License Plate Language
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8730283 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frank H Nuessel (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1982 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 256-256 |
| Publication date | 1982-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1283 • E-ISSN: 1527-2133 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/454626 |
| OpenAlex | W2328119502 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 1 |
less, their primary function is motor vehicle identification. In the United States, auto tags have been standardized by the federal government to a six-by-twelve-inch rectangle. Certain features are uniform: name of the political entity; year;' and an identification code which contain arabic numerals and/or upper case Roman letters. Normally, states permit a maximum of six characters (seven in California and New York).2 In addition, license plates have other variable elements: colors; brief mottoes;3 and different visual images which have distinctive and recognizable features of a given political unit.4 The states vary in what combinations of numbers and letters they use. A few of the possibilities include: three letters followed by three numerals (Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio); three numerals and three letters (New York); all numbers (Illinois up to one million) and two or three letters followed by one to four numbers (Connecticut, Rhode Island). A recent innovative phenomenon in license plates is the advent of the personalized or VANITY plate, which permits an individual to purchase an exclusive identifying statement at extra cost.5 In the remainder of this study two sets of constraints imposed on the creative component of these individualized license plates will be examined. The first section deals with sociolinguistics. The second concerns purely linguistic factors. The highly visible and mobile language of personalized plates is subject to routine and often vigorous censorship by officials of the state agency which is charged with overseeing their dissemination (Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Revenue or Office of the Secretary of State). This practice is widespread and it has received frequent coverage in the press.6 Such institutional or governmental disapproval is often arbitrary and reflective of the personal tastes of one or more powerful individuals within a bureaucracy who try to act as guardians of public decency. To a certain extent, the objectionable lexical fields of vanity plates reflect cultural fears and national and regional psychoses. The realms of official censure, however, are usually in the areas of sex and drugs. This type of official prejudgment is actually a form of prior restraint and as such is probably a violation of first-amendment constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech
License · Linguistics · Computer Science · Vehicle License Plate Recognition · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2002 - 2010 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |