Socio-onomastic study of the names of commercial establishments located in Imperatriz/MA

Authors

Romilia de Sá Feitosa Universidade Estadual da Região Tocantina do Maranhão - UEMASUL https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7327-7623 (unauthenticated)
Maria Célia State University of the Tocantina Region of Maranhão (UEMASUL) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1136-5991 (unauthenticated)
Maria da Guia Taveiro Silva State University of the Tocantina Region of Maranhão (UEMASUL) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6520-1845 (unauthenticated)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48075/odal.v7i1.37229

Keywords:

Socio-onomastics, Linguistic variation, Proper names, Cultural traits

Abstract

It is known that Onomastics, considering Dick's contributions regarding the motivation in naming and the proposition of a taxonomic model for place names, can significantly contribute to the field of linguistic research. In the city of Imperatriz, state of Maranhão, for example, concerning the commercial proper names of shops located on a commercial avenue, specifically in a section known as Calçadão de Imperatriz, there is no known socio-onomastic research. In this context, the objective of this article is to investigate, from a socio-onomastic perspective, the linguistic variation from the company name to the trade name in the proper names of commercial companies located in the city of Imperatriz/MA, specifically in this section of Avenida Getúlio Vargas. For this purpose, the "Commercial Typification" and the "Year of Foundation of the Company" were considered as variables. This research is justified by the fact that commercial proper names express local culture, and this article serves as a record of a survey from a specific period, the year 2024. The methodological resources employed were a mixed-methods approach, with descriptive research of an exploratory nature, and document analysis. The theoretical basis was drawn from the studies of Dick (1990), Isquerdo (2006), Frai (2016), Coelho et al. (2018), Amaral and Seide (2020), Oliveira (2020), and Rodrigues and Cruz (2025), among others. The results showed that the external variables "Commercial Typification" and "Year of Company Foundation" are factors that cause variation between the company name and the trade name, with a high percentage of allonyms, especially trade names that are completely distinct from the company name. As a contribution to Onomastics, the study shows that the trade names of companies present cultural traits of the region, since the designator's motivation is influenced by social, cultural, and environmental aspects of the environment and time in which it is inserted.

Author Biographies

Maria Célia, State University of the Tocantina Region of Maranhão (UEMASUL)

Associate Professor at the State University of Maranhão, UEMA Balsas Campus. Professor in the Postgraduate Program in Language Studies, UEMA - Balsas Campus; professor in the Postgraduate Program in Letters - PPGLe at the State University of the Tocantins Region of Maranhão - Uemasul, Imperatriz/MA. Graduated in Letters from the State University of Maranhão UEMA/Balsas Campus. Master's degree in Letters and Linguistics from the Federal University of Goiás - UFG, Goiânia-GO, where she developed the research "The Aspect of Vowels in the Speech of the Sertanejo of the Balsas-MA Region" (March 9, 2008). Doctorate in Letters and Linguistics from UFG, Goiânia-GO, where she defended the thesis "Maranhão: Its Toponymy, Its History" (March 9, 2012). Participated in a "Sandwich Doctorate" internship (PDDE - CAPES) at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, in 2010. Post-doctoral studies in 2015 at the National University of Brasília (UnB) in Ecolinguistics, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Hildo Honório do Couto. Post-doctoral studies at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Três Lagoas Campus, in 2017, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Aparecida Negri Isquerdo, with research in the area of Lexical and Toponymic Studies, specifically with the project "Toponymic Atlas of the State of Maranhão - ATEMA: Southern Maranhão mesoregion". Coordinator of the Postgraduate Program - Master's in Language Studies - PPGEL, Balsas Campus. Researcher PQ-C-12655/25, CNPq/FAPEMA. His work focuses primarily on the following themes: Ecosystemic Linguistics, Lexical Studies, Onomastics (Toponymy and Anthroponymy) - Municipalities of Maranhão, Southern Maranhão Region, Sertanejo (Brazilian backlands), Language, Culture and History.
Maria da Guia Taveiro Silva, State University of the Tocantina Region of Maranhão (UEMASUL)

She is an Associate Professor I at the State University of the Tocantins Region of Maranhão (UEMASUL). At this university, she works in the Portuguese Language and Literature Department, within the Center for Human, Social and Literary Sciences (CCHSL), in the Postgraduate Program in Letters (PPGLe), the Professional Master's Program in Letters, and the Master's Program in Educational Processes and Technologies in the National Network (ProfEducatec). She is also a professor in the Postgraduate Program in Linguistics and Literature (PPGLLIT) at the Federal University of Northern Tocantins (UFNT). She holds degrees in Portuguese and English Literature from the State University of Maranhão (1988) and in Pedagogy from the Federal University of Maranhão (2001). She has a Master's degree in Education (2007) from the University of Brasília (UnB) and a PhD in Linguistics (2012) from the same university. She completed a doctoral internship, funded by CAPES, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA (2010-11). She is a CNPq researcher, with a PQ-C research productivity grant. She was vice-coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Letters (PPGLe); of the Master's Program in Letters (2019) and currently serves again as vice-coordinator of the PPGLe (2020-). As a researcher, she is vice-coordinator of the Center for Literary and Linguistic Studies (NELLI) and leader of the Linguistic Studies Group of Maranhão (GELMA), both at UEMASUL, since 2016, a CNPq Research Group. Since 2015, she has coordinated Scientific Initiation projects (PIBIC/CNPq, UEMASUL and FAPEMA). As an extension worker, she has coordinated Extension projects (PIBEXT) since 2015. She is a reviewer for specialized journals and an ad hoc consultant for funding agencies FAPEMA, CNPq, Cebraspe, and PROPGI at UEMASUL, and a member of committees. She works in the area of Linguistics (Sociolinguistics), Educational Sociolinguistics, with an emphasis on literacy, mother tongue education, classroom ethnography, and teacher training.

References

Amaral, E. T. R., & Coutinho, D. N. (2024). Formação de nomes de urna de candidatos ao cargo de deputado federal no período de 2002 a 2018. Revista de Estudos da Linguagem, 30(1), 113–136. https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/relin/article/view/54590.

Amaral, E. T. R., & Seide, M. S. (2020). Nomes próprios de pessoa: Introdução à antroponímia brasileira. Blucher.

Andrade, K. S. (2012). Os nomes de lugares em rede: Um estudo com foco na interdisciplinaridade. Domínios de Lingu@gem, 6(1), 205–225. http://www.seer.ufu.br/index.php/dominiosdelinguagem.

Brasil. Ministério do Empreendedorismo, da Microempresa e da Empresa de Pequeno Porte. (2025). Instrução normativa DREI/MEMP nº 1, de 5 de janeiro de 2025. https://www.gov.br/empresas-e-negocios/pt-br/drei/legislacao/instrucoes-normativas.

CNPJ Biz. (n.d.). Empresas de todo o Brasil. https://cnpj.biz/empresas.

Coelho, I. L., Gorski, E. M., Souza, C. M. N. de, & May, G. H. (2018). O estudo da linguagem no contexto social. In I. L. Coelho, E. M. Gorski, C. M. N. de Souza, & G. H. May, Para conhecer a sociolinguística (pp. 11–53). Contexto.

Cruz, V. P. de S. (2023). O mercado da bola e a variação antroponímica entre os jogadores brasileiros de futebol (Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).

Dicionário Online de Português. (2026). Dicio: Dicionário online de português. 7Graus. https://www.dicio.com.br/.

Dick, M. V. de P. do A. (1990). Toponímia e antroponímia no Brasil: Coletânea de estudos. Gráfica da FLCH/USP.

Econodata. (n.d.). Lista de empresas do Brasil. https://www.econodata.com.br/empresas/todo-brasil.

Frai, P. H. (2016). Sócio-onomástica: Uma nova abordagem metodológica. EntreLetras, 7(1), 91–106. https://periodicos.ufnt.edu.br/index.php/entreletras/article/view/2028.

Garcia, F. C. (2016). Identidade e imagem da marca: Uma análise comparativa em uma empresa do setor de serviços de telecomunicações (Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia).

Garcia, J. L. (2015). Marketing de serviços e de varejo. In J. L. Garcia (Org.), Marketing de serviços e de varejo. Pearson.

Google Maps. (2024). Avenida Getúlio Vargas, Imperatriz-MA. https://www.google.com/maps.

Google My Maps. (2026). Pontos de delineamento do estudo: Borboleta Casa e Tudo e Espaço Vip Mega Store. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit.

Isquerdo, A. N. (2009). Achegas para a discussão do conceito de regionalismos no português do Brasil. ALFA: Revista de Linguística, 50(2). https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/1408.

Machado, N. (2011). Identidade e imagem: Elementos formadores da reputação. In S. M. G. Dornelles (Org.), Relações públicas: Quem sabe faz e explica (2ª ed., pp. 35–48). Edipucrs.

Martiny, F. M., & Borstel, C. N. (2013). A designação de nome fantasia em língua alemã em Marechal Cândido Rondon, Paraná. Fórum Linguístico, 10(2), 126–142. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9515134.

Mascarenhas, S. A. (2018). Metodologias, métodos e técnicas de pesquisa: Métodos e tipos de pesquisa segundo o objetivo geral. In S. A. Mascarenhas (Org.), Metodologia científica (2ª ed., pp. 33–59). Pearson.

Mollica, M. C. (2008). Fundamentação teórica, conceituação e delimitação. In M. C. Mollica & M. L. Braga, Introdução à sociolinguística: O tratamento da variação (pp. 9–14). Cortez.

Morosini, C. B., & Amaral, E. T. R. (2025). “O Brasil fica bem perto daqui” ou o que nomes de urna podem revelar sobre a política brasileira. Revista GTLex, 10(1), 1–30. https://seer.ufu.br/index.php/GTLex/article/view/78429.

Moutinho, L. de C., & Coimbra, R. L. (1998). O nome é a alma do negócio: Estudo linguístico dos nomes das lojas em Portugal. In Actas do XIII Encontro da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística (pp. 93–104). Colibri. https://sweet.ua.pt/rlcoimbra/documentos/rlcoimbra_13APL_1998.pdf.

Nunes, M., & Peruyera, M. (2021). Metodologia científica aplicada à publicidade (1ª ed.). Contentus.

Oliveira, A. P. W. L. C. de. (2021). Evolução e classificação: Classificação dos tipos de pesquisa no Brasil. In Metodologia científica (1ª ed., pp. 5–17). Contentus.

Oliveira, A. C. de. (2020). Confronto entre nome empresarial e marca: O que deve prevalecer (Monografia de bacharelado, Faculdade Damas da Instrução Cristã).

Perovano, D. G. (2016). Manual de metodologia da pesquisa científica (1ª ed.). Intersaberes.

Prado, N. C. (2015a). Nomes comerciais. In O uso do inglês em contexto comercial no Brasil e em Portugal: Questões linguísticas e culturais (pp. 71–97). Editora UNESP; Cultura Acadêmica. http://books.scielo.org/staff/book/id/rxwst/attachs/9788579836541.

Prado, N. C. (2015b). Onomástica comercial: O uso da língua inglesa na formação de nomes de estabelecimentos comerciais no português brasileiro. In C. M. Fargetti, C. de A. A. Murakawa, & O. L. Nadin (Orgs.), Léxico e cultura (pp. 165–175). Letraria.

Rodrigues, J., & Cruz, T. S. da. (2025). A busca pelo posicionamento da marca sob perspectiva estratégica das lojas de calçadão de Imperatriz-MA. Aracê, 7(4), 16986–16996. https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article.

Santos, E. S. dos, Silva, I. R. da, & Neto, A. P. de L. (2020). Empreendedorismo cultural: Desafios e oportunidades para gestores culturais em Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brasil. Revista Eletrônica Científica Ensino Interdisciplinar, 6(19). https://periodicos.apps.uern.br/index.php.

Santos, W. N. dos. (2024). Estudo sócio-onomástico de nomes de urna no português brasileiro (Tese de doutorado, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).

Sapir, E. (2012). Cultura: Autêntica e espúria (J. R. Gonçalves & M. Hediger, Trads.). Revista Sociologia e Antropologia, 2(4), 35–60. https://files01.core.ac.uk/download/pdf/27266293.pdf.

Sapir, E. (2016). Língua e ambiente (J. M. Câmara Junior, Trad.). In H. H. do Couto (Org.), O paradigma ecológico para as ciências da linguagem: Ensaios ecolinguísticos clássicos e contemporâneos. Editora UFG.

Seide, M. S., & Lucas, P. (2018). Os topônimos comerciais da cidade de Naranjal, Paraguai. Confluência: Revista do Instituto de Língua Portuguesa, (54). https://revistaconfluencia.org.br/rc/article/view/238.

Sharp Junior, R. A. (2014). A disciplina do nome empresarial: Natureza e tutela jurídica (Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro).

Silva, L. R. da, & Sousa, J. de M. (2017). Expressões e significados da centralidade do setor varejista em Imperatriz – MA: Reflexões a partir do segmento de confecções do Calçadão. Revista Tocantinense de Geografia, 6(9), 88–105. https://periodicos.ufnt.edu.br/index.php/geografia/article.

Solís Fonseca, G. (1997). La gente passa, los nombres quedan... Introducción en la toponimia. Herrera Editores.

Sousa, A. M. de, & Dargel, A. P. T. P. (2017). Onomástica: Interdisciplinaridade e interfaces. Revista GTLex, 3(1), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.14393/Lex5-v3n1a2017-1.

Souza, D. A. de. (2009). A proteção jurídica do nome de empresa no Brasil (Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade de São Paulo).

Urbano, H. (2011). A frase na boca do povo. Contexto.

Downloads

PDF (Portuguese (Brazil))

Published

23/04/2026

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026): Onomástica desde América Latina

Section

Works

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Copyright Notice

Open Access Journals Policy

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows the sharing of the work with recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2. Mandatory authorities to assume commitments, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publish in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.

3. Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg in institutional repositories or on the personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes as well as increase impact and citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which allows sharing, copying, distributing, displaying, reproducing, a whole or parts as long as it has no commercial purpose and is cited by authors and a source.

How to Cite

DE SÁ FEITOSA, Romilia; DIAS DE CASTRO, Maria Célia; TAVEIRO SILVA, Maria da Guia. Socio-onomastic study of the names of commercial establishments located in Imperatriz/MA. Onomastics from Latin America, [S. l.], v. 7, n. 1, p. 1–29, 2026. DOI: 10.48075/odal.v7i1.37229. Disponível em: https://saber.unioeste.br/index.php/onomastica/article/view/37229. Acesso em: 16 jun. 2026.

Download Citation