对臆造类商标专名通用化的哲学思考

On the Commonization of Arbitrary Trademarks: From the Perspective of Philosophy of Language

现代专名指称理论是分析哲学研究的重要命题之一。臆造类商标属于专名的一类,其通用化过程是很多臆造类商标不可避免的。以艾文斯的专名理论为研究框架,以臆造类商标专名的通用化为研究对象,用共时和历时的分析方法,研究臆造类商标在通用化这一"专名使用实践活动"中意义的变化特点。从分析中发现:第一,在臆造类商标专名通用化过程中,"名称消费者"不是完全被动的,也会为实践活动引入新信息;第二,商标专名普通化在历时层面其实是臆造意义消亡和通用意义诞生的双重过程;第三,商标专名通用化过程是不可逆的。以上三点以臆造类商标专名为新的研究视角,对艾文斯的专名理论予以丰富。

Proper name has always been one of the essential topics for analytic philosophy. Arbitrary trademarks are one kind of the proper names. Their meaning would change during communization,which seems inevitable for many famous brand names. Therefore,the change of meaning during commonization of arbitrary trademarks is studied both synchronically and diachronically based on the proper names theory of Gareth Evans. It is found that：（ 1） The ‘consumer’may also introduce new information in proper-name-using practice;（ 2） Diachronically speaking,the diminishing of the information in arbitrary trademarks is accompanied by the birth of a generic name;（ 3） The reversibility of commonization of arbitrary trademarks is discussed tentatively and it is believed that commonization of arbitrary trademarks is a natural process of linguistic change that would not and should not be reversed. It is hoped that the findings can be a supplement to Evans’ proper name theory.