The Names of Coffee Drinks in Vietnam

Abstract

The contemporary nomenclature of coffee drinks in Hanoi is a special linguistic subsystem charactersized by three simultaneous processes: borrowing, Vietnamization, and language creation. This system reflects the expansion of the culinary vocabulary, the trend of multilingualism and cultural exchange, as well as the impact of commercial language and visual communication. This study, based on the analysis of the linguistic features of 112 names for coffee drinks, aims to contribute to the identification of a form of “living language” in urban Vietnam, where the Vietnamese language is constantly adapting, assimilating and regenerating to reflect modern life.