What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the morphological and semantic structure of nicknames assigned to 50 of the most valuable sports teams in the world, as ranked by Forbes in 2017. Furthermore, the paper seeks to discuss the function of team nicknames as mechanisms for community identification of both team members and fans. We argue that the nicknames assigned to sports teams fulfill a referential, descriptive function rather than an evaluative one, and that the nicknaming mapping practices reveal the dynamic nature of sports culture. Sports team nicknames are a valuable symbolic resource of the team ethos that define and reshape the social imagery associated with the team. Furthermore, they serve as a mirror in which the whole team community experience and history are reflected.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the morphological and semantic structure of nicknames assigned to 50 of the most valuable sports teams in the world, as ranked by Forbes in 2017. Furthermore, the paper seeks to discuss the function of team nicknames as mechanisms for community identification of both team members and fans. We argue that the nicknames assigned to sports teams fulfill a referential, descriptive function rather than an evaluative one, and that the nicknaming mapping practices reveal the dynamic nature of sports culture. Sports team nicknames are a valuable symbolic resource of the team ethos that define and reshape the social imagery associated with the team. Furthermore, they serve as a mirror in which the whole team community experience and history are reflected.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Theoretical advances
- Communication, listening, non-functionality 13
- Difference and similarity in the I-Other relation: between two individuals or two singularities? A semioethic approach 29
- Global semiotics and its developments in the direction of semioethics 59
- The relevance of the encyclopaedia. From semiosis to sedimentation and back again 97
- Cultural narrative identities and the entanglement of value systems 121
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Part II: Applied Semiotics
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A The digital age in semiotics and communication
- Lying as a transaction of value: explorations in semiosis and communication from a new perspective 151
- Effective affective campaigns? An analysis of campaigns centered on Roma 163
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B Political semiotics and communication
- The semiotics of extremism 181
- The dynamic aspect of the semiotic behavior of political actors in TV debates 203
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C Communication, semiotics and multimodality
- The different rifles of audiovisual communication: a semiotics of foreshadowing and the case of Roberto Benigni 227
- Differences, similarities and changes of national identity signs in print advertisements. The advertising discourse as a mirror of locality and vice-versa 245
- What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames 275
- Architecture and painting codes in the Annunciation. Oltenia (XVIIIth–XIXth centuries) 289
- Index 305
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Theoretical advances
- Communication, listening, non-functionality 13
- Difference and similarity in the I-Other relation: between two individuals or two singularities? A semioethic approach 29
- Global semiotics and its developments in the direction of semioethics 59
- The relevance of the encyclopaedia. From semiosis to sedimentation and back again 97
- Cultural narrative identities and the entanglement of value systems 121
-
Part II: Applied Semiotics
-
A The digital age in semiotics and communication
- Lying as a transaction of value: explorations in semiosis and communication from a new perspective 151
- Effective affective campaigns? An analysis of campaigns centered on Roma 163
-
B Political semiotics and communication
- The semiotics of extremism 181
- The dynamic aspect of the semiotic behavior of political actors in TV debates 203
-
C Communication, semiotics and multimodality
- The different rifles of audiovisual communication: a semiotics of foreshadowing and the case of Roberto Benigni 227
- Differences, similarities and changes of national identity signs in print advertisements. The advertising discourse as a mirror of locality and vice-versa 245
- What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames 275
- Architecture and painting codes in the Annunciation. Oltenia (XVIIIth–XIXth centuries) 289
- Index 305
