A Multifactorial Sociolinguistic Analysis of SME Business Company Naming in Malaysia

Abstract

The choice of choosing the right company name is very much like the choice of choosing the right name for a product, as the branding can have a lasting effect on customers’ choice of goods. Small and Medium enterprises in Malaysia are also affected by the multicultural and multilingual background of this country. This study aims to identify these sociolinguistic factors that can lend to SME business owners’ choice of Business Company naming and whether this complies with the SSM (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia) company registration acts. The effects of using the English language as the medium of communicating their business operations instead of other languages will also be an interesting factor to consider. As such, a selected number of SME operators (N=21) were requested to participate in a survey and interview. The results of the study indicated that there is indeed a diversity of factors that contribute to business naming and they are mostly skewed towards influence from family and background of the business owners. The mismatch of linguistic accuracy is partly due to cultural aspects and therefore it is recommended that a set of guidelines in business naming is prepared so that language distortion is not promoted and image of linguistic competency is not tarnished.