The upheaval in Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union is seen in many aspects of the present cultural environment, including the influence of English upon the Russian language. This borrowing of ‘Americanisms’ into the language is seen by many as a source of contamination of the purity of the Russian language, which has led to the federal government passing laws in an attempt to prevent it. For many people, however, the use of English, particularly in product and business names, is seen as a sign of international appeal.
This study looks at business names in Tomsk, a city of approximately 500,000 people. I surveyed three major streets and collected the names of the businesses located on them. I categorized the businesses according to business type and the distance they are located from the center of the city. Afterwards, I analyzed each name for the presence of foreign words, morphemes, and graphic elements, and categorized each name into one of five categories according to the degree of foreignness or Russianness of the name.
As this study shows, there are many factors that influence the choice of foreign or Russian names. This study examines these pragmatic factors in the context of the abovementioned Tomsk businesses and looks at demographics, culture, history and other factors that appear to be influencing which businesses are most likely to use English and other foreign languages in business naming.