What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center
Hawker food is a cherished element of Singapore’s cultural identity. For much of Singapore’s history, hawkers were itinerant salespersons who sold their dishes from place to place via pushcarts. The situation changed in the 1970s when hawkers were shifted to hawker centers, and they had to name thei...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/341 |
| _version_ | 1827735601890197504 |
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| author | Shaun Tyan Gin Lim Francesco Perono Cacciafoco |
| author_facet | Shaun Tyan Gin Lim Francesco Perono Cacciafoco |
| author_sort | Shaun Tyan Gin Lim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hawker food is a cherished element of Singapore’s cultural identity. For much of Singapore’s history, hawkers were itinerant salespersons who sold their dishes from place to place via pushcarts. The situation changed in the 1970s when hawkers were shifted to hawker centers, and they had to name their businesses overtly. The present research focuses on naming practices in older hawker centers which comprise many stalls with itinerant pasts. More work remains to be done on the names of hawker stalls in newer hawker centers. This communication studies the naming practices of hawker stalls at Fernvale Hawker Center and Market, a new hawker center that was opened in August 2022. It finds that the naming strategy, which combines a name and food/cuisine sold, is the most common naming pattern. The authors also study how “legacy” stalls name themselves. These stalls enjoyed great success at their original outlets and hence, opened another branch at this hawker center. “Legacy” stall names allude to the geographical location where the stall’s business took off, index culinary authenticity, and/or index the hawkers’ cultural heritage. The last pattern is observed most notably among Chinese hawkers who use auspicious Chinese characters to articulate their desire for a thriving business. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:56:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-86f7bcfb50e646518dddba2001a3dd69 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:56:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-86f7bcfb50e646518dddba2001a3dd692023-11-18T12:37:44ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-06-0112634110.3390/socsci12060341What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker CenterShaun Tyan Gin Lim0Francesco Perono Cacciafoco1Independent Researcher, Singapore 639798, SingaporeDepartment of Applied Linguistics (LNG), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou 215000, ChinaHawker food is a cherished element of Singapore’s cultural identity. For much of Singapore’s history, hawkers were itinerant salespersons who sold their dishes from place to place via pushcarts. The situation changed in the 1970s when hawkers were shifted to hawker centers, and they had to name their businesses overtly. The present research focuses on naming practices in older hawker centers which comprise many stalls with itinerant pasts. More work remains to be done on the names of hawker stalls in newer hawker centers. This communication studies the naming practices of hawker stalls at Fernvale Hawker Center and Market, a new hawker center that was opened in August 2022. It finds that the naming strategy, which combines a name and food/cuisine sold, is the most common naming pattern. The authors also study how “legacy” stalls name themselves. These stalls enjoyed great success at their original outlets and hence, opened another branch at this hawker center. “Legacy” stall names allude to the geographical location where the stall’s business took off, index culinary authenticity, and/or index the hawkers’ cultural heritage. The last pattern is observed most notably among Chinese hawkers who use auspicious Chinese characters to articulate their desire for a thriving business.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/341Singaporehawker culturefoodstreet foodonomasticstoponyms |
| spellingShingle | Shaun Tyan Gin Lim Francesco Perono Cacciafoco What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center Social Sciences Singapore hawker culture food street food onomastics toponyms |
| title | What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center |
| title_full | What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center |
| title_fullStr | What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center |
| title_short | What Is Your Legacy? A Pilot Study of Naming Practices of Legacy Hawker Stalls in a Singaporean Hawker Center |
| title_sort | what is your legacy a pilot study of naming practices of legacy hawker stalls in a singaporean hawker center |
| topic | Singapore hawker culture food street food onomastics toponyms |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/6/341 |
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