关于英语广告的语言研究

关于英语广告的语言研究

刘芳

刘芳包头轻工职业技术学院

【摘要】广告在现代社会已变得日趋重要。在全球化的过程中，英语已成为国际性的语言。英语广告走进了人们的生活，并且影响着人们的思维方式，价值观念以及生活方式。由于英语广告在我们社会生活中有着很重要的地位，所以我们应该了解英语广告以怎样的方式将广告信息传达给消费者。广告的普遍使得一种特殊写作文体出现了—广告语。广告语是一种具有直接影响力和快速说服力的文体。不论广告采用哪种推销策略，语言的角色都是最重要的。广告英语不仅丰富而且有特色。本文旨在通过对英语广告的语言分析总结出关于广告英语在语音、词汇、句法、修辞上的语言特点。

【关键词】英语广告语语音学词汇学句法学修辞

【中图分类号】642【文献标识码】A【文章编号】1674－4810（2011）12－0002－01

ⅠIntroduction

Withthequickdevelopmentoftechnologyandcommercialeconomy,thedesignandtypesofadvertisementvarygreatly.Inthemeantime,thesocialeffectthatadvertisementsplayattractsmoreandmoreattentiveeyesinthesociety.Itisobviouslyseenthatadvertisementmakersputgreateffortintheuseoflanguage,whichbecomesmoreandmoredelicateandoffersmuchforthought.Advertisinglanguage,consideredashavinginteractionalfunction,doesnotmerelyinformthecustomersaboutwhataresold,butalsotoattractthecustomers’attentionsothatanactofpurchasingwillexpectedlyfollowfromthelanguageexpression.Thus,itisevidentthattheadvertisersattempttoestablishagoodsocialrelationshipwiththecustomers.Therefore,thecharmingspecialtyandexquisiteformofadvertisinglanguagecontributeconsiderablytothesellingofproducts.Thestudyandanalysisofadvertisinglanguage,aswell,becomesanewitemforlanguagelearners.

ⅡThelanguageofadvertising

Languagehasapowerfulinfluenceoverpeopleandtheirbehavior.Thisisespeciallytrueinthefieldsofmarketingandadvertising.Thechoiceoflanguagetoconveyspecificmessageswiththeintentionofinfluencingpeopleisvitallyimportant.Visualcontentanddesigninadvertisinghaveaverygreatimpactontheconsumer,butitislanguagethathelpspeopletoidentifyaproductandrememberit.Advertisinglanguageasaspecialkindoflanguageisverydifferentfromcommonlanguage.Theadvertisersmakeartisticuseoflanguagetoappealtotheaestheticsenseofthetargetaudience.Advertisinglanguagehasitsownfeaturesinphonology,morphology,syntax,andrhetoricaldevices.

1．Phonologyfeaturesofadvertisinglanguage

CopywriteralwaysfullyexploitthesoundeffectoftheEnglishlanguagetomaketheiradvertisementmoreappealingandmemorable.Therepetitionofsoundsisquiteafavorforadvertisersandcopywriter.Alliteration,assonance,consonanceandonomatopoeiaaretechniquestocreaterhythmicbeauty,achievecohesionorreinforcethethemeoftheproduct.Inaddition,thesephonologydevicesreinforcethesenseofrhythmandlanguageappeal.

（1）Alliterationisfrequentlyused

Alliterationiseye－catchingandsweet－soundinginadvertisinglanguagewhichcanhelptheadvertisinglanguageachievethestrongbeatingrhythmandachieveanemphaticeffectofthemeaning.Itisoneofthefavoritephonologicaldevicesusedinadvertisement.

Clean,ClearandunderControl.—CleanandClear,Johnson&Johnson（强生）

Inthisadvertisement,aconsonant[k]wasrepeatedforthreetimesbytheinitialsoundofclean,clearandcontrol,sotheadvantageofthisproductisstronglyreinforcedbythetriplealliterationwhichlinkscleanwithclearandcontrol.

（2）Assonance.Aninterestingsoundingadvertisementcanbephysicallypleasinginandofitself,butsoundmightalsocontributetotheadvertisement’sintellectual,emotional,orspiritualimpact.Assonanceandconsonancearetypicallyusedbycopywriters.

Thebestamancanget.—GilletteRazor(吉列剃须刀)ThisisarazoradvertisementofGilletteCompany.Theusesofthevowelsounds[æ]and[ε]insuccessivewordsaresuccessful.Rhymingoccursin“best”and“get”,“man”and“can”,sopeoplecanfeelthemusicalharmonyandbeautifulrhymeasreadingit.

2．Englishmorphologyinadvertising

TheEnglishlanguageisknownforitsextensivevocabulary.Wheremanyotherlanguageshaveonlyoneortwowordswhichcarryaparticularmeaning,Englishmayhavefiveorsix.Moreover,themeaningsofthesefiveorsixwordsmaydifferveryslightlyandinaverysubtleway.Itisimportanttounderstandtheconnotationofaword.Connotationisthefeelingorideasthataresuggestedbyaword,ratherthantheactualmeaningoftheword.Thetargetaudience,ofcourse,alsoputsitsownmeaningintocertainwords.

（1）Compounds.Onewayinwhichadvertisersadaptlanguagetotheirownuseistotakecompoundwordsandusethemasadjectives.Perhapsthemostconspicuousfeatureofadvertisinglanguageisitsabundanceandvarietyofcompounds.Leech（1966）suggeststhatinadvertisingEnglish,lexicalrestraintsoncompoundformationarelessstringentthanelsewhere.Thishelpsthemsavespaceandachievenovelty.TheyhavebecomepartoftheEnglishlanguage.

KodakSingle—use—camerastakepictureswhereyouwouldn’tnormallytakeyourcamera.—Kodakcamera（柯达相机）

（2）InnovativeSpelling.Asameansofconveyinginformationwithinalimitedtimeandspace,advertisingEnglishdiffersfromotherdiscoursetypesinthatitismainlysuccinct,vivid,imaginative,emotive,evocativeandappealing.Reader’sattentionisthefirstobjectiveofanyadvertisement.Copywritersoftenracktheirbrainsinordertopresentthereaderwithsomethingunexpected.Sometimestheyintentionallydeviatefromthenormalwaysofexpressioninthehopeofenhancingtheattentionvalueoftheirwriting.Manyadvertisersmakeuseofmisspellings,newprefixesandsuffixesorevencoinnovelandgrotesquewordstodrawourattentiontowhatisadvertised.Thesecoinagesareusedtoprovokethecuriosityofthereadersandhelptoimprintthemessageintheirmind.

Forexample,HelloMoto.—Motorola（摩托罗拉）.

“HelloMoto”inthismobilephoneadvertisementisablend.Blendsarebizarreinspelling,buttheycaneasilysecurereader’sattention.Bymakingsuchkindofrepresentation,copywriterslenduniquenessandcharmtotheproductstheyadvertise.

3．SyntacticfeaturesofAdvertisingEnglish

Thepurposeofalladvertisingistofamiliarizetheconsumerswiththemeritsofparticularproductsandservicesinordertopromotesales.Tobeeffective,themessageshouldbeeasytounderstandandeasytoremember.Themostreliablewaytogetthiseffectistoconveythemessageintheshortest,simplestandclearestwaypossible.Thisproducessomespecialsyntacticfeaturesatthislevel.

（1）ThepredominanceofsimplepresenttenseinadvertisingEnglish.Thesimplepresenttenseisalwaysusedtosatisfythecustomer’sdesiretoknowthepresentstateoftheproducthewantstobuy.Butthereisanotheraspectofthesimplepresent:itsimplicationofuniversalityandtimelessness－asortof“eternaltruth”.Whenusedinads,itgivesthecustomertheimpressionthatthemeritsoftheadvertisedproductareuniversallytrue,independentoftimeandspace.Thispsychologicaleffectwillcertainlyworktothebenefitoftheadvertiser.

Forexample,Cokeaddslife.—CocaCola（可口可乐）.

Itmeansthatcokehasadded,isadding,andwillcontinuetoaddlife,becausethesimplepresenttensehasthemeaningofpermanenttruth.

（2）Imperativesentencesarefrequentlyfound.Theimperativesentencesaremostsuitedfortheconativefunctionoflanguageusedinadvertising—topromptaction.Asimperativesentencesalwayscarryrequest,instructions,commandsorpersuasions,theyservetheultimatepurposeoftheadviserstourgepotentialcustomerstobuytheadvertisedproductsorservices.Sotheyarewidelyinadvertisements.

Forexample,Obeyyourthirst.—Spirit（雪碧）.

4．RhetoricalDevicesinEnglishAdvertising

Advertisinglanguageoftenattractsattentiontoitselfbybeinghighlycolorful,vividandimaginative.Thefigurativeuseofadvertisinglanguagecanbefoundeasilyintherhetoricaldevicessuchasplayonwords,personification,allusion,parallelism,simile,metaphor,metonymy,synecdoche,hyperboleandsoforth.Rhetoricaldevicesarevariationsofliteralorordinaryformofexpressions.Theiruseistomakethethoughtmorestrikingandeffective,fortheyhavethepowertovivifyandillustrate.

（1）Parallelism.Parallelismenhancestherhythmicaleffectofanad.Itaddsforceandgracetotheexpression.Thatiswhyitisverymuchfavoredbycopywritersintheirattempttoappealtotheaestheticsenseofthemassaudience.

Forexample,Buyit.Sellit.Loveit.—eBay

（2）Personification

Personificationisafigureofspeechinwhichinanimateobjectsorabstractionsareendowedwithhumanqualitiesorarerepresentedaspossessinghumanform.Theuseofpersonificationinadvertisingwillendowtheproductwithhumanemotion,andwillmakethemamicabletoconsumers.Lookatthefollowingadvertisementinwhichthewatchisgivenhumanability.

Forexample,Unlikeme,myRolexneverneedsarest.—RolexWatch（劳力士手表）.

Bypersonification,lifelessobjectsareenlivenedastheyassumehumantraits.Theytendtocatchtheattentionofthereadersandarousetheirinterest.

（3）Parody.Parodyusesthewords,thought,orstyleofanauthor,butbyaslightchangeadaptingthemtoanewpurposeorridiculouslyinappropriatesubject;theimitationorexaggerationoftraitsofstylesoastomakethemappearludicrous.Idioms,proverbsandliteraryquotationsarefamiliartomostpotentialcustomersinasocietyandhavenodifficultytobepopularized.Thecreativeuseoftheidioms,proverbsandliteraryquotationscangiveadsnewmeaningwhilemakingthemmemorableandcompanionable.

Forexample,AMarsadayhelpsyouworkbestandplay.—Marschocolate（玛氏巧克力）.

ⅢConclusion

Amajorelementofadvertisingisthewordsusedtoattractthereader’sattention,describetheproduct,andpersuadethereadertobuy.Advertisinghasitsownwaytoachievethesalegoal,throughtheuseoflinguistictechniquesinphonology,morphology,syntax,andrhetoricaldevices,andit“frequentlystretchesorbreakstherulesorconventionsofnormallanguage”（GillianDyer,1982:152）.Thisisneithergoodnorbad;itisadvertisingdoingitsjob,sellingproducts,underextremerestrictionsintime,space,andlackofimmediacy.However,knowinghowadvertisinguseslanguagemakesitpossiblefortheaverageconsumertomakebetter,moreinformed,purchasedecisions.

References

［1］Albion,MarkS.TheAdvertisingControversy:EvidenceontheEconomicEffectsofAdvertising.Boston:AlburnHousePublishingCompany,1981

［2］Barker,Chris.CulturalStudies.London:SagePublications,2000

［3］Cook,Guy.TheDiscourseofAdvertising.London:Routledge,1992

［4］Dyer,Gillian.AdvertisingasCommunication.London:Methuen,1982

［5］Goddard,Angela.TheLanguageofAdvertising.London:Routledge,1998

［6］Lakoff,GeorgeandMarkJohnson.MetaphorsWeLiveBy.Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1980

［7］Leech,GeoffreyN.EnglishinAdvertising.London:Longmans,1966

［8］王东波.英语语言学［M］.济南：山东大学出版社，2007

〔责任编辑：陈晨〕