an-analysis-of-language-features-in--english-advertisements大学毕业论文.doc

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1、ANANALYSISOFLANGUAGEFEATURESIN ENGLISHADVERTISEMENTS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章三个层面的分析

2、。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。关键词:广告英语，词汇，句法，篇章，相同点，不同点ANANALYSISOFLANGUAGEFEATURESINENGLISHADVERTISEMENTS AbstractThispaperpresentsananalyticalstudyofthelanguagefeaturesofEnglishadvertisementsatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Inordertoconductadata-drivenstudy,theauthorbuildsa

3、corpusof60Englishadvertisements.Itishopedthatthroughthedetailedsurveyofthreetypesofadvertisements:namely,dailyconsumergoodsads,technicalequipmentads,serviceads,similaritiesanddifferencesinadvertisinglanguagefeaturescanbesummarizedandpossiblereasonswillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,andfunctionoflangu

4、age.Thispaperwillbepresentedinfiveparts.Thefirstpartistheintroductionandthelastconclusion.Thefocusofthepaperislaidonthethreemiddlepartswhichrespectivelyanalyzelanguagefeaturesatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Theconclusionofthispaperisdrawnfromthedataanalysis.Intheanalysis,examplesfromthecorpusw

5、illbegiven;figures,tablesandgraphswillalsobeofferedtomakethepaperunderstandableandpersuasive.ItishopedthatthestudycanshedlightonthelanguagefeaturesofadvertisementsandalsoprovidehelptocopywritersandadvertisingEnglishlearners.KEYWORDS:EnglishAdvertisements,Lexical,Syntactic,Discourse,Similarities,Diff

6、erencesContents 1. Introduction1.1 Rationaleofthestudy1.2 Definitionofadvertising. 1 1.3 Focusofthepresentstudy1 1.4 Sourcesofdata. 2 2. Lexicalfeatures2 2.1 Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience. 2 2.2 Similaritiesatthelexicallevel. 3 2.2.1 Fewverbsareused. 3 2.2.2 Useofemotivewords. 4 2.2.3 Ma

7、kepunandalliteration. 4 2.2.4 Useofweaselwords. 5 2.3 Differencesatthelexicallevel. 6 2.3.1 Genderidentityinadvertisements. 6 2.3.2 SelectionofAdjectives7 2.3.3 Compoundwords. 8 2.3.4 Useofpronouns8 3. Syntacticalfeatures9 3.1 Similarities9 3.2 Differences10 3.2.1 Headlines. 10 3.2.2 Comparisonofhea

8、dlinesofdifferenttypesofads. 11 4. Discoursefeatures. 12 4.1 Bodycopyofadvertisements. 12 4.2 Differencesinbodycopy. 12 5. Conclusion14 AcknowledgementSincerethanksgotoDr.WeiNaixingforhisinsightfulguidanceandearnesthelpallthroughthesearching,analysisandpaper-writingstages.Theauthoralsowantstoextendh

9、erthankstoMs.LindaFrostwhohasgivenmuchhelpindatacollecting.References1Bolinger,Dwight&Sears,DonaldA.AspectsofLanguagethirdeditionNewYork:HarcourtBraceJovanovich1981 2Bovee,CourtlandL.&Arens,WilliamF.ContemporaryAdvertisingforthedition Homewood,IL:Irwin1992 3Gove,PhilipBabcockWebstersThirdNewInternat

10、ionalDictionary Springfield,Mass.:G.&C.MerriamCo.1976 4Gregory,MichaelLanguageVarietiesandTheirSocialContexts London:Routledge&KeganPaulLtd.1981 5Jefkins,FrankWilliamAdvertisingPhiladelphia,PA:MacdonaldandEvans1985 6ODonnell,W.R.&Todd,LoretoVarietyinContemporaryEnglish London:GeorgeAllen&Unwin(Publi

11、shers)Ltd.1985 7Roberts,WilliamH.&Turgeon,GregoireAboutLanguagesecondediton Boston:HoughtonMifflinCo.1989 8Vestergaard,Torben&Schrder,KimThelanguageofAdvertising OxfordOxfordshire;NewYork,NY,USA:B.Blackwell1985 9方薇现代英语广告教程南京大学出版社1997 10崔刚，韩宝成，李营，广告英语北京理工大学出版社1993 1.Introduction 1.1Rationaleofthestud

12、yWeliveinaworldofadvertising.Aspotentialconsumers,weareendlesslybombardedwithallkindsofproductorserviceinformationfromvariousmediaincludingnewspapers,magazines,television,radio,postersandInternet,etc.Advertisingprovidesavaluableservicetosocietyanditsmembers,becauseitdefinesforconsumersthemeaningandt

13、heroleofproducts,services,andinstitutions.Itindicatesthedifferencethatexistsbetweenbrandsofproductsandalternativeservices,aswellasthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofcompaniesandinstitutions.Advertisingalsotellstheconsumerwhataspecificproduct,brandorserviceshoulddowhenitisusedandthushelpshimorhertound

14、erstandandevaluateexperiencewiththeproductsandservicesthatheorsheuses.Ontheotherhand,bymakingpeopleawareofproducts,serviceandideas,advertisingpromotessalesandprofits.Finally,advertisingisoneofthemajorforcesthatarehelpingimprovethestandardoflivingaroundtheworld.Combinedwithallthesecommunicational,mar

15、ketingandsocialfunctions.Advertisingbecomesindispensableinthemodernworld. Naturally,advertisementsinEnglishhavebecomeanimportantmeansofcommunicatingideas,demonstratingavarietyoflinguisticfeaturesofitsown.Thepresentstudyattemptstoexaminethesefeaturesatthelexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels,inthehopeo

16、fbringingthemtolightand,thereby,offeringhelptoadvertisementwritersandlanguagelearners. 1.2DefinitionofadvertisingAccordingtotheDefinitionCommitteeofAmericanMarketingAssociation(方薇,1997:2),advertisingisdefinedasfollows:Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersu

17、asiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia. 1.3FocusofthepresentstudyUsually,advertisingcommunicatesinformationinthreetypes:audio,visual,andlanguage.Itisamorecommoncasethatanadvertisementisamixtureofthethree.Inradioadvertisements,musicisalwaysaccompaniedbyla

18、nguage;onTVandmotionpictures,musicandlanguageillustrationaremixedwitheachother.Inmagazinesandnewspapers,advertisementsareacombinationofpicturesandlanguageofwritteninformation.Althoughmusicandpicturescanprovidesomehints,orcreateakindofatmosphere,theinformationabouttheproductislimited.Evenworse,itmayl

19、eadtomisunderstanding.Thus,wemaysaythatlanguageinawayprovidesmoreexact,detailedanddependableinformationwhereasmusicandpicturesonlyactasasupplementarymeansinadvertising.Advertisinglanguage,playingaroleofcommunicationandpersuasion,hasdevelopeditsownfeatures.ThispaperwillfocusonthelanguagefeaturesofEng

20、lishadvertisementsatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Itishoped,byacontrastivestudyofadvertisementsonthreetypesofproducts(dailyconsumergoods,technicalequipmentandservice),similaritiesanddifferencesofthethreetypesofadvertisementswillbesummarizedandpossiblereasonswillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,an

21、dfunctionoflanguage.1.4SourcesofdataAlltheadvertisementsstudiedinthispaperaretakenfromEnglishmagazines.TheyarechosenfromTime,PeopleandNewsweek(issuesfrom1999-2000),becausethesethreemagazineshaveahugecirculation,coveringallkindsofaudience.Almostallkindsofadvertisementscanbefoundinthesemagazines.Inord

22、ertogetvaluableinformationforthestudy,acorpusof60advertisementswasbuilt,whichconsistsof20dailyconsumergoodsads,20technicalequipmentads,and20serviceads.Conclusionswillbedrawnthroughquantitativeandqualitativestudiesofthedata. 2LexicalFeatures2.1Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience Generallyspeaki

23、ng,advertisementscanbedividedintotwotypes:publicrelationadsandcommercialads.Theformertriestoadvocatereputationforasocialgroup,whosepurposeistoleaveafavorableimpressionuponthepotentialaudience.Thelatterleadstotheactofpurchasingtheproductsorusingtherecommendedservice.Commercialadsaremuchmorepresentedt

24、hroughmassmediaforthereasonthatmanufacturersandcompaniesarewillingtospendalargesumofmoneytomakeacertainproductknownortoboosttheimageofacertainbrand.Insomecases,competitors,likeCoca-colaandPerpsi,evensparenoexpensetolaunchadvertisingcampaignstowinoverthemarketshare.Commercialadvertisingcanalsobedivid

25、edaccordingtothetargetaudienceintotwogroups:consumeradvertisingandbusinessadvertising.Mostoftheadsinthemassmediaareconsumeradvertisements.Theyaretypicallydirectedatconsumers.Bycontrast,businessadvertisingtendstobeconcentratedinspecializedbusinesspublications,professionaljournals,tradeshowstargetinga

26、tacertaingroupofpeopleinvolvedinsomebusiness.Sinceconsumeradvertisingismostaccessibletocommonpeople,thepresentstudyonwillfocusonconsumeradvertising.Theclassificationofadvertisingisclearlyshowninthefollowinggraph:Graph1ClassificationofadvertisementsPublicadsDailyconsumergoodsads AdvertisingConsumerad

27、sTechnicalequipmentadsCommercialadsBusinessadsServiceadsTheboldpartsshowthescopeofadvertisementswestudy.Dailyconsumergoodsarenecessitiesofdailylife,suchasfood,detergent,hygiene,etc.Technicalequipmentistechnicaltoysandelectricequipmentsuchascamera,vehicle,hi-fi,etc.Servicecoversbank,insurance,fund,et

28、c. Actually,advertisingworkseffectivelysomeofthetimeanddoesntworkothertimes.Thesinglecrucialreasonthatadvertisingdoesnotworkisthatinspecificinstancestheinformationitconveysneverreachestheconsumeratall,orisjudgedbytheconsumertobeeitherredundant,meaningless,orirrelevant.Forexample,amotorbikeadvertisem

29、entwillprobablybeinvisibletohousewivesonthelookoutfornewcutlery.Socialstatusandindividualinterestdecidethatconsumergoodsadsaremainlytargetingatwomenwhiletechnicalequipmentadsarelargelyaimingatmen.Theamountofsharedknowledgebetweentheadvertiserandtheaudiencetogetherwiththethinkinghabitoftheaudiencedir

30、ectlyinfluencestheadvertisinglanguage.Sinceproductsandaudiencechangeineveryadvertisementinordertoachievehighadvertisingeffectiveness,languageuseddiffersindifferenttypesofadvertisements.Thus,inthispaperwediscussnotonlythesimilaritiesoflanguagesharedbyalltypesofadvertisementsbutalsodifferencesoflangua

31、geusedindifferentkindsofadvertisements.2.2Similaritiesatthelexicallevel Inordertomaketheinformationaccessibletoaudienceeffectively,thechoiceofwordsinadvertisingisverycautiousandskillful.Theaimoftheadvertiserisquitespecific.Hewishestocapturetheattentionofthemembersofamassaudienceandbymeansofimpressiv

32、ewordstopersuadethemtobuyaproductorbehaveinaparticularway,suchasgoingtoHawaiiforalltheirholidayneeds.Bothlinguisticandpsychologicalaspectsaretakenintoconsiderationinthechoiceofwords.Sharingthesamepurposeofadvertisingtofamiliarizeorremindconsumersofthebenefitsofparticularproductsinthehopeofincreasing

33、sales,thetechniquesusedatthelexicallevelbyadvertisersdonotvarymarkedly.Thefollowingpointsaresomeprominentsimilarities. 2.2.1FewverbsareusedG.N.Leech,Englishlinguist,lists20mostusedverbsinhisEnglishInAdvertising:LinguisticstudyofAdvertisingInGreatBritain(方薇,1997:20).Theyare:make,get,give,have,see,buy

34、,come,go,know,keep,look,need,love,use,feel,like,choose,take,start,taste. Alltheseverbslistedabovearealsopopularinthecorpuswebuilt.Youwilloftenreadsuchsentencesinanadvertisement:Buyx.Useit.WemakeXwillgiveyouwhatyouneed.Youlllovex.Getx.Foxexample: Wellmakethisquick.(HertzCarReturn)Getgreatcoveragethat

35、ssoweightlessandwater-fresh.(ALMAY) Allyouneedisatasteforadventure.(MillstoneCoffee) Youllloveitevenmorewiththe2.1megapixelC-2000ZOOM.(OlympusCamera) Donthavemuchofapersonality?Buyone.(HondaMotor) AllthesefrequentlyusedverbsaremonosyllabicandmostofthemhaveAnglo-SaxonoriginthatisthecommoncoreofEnglis

36、hvocabulary.LinguisticstudyshowsEnglishnativespeakerstendtousewordsofAnglo-Saxonorigin,becausenativewordshavecomparablystablemeaning.Inadvertising,thesesimplewordscanwintheconsumersbytheirexact,effectiveexpressionandakindofcloseness.Etymologicalstudiesshowthatthe20verbslistedbefore,exceptuseandtaste

37、whicharefromancientFrench,allareAnglo-Saxonorigin.Eventhetwowords,useandtastehavelongbecomeindispensablelexicalitemsinthestockofcommoncorevocabularyoftheEnglishpeople,developingtheirstablemeaningandusage.2.2.2UseofemotivewordsAclosescrutinyofrecentadvertisementssuggeststhatthesoft-selltechniqueisnow

38、popular.Bysoft-selltechniquewemeantheonethatfavorsamoreemotiveandlessdirectiveapproachtopromoteaproduct,mainlyfocusingonthebuildingofbrandimage.Asaresult,emotivewords,mostofwhicharepleasantadjectives,aregreatlyencouragedtouse.Datafromthecorpusshowsthatthemostfrequentlyusedadjectivesareasfollows:new,

39、good/better/best,fresh,free,delicious,sure,full,clean,wonderful,special,crisp,real,fine,great,safe,andrich.Theseadjectiveshelptobuildapleasantpictureinreadersmindsandmanagetocreateabeliefinthepotentialconsumer:IfIbuythisproductorifIchoosethisservice,Iwillleadabetterlife.Inaddition,comparativesandsup

40、erlativesoccurtohighlighttheadvantageofacertainproductorservice.Forexample: Nothingcomesclosertohome.(VegetableandChickenPastaBake) ThinkLysolisthebestdisinfectingspray.(DisinfectingSpray)TheworldscoolestCDsarentmadeinNewYork,LondonorL.A.Theyaremadeinmyapartment.(PhilipsCDRecorder) TheCompaqArmadafamilyislighter,withnewroundededgesforeasierpacking.(Compaq) 2.2.3MakepunandalliterationPunisanamusinguseofawordorphrasethathastwome