Names of the Mascots which appears in Public Enlightenment Advertisements for Raising Awareness of Global Warming Prevention: Linguistic Analysis and Classification

Abstract

Since the Yuru-kyara boom in the late 2000s, many municipalities in Japan have created their own local mascots used in municipal promotion and various public enlightenment advertisements. This study investigates 358 mascots (154 “PR mascots” for municipal promotion and 194 “enlightening mascots” for public enlightenment) that appear in advertisements to raise awareness of global warming prevention created by municipalities in Japan. In this research article, the names of these mascots were analyzed and described from three perspectives: semantics, word formation/word structure, and sound symbolism.

Semantic analysis shows that more than 90% of PR mascots are named after things associated with the municipality, and more than 70% of enlightening mascots are named after words that remind people of global warming prevention. The role of each mascot was reflected in its name.

An analysis of word formation and word structure shows that approximately 60% of the names of PR mascots are based on the whole or a part of the base. On the other hand, fewer of the names of enlightening mascots based on the whole or a part of the base was found, while names formed by compound words and contractions of compound words accounted for approximately 40%. Furthermore, regarding phonetic modification to the base, only approximately 20% of the names had modification, and the three most frequently used modifications are vowels lengthening, geminated consonant insertion, and syllabic nasal insertion. Regarding suffixes, more than 75% of the names based on things associated with the municipality and words associated with global warming prevention have a suffix, while over 80% of the names formed by compound words that do not have a suffix.

Analysis of sound symbolism shows that the names of mascots with a “strong” appearance are more likely to include voiced sound and begin with an obstruent than mascots with a “cute” or other appearance. In addition, while many names end with a resonant as a whole, the names of “strong” appearance mascots were more likely to end with an obstruent than other types.