英语an-analysis-of-language-features-in--english-advertisements.doc

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。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,theauthorbuildsacorpusof60Englishadvertisements.Itishopedthatthroughthedetailedsurveyofthreetypesofadvertisements:namely,dailyconsumergoodsads,technicalequipmentads,serviceads,similaritiesanddifferencesinadvertisinglanguagefeaturescanbesummarizedandpossiblereasonswillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,andfunctionoflanguage.Thispaperwillbepresentedinfiveparts.Thefirstpartistheintroductionandthelastconclusion.Thefocusofthepaperislaidonthethreemiddlepartswhichrespectivelyanalyzelanguagefeaturesatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Theconclusionofthispaperisdrawnfromthedataanalysis.Intheanalysis,examplesfromthecorpuswillbegiven;figures,tablesandgraphswillalsobeofferedtomakethepaperunderstandableandpersuasive.ItishopedthatthestudycanshedlightonthelanguagefeaturesofadvertisementsandalsoprovidehelptocopywritersandadvertisingEnglishlearners.KEYWORDS:EnglishAdvertisements,Lexical,Syntactic,Discourse,Similarities,DifferencesContents 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 Makepunandalliteration. 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 Comparisonofheadlinesofdifferenttypesofads. 11 4. Discoursefeatures. 12 4.1 Bodycopyofadvertisements. 12 4.2 Differencesinbodycopy. 12 5. Conclusion14 AcknowledgementSincerethanksgotoDr.WeiNaixingforhisinsightfulguidanceandearnesthelpallthroughthesearching,analysisandpaper-writingstages.TheauthoralsowantstoextendherthankstoMs.LindaFrostwhohasgivenmuchhelpindatacollecting.References1Bolinger,Dwight&Sears,DonaldA.AspectsofLanguagethirdeditionNewYork:HarcourtBraceJovanovich1981 2Bovee,CourtlandL.&Arens,WilliamF.ContemporaryAdvertisingforthedition Homewood,IL:Irwin1992 3Gove,PhilipBabcockWebstersThirdNewInternationalDictionary Springfield,Mass.:G.&C.MerriamCo.1976 4Gregory,MichaelLanguageVarietiesandTheirSocialContexts London:Routledge&KeganPaulLtd.1981 5Jefkins,FrankWilliamAdvertisingPhiladelphia,PA:MacdonaldandEvans1985 6ODonnell,W.R.&Todd,LoretoVarietyinContemporaryEnglish London:GeorgeAllen&Unwin(Publishers)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 1.1RationaleofthestudyWeliveinaworldofadvertising.Aspotentialconsumers,weareendlesslybombardedwithallkindsofproductorserviceinformationfromvariousmediaincludingnewspapers,magazines,television,radio,postersandInternet,etc.Advertisingprovidesavaluableservicetosocietyanditsmembers,becauseitdefinesforconsumersthemeaningandtheroleofproducts,services,andinstitutions.Itindicatesthedifferencethatexistsbetweenbrandsofproductsandalternativeservices,aswellasthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofcompaniesandinstitutions.Advertisingalsotellstheconsumerwhataspecificproduct,brandorserviceshoulddowhenitisusedandthushelpshimorhertounderstandandevaluateexperiencewiththeproductsandservicesthatheorsheuses.Ontheotherhand,bymakingpeopleawareofproducts,serviceandideas,advertisingpromotessalesandprofits.Finally,advertisingisoneofthemajorforcesthatarehelpingimprovethestandardoflivingaroundtheworld.Combinedwithallthesecommunicational,marketingandsocialfunctions.Advertisingbecomesindispensableinthemodernworld. Naturally,advertisementsinEnglishhavebecomeanimportantmeansofcommunicatingideas,demonstratingavarietyoflinguisticfeaturesofitsown.Thepresentstudyattemptstoexaminethesefeaturesatthelexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels,inthehopeofbringingthemtolightand,thereby,offeringhelptoadvertisementwritersandlanguagelearners. 1.2DefinitionofadvertisingAccordingtotheDefinitionCommitteeofAmericanMarketingAssociation(方薇,1997:2),advertisingisdefinedasfollows:Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesorideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia. 1.3FocusofthepresentstudyUsually,advertisingcommunicatesinformationinthreetypes:audio,visual,andlanguage.Itisamorecommoncasethatanadvertisementisamixtureofthethree.Inradioadvertisements,musicisalwaysaccompaniedbylanguage;onTVandmotionpictures,musicandlanguageillustrationaremixedwitheachother.Inmagazinesandnewspapers,advertisementsareacombinationofpicturesandlanguageofwritteninformation.Althoughmusicandpicturescanprovidesomehints,orcreateakindofatmosphere,theinformationabouttheproductislimited.Evenworse,itmayleadtomisunderstanding.Thus,wemaysaythatlanguageinawayprovidesmoreexact,detailedanddependableinformationwhereasmusicandpicturesonlyactasasupplementarymeansinadvertising.Advertisinglanguage,playingaroleofcommunicationandpersuasion,hasdevelopeditsownfeatures.ThispaperwillfocusonthelanguagefeaturesofEnglishadvertisementsatlexical,syntacticanddiscourselevels.Itishoped,byacontrastivestudyofadvertisementsonthreetypesofproducts(dailyconsumergoods,technicalequipmentandservice),similaritiesanddifferencesofthethreetypesofadvertisementswillbesummarizedandpossiblereasonswillbegiveninthelightofthemeaning,andfunctionoflanguage.1.4SourcesofdataAlltheadvertisementsstudiedinthispaperaretakenfromEnglishmagazines.TheyarechosenfromTime,PeopleandNewsweek(issuesfrom1999-2000),becausethesethreemagazineshaveahugecirculation,coveringallkindsofaudience.Almostallkindsofadvertisementscanbefoundinthesemagazines.Inordertogetvaluableinformationforthestudy,acorpusof60advertisementswasbuilt,whichconsistsof20dailyconsumergoodsads,20technicalequipmentads,and20serviceads.Conclusionswillbedrawnthroughquantitativeandqualitativestudiesofthedata. 2LexicalFeatures2.1Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience Generallyspeaking,advertisementscanbedividedintotwotypes:publicrelationadsandcommercialads.Theformertriestoadvocatereputationforasocialgroup,whosepurposeistoleaveafavorableimpressionuponthepotentialaudience.Thelatterleadstotheactofpurchasingtheproductsorusingtherecommendedservice.Commercialadsaremuchmorepresentedthroughmassmediaforthereasonthatmanufacturersandcompaniesarewillingtospendalargesumofmoneytomakeacertainproductknownortoboosttheimageofacertainbrand.Insomecases,competitors,likeCoca-colaandPerpsi,evensparenoexpensetolaunchadvertisingcampaignstowinoverthemarketshare.Commercialadvertisingcanalsobedividedaccordingtothetargetaudienceintotwogroups:consumeradvertisingandbusinessadvertising.Mostoftheadsinthemassmediaareconsumeradvertisements.Theyaretypicallydirectedatconsumers.Bycontrast,businessadvertisingtendstobeconcentratedinspecializedbusinesspublications,professionaljournals,tradeshowstargetingatacertaingroupofpeopleinvolvedinsomebusiness.Sinceconsumeradvertisingismostaccessibletocommonpeople,thepresentstudyonwillfocusonconsumeradvertising.Theclassificationofadvertisingisclearlyshowninthefollowinggraph:Graph1ClassificationofadvertisementsPublicadsDailyconsumergoodsads AdvertisingConsumeradsTechnicalequipmentadsCommercialadsBusinessadsServiceadsTheboldpartsshowthescopeofadvertisementswestudy.Dailyconsumergoodsarenecessitiesofdailylife,suchasfood,detergent,hygiene,etc.Technicalequipmentistechnicaltoysandelectricequipmentsuchascamera,vehicle,hi-fi,etc.Servicecoversbank,insurance,fund,etc. Actually,advertisingworkseffectivelysomeofthetimeanddoesntworkothertimes.Thesinglecrucialreasonthatadvertisingdoesnotworkisthatinspecificinstancestheinformationitconveysneverreachestheconsumeratall,orisjudgedbytheconsumertobeeitherredundant,meaningless,orirrelevant.Forexample,amotorbikeadvertisementwillprobablybeinvisibletohousewivesonthelookoutfornewcutlery.Socialstatusandindividualinterestdecidethatconsumergoodsadsaremainlytargetingatwomenwhiletechnicalequipmentadsarelargelyaimingatmen.Theamountofsharedknowledgebetweentheadvertiserandtheaudiencetogetherwiththethinkinghabitoftheaudiencedirectlyinfluencestheadvertisinglanguage.Sinceproductsandaudiencechangeineveryadvertisementinordertoachievehighadvertisingeffectiveness,languageuseddiffersindifferenttypesofadvertisements.Thus,inthispaperwediscussnotonlythesimilaritiesoflanguagesharedbyalltypesofadvertisementsbutalsodifferencesoflanguageusedindifferentkindsofadvertisements.2.2Similaritiesatthelexicallevel Inordertomaketheinformationaccessibletoaudienceeffectively,thechoiceofwordsinadvertisingisverycautiousandskillful.Theaimoftheadvertiserisquitespecific.Hewishestocapturetheattentionofthemembersofamassaudienceandbymeansofimpressivewordstopersuadethemtobuyaproductorbehaveinaparticularway,suchasgoingtoHawaiiforalltheirholidayneeds.Bothlinguisticandpsychologicalaspectsaretakenintoconsiderationinthechoiceofwords.Sharingthesamepurposeofadvertisingtofamiliarizeorremindconsumersofthebenefitsofparticularproductsinthehopeofincreasingsales,thetechniquesusedatthelexicallevelbyadvertisersdonotvarymarkedly.Thefollowingpointsaresomeprominentsimilarities. 2.2.1FewverbsareusedG.N.Leech,Englishlinguist,lists20mostusedverbsinhisEnglishInAdvertising:LinguisticstudyofAdvertisingInGreatBritain(方薇,1997:20).Theyare: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.(HertzCarReturn)Getgreatcoveragethatssoweightlessandwater-fresh.(ALMAY) Allyouneedisatasteforadventure.(MillstoneCoffee) Youllloveitevenmorewiththe2.1megapixelC-2000ZOOM.(OlympusCamera) Donthavemuchofapersonality?Buyone.(HondaMotor) AllthesefrequentlyusedverbsaremonosyllabicandmostofthemhaveAnglo-SaxonoriginthatisthecommoncoreofEnglishvocabulary.LinguisticstudyshowsEnglishnativespeakerstendtousewordsofAnglo-Saxonorigin,becausenativewordshavecomparablystablemeaning.Inadvertising,thesesimplewordscanwintheconsumersbytheirexact,effectiveexpressionandakindofcloseness.Etymologicalstudiesshowthatthe20verbslistedbefore,exceptuseandtastewhicharefromancientFrench,allareAnglo-Saxonorigin.Eventhetwowords,useandtastehavelongbecomeindispensablelexicalitemsinthestockofcommoncorevocabularyoftheEnglishpeople,developingtheirstablemeaningandusage.2.2.2UseofemotivewordsAclosescrutinyofrecentadvertisementssuggeststhatthesoft-selltechniqueisnowpopular.Bysoft-selltechniquewemeantheonethatfavorsamoreemotiveandlessdirectiveapproachtopromoteaproduct,mainlyfocusingonthebuildingofbrandimage.Asaresult,emotivewords,mostofwhicharepleasantadjectives,aregreatlyencouragedtouse.Datafromthecorpusshowsthatthemostfrequentlyusedadjectivesareasfollows:new,good/better/best,fresh,free,delicious,sure,full,clean,wonderful,special,crisp,real,fine,great,safe,andrich.Theseadjectiveshelptobuildapleasantpictureinreadersmindsandmanagetocreateabeliefinthepotentialconsumer:IfIbuythisproductorifIchoosethisservice,Iwillleadabetterlife.Inaddition,comparativesandsuperlativesoccurtohighlighttheadvantageofacertainproductorservice.Forexample: Nothingcomesclosertohome.(VegetableandChickenPastaBake) ThinkLysolisthebestdisinfectingspray.(DisinfectingSpray)TheworldscoolestCDsarentmadeinNewYork,LondonorL.A.Theyaremadeinmyapartment.(PhilipsCDRecorder) TheCompaqArmadafamilyislighter,withnewroundededgesforeasierpacking.(Compaq) 2.2.3MakepunandalliterationPunisanamusinguseofawordorphrasethathastwome