an analysis of advertising language廣告英語分析

1、<p>　　An Analysis of Advertising Language</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p><b>　　內(nèi)容提要i</b></p><p>　　Abstract2</p><p>　　Chapter I Introducti

2、on</p><p>　　1.1Background1</p><p>　　1.2Previous Studies1</p><p>　　1.3Sources and Methodology3</p><p>　　1.4Overview of Advertising3</p><p>　　Chapter

3、 II Advertising Elements</p><p>　　Headline7</p><p>　　Definition of the Headline7</p><p>　　Function of the Headline8</p><p>　　Body Copy8</p><p>　　Defini

4、tion of the Body Copy9</p><p>　　Categories in the Body Copy9</p><p><b>　　Slogan12</b></p><p>　　Definition of the Slogan12</p><p>　　Syntactic Features of

5、 the Slogan12</p><p>　　Short Sentences12</p><p>　　Elliptical Sentences13</p><p>　　Interrogative Sentences14</p><p>　　Negative Sentences14</p><p>　　Cha

6、pter III General Features of Advertising Claim</p><p>　　The Weasel Claim16</p><p>　　The Unfinished Claim17</p><p>　　The Conclusive Claim18</p><p>　　The Superfluous C

7、laim19</p><p>　　The “So What” Claim19</p><p>　　The Vague Claim20</p><p>　　The Endorsement of Testimonial20</p><p>　　Chapter IV Lexical Features of Advertising Langu

8、age</p><p>　　Use of First and Second Person Pronouns22</p><p>　　Use of Emotive or Evaluative Adjective or Adjectival Phrases23</p><p>　　Use of Technical Terms and Scientific Sound

9、ing Words24</p><p>　　Use of Negative Words25</p><p>　　Use of Inclusive Words25</p><p>　　Use of Compound Words26</p><p>　　Use of Coined Words26</p><p>

10、　　Chapter V Syntactic Features of Advertising Language</p><p>　　Frequent Use of Simple Sentence27</p><p>　　Frequent Use of Interrogative Sentence and Imperative Sentence27</p><p>

11、　　Interrogative Sentence28</p><p>　　Imperative Sentence28</p><p>　　Useof the Active Voice29</p><p>　　Useof Minor Sentence29</p><p>　　Useof the Present Tense30&l

12、t;/p><p>　　Chapter VI Rhetorical Features in Advertising</p><p><b>　　Pun32</b></p><p>　　Alliteration33</p><p>　　Repetition33</p><p>　　Paralleli

13、sm34</p><p><b>　　Simile35</b></p><p>　　Metaphor35</p><p>　　Personification36</p><p>　　Euphemism37</p><p>　　Conclusion40</p><p&

14、gt;　　Bibliography41</p><p><b>　　內(nèi)容提要</b></p><p>　　廣告與我們的生活息息相關(guān)，在這個(gè)信息爆炸的時(shí)代，我們更是隨處可見廣告的 蹤影。電視，廣播，報(bào)紙，網(wǎng)絡(luò)，室外廣告牌等等無不充斥著各種商品信息。廣 告已經(jīng)成為促進(jìn)銷售，開拓市場(chǎng)的一個(gè)重要手段；相應(yīng)地，外國(guó)廣告的大量涌入 也使之成為我國(guó)企業(yè)和消費(fèi)者獲取商品信息的重要來

15、源。如何恰如其分的運(yùn)用和 理解英語廣告語言以實(shí)現(xiàn)廣告的目的，已是擺在進(jìn)出口商、廣告從業(yè)人員及廣大 消費(fèi)者面前的一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)問題。</p><p>　　廣告英語作為一種應(yīng)用語言，因其所具有的特殊效用，已逐漸從普通英語中獨(dú)立 出來而發(fā)展成非規(guī)范化的專用語言，用詞造句也具有與普通英語不同的特性，并 隨著廣告的發(fā)展、時(shí)代的前進(jìn)、社會(huì)的變更而變化。廣告語言可以說是受語言學(xué)、 心理學(xué)、經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)、營(yíng)銷學(xué)、社會(huì)學(xué)甚至美學(xué)多門學(xué)科諸多因

16、素綜合影響所形成， 具有多方面的研究?jī)r(jià)值。本文試在結(jié)合廣告學(xué)和語言學(xué)基本理論的基礎(chǔ)上對(duì)各類 具有典型特點(diǎn)的廣告加以分析，以求為讀者在理解廣告英語的語言規(guī)律和從事廣 告英語實(shí)踐上，提供一些啟示和參考資料。</p><p><b>　　本文共分七章：</b></p><p>　　第一章為引言，闡述了廣告英語語言的研究背景、研究方法以及對(duì)廣告英語的縱 覽。</p>

17、;<p>　　第二章分別論述了廣告各個(gè)組成部分的特點(diǎn)。</p><p>　　第三章論述了英語廣告語言中的詞法特點(diǎn)。</p><p>　　第四章論述了英語廣告語言中的句法特點(diǎn)。</p><p>　　第五章從廣告語言的宏觀出發(fā)，闡述了廣告語的幾大特點(diǎn)。</p><p>　　第六章闡述了廣告語言中的修辭手法。</p>&

18、lt;p>　　結(jié)尾部分對(duì)全文作了簡(jiǎn)要概述，并指出了本文欠缺之處及有待研究的方向。</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　This paper presents an analytical study of the language features of English advertisements at lexical，sy

19、ntactic and discourse levels. In order to conduct a data-driven study，the author builds a corpus of over 100 English advertisements. It is hoped that through the detailed survey of all the advertisements including daily

20、consumer goods ads，technical equipment ads, service ads, etc. advertising language features can be summarized and possible conclusion can be given in the light of persuasi vene</p><p>　　This paper will be pr

21、esented in five parts. The first chapter is the introduction of the study background, sources and methodology, as well as the overview of advertising.</p><p>　　The focus of the paper is laid on the five midd

22、le parts, which respectively analyze elements of advertising, lexical features, syntactic features, features of the claim, and the rhetorical features.</p><p>　　It is hoped that the study can shed light on t

23、he language features of advertisements and also provide help to copywriters and advertising English learners.</p><p>　　Chapter I Introduction</p><p>　　Background</p><p>　　We are liv

24、ing in an era of information explosion in which advertising seems to be an indispensable building block of the media. Radio, TV，and the press are, to a great extent, financially motivated to present ads. Seen in a sociol

25、ogical perspective, advertising will only flourish in a community where individuals live above subsistence level and where technological advancement makes mass-production possible (see Vestergaard & Schroder 1985). O

26、ver-production and under-demand often lead to a compet</p><p>　　Previous Studies</p><p>　　The study of language of advertising from a linguistic perspective has been attempted by several scholar

27、s (Leech 1966; Geis 1982; Vestergaard and Schrodder 1985; Mencher 1990，etc.). Leech (1966)，in his pioneering and comprehensive study on English in advertising，has analyzed in detail different aspects pertaining to gramma

28、r， vocabulary，discourse and rhyme and rhetoric of advertising with special reference to television. He has effectively related these aspects with the functional factors such as</p><p>　　Sources and Methodolo

29、gy</p><p>　　I have used text materials from well-known newspapers and magazines，including such titles as THE TIMES，ELLE, FORBES etc. In addition to these titles my research included also newspapers FINANCIAL

30、 TIMES, SHANGHAI TIMES, CHINA DAILY, SHANGHAI STAR. Some are quoted from the books such as Advertising and Promotion, English Advertising, Contemporary Advertising, etc. To find more examples for my study，I have also acq

31、uired advertisements on the World Wide Web.</p><p>　　All the material is divided into such subgroups: syntactic features，lexical features and rhetoric features and other distinctive features of ad claim. Som

32、e of the advertisements studied correspond to more than one subgroup and therefore feature in several occasions. I have also placed a caption before or after each example showing the company or the content (item advertis

33、ed) of the advertisement. I have looked separately on both the slogans and the text body of the advertisements when discussing</p><p>　　Overview of Advertising</p><p>　　As you read the literatur

34、e of the advertising field，you find many references to advertising, as an art and as a science. Is advertising an art? Is it a science? Can it be both? If we distinguish a science——a systematized body of knowledge——from

35、an art， which may be defined as knowledge made efficient by skill，we can see that advertising is to some degree a science，inasmuch as there has evolved over the years a generally agreed-upon body of knowledge. That is，th

36、ere are certain principles that peo</p><p>　　The advertisements can be classified into non-commercials and commercials on the basis of the object and purpose involved in advertising. In non-commercial advert

37、isements, selling and buying are not involved and certain ideas，morals or appeals are communicated to the common public from government agencies or various associations and societies. The purpose may be related to charit

38、y，political propaganda, or different social welfare measures. Commercial advertisements are sub-classified into commer</p><p>　　Before proceeding with a detailed discussion of advertising，we need to establis

39、h some definitions. The nature of advertising is such that definitions and classifications are arguable. Still if a discussion is to proceed in a systematic way，it is necessary to explain what is meant by the term “adver

40、tising”. Although it is difficult to concretely define the complex concept，there are some widely quoted definitions of advertising that can suggest some limits. At the turn of the 20th century a well-k</p><p&g

41、t;　　The key words describing advertising are “presentation” and “promotion”. “Presentation” refers to an offering; “promotion” involves communication and persuasion; therefore，advertising is designed to offer people idea

42、s，goods, or services and persuade them of the benefits，utility，and desirability. From the linguistic perspective，much of the language that occurs in commercial advertising is characteristic of what might be called the “a

43、dvertising register”.</p><p>　　“Register describes variation in language according to use. It captures the intuition that there are functionally distinct varieties of language in such context of situation as

44、 sport, science，or advertising.” (W. Downes, Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics， 2001)</p><p>　　According to Leech’s (1966:27) (Jefkins Frank，Advertising, 1985) classic treatise, the language of advert

45、ising is characterized by a number of preferred linguistic patterns and techniques: (1) Unorthodoxies of spelling and syntax, and semantic oddities are common to attract attention. (2) Simple，personal，and colloquial styl

46、e and a familiar vocabulary are employed to sustain attention. (3) Phonological devices of rhyme and alliteration and sheer repetition are utilized to enhance memorability and</p><p>　　In advertising registe

47、r，certain types of expressions are frequently used，such as elliptical comparatives (25 percent less tar), complex comparatives (more car for less money)，imperatives used to make suggestions such as “Try it，and you’ll lik

48、e it’，， rhetorical questions (My friends， what is hamburger? Chopped ham?)， adjectivalizations (meaty taste)，etc. In the following chapters，detailed discussion will be presented in the lexical，syntactic and discourse lev

49、el respectively.</p><p>　　Chapter II Advertising Elements</p><p>　　Usually，advertising communicates information in three types: audio，visual, and language. It is a more common case that an adver

50、tisement is a mixture of the three. In radio advertisements, music is always accompanied by language; on TV and motion pictures, music and language illustration are mixed with each other. In magazines and newspapers, adv

51、ertisements are a combination of pictures and language of written information. Although music and pictures can provide some hints，or create a kind of atm</p><p><b>　　Headline</b></p><p

52、>　　Definition of the Headline</p><p>　　A headline is often a short paragraph or a brief sentence representing the advertising theme. It is the soul of an advertisement，and often stands at an eye-catching

53、place of the advertising copy with bold letters bigger than those of the other part.</p><p>　　Function of the Headline</p><p>　　David Ogilvy，the famous advertising linguist once said，“On the ave

54、rage five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. The headline is with eighty cents of an advertising dollar. Therefore if you haven’t done some selling in the headline，you’ve wasted 80 percent of y

55、our money?” Therefore，when producing an advertisement，the writing of headline is critically important. Bad creation of headline will immediately leads to economic waste，which is what the manufacturer unwilling to s</p

56、><p>　　Firstly，it can immediately attract people’s attention. Let’s see the advertisement of DeBeers to promote its diamond ring:</p><p>　　You once said “I do’’，now you can say “I’m glad I did.”<

57、;/p><p>　　After reading this headline，readers may ask，“what did he do?” Therefore their curiosity will make them go on reading the contents of the advertisement. Then people will find out that the speaker is gl

58、ad he did buy the diamond ring of DeBeers when he got married.</p><p>　　Secondly, it can select its target customers. For example:</p><p>　　Corns gone in 5 days，or money back.</p><p&g

59、t;　　It is an advertisement of a corn remedy，which clearly defines the target user of this medicine.</p><p>　　Thirdly, it can attract the reader to read the next part of the advertisement，namely the main body

60、. See the advertisement of the magazine Playboy:</p><p>　　Headline: “What kind of man reads Playboy?”</p><p>　　Body copy: “He’s a man who demands...”</p><p>　　People are born with c

61、uriosity. Such a headline with a question can obviously arouse people’s curiosity and lead them to read the next part of the body.</p><p>　　Fourthly，it declares the benefits it can bring to the reader. For e

62、xample:</p><p>　　A word to wealthy.</p><p>　　It is the headline in an advertisement of Citibank. It tells readers this bank can bring wealth to customers.</p><p><b>　　Body Cop

63、y</b></p><p>　　Definition of the Body Copy</p><p>　　The advertiser tells the complete sales story in the body copy. Set in smaller type than headlines or subheads，the body copy is a logica

64、l continuation of the headline. It is also where the sale is closed. The body copy should relate to the campaign appeal and to the reader’s self-interest, and it must explain how the product or service being advertised s

65、atisfies the customer’s need. The body copy may concentrate on one or several benefits as they relate specifically to the target audience. In so</p><p>　　Categories in the Body Copy</p><p>　　Cop

66、ies fall into many categories. Some common types of copies include straight-sell copy，institutional copy，narrative copy，and dialogue/monologue copy.</p><p>　　In a straight-sell copy，the text immediately expl

67、ains or develops the headline in a straightforward attempt to sell the product. Since the product’s sales points are ticked off in order of their importance, straight-sell copy is particularly advantageous for technical

68、products that may be difficult to use in direct-mail advertising and industrial situations. Many camera ads，for example，use this straight，factual copy to get the message across. The straight-sell approach emphasizes the

69、reason why </p><p>　　(1) Pick up right where you left off with the new C-2000 ZOOM filmless digital camera. You loved taking pictures then. You’ll love it even more now with the 2.1 megapixel C-2000 ZOOM. It

70、’ll remind you of your favorite film camera of yesterday，but with all the advantages Olympus filmless photography offers today. Only the C-2000 ZOOM, for example，incorporates an all-glass，a spherical 3x zoom lens system

71、featuring a large aperture f2.0 lens that’s exceptionally fast and bright. Along with automati</p><p>　　Sometimes the advertiser uses the institutional copy to sell an idea or the merits of the organization

72、or service rather than sales features of a particular product. Often institutional copy is also narrative in because it lends warmth to the organization. Service ads，such as ads of banks，insurance companies，public utilit

73、ies，and large manufacturing concerns are the most common users of the institutional copy. For example，</p><p>　　If only for a moment，she defies gravity.</p><p>　　Her grace and form are flawless，

74、a tribute to perseverance and tenacity.</p><p>　　She is one of many amateur athletes who dedicate themselves not just to winning，for that is a short-term goal. But to the challenge of competition which prope

75、ls them to be the best they can be.</p><p>　　Today，tomorrow, for a lifetime.</p><p>　　Phillips Petroleum has been national sponsor of United States Diving since 1979. And will continue to suppor

76、t this organization for many years to come.</p><p>　　Because if our youths can take determination and achievement to this altitude，our hopes for the future are high indeed.</p><p>　　PHILLIPS PET

77、ROLEUM COMPANY</p><p>　　Advertisers use the narrative copy to tell a story. It often sets up a problem and then creates a solution using the particular sales features of the product or service. It may then s

78、uggest that the audiences use the same solution if they have that problem. Service advertisements are often written in this. For instance:</p><p>　　LIFE INSURANCE ISN’T FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DIE.</p><

79、;p>　　IT’S FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE.</p><p>　　“It broke my heart to hear my daughter Dorsey say she wished her daddy was still here. But thanks to his foresight，we’ll still have the things he worked for”.&l

80、t;/p><p>　　Dorsey Hoskins’ father Bryan felt a tingling in his arm. The diagnosis——an inoperable brain tumor. He died six months later，at 33, leaving his wife Dean alone to raise Dorsey and her sister Hattie. F

81、ortunately，Bryan bought life insurance when he got married, and again when his daughters were born. Dean invested the proceeds in her own clothing store，which gives her the flexibility to spend more time with her childre

82、n.</p><p>　　Are you prepared? Without insurance，your financial plan may be just a savings and investment program that dies when you do. An insurance agent or other financial professional can help you create

83、a plan that will continue to provide for the ones you love.</p><p>　　By using a dialogue/monologue copy, the advertiser can add the believability that the narrative copy sometimes lacks. The characters portr

84、ayed in a print advertisement do the selling in their own words，through a testimonial or quasi-testimonial technique，or through a comic-strip panel. All kinds of ads can use this body copy，if necessary. For example:</

85、p><p>　　“Hi，my name’s Messy Marvin.</p><p>　　I got that name because no matter how hard I tried，my room and my clothes always messy. But then one day，Mom brought home thick，rich，yummy Hershy’s Syru

86、p in the no mess squeeze bottle. And before I knew it，I was making the best chocolate milk I’d ever had. But I wasn’t making a mess. It’s fun，too. I just pull the cap and squeeze. Nothing drips，nothing spills.</p>

87、<p>　　Now Mom’s happy and so am I.</p><p>　　My room and my clothes are still a mess，but at least there’s hope.”</p><p><b>　　Slogan</b></p><p>　　Definition of the S

88、logan</p><p>　　A slogan is a sentence that distinguishes advertisements from both each other and the texts. A slogan may be compared with the headline of an article. A slogan is a form of verbal logo. In a p

89、rint ad, it usually appears just beneath or beside the brand name or logo. A slogan sums up what one stands for，for instance，one’s specialty，the benefit， one’s marketing position，and one’s commitment. It is especially us

90、eful to reinforce one’s identity. A slogan can prove to be more powerful than a logo. It</p><p>　　Syntactic Features of the Slogan</p><p>　　Short Sentences</p><p>　　Short sentences

91、are the most frequently occurring syntactic type in my research. Together with simple elliptical sentences，questions and negations they formed about two thirds of my research material. Short sentences are usually the slo

92、gans that may or may not be accompanied by a longer informative text. The sentence consists of subject，verb and object that may be accompanied by an explanatory supplement. The slogan is normally expanded or clarified in

93、 the advertisement text body，where simple， e</p><p>　　Anticipation is the basis of opportunity (Investment services)</p><p>　　People say the nicest things about us. (Hotel)</p><p>　

94、　Surround yourself with luxury. (Clothes)</p><p>　　Everyone loves a winner. (Cheese)</p><p>　　I’m very keen on saving things. (Telephone services)</p><p>　　Elliptical Sentences</

95、p><p>　　Elliptical sentences are the most common feature used in advertising language. They can be sub-grouped into elliptical simple sentences and elliptical compound sentences. The most often omitted part of

96、a sentence is the verb，but also other parts of the sentence can be left out, i.e. the subject and the object. Elliptical simple sentences are widely used in newspaper advertisement slogans. A text body giving additional

97、information or explaining the slogan almost always accompanies them. The text </p><p>　　(1) All the biggest stories.</p><p>　　It is the slogan for The Editor，a new magazine. The verb in this sen

98、tence is left out. The complete sentence can possibly be “ All the biggest stories are in this magazine.”</p><p>　　(2) Portsmouth to Cherbourg in minus two hours</p><p>　　It is a slogan of a fer

99、ry service，and the subject of the sentence is omitted. The whole sentence can be “Our ferry service can help you travel from Portsmouth to Cherbourg in minus two hours.” The clipped sentence highlights the speediness of

100、their service.</p><p>　　(3) A perfect pairing. A perfect film.</p><p>　　It is a slogan for a newly released film. With two paralleled elliptical simple sentences， the propaganda of the film is v

101、ery powerful. It sounds like a film critic strongly recommending it to you.</p><p>　　Interrogative Sentences</p><p>　　Interrogation is the asking of a question not for the sake of getting an ans

102、wer，but to put a point more effectively. In advertising，a question is asked merely for the sake of rhetorical effect, which includes doubt，speculation，or negative implication. Interrogative sentences take different forms