A Touch of Chinese Culture in the Czech Public Space: Chinese Restaurant Names in Prague

Abstract

Chinese food is a cultural export product consumed almost all over the world. The reason for this is, among other things, the fact that Chinese restaurants are among the leading businesses run by the Chinese abroad. Generally speaking, all foreign restaurants can be seen as sources of new concepts entering the host country. These are not limited to regional food preparation traditions, but also include such issues as ideas transmitted through the restaurant names. This is because name givers often tend to emphasize the different origins of their establishment by using an eloquent name. This paper examines the current naming practices of Chinese restaurants in the capital of the Czech Republic. It aims to identify the most common culturally based concepts shared with the host country through the restaurant names. The findings indicate that Chinese cultural values often inspire restaurant names. The choice of linguistic codes, however, often keeps them hidden from the local consumers. Despite this, restaurants tend to use clear indications which enable consumers to identify them as establishments that offer cuisine of Chinese origin. These include highly informative generic components in Czech or English and Chinese versions of the names provided in the specific writing system. On the whole, the most essential feature of the restaurant names seems to be a strong tendency for multilingual combinations.