英语广告语言的特征分析(英文).doc

ANANALYSISOFLANGUAGEFEATURESINENGLISHADVERTISEMENTS英语广告语言的特征分析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,DifferencesContents1.Introduction11.1Rationaleofthestudy.11.2Definitionofadvertising.11.3Focusofthepresentstudy11.4Sourcesofdata.22.Lexicalfeatures22.1Classificationofadvertisinganditsaudience.22.2Similaritiesatthelexicallevel.32.2.1Fewverbsareused.32.2.2Useofemotivewords.42.2.3Makepunandalliteration.42.2.4Useofweaselwords.52.3Differencesatthelexicallevel.62.3.1Genderidentityinadvertisements.62.3.2SelectionofAdjectives72.3.3Compoundwords.82.3.4Useofpronouns83.Syntacticalfeatures93.1Similarities93.2Differences103.2.1Headlines.103.2.2Comparisonofheadlinesofdifferenttypesofads.114.Discoursefeatures.124.1Bodycopyofadvertisements.124.2Differencesinbodycopy.125.Conclusion141.Introduction1.1RationaleofthestudyWeliveinaworldofadvertising.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.2LexicalFeatures2.1ClassificationofadvertisinganditsaudienceGenerallyspeaking,advertisementscanbedividedintotwotypes:publicrelationadsandcommercialads.Theformertriestoadvocatereputationforasocialgroup,whosepurposeistoleaveafavorableimpressionuponthepotentialaudience.Thelatterleadstotheactofpurchasingtheproductsorusingtherecommendedservice.Commercialadsaremuchmorepresentedthroughmassmediaforthereasonthatmanufacturersandcompaniesarewillingtospendalargesumofmoneytomakeacertainproductknownortoboosttheimageofacertainbrand.Insomecases,competitors,likeCoca-colaandPerpsi,evensparenoexpensetolaunchadvertisingcampaignstowinoverthemarketshare.Commercialadvertisingcanalsobedividedaccordingtothetargetaudienceintotwogroups:consumeradvertisingandbusinessadvertising.Mostoftheadsinthemassmediaareconsumeradvertisements.Theyaretypicallydirectedatconsumers.Bycontrast,businessadvertisingtendstobeconcentratedinspecializedbusinesspublications,professionaljournals,tradeshowstargetingatacertaingroupofpeopleinvolvedinsomebusiness.Sinceconsumeradvertisingismostaccessibletocommonpeople,thepresentstudyonwillfocusonconsumeradvertising.Theclassificationofadvertisingisclearlyshowninthefollowinggraph:Graph1ClassificationofadvertisementsPublicadsDailyconsumergoodsadsAdvertisingConsumeradsTechnicalequipmentadsCommercialadsBusinessadsServiceads