On Pun Using in the English Advertisement 英语专业毕业论文.doc

on pun using in the english advertisementabstract：pun as a humorous game of words has a close relation with ambiguity. it makes use of the phenomenon of homonym to make a word or a sentence with double meaning in the given language context skillfully. the expression of pun is implicit, euphemistic, humorous, which can produce a strong humorous artistic effect to the reader or the audience. therefore, people can enjoy the cultivation of art and the enjoyment of beauty while they acquiring the information. so pun is used widely in english advertisement. to learn and study english pun is helpful in cultivating the habit of thinking in english and improving the abilities to understand and express english. pun covers many aspects of our life, including advertisement, language communication, literature creation, media, etc. pun as a rhetoric device in english advertisement is one of the basic means to form concepts and express ideas. with china entering the wto. we want our products to be popular among the world. advertisement, especially english advertisement, is essential. how to make perfect advertisement is very important. based on the theory of linguistic, this article firstly introduces the definition and essential characteristics of pun. secondly it discusses the function of pun in english advertisement. finally, it talks about the types of pun from different effects and different purposes in english advertisement. this article means to explore the language system of the formation of pun and the practicable value of pun in english advertisement.key words: pun, semantic, advertising language摘 要: 双关语是一种幽默的文字游戏，与语义歧义紧密相连，它巧妙地利用同音异义或一词多义现象使一个词法或句子具有两种不同的含义，不直接表露，显得含蓄委婉，而又十分幽默新奇，能对读者或听众产生一种强烈的幽默风趣的艺术效果，使人们的感知信息的同时，得到艺术物熏陶和美的享受，并留下深刻的印象。学习和研究英语中的双关，有助于培养地道的英语思维习惯，提高理解和表达英语的能力，双关涉及到我们生活的许多方面，包括广告、语言交际、文学创作、新闻媒介等。双关在英语广告中的运用是人们形成和表达要领的重要途径之一。而且随着中国加入世贸组织，要想更多的产品走向世界市场，产品的英语广告里必不可少的，怎样设计出好的广告非常重要。本文将应用语言学的理论，先简单阐述双关的定义及其本质特征，然后探讨双关语在英语广告中的不同作用，最后根据英语广告的效果和目的对英语广告中的双关语进行分类。本文的意义在于进一步探讨双关语产生的语言机制和双关语在广告中的实用价值。从而根据其分类进行英语广告设计。 关键词：双关语；语义；广告语言contentsabstracti摘 要iicontentsiiiintroduction 11. the basis about puns formation21.1 definition 21.2 the essential characteristics of pun 2 1.2.1 the utterance meaning fall onto the different meaning 2 1.2.2 double context32. the functions of pun in english advertisement 32.1 reinforce the appeal of language 42.2 strengthen the effects of rhetoric 42.3 transmit the emotion 42.4 produce associative meaning 53. types of pun in english advertisement 53.1 pun about homophone and homograph 63.2 pun about grammar7 3.3 pun on parody 83.4 pun on trademark 93.5 pun on alphabet 9conclusion 10bibliography 11 introductionpun is one of the most common rhetorical devices used in english advertisement. why is pun used in english advertisement? on one hand, pun as a humorous game of words has a close relation with ambiguity. it makes use of the phenomenon of homonym and polysemant to make a word or a sentence with different meanings. and the expression of pun is implicit, euphemistic and humorous, which can produce a strong humorous artistic effect to the reader or the audience. therefore, people can enjoy the cultivation of art and the enjoyment of beauty while they are acquiring the information. on the other hand, the principle of english advertisement requires the most complicate meaning in the fewest words. pun, owing to its concise language and rich connotation, meets demands of advertisement in all aspects. thus, pun is widely adopted in all kinds of english advertisement to achieve the best communication purpose. so it is necessary to learn and study pun as a rhetoric device in english advertisement, which is useful in cultivating the habit of thinking in english and improving the abilities to understand and express in english. taking english advertisement as an example, we are going to talk about pun as a rhetoric device in english advertisement in details, including its definition, essential characteristics, functions as well as types. this article means to explore the language system of the formation of pun and the practicable value of pun in english advertisement.1. the basis about puns formation1.1 definitionwhat is a pun? a pun is defined as “to play on words, or rather to play with the form and meaning of words, for a witty or humorous effect.”1 pun belongs to the category of synecdoche, which is the evidence that pun can be independent on the way of expression. in essence, pun is to borrow those words that are of the same or similar pronunciation to express different meanings. from these, we can know some characteristics of pun. 1.2 the essential characteristics of punthere are two essential characteristics of pun. one is the utterance- meaning falls onto the different meanings. the other is with double contexts 2.1.2.1 the utterance meaning falls onto the different meaningthe first essential characteristic of pun is the utterance- meaning falls onto the different meaning of the same word or same (similar) pronunciation. to realize the purpose of pun on the expression of the speakers real intention, pun intends to take the advantage of the different meanings which homo- phonous words and politely can produce.for example:1) “trust us, over 5000 ears of experience”this is an english advertisement of audiphone. the advertiser makes use of the pair of homophonous words “ears and years to produce the different meanings. when this advertisement takes the meanings of “years”, it indicated the long history of the product and the excellent quality that has been tested for a long time.2) “spoil yourself and not your figure”it is a title of the advertisement for weight-watcher ice cream. this kind of ice cream is produced for the dieters “spoil” means “enjoying yourself”, while “spoil not your figure” means, “wont ruin your figure”. the advertise- ment indicates that youll not become fat after eating.1.2.2 double contextanother characteristic of pun is double context. one word with double meanings at the same time, each of its meaning should have its context.for example:3) “the driver is safer when the road is dry;”“the road is safer when the driver is dry;”this is a public interest advertised. “dry” in this advertisement has different contexts. “dry” in the first sentence means “not wet or without moisture”, while “dry” in the second sentence means “doesnt drink”. therefore, “dry” in different contexts produce different meanings.2. the functions of pun in english advertisementpun, owing to its many kinds of function, meets demands of adverti- sement in all aspects. thus, it is widely adopted in all kinds of english advertisement. now we will discuss the functions of pun in english advertisement in the following text.2.1 reinforce the effects of languagefrom the example 3 “the driver is safer when the road is dry; the road is safe when the driver is dry.” “dry” in this advertisement has double meanings which are “not wet without moisture” and “doesnt drink”. pun employed here for jocular and humorous effects. because of its effect, it is easy for people to accept the information of this advertisement and take action immediately.2.2 strengthen the effects of rhetoricas the use of pun, the advertising language is vivid so that it can strengthen the effects of rhetoric. for example:4) “oic” this is an advertisement for glasses. the pronunciation of those three letters is the same as “oh, i see” which explains the function of glasses vividly. pun on alphabets achieved the purpose of promoting sale of product successfully.2.3 transmit the emotionusing of pun can intensify the function of advertisement and change emotionless commodities into those with emotional colors that can stimulate consumers positive mood experience, and can enhance sales of commodities. this kind of function is especially reflected in the homophonic puns in english advertisement. for example:5) “sun and air for your son and heir. you will find beautiful sights in our sites.” in this advertisement, “sun-son” “air-heir” and “sight-site” is three pairs of homophonous words in this advertisement. so the use of them not only makes the advertisement easy to read and pleasing to ear, but also shows solicitude for consumers health.2.4 produce associative meaningusing of pun makes people think of the associative meaning which is brought in by the same advertisement according to their subliminal activities. this kind of function usually appears in homographic puns in advertisement. people can choose different meaning according to different psychological intention in different situations to make a kind of psychological content. for example, “a deal with us means a great deal to you”, which brings a psychological comfort to the people.another example: 6)“youll go nuts for the nuts you get in nut.” “go nuts” has double meaning in this advertisement. one is “to buy nut”, the other is “crazy about something or somebody”. the use of pun makes people feel that the attraction of nuts is irresistible. it not only attracts peoples attention, but also makes people produce associative meaning. people can understand its profound meaning in humorous atmosphere.3. types of pun in english advertisement from the functions of pun in english advertisement, we know pun in advertisement can be classified by different criteria and for different purposes. there are many kinds of pun that are classified by pun words. here we will show five kinds. lets learn it one by one.3.1 pun on homophone and homographin this form of pun, it often uses the same sounds but with different spellings and meanings. the club med vacation _ v s room and bored.1this is an english advertisement for club med a tourist company; the pun is on “bored” which sounds like board in the phrase room and board.another example: 7) “with so many carrots, ill be a real gem!”it is an advertisement for pasty that is one of the products of betty corker food company. “carrot” and “croat” are homophonous words in this advertisement.the advertiser makes use of the meaning of “croat” to advertise the muffin pasty with the taste of carrot.pun on homograph is also called homograph puns, which makes use of multiple meanings from a single spelling.for example:8) “when the wind has a biteand you feel like a bitethen bite on a whole nut.”5“bite” in this advertisement has more than one meaning. the first meaning is “cause something or somebody to smart or sting” the second meanings is “food” and the third meanings “act of biting” the different meanings of “bite” stimulate consumers desire to buy the products.another example :9) “a deal with us means a good deal to you”.3this advertisement takes advantage the different meaning of “deal”. “deal” has three meanings in it. the first meaning is “having business relation with somebody”. the second meaning is “on certain good terms for buying or doing something”, and the last meaning is “much, a lot”. so, “a good deal” in this advertisement formed a pun successfully.3.2 pun on grammarpun on grammar is pun is that produced by the problem of grammar. such as “ellipsis” or one word phrase has more than one kind of grammar function. another example:10) “coke refreshes you like no other can”.2“can” in this advertisement has two kinds of grammar function. the first function of “can” is used as noun, which means “sealed tin in which food or drink is preserved”. another function of it is used as modal auxiliary. the meaning of this advertisement is “coke refreshes you like no other (can: tin, drink) can (refreshes you)”. from this advertisement we know some adverti- sement is very humorous, and it can leave a strong impression for readers. 3.3 pun on parodysome language of advertisement usually uses idioms which people are familiar with. this kind of advertisement is based on the society and the culture, which people have had and formed pun with distinctive language. so it not only strengthens the attraction of the advertisement itself but also embodies the artistic quality of advertisement language.for example: 11)“a mars a day keeps you working, rest and play.”2this advertisement for mars chocolate brings two familiar idioms back into the peoples mind. “an apple a day keeps the doctors away” and “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy”. this advertisement not only quoted the pattern of idioms in the form of language, but also quoted two idioms. from those familiar idioms, people acquired a new judgment that mars chocolate not only makes people healthy but also makes people full of vigor when they work and make them leisurely when they have rest.another example: 12) “all is well that ends well”.3in fact, this advertisement is an idiom. which means “the end is well all is well”. the advertisers use it in the cigarette advertisement. “end” has double meanings. when it is used as verb, it means “come to an end”. but when it is used as a noun, it means “a cigarette end”. from this advertisement, people can acquire a piece of information. it means the cigarette of end is well, all is well. 3.4 pun on trademark the distinctive quality of pun in advertisement is pun on trademark, the pleasant place of punning on trademark can make the reader cant help laughing, and can make a strong impression on the reader and make full of interest to the readers, so people will be interested in the products. for example: 13) wearever introduces a now concept in glass oven ware: cleanability.4the producer makes use of the different meanings of the brand “wear- ever” to promote the sale of their products. we know “wear-ever” is the brand of its product. but it can be explained, as “wear forever” which indicates the product is durable, it can also be explained as “wherever” which indicates the products is popular in everywhere. as the advertisement promotes sale of its products from more than one aspect, so that it can stimulate consumers desire to buy the p