唐海英论文终稿范文.doc

唐海英论文终稿范文 An Analysis of Metaphorsin English Advertisement AThesis SubmittedTo ForeignLanguage DepartmentOf College of Information&Business,Zhongyuan University of TechnologyIn PartialFulfillment of the RequirementsFor theDegree ofBachelor ofArts ByTang HaiyingStudent IDNumber:xx80031314Supervisor LiNa May,xx论文摘要随着经济全球化的进一步加快，在商业社会中，广告已经深入到生活的各个角落。 广告的传播效应离不开文字的作用,它是广告的灵魂,它对广告的成败起着关键性的作用。 每一篇广告都是一个完整的语篇,每个语篇可以传达一些词语以外的信息。 换而言之,广告在充分发挥其信息功能时,还有其特殊的劝说功能。 传统的隐喻观念认为隐喻只是一种语言现象,而现代隐喻观认为隐喻更是一种认知现象,是一种思维方式。 隐喻在英语广告中被广泛运用，它使广告更具创新性,帮助广告实现其目的。 本文将首先对隐喻和广告进行了简单介绍；其次运用大量的例子来洞悉隐喻在广告中的本质与作用，最终实现广告的目的；最后，为了更好地诠释英语广告中的隐喻，分析了人们在英语广告中对隐喻理解不一的两大原因。 (1).Simple andInformal Thepurposeofadvertisementisto provideinformation,promise thequality,attract consumers and exploitmarkets,and.Therefore,admen mustpay attentionto theimpelling languageofadvertisement,so thefirst stepistouse popularand spokenlanguage tomakeiteasy to understand andmemorize. (2).Sophisticate andDeliberate Becauseof thenonpersonal featuresofadvertisement,the disseminationand operation of itshould berestricted bythe lawofacountry orthe moralstandards.Advertising languagemust bedeliberate andsophisticate toavoid trivialfaults.If our,enterprises haveno choicebut toapologizeforamistakeand suffera hugeloss.4.The Analysisof Metaphorin EnglishAdvertisement As amainway ofpromotingproductsorservices,advertisement playsa moreand moreimportant roleinthemercial society.And metaphormaks admento fulfillits purposeand function.From the view of cognition(cognition:That whiches to be known,as throughperception,reasoning,intuition orknowledge),metaphor isa modeof thinking,as wellasawayofspeaking.Naomi Quinn (1996),pointed outthat thepresence of metaphorinlinguistic expressionsreflects notonly theoperationofindividual metalstructures,but alsothe workingof differentcultural models.So,socio-culture and individuals konwledgeare importantto themetaphor understandingin English advertisements.4.1The Functionsof Metaphorin EnglishAdvertisement Metaphorplaysaquite importantrolein advertisement,tosomeextent,it helpsadvertising admenmunicate with the consumersmore effectively.General speaking,the functionsofmetaphorin Englishadvertisement include:economy,efficiency,euphemism andaesthetics.The followingtext,some advertisingexamples willbe takento demonstratehow metaphorapplies in Englishadvertisement.4.1.1The EconomicFunction From theview of linguistics(linguistics:The study of the nature,structure,and variationof language),economy refersto thephenomenon thata simple,concise andeconomic formof expressionis alwayspreferred overa plicated,lengthy andprolix formin languageuse.It reflectssuch atendency thatpeople willsay nomore thannecessary intheir municationswith others.Asaresult of this,people willuse avariety ofways toeconomize theirspeech,while ensuringthe auracyand clarityin munications.Economy isessential toadvertisement forits spaceis costly.The mostdistinct featureofmetaphoris brief,because aword orphase canimply much information andevoke audienceto imagethe wholehappening.Many idiomsare usedin advertisements.Admen take advantage of the characteristicsofthe idioms,which havetheir stabilityand fixednature,and greatlyshorten thepsychological distancebetween sendersand receivers.Example1:A Marsa daykeeps youwork,rest andplay.(Advertisement forchocolate)This advertisementcontains twoidioms.The structureof thissentence evokesreaders to associate itwith“An applea daykeeps thedoctor away”.The words“rest”and“play”are usedtogether,which associateswith anotheridiom weall known,“All workno playmakes Jacka dullboy”.Admen notonlymake useofthe structureof idioms,but alsoquote thecontent ofthe idioms.It looksas ifeating aMar a day notonly keepspeople healthy,butalsomakes themactive when they work,while relaxwhen theyrest.Example2:The prosewithoutthecon.(Advertisement forwatch namedTime)This advertisementoriginates fromtheidiom.The words“pros”and“cons”mean thearguments forand againstsomething.“pro”isanoun,which means an opinionin favorofsomething;“con”meansanopinion againstsomething.Meanwhile,aording to the similarities in pronunciationand form,“prose”replaces“pros”.Moreover,“con”have anothermeaning:cheating.Making referenceto theorigin meaningof idiom,people canfind metaphoricalmeaning thatTime wont confuseand cheatreaders.4.1.2The EffectiveFunction Peopleare bombardedby1,600mercial messagesaday,of which80are constantlynoticed andabout12provoke somereaction.Thus,admen mustdesign themessage thatis easyfor consumersto memorize.Philip WardBurton andScott C.Purvis(xx:78)said:“An advertisementshould bepresented withattractive languageeasy tograsp consumerseyeballs,convincing prosebacked upbyalayout thattiesinand isequally easyto follow”.Metaphor is an importantway inthe developingoflanguage,which canmake thelanguage moreefficiency.Example3:Give aTimext to all,and to all agood time.(Advertisement forwatch)New wordsand phrasesare createdfor attractingthe consumersattention.Combining severalwords orparts of words to convey asmuchinformationas possibleinthelimited spacefor advertisementsisanideal kindof device.The aboveadvertisementisa sloganof Timextwatch.It isnot difficultto seethat the word“Timext”is coinedby bining“time”and“excellent”,which meanstime isprecise in this watch.The characteristicofthiswatch isvividly shown,making itsname hardtobeforgotten.Example4:Daylay eggs.This isan eggadvertisement ofa Britishsupermarket.The sentence“Egg wasjust sentto themarket forthe nexthour afterlaying”behind theadvertisement.Admen use“daylay”to meanthat theegg isfresh,meanwhile consumerscould associatethe word“daylay”with“daily”,which showsthattheegg isnecessary indailylife.4.1.3The EuphemisticFunction Euphemismes fromGreek,“eu”isaprefix,which means“good;“pheme”means“saying”or“speech”,and togethermeans“good/pleasant speech”,“to speakwith goodwords”or“inapleasant manner”.Euphemism maybe usedto hideunpleasant ordisturbing ideas,even when the literalterm forthem isnot necessarilyoffensive.When aphrase is used asa euphemism,it oftenbees ametaphor whoseliteral meaningis dropped.Metaphorical languagecan substitutean inoffensiveor pleasantterm fora explicit,offensive one,thereby avoidingrevealing secret,holy,or sacredwords ina conversation.Example5:John Couldnt Stand the PressureJohn whistledand youslammed thedoor onhim.He squeakedand youjiggled hishandle.Now indesperation,he isdoing NiagaraFalls routine.But hadyou lookedinto Johns tanksearlier,you couldhave saveda lotof mopping.His problemis obvious.An out-dated corrodedball cock(Advertisement forlavatory)John isa monname ofmale in America.But ifpeople write“j”substitute thecapital letter“J”,it bees“john”,which meansthe lavatoryinAmericaslang.In this advertisement,it describeslavatory asa person,who hasa badtemperliking toplain.Instead ofthe words“lavatory”that mayoffend orsuggest somethingunpleasant to the consumers,admen usethemetaphortomakethis advertisementless troublesome,more tactfuland elegant.Example6:Give megreen world,or giveme yesterday.This isa cosmetic advertisement imitatingthe verse“Give meliberty,or giveme death”written byAmerican poetPatrick Henry.“Yesterday”is usedto implyold youngskin,because“old”isthemost tabooword to consumers incosmeticadvertisement.Therefore,admen usethe theword“yesterday”instead of“old”tactfully to express thesame meaning,and itturns outthe differenteffect.So theindirect andeuphemistic characteristicsofmetaphorgreatly increasethe effectivenesstotheadvertisement.4.1.4The AestheticFunction Aestheticsisthephilosophical notionof beauty,monly knownas thestudyofsensory values,and sometimescalled judgmentsof sentimentand taste.More broadly,scholars inthe fielddefine aestheticsas criticalreflection onart,culture andnature.Objects areaesthetically valuable,if (1)They possessa specialaesthetic propertyor exhibitaspecialaesthetic form. (2)They havethe capacityto conveymeaning orto teachgeneral truth. (3)They havethe capacityto producepleasure inthose whoappreciate them. (4)They havethe capacityto conveyvalue orbelief centraltotheculture ortradition in which theyoriginate,or importanttotheartists whomade them. (5)They havethe capacityto helpbring aboutsocial orpolitical change. (6)They havethe capacityto producecertain emotionwe value,at leastwhentheemotion isbrought aboutby artrather thanby life. (7)They havethe capacityto producespecial non-emotional experience,such asa feelingof autonomyofthewill orsuspension ofdisbelief.Advertising isan art,which canbring pleasuretoconsumers.Example7:Through MutualAffinity WeMeet,Through CALthe WorldGrows Smaller.(Advertisement forCAL)CAL isChinas Airlinein Taiwan.The word“affinity”means“a strongfeeling thatyou understandor likesb/sth”.In China,the words“mutual affinity”indicates“缘分”.To Chinese,this advertisementmakes themfeel intimateand novel.Aording tothe principle of aesthetic,this advertisementobserves theprinciple of“They havethe capacitytoconveyvalue orbelief centraltotheculture ortradition inwhich theyoriginate,or importanttotheartists whomade them.”andtheprincipleof“They havethe capacityto producecertain emotionswe value,atleastwhentheemotion isbrought aboutby artrather thanby life.”Most Chinesebelieve inmutual affinity,of whichadmen takeadvantage toconvince passengersof thatthinking meetingwere arrangedby fate.It buildsa bridgeof prehensionon thistopic,helps CALestablish aclose relationshipwith passengersand pletesan aesthetireation.4.2FactorsofMetaphor Understandingin EnglishAdvertisement Advertisementisaspecial conversation,inwhichmetaphor expresstionsseem strangeand abnormal,and peopleare difficultto understandfrom similaritybetween tenorand vehicle.Metaphor understandinginvolves bothsocio-cultural factorandindividualfactor.4.2.1Socio-cultural FactorFromtheview ofcognition,metaphorisa uniqueconceptual phenomenoninlanguage,which reflectsand influencesthewaywe prehendthe world.Metaphor isawayofcognitionoftheworld andrefection ofculture.It isthe resultof humancognition andunderstanding oftheworld,and manycultural phenomenaare reflectedand relatedthrough metaphor.Aording toSapir(1958:20-23),theword“culture”isusedtothetotality ofbehavior patternswhich arecarried bytradition andlodged inthe groupas contrastedwiththerandom personalactivities ofthe individual.”The westernand Chinesehave formedtheir distinctculture respectively,andthedifference canbe clearlyrepresented inmetaphors.For example,color metaphorsare closelyrelated toour subconsciousthoughts andalso serveas indexof culturaldifferences.Chinese viewthe coor“red”asahappy color,which connoteshappiness,job andprosperity,and peoplelike todress redin festivalstoexpressand prayfor happiness.But in English,the color“red”is associatedwith blood,anger,crime andwar.Thus,there arephrases like“see red”,meaning beextremely anglyin English.So,if admentakeadvantageof metaphorsinadvertisement,it willturn outasuessfulresult.If admenapply wrongones toadvertisement,it wouldharm thereputation ofthe products.There aremany idioms,proverbs andpoems quotedin advertisements,while customerscan notreally understand the advertisementsjust focuson meaningofwords,so theyshould makeclear outthe implicationofculture.4.2.2IndividualFactorIn analysisthenatureoftheshared informationinvolved inmunication,Sperber&Wilson introducedthe notionofacognitive environment,which isessential tometaphor understanding:A cognitiveenvironment ofan individualisaset offacts thatare manifestto him.A factis manifesttoanindividual ata giventime ifand onlyif,the individualis capableat that time ofrepresenting itmentally andaepting itsrepresentation astrue orprobably true.(Sperber&Wilson,1995:39)An individuals cognitiveenvironment consistsnotonlyofall the facts that he is awareof,but ofallthefactsthatheiscapable ofbeing awareof atthattime and place.The samemetaphorical utterancecanbeinterpreted bycustomers inquite differentways,some metaphorsrelate tomon sense,if customersare lackof knowledgeinthisrespect,and theycan notfigure outthe genuinemeaning.Example8:To methe pastis blackand white,but thefuture isalways colorful.This isa wineadvertisement.Here,“black”,“white”and“colorful”are metaphors.Black isa darkcolor,and whiteisaweak color,so itis easyfor consumerstoassociatethat something is inanimate.The words“colorful”means thatsomethingisvery interestingor meaningful.Through theexplanation above,thisadvertisementmakes consumersfeel thatlife ishumdrum andboring before,while meaningfulin furturefromtheviewoflife.If customersexplain itfrom anotherpoint ofview,they wouldhave abetter understanding.“Black andwhite”and“colorful”refer tothe inventiontelevision.We allknow thatthe developingprocess oftelevision,whichthewhite andblack televisiondevelopes intocolor television.So consumersunderstandthemeaning inEnglishadvertisementrelevant toindividual cognitiveenvironment,and admenwho intendanadvertisementtobeinterpreted ina particularway mustexpect theconsumerstobe abletounderstandfrom differentangles.5.Conclusion Thepurposeofthis thesisistoexplicate thevalue ofmetaphortoEnglish advertisements.With thisgoal inmind,four kindof functionson metaphorhave beenintroduced throughsome advertisingexamples.Fromtheanalysis andstudy above,itisproved thatmetaphorisa importantfactor inEnglishadvertisements,which contributesa lotto suessfuladvertisements.For thisreason,admen oftenmakeuseofitto increasethe readabilityand attractionof advertisements,so asto arouseconsumersinterest ofbuying products.General speaking,aoding tothe modernmetaphor theories,metaphorical expressioninEnglishadvertisementisthe intrinsicquality oflanguage,which isinevitably basedon specifiulture andindividual cognition.So,if admenintend toproduce advertisementeffectively andaurately bymetaphor,theyhaveto considerindividual cognitionof theirconsumersandinward socio-culture.This paperhas providedus ananalysis tothemetaphorinEnglishadvertisements fromits functions.Undoubtfully,the useofmetaphorgives advertisementsanother newbirth,makes advertisementslively andimpresses thecustomers greatly,but metaphorisadifficult sociolinguisticphenomenon andextensively usedin peoples dailylife.Therefore,its stillworthy ofdoing furtherresearch andexploration.Multi-disciplinary,multi-angle,and multi-level studieson metaphorare necessary.Its hopefulthatthestudy canprompt theforeign languagescholarsflexibility ofuseofmetaphorinunication.References Cook,Guy. (1992).The DiscourseofAdvertising.London:Routledge.I.A.Richards. (1986).Approaches an