February 20, 2013
We’re often asked how we create our names. Our answer is that naming is both an art and a science – the art of poetry and the science of linguistics. One of the many techniques we use is alliteration. Alliteration is a style of poetry based upon the rhythmic repetition of sounds instead of rhyme. […]
April 2, 2012
So what to make of the new name for Kraft’s global snack business. Well, now that the dust has mostly settled and the predictable stream of vitriol over the choice of name has receded, we can have a fair and professional conversation about this new company badge. I’m guessing that 99% of the blogosphere has […]
April 28, 2009
Today we present a guest blog by Andy Chuang of the firm Good Characters, experts in Chinese naming. We forwarded Andy an interesting story about the Chinese government placing restrictions on personal names, thinking he’d have a great perspective – and he was kind enough to write this wonderful blog post explaining the reasoning behind […]
March 31, 2009
Pronunciation is very important to us here at Catchword. That’s why we would like to share this with you: the excellent folks at Daily Writing Tips have weighed in on the question that’s on everyone’s mind, Should you pronounce the “h” in “-wh-“ words like whistle, whiz, and overwhelm? DWT’s balanced response is very much […]
October 6, 2008
In today’s San Francisco Chronicle (by Patricia Yollin): Nzadi is one of the most obscure tongues in the world. That’s exactly why a UC Berkeley class has embraced it. “There’s nothing like the joy of discovering a language from scratch,” said Cal linguistics Professor Larry Hyman. The 10 students in his course, Introduction to Field […]