廣告英語語言特色

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摘要

廣告，顧名思義就是廣而告之。作為一種宣傳和傳播信息模式，廣告的作用不容忽視，因?yàn)樗粌H只是一種說服顧客進(jìn)行消費(fèi)的技巧，更重要的是，它已逐漸成為社會交流的必須手段之一。本文通過對大量英語廣告實(shí)例進(jìn)行分析，并參照國外著名廣告人GuyCook等的理論，詳細(xì)剖析了廣告英語的語言特點(diǎn)。

廣告在我們今天的社會幾乎是無孔不入，它的傳播介質(zhì)多種多樣，包括報紙、雜志、電視、廣播、網(wǎng)絡(luò)等。廣告具有鮮明的目的性，即說服顧客進(jìn)行購買，這種目的性決定了其語言的特色性風(fēng)格，使其獨(dú)立于其它文體，在語言學(xué)范疇內(nèi)值得研究。本文選定英語這一全球普遍使用的語言，就其應(yīng)用于廣告領(lǐng)域而產(chǎn)生的一些語言學(xué)特點(diǎn)和廣告本身的社會性特點(diǎn)進(jìn)行深入分析，希望能對相關(guān)領(lǐng)域的研究有一定的借鑒作用和參考價值。

本文共分為五章，第一章追溯了廣告的起源，對廣告的分類、作用及定義做了簡單概要；第二章介紹了廣告和文體學(xué)的基本定義，廣告中，文字和圖像的完美結(jié)合取決于創(chuàng)意和所用媒體，但它們共同組成了廣告語言；第三章從句法學(xué)、修辭學(xué)、詞匯學(xué)等理論切入，用大量例子分析了廣告英語的語言特點(diǎn)，并從語篇分析的角度對其語言特點(diǎn)進(jìn)行了剖析；在語篇分析的章節(jié)中，引用了GuyCook的語篇分析模型，并引入了廣告問題研究領(lǐng)域新近提出的“文章關(guān)聯(lián)性”等概念；第四章結(jié)合了第三章的觀點(diǎn)，通過具體英語廣告實(shí)例對標(biāo)題中的用詞、句子結(jié)構(gòu)、稱謂模式、修辭格進(jìn)行了闡述，分析了廣告語言對廣告效果的影響；最后一章指出了廣告英語發(fā)展的口語化和簡單化趨勢及其目前存在的模糊性語言特點(diǎn)，揭開了廣告華麗詞藻下所掩蓋的非真實(shí)的廣告氛圍，批判了其模糊性誤導(dǎo)消費(fèi)者的消極一面。

關(guān)鍵詞：廣告；廣告英語；語言特點(diǎn)

Abstract

Asawayofpropagatingandtransmittinginformation,advertising’sroleconnotbeunderestimatedbecauseitisnotonlyanartfultechniqueinpersuadingpeopletobuy,butalsograduallyhasbecomeamustforsocialcommunicationwhichinturninfluencesthedevelopmentofsocietyandeconomy.ThepurposeofthispaperistostudythelinguisticfeaturesandsociologicalfeaturesofadvertisingEnglish,inthehopetohelpcopywritersathomemarketsintheircreatingprocess.

Nowadaysadvertisinghaspenetratedintoeverycornerofourlifeasitstransmittingmediainmanyforms:newspaper,magazine,TV,radioaswellasnetwork.Thegoalofadvertisingdecidesitslanguagetobesimpleanddirect,distinctfromthecharacteristicsofotherdiscourses.ThusananalysisonthelinguisticfeaturesofadvertisingEnglishinthelinguisticfieldisworthwhile.Undersuchcircumstances,astudyonthelinguisticfeaturesofadvertisingEnglishwillhavepracticaleffectsonthecomposingandtranslatingworkofthecopywriters.

Thewholepaperisdividedintofivechapters.Thefirstchaptertracesbacktheoriginofadvertisingandabriefintroductionontheclassifications,rolesanddefinitionsofadvertisingispresentedforthelaterdiscussion.

Thesecondchapterintroducesthetheoryofadvertisementsandstylistics,theprecisebalanceofwords(eitherspokenorwritten)andpicturesisdeterminedbythecreativeconceptandthemediumused,butthecombinationofimagesandwordsmakesupthelanguageofadvertising.

Thethirdchapterstartsfromthetheoriesinsyntax,lexicology,rhetoricandendswiththelinguisticfeaturesanalyzedinthefieldofdiscourseanalysis.

ThefourthchaptercombinestheviewpointsfromthepreviouschapterthirdandexplorestheeffectoftheadvertisingEnglishasawholeadvertisingprocess.Thelastchapter,alsotheconclusionpart,showsthatthoughadvertisinglanguageappearstobefloweryandrefined,itscontentisnobetterthancommonestlanguagecouldconvey.Byexposingthevarioustechniquesadvertisershaveemployedintheirwriting,thisparthopestoremindconsumersthatadvertisingEnglishisgraduallyattainingthenegativeandambiguousroleinguidingpeopletobuy.

Keywords:Advertising,AdvertisingEnglish,LinguisticFeatures

Chapter1Introduction

NootherstatementcouldhavesummedupthecharmofadvertisementthanwhatAldousHuxleyhascommented.Ashehassaidadvertisementasaliteraryformisthemostexciting,themostarduousliteraryformofall,andthemostpregnantincuriouspossibilities.Inhiscommentheassertedadvertisementisaliteraryformandthecopywritingprocessisthedelightfulandsalubriousexerciseforthemind.Butallinall,whatisadvertising,andwhatmakesitunique?

1.1HistoryofAdvertisement

Advertisementemergedfromthewombofcommodityproductionandexchange.Theconditionfortheexistenceofadvertisingis“atleastasegmentofthepopulationmustliveabovethesubsistencelevel”.Whenthissituationoccursitalsobecomesnecessaryfor“theproducersofmaterially‘unnecessary’goodstodosomethingtomakepeoplewanttoacquiretheircommodities.”(VestergaardandSchroder4)

Theembryonicformofadvertisingintheworldisstreetcries,whichexisteventoday.AdvertisingwasnotunknowninancientGreeceandRome,butadvertisingaswerecognizeitdidnotstartuntiltheseventeenthcenturyintheWest.Itwasataboutthistimethatnewspaperbegantocirculate.Beforethat,itisprintingwhichwasfirstinventedinChinaandthenintroducedtotheWestthatplayedavitalroleintheproductionofprintadvertising.“Classified”(smallads)typesofadvertisingweredominantbeforethenineteenthcenturyandstyleandlanguageusedinadsatthattimetendedtobedirectandinformative.TheindustrialRevolution,whichbeganinEnglandinthemid-1700sandreachedtheUnitedStatesbytheearly1800s,facilitatedmass-productionofgoods.Meanwhileadvertisingbecamemoreandmoreimportantintheindustrialmarket.Thegreatbreakthroughforadvertisingcameonlyinthelatenineteenthcentury.Technologyandmass-productiontechniqueswerethensufficientlydevelopedformorefirmstobeabletoturnoutproductsofroughlythesamequalityandatroughlythesameprice.Thisbroughtonacrisisofover-productionandunderconsumptionwhichmeantthatthemarketneededtobestimulatedbyadvertising.Atthistimeadvertisingchangeditsfunctionfromproclamationtopersuasion.Inthetwentiethcentury,advertisingdevelopedrapidlyalongsidetheadventofnewmedia-radioandtelevisioninsuccession.

AccordingtoRichardPollay’scontentanalysisoftwothousandprintadsfromtenleadingmagazinesintheUSA,adshaveprogressivelyturnedtowardstheemotionalratherthantheinformativeapproachandthereisashiftseeinghumannatureasrationaltoseemingitasemotional.

TodayinChina,whileoureconomicstructureisshiftingfromtheentirelyplannedeconomytothesocialistmarketeconomysystem,advertisingisbecomingmoreandmoreactiveandsophisticated.In1992,China’sadvertisingexpenditurereached$862million,amongthefastestgrowingcountriesinAsia.ThisyearwiththeentryofChinaintoWTO,thisexpenditurefigurewillundoubtedlyriseup,whichwillsupporttheviewthatadvertisingisanindispensablemeansforprovidingtheinformationthatallmarket-orientedindustrializedsocietiesneedfortheireconomiestofunctionefficiently.

1.2ClassificationsofAdvertising

Advertisingmaybeclassifiedbymedium(newspaper,magazine,radio,television).Bytargetaudience(consumer,industrial,business),bygeography(international,national,regional,local),orbyitsfunctionorpurpose(productornon-product,commercialornoncommercial,primarydemandorselectivedemand,directactionorindirectaction).

BecauseitisdifficulttogainaccesstoenoughdateforEnglishcommercialsandadsonradioorTV,thus,thesubjectofthisresearchpaperwillmainlyconcentrateontheprintadvertising.

1.3RolesofAdvertising

Anadvertiser’smainpurposeistopresentandexhibitproductorservice,andtospreadtheinfluenceandcoverageofwhichtotheextentthatthepotentialpurchasingpopulationbecomesrealandactual.Simplyput,advertiserstrybythevariousmeansattheirdisposaltogetpeopletobuytheproductorserviceadvertised.Moreover,advertiserswantpotentialpurchaserstoconsiderwhatisadvertisedtotheexclusionofallothersimilarproductsorservices.Theythereforeattempttoconstructanadvertisementthatwillfullyinvolvetheattentionofthepotentialpurchaserandwhichwillhaveapersuasiveeffect.Advertisersthuscreateasemioticworldinordertopersuadetheiraudienceofessential“rightness”ofpurchasingtheproductorserviceadvertised.

1.4DefinitionsofAdvertising

Afterabriefintroductionoftheclassificationsandrolesofadvertising,wenowcometothedefinitionsofadvertising.Fromdifferentperspectivesorpurposes,thedefinitionsmightalsovary.InEnglish,theword“advertise”hasitsoriginin“advertere”inLatin,meaning“toinformsomebodyofsomething”,“tobringintonotice”or“todrawattentiontosomething”,etc.InChinese,theequivalentterm“guanggao”means“widelyannounce”.

Thefatherofmodernadvertising,AlbertLaskersaidthatadvertisingwas“salesmanshipinprint”.Althoughthedefinitionwasgivenlongbeforetheadventofradioandtelevision,andthenatureandscopeofadvertisingatthattimewereconsiderablydifferentthantheyaretoday,thisoften-repeatedsayingindicatesthattheultimateobjectiveofadvertisingistosell.Obviouslyitisnotaworkingdefinitionbecausewecannotuseittocoveralladvertisements.Today,awidelyquotedworkingdefinitionofadvertisingwasputforwardbyCourtlandL.BoveeandWilliamF.Arens:”Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationofinformation,usuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnature,aboutproducts(goodsorservices)orideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughvariousmedia.”（Cook，Guy.TheDiscourseofAdvertising.London:Routledge,1992）

AnotherlinguistBolendefinesadvertisingasa“Paid,non-personalcommunicationthroughvariousmassmediabybusinessfirms,nonprofitorganizations,andindividualswhoareinsomewayidentifiedinthemessageandwhohopetoinformorpersuademembersofaparticularaudience.”(Carter,RonaldandGoddard,Angela,ReahDanutaetal.WorkingwithTexts.London:Routledge,1997)

Ifthedefinitionsofadvertisingweretoovagueandabstracttocomprehend,afewwordsofitsfunctionwouldhelptoclarifythiscrucialterm.Broadlyspeaking,advertisementshaveatleastoneoftwofunctions:informingorpersuading,althoughoverlapmayoftentakeplaceinonesinglepiece.Thetrickhereisthataninformativeadvertisementinforms“thecustomeraboutgoods,services,orideasandthentellshowtogetthemmeansofanidentifiedsponsor”(Bolen6).Examplesofinformativeadvertisementsarenotafew,rangingfromflyerstoinsertionsinmagazineandnewspapers,allofthataimtoadvertisenewproducts/servicesorspecialpricesoncertainproducts/services.Thistypeofadvertisementgivesbasic,factualinformationandsometimesshowsaphotosoranillustrationoftheproduct/servicetogivethetargetaudienceabetterviewabouttheadvertisedproduct.

Persuasiveadvertisementsarethustheinstrumentsusedbyadvertisers“whohavedefinedtheirtargetaudiencesanddeterminedtheeffecttheyhopetoachievethroughpersuasiveadvertisementsinthemedia”(Bolen9).Andapersuasiveadvertisementshouldtrytopersuadethepotentialcustomerstobuythenewproduct.(Bolen6)Thepersuasivefunctionisnotonlylimitedtoattractingthepotentialcustomerintobuyingacertainobject,butalsoincludingthesellingofservices,ideas,normsandvalues.

Tosummarize,wewouldgettheideathatfirstlyadvertisingisacommunicationprocess.Secondly,atleastamediumisused.Thirdly,thiscommunicationprocesshasadefinitepurposetoconvincethetargetaudience.Theabovethreecharacteristicssuggestadvertisingiscloselyconnectedwiththesociety,employingitsmedia,interconnectingwithitspeopleandguidingtheirbuyinghabit.Alsoinachievingtheadvertisingeffect,theadvertisinglanguageshouldbevividandattractive,whoselinguisticcharacteristicswouldbecoveredintheChapter3.

Chapter2TheoreticalBackground

.1Advertisement

2.1.1DefinitionandGoal

Advertisingisthepaid,impersonalcommunicationofinformationaboutproductsorideasbyanidentifiedsponsorthroughmassmediainanefforttopersuadeorinfluencebehavior.Notalladvertisingisalike.Advertisementsdifferdependingonwhothemessageisintendedfor,wheretheadvertisementisshown,whichmediaareused,andwhattheadvertiserwantstoaccomplish.(seeTable2.1)

Table2.1

Advertisingcanbeclassifiedinfourways:bytarget,geographicarea,mediaused,andpurpose.

ByTarget

ByGeographicArea

ByMediaUsed

ByPurpose

Audience

Consumer

Business:

Industrial

TradeProfessional

Agriculture

International

National

Regional

Local

Print:

Newspaper

Magazine

Electronic:

Radio

Television

Internet

Out-of-home:

Outdoor

Transit

Directmail

Directories

Othermedia

Productiveornonproductive

Commercialornoncommercial

Primarydemandorselectivedemand

Directactionorindirectaction

Thepurposeofcopywritingistopersuadeorremindpeopletotakesomeactiontosatisfyaneedorwant.Butfirstpeopleneedtobemadeawareoftheproblemor,iftheproblemisobvious,ofasolution.Tocreateawareness,thecopywritermustfirstgetpeople’sattention—forexample,byusinglargetypeandprovocativevisuals.Next,thecopywritermuststimulatetheprospect’sinterestintheproductandbuildcredibilityfortheproductclaims.Thenthecopywriterfocusesongeneratingdesireandfinallyonstimulatingaction.Thesefiveaspectsshouldbepresentineveryadvertisementorcommercial.

Hereistheadvertisingpyramid.

2.1.2ElementsofanAdvertisement

Asonewillsee,anyadvertisementismadeupofseveralelements.Mostadvertisementsusedallofthem.Theyincludetheheadlineordisplayline;theillustration;thebodycopyortext;thethemelineorslogan,tradecharacter,seal,andothermarks;andthelogotypeorsignature.Eachwillbeconsideredinsomedetailbelow.

(1)Headlines

Theheadlineordisplaylineappearsinmostadvertisementsforseveralreasons.First,itisanattention-gettingdevice;secondly,italsoselectsanaudiencebyappealingtoaspecificgroup,asthislinedose:Arthriticsreducepainfulinflammationandgetstomachupsetprotection.(Anadformedicine)Finally,itisthekeyfactoringettingpeopletoreadthebodycopy.

(2)Illustration

Inadditiontoheadlines,mostadvertisementscontainillustrations.Theillustrationliketheheadline,attractsattention,selectstheaudience,andstimulatesinterestinbodycopy.Whatismore,theillustrationcanbeinvaluableinshowingtheproductorproductuseandexplaininggraphicallycertainideasorsituationsthatarecumbersometoputintowords.Theoldsayingthatonepictureisworthathousandwordshasmuchmeritinit.

(3)BodyCopy

Tobeginwith,someexplanationofthewordcopyisnecessary.Thejobofbodycopyistostimulateinterestintheproductorserviceorideabeingadvertised,createsdesireforit,andurgeaction.Thisisabigtaskandcallsforrightwords.Althoughheadlinesandillustrationscleartheway,itisbodycopythatmustcarrytheburdenofthesellingjob.

(4)Themelines,slogan,tradecharacters,sealandothermarks

Anumberofdifferentmarksanddevicesmayappearinanadvertisement,includingthemelines,tradecharacters,andseals;Forexample,GeneralFoodsusesthecorporateidentitysymbolinallitsadvertisements.Theautomaticuseoftheseelementsintheadvertisement,however,doesnotdiminishtheirimportance.

2.2Stylistics

2.2.1TheNeedforStylistics

WhentalkingabouttheEnglishlanguage,oneshouldnotbemisledintothinkingthatthelabelshouldinsomewayrefertoareadilyidentifiableobjectinreality,whichhecanisolateandexamineinaclassroomasatest-tubemixture,apieceofrockorapoem.ThelabeloftheEnglishlanguageisinfactacomplexofmanydifferent‘varieties’oflanguageinuseinallkindsofsituationsinmanypartsoftheworld.Naturally,allthesevarietieshavemuchmoreincommonthandifferentiatesthem－theyareallclearlyvarietiesofonelanguage,English.Butatthesametime,eachvarietyisdefinablydistinctfromalltheothers.

AsaneducatedspeakerofEnglish,astudentofEnglishis,inasense,multilingual:forinthecourseofdevelopinghiscommandoflanguage,hehasencounteredalargenumberofvarieties,andtocertainextent,haslearnednowtousethem.Aparticularsocialsituationmakeshimrespondwithanappropriatevarietyoflanguage,thelanguageofconversation,thelanguageofnewspaperreporting,thelanguageofadvertisingandsoon.Butwhatisstylistics?

2.2.2Definition

Inthepast,menhavebeenintriguedwithstyleandmanystudentsofhumancommunicationhaveofferedtheirideasaboutit.Someareconcernedwithclarity－orlucidity,asAristotlecalledit.ForthisancientGreekcritic,itwasimportantthatthespeakerorwriternotonlyhasideasbutthathesaysthem‘intherightway’,awayanaudiencecanunderstandclearly.Healsosaidthatstyleshouldbeneitherabovenorbelowthedignityofthesubjectbutmustbe‘a(chǎn)ppropriate’.Anotherstudentoflanguageandhumanuseofit,theScottishwriterGeorgeCampbell,alsobelievedwords(theauthor’sdictionorwordchoice)werethefoundationofstyle.Hebelievedthebeststylecomesfromdictionthatthelistenernoticessolittlethatheisbarely‘consciousthatitisthroughthismediumdictionheseesintothespeaker’sthoughts’(ThesenseofstylebyGeoffreyN.Leech).Butunfortunately,theydonotclarifymattersgreatly,atleastfourcommonlyoccurringsensesofthetermstyleneedtobedistinguished.

Stylemayrefertosomeorallofthelanguagehabitsofoneperson-aswhenpeopletalkofShakespeare’sstyle(orstyles),orthestyleofJamesJoyce.Moreoften,itreferstoaselectionoflanguagehabits,sharedbyagroupofpeopleatonetime,oroveraperiodoftime,aswhenwetalkaboutthestyleoftheAugustanpoets,thestyleofOldEnglish‘heroic’poetry,thestyleinwhichcivilservicesformsarewritten,orstylesofpublic-speaking.

Styleisgivenamorerestrictedmeaningwhenitisusedinanevaluativesense,referringtotheeffectivenessofamodeofexpression.Thisisimpliedbysuchpopulardefinitionsofstyleas‘sayingtherightthinginthemosteffectiveway’oras‘goodmanners’.(InvestingEnglishstylebyDavidCrystal&DerekDavy)

Partlyoverlappingwiththethreesensesjustoutlinedisthewidespreaduseofthewordstyletorefersolelytoliterarylanguage.Stylehaslongbeenassociatedprimarilyorexclusivelywithliterature,asacharacterized‘good’,‘effective’,or‘beautiful’writing.

Oftheabovefoursenses,thefirstandsecondcomenearesttowhatismeantbystyle.Asastarting-point,theaimofstylisticsistoanalyzelanguagehabitswiththemainpurposeofidentifyingfromthegeneralmassoflinguisticfeaturescommontoEnglishasusedoneveryconceivableoccasion.Thosefeatureswhicharerestrictedtocertainkindsofsocialcontextaretoexplain,wherepossible,whysuchfeatureshavebeenused,asopposedtootheralternatives,andtoclassifythesefeaturesintocategoriesbaseduponaviewoftheirfunctioninthesocialcontext.