi di antara formasi extra-gramatika. Meskipun bahasa Indonesia juga mengenal reduplikasi, perbedaan fungsi reduplikasi dalam bahasa Inggris dan bahasa Indonesia mungkin menjadi penyebab rendahnya kemunculan reduplikasi dalam riset ini. Mengikuti strategi onomastic dalam mengkategorisasi makna nama, dari 724 populasi nama, terdapat 755 nama yang dapat diklasifikasi ke dalam nama deskriptif, sugestif, fiktif, arbitrer, simbolis, dan ‘freestanding.’Nama deskriptif menduduki peringkat tertinggi (49,3%), diikuti nama sugestif (21,4%), dan nama arbitrer (14,5%). Dua set data selain data kebahasaan disiapkan untuk mengukur persepsi publik atas fenomena nama dengan pengaruh bahasa Inggris. Data set pertama diperoleh dari Survei 1 yang menentukan 15 dari populasi nama yang paling dikenali oleh responden. Data set kedua berupa persepsi responden terhadap ke 15 nama dan dievaluasi dengan 7 pernyataan berskala 5 Likert dan tervalidasi, serta pertanyaan terbuka terkait nama yang baik dan buruk. Terhadap 7 pernyataan berskala 5 Likert ditemukan hasil antara 63.14% to 78.54?ngan mean 72.08% menunjukkan bahwa mayoritas responden setuju dengan pernyataan-pernyataan tersebut. Pertanyaan terbuka pada Survey 2 juga mengukur persepsi responden terhadap nama bagus dan buruk yang berkaitan dengan makna, bentuk kata, pengucapan, identitas, dan komentar umum. Survei 2 membuktikan bahwa responden menilai positif, nir-ancaman pemakaian bahasa Inggris dalam penamaan, bahkan dalam beberapa hal bermanfaat, misalnya memperluas cakupan pasar. 

Globalization has motivated Indonesians to use English more intensively, including in naming their products, business places, or events.  Underlying problems of mixed feelings towards the dominance of English, similar and different grammatical rules between bahasa Indonesia and English, and different socio-cultural experiences in expressing meanings could have motivated the word formations of the brand names found. This study aims to investigate the creation, meaning, and public perception of these brand names. By applying syntactical and morphological theoretical frameworks, alongside onomastic and perception analyses, patterns of word formation were mapped out, meaning interpreted, and public perception identified. Brand names were collected from both offline and online sources, with 724 names captured in photographs. Employing a qualitative method yet supported by raw numbers and percentages, the names were classified into monomorphemic, derivational, phrasal, clausal, closed and open compounds, abbreviation, blending, and reduplication. Compounds rank the highest at 32.4%, followed by monomorphemic at 14.2%. Syntactic analysis was conducted on 48% (347 names) of monomorphemic, derivational, phrasal, clausal, and closed compound names. There were five types of NP and 3 sub-types of clausal, with the Bare NP ranking the highest. Monomorphemic and derivational names belong to the Bare NP. Noun monomorphemic names were predominant (70.4%), whereas derivational names were more adjective-focused (48.4%). Imperative clauses were the most common clausal type, representing 43% of the 42 names analyzed. As some names underwent more than one word-formation process, the total number of words for morphological analysis was higher, at 793 names. From this number, only 587 names (74%) were analyzed morphologically, and monomorphemic, phrasal, and clausal names were excluded. Morphological analysis was divided into grammatical formations (derivational and compounding) and extra-grammatical formations (abbreviation, blending, and reduplication). Compounding was the most prevalent at 41.6%, followed closely by derivational forms at 18.4%. Blending, less known in Indonesian morphology but common in this study, ranked third at 18.1%. Close to the formation of the acronym and also shared in Indonesian morphology, blending ranked the highest among the extra-grammatical formations. However, although bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) also utilizes reduplication, its distinct difference from English may explain the low occurrence of reduplication in this research finding. Adopting onomastic strategies in classifying the meanings of the names, from the original number of 724 names, there were 755 names classified into descriptive, suggestive, fictitious, arbitrary, symbolic, and freestanding. Descriptive names were most frequent (49.3%), followed by suggestive (21.4%) and arbitrary (14.5%) names. This suggests confidence among Indonesian name creators in exploring beyond literal meanings. Public perception data were collected by a 2-set survey using online questionnaires. The first survey was conducted to screen the most familiar brand names (taken from the database) and then was used in Survey 2 to measure public perceptions of their level of agreement on 7 5-Likert scale valid statements about English-influenced brand names resulted in the range of 63.14% to 78.54% with a mean of 72.08% indicating that the majority of respondents agreed in the Likert-scaled statements. Open-ended questions in Survey 2 measured the respondents’ perceptions of good and bad names in terms of their meaning, word formation, pronunciation, identity, and general comments. The survey proved that the respondents had a positive review, non-threatening of the practice of using English in naming, and even useful in many ways, for example in the expansion of the market. Overall, these findings indicate a positive perception of English as the dominant language. Relatively high competence in English seems to close the gap between English and bahasa Indonesia’s different grammar, as the name makers were able to explore creatively the possibility of creating interesting and yet meaningful names. Yet, socio-culturally Indonesian name makers may have had different concepts in expressing meanings as reflected in the names they coined.

Kata Kunci : naming, brand names, word formations, onomastic meanings, public perceptions