AN;ANALYSIS;OF;LANGUAGE;FEATURES;IN;ENGLISH;ADVERTISEMENTS.docx

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1、AN;ANALYSIS;OF;LANGUAGE;FEATURES;IN;ENGLISH;ADVERTISEMENTS 摘要本文旨在通过对书面英语广告的语言分析总结出广告英语在词汇句法篇章上的语言特点。为了使研究从数据出发得出科学结论，本文作者建立了一个拥有60篇各类广告的小型语料库。通过对此语料库中日用品广告科技设备广告服务业广告的深入细致的定量和定性分析，总结出广告英语在此三类广告中的相同点与不同点，并且根据语言的意义，风格及功能解释广告英语的共性以及广告英语在不同类型广告中的特殊性。 本文共分五个部分，第一部分和第五部分分别为介绍与总结，中间三个部分为本文核心，分别展开广告英语在词汇句法篇

2、章三个层面的分析。本文的结论均来自于对语料库的分析。整个研究从数据出发，由数据驱动，由此进行语言学上的分析与概括。 本文作者衷心希望此论文的分析结果能给英语广告的写作者以及广告英语的学习者提供帮助。 关键词:广告英语，词汇，句法，篇章，相同点，不同点 ANANALYSISOFLANGUAGEFEATURESINENGLISHADVERTISEMENTS Abstract ThispaperpresentsananalyticalstudyofthelanguagefeaturesofEnglishadvertisementsatlexical,syntacticanddiscourseleve

3、ls.Inordertoconductadata-drivenstudy,theauthorbuildsacorpusof60Englishadvertisements.Itishopedthatthroughthedetailedsurveyofthreetypesofadvertisements:namely,dailyconsumergoodsads,technicalequipmentads,serviceads,similaritiesanddifferencesinadvertisinglanguagefeaturescanbesummarizedandpossiblereason

4、swillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,andfunctionoflanguage. Thispaperwillbepresentedinfiveparts.Thefirstpartistheintroductionandthelastconclusion.Thefocusofthepaperislaidonthethreemiddlepartswhichrespectivelyanalyzelanguagefeaturesatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Theconclusionofthispaperisdrawnfr

5、omthedataanalysis.Intheanalysis,examplesfromthecorpuswillbegiven;figures,tablesandgraphswillalsobeofferedtomakethepaperunderstandableandpersuasive. ItishopedthatthestudycanshedlightonthelanguagefeaturesofadvertisementsandalsoprovidehelptocopywritersandadvertisingEnglishlearners. KEYWORDS:EnglishAdve

6、rtisements,Lexical,Syntactic,Discourse, Similarities,Differences Contents 1.Introduction1 1.1Rationaleofthestudy.1 1.2Definitionofadvertising.1 1.3Focusofthepresentstudy1 1.4Sourcesofdata.2 2.Lexicalfeatures2 2.1Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience.2 2.2Similaritiesatthelexicallevel.3 2.2.1Fewv

7、erbsareused.3 2.2.2Useofemotivewords.4 2.2.3Makepunandalliteration.4 2.2.4Useofweaselwords.5 2.3Differencesatthelexicallevel.6 2.3.1Genderidentityinadvertisements.6 2.3.2SelectionofAdjectives7 2.3.3Compoundwords.8 2.3.4Useofpronouns8 3.Syntacticalfeatures9 3.1Similarities9 3.2Differences10 3.2.1Head

8、lines.10 3.2.2Comparisonofheadlinesofdifferenttypesofads.11 4.Discoursefeatures.12 4.1Bodycopyofadvertisements.12 4.2Differencesinbodycopy.12 5.Conclusion14 Acknowledgement SincerethanksgotoDr.WeiNaixingforhisinsightfulguidanceandearnesthelpallthroughthesearching,analysisandpaper-writingstages. Thea

9、uthoralsowantstoextendherthankstoMs.LindaFrostwhohasgivenmuchhelpindatacollecting. 1Bolinger,DwightSears,DonaldA.AspectsofLanguagethirdedition NewYork:HarcourtBraceJovanovich11011 2Bovee,CourtlandL.Arens,WilliamF.ContemporaryAdvertisingforthedition Homewood,IL:Irwin11012 3Gove,PhilipBabcockWebstersT

10、hirdNewInternationalDictionary Springfield,Mass.:G.C.MerriamCo.11016 4Gregory,MichaelLanguageVarietiesandTheirSocialContexts London:RoutledgeKeganPaulLtd.11011 5Jefkins,FrankWilliamAdvertisingPhiladelphia,PA:MacdonaldandEvans11015 6ODonnell,W.R.Todd,LoretoVarietyinContemporaryEnglish London:GeorgeAl

11、lenUnwin(Publishers)Ltd.11015 7Roberts,WilliamH.Turgeon,GregoireAboutLanguagesecondediton Boston:HoughtonMifflinCo.11019 8Vestergaard,TorbenSchrder,KimThelanguageofAdvertising OxfordOxfordshire;NewYork,NY,USA:B.Blackwell11015 9方薇现代英语广告教程南京大学出版社19101 10崔刚，韩宝成，李营，广告英语北京理工大学出版社11013 1.Introduction 1.1R

12、ationaleofthestudy Weliveinaworldofadvertising.Aspotentialconsumers,weareendlesslybombardedwithallkindsofproductorserviceinformationfromvariousmediaincludingnewspapers,magazines,television,radio,postersandInternet,etc.Advertisingprovidesavaluableservicetosocietyanditsmembers,becauseitdefinesforconsu

13、mersthemeaningandtheroleofproducts,services,andinstitutions.Itindicatesthedifferencethatexistsbetweenbrandsofproductsandalternativeservices,aswellasthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofcompaniesandinstitutions.Advertisingalsotellstheconsumerwhataspecificproduct,brandorserviceshoulddowhenitisusedandthus

14、helpshimorhertounderstandandevaluateexperiencewiththeproductsandservicesthatheorsheuses.Ontheotherhand,bymakingpeopleawareofproducts,serviceandideas,advertisingpromotessalesandprofits.Finally,binedwithallthesecommunicational,marketingandsocialfunctions.Advertisingbecomesindispensableinthemodernworld

15、. Naturally,advertisementsinEnglishhavebecomeanimportantmeansofcommunicatingideas,demonstratingavarietyoflinguisticfeaturesofitsown.Thepresentstudyattemptstoexaminethesefeaturesatthelexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels,inthehopeofbringingthemtolightand,thereby,offeringhelptoadvertisementwritersandlan

16、guagelearners. 1.2Definitionofadvertising AccordingtotheDefinitionCommitteeofAmericanMarketingAssociation(方薇,19101:2) ,advertisingisdefinedasfollows: Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroug

17、hthevariousmedia. 1.3Focusofthepresentstudy Usually,advertisingcommunicatesinformationinthreetypes:audio,visual,andlanguage.Itisamorecommoncasethatanadvertisementisamixtureofthethree.Inradioadvertisements,musicisalwaysaccompaniedbylanguage;onTVandmotionpictures,musicandlanguageillustrationaremixedwi

18、theachother.Inmagazinesandnewspapers,advertisementsareacombinationofpicturesandlanguageofwritteninformation.Althoughmusicandpicturescanprovidesomehints,orcreateakindofatmosphere,theinformationabouttheproductislimited.Evenworse,itmayleadtomisunderstanding.Thus,wemaysaythatlanguageinawayprovidesmoreex

19、act,detailedanddependableinformationwhereasmusicandpicturesonlyactasasupplementarymeansinadvertising.Advertisinglanguage,playingaroleofcommunicationandpersuasion,hasdevelopeditsownfeatures. ThispaperwillfocusonthelanguagefeaturesofEnglishadvertisementsatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Itishoped,

20、byacontrastivestudyofadvertisementsonthreetypesofproducts(dailyconsumergoods,technicalequipmentandservice),similaritiesanddifferencesofthethreetypesofadvertisementswillbesummarizedandpossiblereasonswillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,andfunctionoflanguage. 1.4Sourcesofdata Alltheadvertisementsstudiedi

21、nthispaperaretakenfromEnglishmagazines.TheyarechosenfromTime,PeopleandNewsweek(issuesfrom11019-2000),becausethesethreemagazineshaveahugecirculation,coveringallkindsofaudience.Almostallkindsofadvertisementscanbefoundinthesemagazines.Inordertogetvaluableinformationforthestudy,acorpusof60advertisements

22、wasbuilt,whichconsistsof20dailyconsumergoodsads,20technicalequipmentads,and20serviceads.Conclusionswillbedrawnthroughquantitativeandqualitativestudiesofthedata. 2LexicalFeatures 2.1Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience Generallyspeaking,advertisementscanbedividedintotwotypes:publicrelationadsand

23、commercialads.Theformertriestoadvocatereputationforasocialgroup,mercialadsaremuchmorepresentedthroughmassmediaforthereasonthatmanufacturersandcompaniesarewillingtospendalargesumofmoneytomakeacertainproductknownortoboosttheimageofacertainbrand.Insomecases,competitors,likeCoca-colaandPerpsi,mercialadv

24、ertisingcanalsobedividedaccordingtothetargetaudienceintotwogroups:consumeradvertisingandbusinessadvertising.Mostoftheadsinthemassmediaareconsumeradvertisements.Theyaretypicallydirectedatconsumers.Bycontrast,businessadvertisingtendstobeconcentratedinspecializedbusinesspublications,professionaljournal

25、s,tradeshowstargetingatacertaingroupofpeopleinvolvedinsomebusiness.Sinceconsumeradvertisingismostaccessibletocommonpeople,thepresentstudyonwillfocusonconsumeradvertising.Theclassificationofadvertisingisclearlyshowninthefollowinggraph Graph1Classificationofadvertisements PublicadsDailyconsumergoodsad

26、s AdvertisingConsumeradsTechnicalequipmentads Commercialads BusinessadsServiceads Theboldpartsshowthescopeofadvertisementswestudy.Dailyconsumergoodsarenecessitiesofdailylife,suchasfood,detergent,hygiene,etc.Technicalequipmentistechnicaltoysandelectricequipmentsuchascamera,vehicle,hi-fi,etc.Serviceco

27、versbank,insurance,fund,etc. Actually,advertisingworkseffectivelysomeofthetimeanddoesntworkothertimes.Thesinglecrucialreasonthatadvertisingdoesnotworkisthatinspecificinstancestheinformationitconveysneverreachestheconsumeratall,orisjudgedbytheconsumertobeeitherredundant,meaningless,orirrelevant.Forex

28、ample,amotorbikeadvertisementwillprobablybeinvisibletohousewivesonthelookoutfornewcutlery.Socialstatusandindividualinterestdecidethatconsumergoodsadsaremainlytargetingatwomenwhiletechnicalequipmentadsarelargelyaimingatmen.Theamountofsharedknowledgebetweentheadvertiserandtheaudiencetogetherwiththethi

29、nkinghabitoftheaudiencedirectlyinfluencestheadvertisinglanguage.Sinceproductsandaudiencechangeineveryadvertisementinordertoachievehighadvertisingeffectiveness,languageuseddiffersindifferenttypesofadvertisements.Thus,inthispaperwediscussnotonlythesimilaritiesoflanguagesharedbyalltypesofadvertisements

30、butalsodifferencesoflanguageusedindifferentkindsofadvertisements. 2.2Similaritiesatthelexicallevel Inordertomaketheinformationaccessibletoaudienceeffectively,thechoiceofwordsinadvertisingisverycautiousandskillful.Theaimoftheadvertiserisquitespecific.Hewishestocapturetheattentionofthemembersofamassau

31、dienceandbymeansofimpressivewordstopersuadethemtobuyaproductorbehaveinaparticularway,suchasgoingtoHawaiiforalltheirholidayneeds.Bothlinguisticandpsychologicalaspectsaretakenintoconsiderationinthechoiceofwords.Sharingthesamepurposeofadvertisingtofamiliarizeorremindconsumersofthebenefitsofparticularpr

32、oductsinthehopeofincreasingsales,thetechniquesusedatthelexicallevelbyadvertisersdonotvarymarkedly.Thefollowingpointsaresomeprominentsimilarities. 2.2.1Fewverbsareused G.N.Leech,Englishlinguist,lists20mostusedverbsinhisEnglishInAdvertising:LinguisticstudyofAdvertisingInGreatBritain(方薇,19101:20).Theya

33、re:make,get,give,have,see,buy,come,go,know,keep,look,need,love,use,feel,like,choose,take,start,taste. Alltheseverbslistedabovearealsopopularinthecorpuswebuilt. Youwilloftenreadsuchsentencesinanadvertisement: Buyx.Useit.WemakeXwillgiveyouwhatyouneed.Youlllovex.Getx.Foxexample: Wellmakethisquick.(Hert

34、zCarReturn) Getgreatcoveragethatssoweightlessandwater-fresh.(ALMAY) Allyouneedisatasteforadventure.(MillstoneCoffee) Youllloveitevenmorewiththe2.1megapixelC-2000ZOOM.(OlympusCamera) Donthavemuchofapersonality?Buyone.(HondaMotor) AllthesefrequentlyusedverbsaremonosyllabicandmostofthemhaveAnglo-Saxono

35、riginthatisthecommoncoreofEnglishvocabulary.LinguisticstudyshowsEnglishnativespeakerstendtousewordsofAnglo-Saxonorigin,becausenativewordshavecomparablystablemeaning.Inadvertising,thesesimplewordscanwintheconsumersbytheirexact,effectiveexpressionandakindofcloseness.Etymologicalstudiesshowthatthe20ver

36、bslistedbefore,exceptuseandtastewhicharefromancientFrench,allareAnglo-Saxonorigin.Eventhetwowords,useandtastehavelongbecomeindispensablelexicalitemsinthestockofcommoncorevocabularyoftheEnglishpeople,developingtheirstablemeaningandusage. 2.2.2Useofemotivewords Aclosescrutinyofrecentadvertisementssugg

37、eststhatthesoft-selltechniqueisnowpopular.Bysoft-selltechniquewemeantheonethatfavorsamoreemotiveandlessdirectiveapproachtopromoteaproduct,mainlyfocusingonthebuildingofbrandimage.Asaresult,emotivewords,mostofwhicharepleasantadjectives,aregreatlyencouragedtouse. Datafromthecorpusshowsthatthemostfreque

38、ntlyusedadjectivesareasfollows: new,good/better/best,fresh,free,delicious,sure,full,clean,wonderful,special,crisp,real,fine,great,safe,andrich. Theseadjectiveshelptobuildapleasantpictureinreadersmindsandmanagetocreateabeliefinthepotentialconsumer:IfIbuythisproductorifIchoosethisservice,Iwillleadabet

39、terlife.Inaddition,comparativesandsuperlativesoccurtohighlighttheadvantageofacertainproductorservice.Forexample: Nothingcomesclosertohome.(VegetableandChickenPastaBake) ThinkLysolisthebestdisinfectingspray.(DisinfectingSpray) TheworldscoolestCDsarentmadeinNewYork,LondonorL.A.Theyaremadeinmyapartment

40、.(PhilipsCDRecorder) TheCompaqArmadafamilyislighter,withnewroundededgesforeasierpacking.(Compaq) 2.2.3Makepunandalliteration PunisanamusinguseofawordorphrasethathastwomeaningswhichiscalledPolysemyorofwordswiththesamesoundbutdifferentmeaningswhichiscalledHomonymy.Pun,thegameofwords,willleaveadeepimpr

41、essiononreadersbyitsreadability,wit,andhumor.However,tomakeasuccessfulandimpressivepunisnoteasy.Exceptforitsownmeaning,thewordusedasapunisusuallycloselyrelatedtothecharacteristicsofacertainproductorthebrandnameoftheproduct.Suchcoincidencedoesntoccuroften.Herewepresentseveralclassicpun-usedadvertisem

42、ents.Forexample: Giveyourhairatouchofspring. Askformore.(Moreisafamousbrandofcigarette) Giveyourbusinessthesharpedge.(SharpCorporation) Byusingpun,advertisementswillbeeasilyrememberedbythereaders.Inaddition,filledwithwitandhumor,punshelptheadvertisedproductwinfavorfromreaders. Alliterationistheuseof

43、wordsthatbeginwiththesamesoundinordertomakeaspecialcommunicativeeffect.Usuallytheyarepleasingtoearsbecauseofthecleverchoiceofthewordbytheadvertiser.Inaddition,therepetitionofthebeginningsoundemphasizesthemeaningtheadvertisementwantstoexpress.Thefollowingareexamplespickedfromthecorpus. ,everythingyou

44、needforthatbigbargainbasementspecial. ,andvitaminEtoleaveskinsoftandsmooth. Treatyourwearyghostsandgoblinstoawarmbowlofchilland 2.2.4Useofweaselwords Aweaselwordisdefinedas“awordusedinordertoevadeorretreatfromadirectorforthrightstatementorposition”accordingtoWebsterDictionary(PhilipBabcockGove,11016

45、).Theuseofweaselwordshasbecomeadeviceinadvertising.Weaselwordsmakepeoplehearthingsthatarentbeingsaid,acceptastruththathaveonlybeenimplied,andbelievethingsthathaveonlybeenimpliedandsuggested.Letstakealookunderastronglightatseveralfrequentlyusedwords. Help OceanSprayCranberryJuiceCocktailhelpsmaintainurinarytracthealth. Ithelpscontrolthebacteriainthissystem. Abreakthroughwaytohelpstopwear-out Helpfinancethevideoequipment. Alltheexamplesshownaref