A Brief analysis on the Language Characteristics of English Advertisements 英语专业毕业论文.doc

a brief analysis on the language characteristics of english advertisements 摘要摘要 随着世界各国交流的日益广泛和经济全球化进程的进一步加快，英语广告 已成为人们生活不可缺少的一部分。真可谓是广告生活化，生活广告化。 作为英语广告主要载体的广告英语在努力体现除了有帮助消费者认识商品 的作用外，还有诱发消费者感情，引起购买欲望、促进消费行动的心理功能， 遗留给消费者以美感享受的美学功能的过程中，逐渐形成了自己鲜明的特点。 本文探讨英语广告的语言特点，以便我们能欣赏并写出更好的英语广告语 篇。文章首先讨论广告的定义 原则及作用，说明英语广告研究的重要性。接着 探讨英语广告的主要用词特点，集中讨论简单的英语动词、形容词和复合词等； 然后论述英语广告的句法特点，聚焦于英语广告的常用句子及其功能；文章正 文的最后部分讨论英语广告中常见的主要修辞手段，包括明喻、隐喻、拟人、 押韵、反复等。 本文作者衷心希望此论文的分析结果能给英语广告的写作者以及广告英语 的学习者提供帮助。 关键词：关键词：广告英语，词汇，句法，篇章 abstract with increasing communication in the world and acceleration of economic globalization, english advertising has found its way into peoples life. which really reveal the integration between advertisements and life. the advertisement is a very important way to express information to public. it can not only help people to understand some knowledge of the products, but also attract peoples greater desire to buy the products, improve the trade and leave a beautiful impression on the people. so it has its obvious characteristics in these functions. this thesis makes an attempt to explore the language characteristics of english advertisements so that we may be able to appreciate and write english advertising texts better. the thesis attempts to approach the main language characteristics and definition of english advertisements, the basic function of advertising and the principle of advertising. tell us the important of researching english advertisement, then, talking about the main lexical characteristics of english advertisements, such as verb adjective compound words and so on. and then, telling the syntactic characteristics of english advertisements, focus on the frequently-used sentence and function the last part of text is the frequently-used rhetorical, including simile metaphor personification rhyme repetition etc. it is hoped that the study can shed light on the language features of advertisements and also provide help to copy writers and advertising english learners. key words: english advertisements, lexical, syntactic, rhetorical contents introduction1 1 brief introduction.1 2 key points 1 3 rationale of the study.1 advertising2 1 definition of advertising2 2 the functions of advertising .2 3 principle of advertising.2 advertising language3 1 definition of language3 2 advertising language3 3 the characteristics of advertising language.3 conclusion.12 acknowledgement.13 references.14 1 introduction 1 brief introduction nowadays we find ourselves surrounded by all kinds of advertisements every day and everywhere. advertising provides a valuable service to society and its members：it defines for consumers the meaning and the role of products, services, and institutions. it indicates the difference that exists between brands of products and alternative services, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of companies and institutions. so advertising becomes indispensable in the modern world. as a tool of communication, language is the soul of an advertisement. it plays an important role in advertising. as a special kind of language, advertising language is very different from other language. it has become an important means of communicating ideas, demonstrating a variety of linguistic features of its own, these features in morphology, syntax, and rhetorical devices. this paper will focus on the characteristics of advertising language. it is hoped that, by analyzing the characteristics of advertising language, bringing the consumers to light, and offering help to advertisement writers and language learners. 2 key points this paper explains what is advertising, what is language, the function of advertising, which can help reads understand advertising better. the third part is the keystone that detailed in characteristics of advertising language. many successful advertisements are given to help the consumers to comprehend these characteristics. 3 rationale of the study now we live in a world of advertising. advertisements in english have become an important means of communicating ideas, demonstrating a variety of linguistic features of its own. the wide use of advertising has created a special style of english- advertising english. its of unique features. simple language and immerse attraction separate it from other kind of language. in the process of the development of advertising english, this kind of language has formed its own features in several 2 aspects. advertising 1 definition of advertising today, advertising belongs to the modern industrial world, and to those countries which are developing and becoming industrialized. with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. according to the definition committee of american marketing association, advertising is defined as follows: advertising is the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media. 2 the functions of advertising 2.1 marketing function advertising promotes sales and profits, by making people aware of products, service and ideas 2.2 social function advertising is one of the major forces that are helping improve the standard of living around the world. 2.3 communicational function advertising tells the consumer what a specific product, brand or service should do when it is used and thus helps him or her to understand and evaluate experience with the products and services that he or she uses. and others basic functions of advertising are: education effect, encouragement of competition, guidance of consumption, promotion of sales and transmission of information. 3 principle of advertising the principle of possessiveness: the passive voice is usually avoided because the 3 passive voice gives the audience an indirect and unnatural feeling. in daily communication, passive voice is seldom used; so is in advertisements. others principle of advertising are principle of artistry, principle of credibility, principle of science etc. advertising language 1 definition of language language is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is purposeful act. it is social and conventional in that language is a social semiotic and communication can only take place effectively if all the users share a broad understanding of human interaction including such associated factors as nonverbal cues, motivation and socio-culural roles .language learning and use are determined by the intervention of biological, cognitive, psychosocial and environmental factors. 2 advertising language in modern society, advertisement takes many forms, in most of which, however, language is of crucial importance. advertising language as a special kind of language is very different from common language. it has its own characteristics in stylistic and rhetorical devices. simple and attraction are two general features of english advertisement. to sell commodities or increase sales is the ultimate goal of advertisement, which decides that its language should be simple and sweet. 3 the characteristics of advertising language 3.1 lexical features 3.1.1 use of verbs the ultimate purpose of advertising is to persuade consumers to buy its products, so the advertisers try their best to promote their product; but advertisements seldom use the word “buy” in it. because they dont want to give the consumers a feeling of spending their money. therefore, the choice of verbs is very careful in advertising. g. n. leech, english linguist, lists 20 most used verbs in his english in advertising: 4 linguistic study of advertising in great britain. they are: make, get, give, have, see, buy, come, go, know, keep, look, need, love, use, feel, like, choose, take, start, taste. here are some examples of how these words can be used: 1) well make this quick. (hertz car return) 2) get great coverage thats so weightless and water-fresh. (almay) 3) all you need is a taste for adventure. (millstone coffee) 4) dont have much of a personality? buy one. (honda motor) 5) getting places in the business world is easier if your banker is there to meet you. -security pacific asian bank. 3.1.2 tse of adjectives the most frequently used adjective are as follows: new, good(better, best), fine, comfortable, well, lasting, fast, efficient, superb, top, up-to-date, hot, warm, cool, easy, convenient, young, healthy, clean, safe, these adjectives help to build a pleasant picture in readers minds and manage to create a belief in the potential consumer: if i buy this product or if i choose this service, i will lead a better life. in advertisements, adjectives render the language more colorful and enhance the attractiveness of the advertised product. therefore, adjectives are called the “blood” in building up an advertisement text. for some examples: 1) nothing comes closer to home. (vegetable and chicken pasta bake) 2) once, only the most expensive paper made great covers. that was before new scott coated cover. scot 3) think lysol is the best disinfecting spray. (disinfecting spray) 3.1.3 the wide use of the loan words the loan words in some advertisement are good methods to express the exoticism of the products. and these loan-words carry a vivid tone of the countries they are originated from. kimono (和服), sake (日本酒), sushi (寿司), tea-culture (茶道), 5 toufu (豆腐), taekwondo (跆拳道), kungfu (功夫), etc .these words just take the native tongues sound to create a new english word. it has been accepted by many english native speakers for some examples: 1) we have the chief chef from paris. 2) this is a real la cusine from the sun-shone south part of france. 3) bon appetite is your expectation and our promise. 3.1.4 frequent use of compounds compounding is the creation of a new word by joining two or more words. words formed in this way are compounds. compounds are very often used in english advertisement, because the compound words are brevity and vividness. it has few limits in grammar and word order. the most important, compounds make advertising copies more eye-catching and easier to impress curious minds. compound words are not restricted by word order and can be flexibly put together to form new words. therefore, they are increasingly used by the copywriters. compound words can be divided into two major groups: noun: noun + noun adjective + noun gerund + noun present participle + noun verb + noun noun + verb adverb + verb verb + adverb adjective: noun + adjective adjective + adjective present + participle + adjective noun + present participle noun + past participle adjective + present participle 6 adjective / adverb +past participle according to these rules, advertisement copy writers prefer compound words very much, with which they can create a lot of new vivid and striking words. for example: 1) the any-time cereal 2) fifteen happy-family menus 3) color freshness 4) egg pits 5) jelly addict 6) time-saving oven 3.1.5 the first personal pronoun is used in the advertisement pronouns of the first and second person: we, i and you outnumber the other pronouns in advertisements. the first reason is, you, we and i help create a friend-like intimate atmosphere to move and persuade the audience. second, the audience will easily accept a product, a service or an idea as if a good friend recommended them. in other word, it makes customer feel that what is said worth trusting as the story teller is one of the customers actually. the following example can show how effective this tone can be: 1) what can we do for you? so come on and join us as we celebrate millennia mania singapore. 2) ive replaced 1,453 diapers, and 18 baby-sitters, but never the bulb since i became a dad two years ago. a bulb manufacturer 3.1.6 contraction words as known by all, the language of advertising words is always short and simple. there are lots of contraction words in advertising. there are mainly two reasons: the advertising fees will be very high if too many words are used and the most important is that it is more memorable. so its essential to use some contraction to cut the length, reduce the cost and make advertisements easily understood. for some examples: 1) to let or for sale furnished edinburgh court, 426 argyly st, 2nd floor, 1,630 sqft4 bedrooms with 7 dining and living room, prive garage. sale at 130,000. rent 1,400. tel, 38954 office time or 823748. this is an advertisement to rent or sell a house. there are many contractions, such as: st=street, sq=square, ft=foot, tel=telephone. 3.1.7 originality in spelling in some of advertisements, the advertising copywriter misspells some words ,although the new words still keep the original meanings, they are quite different from the original words in spelling, which will make the advertisement more vivid, interesting and attractive. e.g.: 1) we know eggsactly how to sell eggs. in this advertisement, “eggsactly” is the variation of “exactly”, and echo the word “eggs” at the end of the sentence. 2) the orangemostest drink in the world. in this drink advertisement, the word “orangemostest” actually is “orange+most+est”. it uses this word to express the high quality and purity of the drink. 3.2 syntactic features 3.2.1 more simple sentences, less complex sentences it will get better effect to use simple sentences than complex sentences, if the reader hesitates at an unknown word, attention is lost. therefore every word must be easily understood and there must be no ambiguity. and shot words, shot sentences, shot paragraphs help to demonstrate the message and make it easy and quick to read and absorb. of course simple sentence can reduce the cost of advertising. sample rouge idole indelibly divine lipcolour colour that kissed, but never tells, endlesscmfort, only lancome made indelible lipcolour feel so divne 8 rouge diole 3.2.2 frequent use of questions compared with other varieties of the english language, english advertisement also claims a multitude of interrogative sentences or questions, because interrogative sentences are quick and effective to arouse readers response. interrogatives can be classified into four types: yes/no interrogatives (general questions), tag questions, wh-questions (special questions) and alternative questions. in advertising, except the last type, the other three are all frequently exploited. for example: 1) why not let the world largest estate sales organization helps you? 2) dinner? done. dominospizza 3) are you still feeding your six-month-old an infant formula? 3.2.3 frequent use of imperative sentences the imperative sentences have a meaning of claiming, calling and commanding. and imperatives always carry request, instruction, command and persuasion in them. similarly the ultimate purpose of advertisement is to prompt consumers to purchase the advertised products and persuade and urge consumers to accept its product or service. therefore, the imperative sentences are widely used in many advertisements: 1) have a little fruit after dinner. this is an advertisement of juice drink. by the way of some indirect methods it encourages the readers to buy the product. 2) give your hair a touch of spring. the hair-caring advertisement uses the word “spring” which carries two means the color and the flexibility of hair. 3.2.4 disjunctive clause disjunctive clause is unique for advertising english, which separates a long, complex sentence into several simple sentences by using full stop, dash, semi-colon, hyphen, etc. those sentences are independent in form, but are related in the content. the use of disjunctive clause could add more information and save more space and 9 money. the separated parts are usually the features of the product, so that they could emphasize the good points of the product. there is an example of amtrak, which has successfully used the disjunctive clauses: amtrak has created a new. nationwide passenger rail system. literally from the ground up. a system that represented a viable alternative for people who fly. for business or pleasure. 3.3 rhetorical approaches in english advertisement 3.3.1 simile simile is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. 1) light as a breeze, soft as a cloud. 2) ride like a feather in your pocket. 3.3.2 metaphor a metaphor is an implied comparison between two things which are of unlike nature but which have one or more features in common. metaphor is widely used in advertising language. it serves as a means by which the reader is led to bring his old knowledge to bear upon the comprehension of a new idea. by using metaphors, copywriters usually associate their products with something that is universally regarded as positive. in short, the use of metaphor is to make the presentation of the advertising more striking and effective. 1) fresh food and fresh air. the perfect recipe for a healthy life, ive chosen. its candy. in the ads of the refrigerator, “fresh food and fresh air“ is compared to “the perfect recipe for a healthy life”. it is lively and vivid. 3.3.3 personification personification is a figure of speech that gives life and personal attributes to inanimate objects. and that inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as people. personification can give lives or personal attributes to commodities, and make the commodities advertised full of feelings so as 10 to strengthen its affinity. the use of personification in advertising will endow the products with human emotions and characteristics and will make them amicable to consumers. for example: 1) flowers by interflora speak from the heart. -interflora 2) we are proud of the birthplaces of our children, the grapes of almaden. on our classic varietal wines, you will find the birthplaces of our children. -almaden 3) unlike me, my rolex never needs a