淺論廣告英語的語言特點

1、隨著我國經(jīng)濟體制改革的深入和社會主義市場經(jīng)濟確實立與開展對外經(jīng)濟交往日益頻繁出口廣告逐漸開展成為企業(yè)促進出口銷售、開拓海外市場的一個主要手段。相應(yīng)地，外國廣告的大量涌入也使之成為我國企業(yè)和消費者獲取商品經(jīng)濟信息的重要來源。如何恰如其分地運用和理解廣告英語以實現(xiàn)廣告的目的，已是擺在進出口商、 廣告人員及廣闊消費者面前的一個現(xiàn)實問題。廣告英語文體的語言特點1 廣告英語的詞匯特點廣告英語的詞匯豐富多彩，但每一個詞的選擇與使用都效勞于推銷商品這一最終目的，因此它們往往具備煽動性和感染力。歸納起來主要表現(xiàn)如下：形容詞及其比擬級、最高級的使用。例如：Famous world wide gourmetcui

2、sine . Excellent daily specials and mouthwatering desserts .世界著名的美食烹調(diào)。精美的美日特色飯菜和令人垂涎的點心。Tasters richer mellower moresatisfying . 口味更濃 更醇更令人滿意。創(chuàng)造新詞、怪詞以引起新奇感，突出產(chǎn)品的新、奇、特，滿足消費者追求新潮、標榜個 性的心理。例如：卜。twogether the ultimate 日II inclusive one price sunkissedholiday .兩人共度一個陽光燦爛的假日，一切費用均包括在單人價格之內(nèi)。twogether取自toge

3、ther之音，又取 兩人之意比together更形象，倍添情趣。詞匯的重復(fù)。詞匯的重復(fù)是一種常用的技巧，可以起強調(diào)、渲染的作用，而這恰恰是廣 告語言所要追求的效果。例如：ssemble . 日光牌簡便燒烤架廣告使用縮略詞和復(fù)合詞以節(jié)省廣告篇幅。廣告寫作中常盡可能縮短篇幅，以降低本錢?？s略詞和復(fù)合詞的使用比比皆是。例如： Where to leave your troubles whe n you fly JAL . 乘坐日航班機，一路無憂。JAL是Japan Airlines的縮寫形式。雅語、俗語平分天下，色彩繽紛。例如：The home of your dreams awaits you b

4、ehind this door . Whether you t韻怕 be 日 country manor estate or 日 penthouse in the sky you will find the follow ing pages filled with the worlds most elega nt.resid翻開門,等著您的就是夢寐以求的家。無論您想要一座鄉(xiāng)間宅第，或者是一間摩天大樓的頂屋，翻開 下面幾頁就可以看到世界上最美的住宅，供您挑選。廣告中的await , be, ma nor elega nt ,reside nee都是正是場合下才使用的雅語詞匯，它們在這里代替了俗語

5、的wait, is,house , nice , place 。2 廣告英語的句法特點簡單短句多，醒目易懂。例如： Fresh Up with Seven up .請飲七喜，倍添精神。并列句多，簡潔明了，易于理解；平行結(jié)構(gòu)，加深印象。例如：In troduci ng FITNESSmagazine . ITS 日DOUl 花日IEIt百日DOUl 巳紀CISeItS about your image your ene rgyand your outlook .向您推薦?健康?雜志：說健康、說鍛煉、說形象、說精力、說展望。 省略句多，語言凝練。例如：You II enjoy relaxed su

6、nny days . Warm crystal Clerlagoons . Cool greEntoli日ge. Waterfalls . Flowers . Exotic scents . Bright blue skies . Secluded beaches . Graceful palms .Breathtak ing sun sets . Soft eveningbreezes . And food that simply outstanding.您會享受這陽光明媚的輕松日子。溫暖、清澈的環(huán)礁湖，清涼、碧綠的樹葉，瀑布，花叢，異樣的芬芳，明亮的藍天，幽靜的海灘，優(yōu)美的棕櫚，壯麗的日落

7、，輕柔的晚風。還有那絕妙的食物。從溫暖、清澈的環(huán)礁湖到輕柔的晚風一連串名詞短語代替了You II enjoy 的句子。不僅簡潔緊湊，而且又鮮明有力。祈使句多，具有強烈的煽動色彩。例如： So come into McDon ald s and enjoy big Mac Sandwich .走進麥當勞，享用大三明治。否認句少。即使使用否認句，也是為了用其他商品來反襯，或從反面突出產(chǎn)品特性。例女口： We would never say the new Audi A4 is the best in its class . We don t have to . 我 們根本不必說新型奧迪A4同類車中

8、最好的。沒有這個必要。常用主動語態(tài)和現(xiàn)在時，給人一種直接感，并暗示商品的持久和永恒特性。例如：Harmony of style and performa nee set this new Mazda 6 a part . Qualities are at the heart of every Mazda .式樣與性能的協(xié)調(diào)一致使新型馬自達6與眾不同。質(zhì)量是馬自達的核心。3 .廣告英語的修辭特點有人稱其為 半文學體sub literarygenre Leech ,1969 ，因此廣告中常使用修辭手段。比喻analogy : Featherwater : light as a feather .法

9、澤瓦特眼鏡：輕如鴻毛。擬人perso ni ficatio n ： Flowers by In terflora speak from the heart .植物園培育的 鮮花傾訴衷腸。雙關(guān)pun： Ask for More .摩爾牌香煙的廣告押韻rhyming： Hi 帀 HTunHif日shion o川yfromSony .高保真，高樂趣，高時尚，只來自索尼。索尼音響的廣告重復(fù)repetition ： Dish after dish after dish . People expect us to be better .一 盤一盤又一盤。人們盼望我們更好。淺論廣告英語的語言特點摘要廣告，顧

10、名思義就是廣而告之。作為一種宣傳和傳播信息模式，廣告的作用不容無視，因為它不僅只是一種說服顧客進行消費的技巧，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例進行分析，并參照國外著名廣告人Guy Cook等的理論,詳細剖析了廣告英語的語言特點。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、 播送、網(wǎng)絡(luò)等。廣告具有鮮明的目的性，即說服顧客進行購置，這種目的性決定了其語言的特色性風格,使其獨立于其它文體，在語言學范疇內(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)生的一些語言學特點和廣告本身的社會性特點進行深入分 析

11、,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的根本定義，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、修辭學、詞匯學等理論切入，用大量例子分 析了廣告英語的語言特點，并從語篇分析的角度對其語言特點進行了剖析；在語篇分析的章節(jié)中,引用了 Guy Cook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，通過具體英語廣告實例對標題中的用詞、句子結(jié)構(gòu)、 稱謂模式、修辭格進行了闡述，分析了廣告語言對廣告效

12、果的影響；最后一章指出了廣告英語 開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，揭開了廣告華美詞藻下所掩蓋的非真實的廣告氣氛，批判了其模糊性誤導(dǎo)消費者的消極一面。關(guān)鍵詞：廣告;廣告英語;語言特點AbstractAs a way of propagatingand transmittinginformation,advertisingsroleconnot be underestimated because it is not only an artful technique in persuading people to buy, but also gradually has beco

13、me a must for social com muni cati on which in tur n in flue nces the developme nt of society and economy. The purpose of this paper is to study the linguistic features and sociologicalfeatures ofadvertisingEnglish,in the hope to help copywriters at home markets in theircreati ng process.Nowadays ad

14、vertising has penetrated into every corner of our life as its transmittingmedia in many forms:newspaper,magazine, TV, radio as well asnetwork.The goal of advertising decides its Ianguage to be simple and direct,distinct from the characteristics of other discourses. Thus an analysison thelinguistic f

15、eatures of advertising English in the linguistic field is worthwhile. Under such circumsta nces, a study on the lin guistic features of advertis ing En glish will have practical effects on the compos ing and tran slati ng work of the copywriters.The whole paper is divided into five chapters. The fir

16、st chapter traces back the originof advertisingand a brief introductionon the classifications, roles anddefi niti ons of advertis ing is prese nted for the later discussi on.The sec ond chapter in troduces the theory of advertiseme nts and stylistics, the precise balance of words (either spoken or w

17、ritten) and pictures is determined by the creative con cept and the medium used, but the comb in ati on of images and words makes up the Ian guage of advertis ing.The third chapter starts from the theories in syn tax, lexicology, rhetoric andends with the linguistic features analyzed in the field of

18、 discourse analysis.The fourth chapter comb ines the viewpoi nts from the previous chapter thirdand explores the effect of the advertising English as a whole advertising process.The last chapter, also the con clusi on part, shows that though advertis ing Ian guageappears to be flowery and refin ed,i

19、ts content is no bettertha n com mon estIanguagecould convey. By exposing the various techniquesadvertisers haveemployed in their writing, this part hopes to remind consumers that advertisingEn glish is gradually atta ining the n egative and ambiguous role in guidi ng peopleto buy.Keywords: Advertis

20、 ing, Advertis ing En glish, Lin guistic FeaturesChapter 1 In troducti onNo other stateme nt could have summed up the charm of advertiseme nt tha nwhat Aldous Huxley has comme nted. As he has said advertiseme nt as a literaryform is the most exciting, the most arduous literary form of all, and the m

21、ost preg nant in curious possibilities. In his comme nt he asserted advertiseme nt is a literary form and the copywriting process is the delightful and salubrious exercise for the mind. But all in all, what is advertis ing, and what makes it uniq ue?1.1 History of Advertiseme ntAdvertiseme nt emerge

22、d from the womb of commodityproduct ionand excha nge. The con diti on for the existe nee of advertis ing is at least a segme nt of the populati on must live above the subsiste nee level. When this situati on occurs it also becomes n ecessary for the producers of materially unn ecessary goods to do s

23、ometh ing to make people want to acquire their commodities. (Vestergaard and Schroder 4)The embryonic form of advertising in the world is street cries, which exist even today. Advertis ing was not unknown in ancient Greece and Rome, but advertis ing as we recog nize it did not start un til the seve

24、ntee nth cen tury in the West. It was at about this time that newspaper began to circulate. Before that, it is printing which was first inven ted in China and the n in troduced to the West that played a vital role in the product ion of print advertis in g. Classified (small ads) types of advertis in

25、g were dominant before the nin etee nth cen tury and style and Ian guage used in ads at that time ten ded to be direct and in formative. The in dustrial Revoluti on, which bega n in En gla nd in the mid-1700s and reached the Un ited States by the early 1800s, facilitated mass-production of goods. Me

26、anwhileadvertisingbecamemore and more importa ntin the in dustrial market. The great breakthrough foradvertis ing came only in the late nin etee nth cen tury. Tech no logyandmass-product ion tech niq ues were the n sufficie ntly developed for more firms to be able to turn out products of roughly the

27、 same quality and at roughly the same price. This brought on a crisis of over-production and under consumption which meant that the marketneededto be stimulated by advertising.At this timeadvertis ing cha nged its fun cti on from proclamati on to persuasi on. In the twen tieth cen tury, advertis ing

28、 developed rapidly alon gside the adve nt of new media-radio and televisi on in successi on.Accord ing to Richard Pollays content an alysis of two thousa nd print ads fromten leading magazines in the USA, ads have progressively turnedtowards theemoti onal rather tha n the in formative approach and t

29、here is a shift see ing huma n n ature as ratio nal to seem ing it as emoti on al.Today in China, while our economic structure is shifting from the entirely pla nned economy to the socialist market economy system, advertis ing is beco ming more and more active and sophisticated. In 1992, Ch in as ad

30、vertis ing expenditure reached $ 862 million, among the fastest growing countries in Asia.This year with the entry of China into WTO, this expe nditurefigure willun doubtedly rise up, which will support the view thatadvertis ingis anin dispe nsablemeans for provid ingthe in formati onthat all market

31、-orie ntedin dustrialized societies n eed for their econo mies to function efficie ntly.1.2 Classificati ons of Advertis ingAdvertising may be classified by medium(newspaper,magazine,radio,televisi on). By target audie nee (con sumer, in dustrial,bus in ess),by geography(intern ati on al, n ati on a

32、l, region al, local), or by its function or purpose (product or non-product, commercial or non commercial, primarydema ndor selectivedema nd, direct acti on or in direct acti on).Because it is difficult to gain access to eno ugh date for En glish commercials and ads on radio or TV, thus, the subject

33、 of this research paper will mainly concentrate on the print advertising.1.3 Roles of Advertisi ngAn advertisers main purpose is to prese nt and exhibit product or service, andto spread the in flue nee and coverage of which to the exte nt that the pote ntial purchas ing populati on becomes real and

34、actual. Simply put, advertisers try by the various means at their disposal to get people to buy the product or service advertised. Moreover, advertisers want pote ntial purchasers to con sider what is advertised to the exclusi on of all other similar products or services. They therefore attempt to c

35、on struct an advertiseme nt that will fully in volve the atte nti on of the potential purchaser and which will have a persuasive effect. Advertisersthuscreate a semiotic world in order to persuade their audience of essential rightness of purchas ing the product or service advertised.1.4 Defin iti on

36、s of Advertis ingAfter a brief in troducti on of the classificati ons and roles of advertis ing, we nowcome to the defi niti ons of advertis ing. From differe nt perspectives or purposes, the defi niti ons might also vary .In En glish, the word advertise has its origi n in advertere in Lati n, meani

37、ng to inform somebody of someth in g, to bring into no tice or to draw atte nti on to someth in g, etc. I n Chin ese, the equivale nt term gua nggao means widely announ ce.The father of modernadvertising, Albert Lasker said that advertisingwassalesmanship in print. Although the definition was given

38、long before the advent of radio and television, and the nature and scope of advertising at that time were con siderably differe nt tha n they are today, this ofte n-repeated say ing in dicatesthat the ultimate objective of advertis ing is to sell. Obviously it is not a work ing defi niti on because

39、we cannot use it to cover all advertiseme nts. Today, a widely quoted work ing defi niti on of advertis ing was put forward by Courtla nd L. Bovee and William F. Arens : Advertis ingis the non pers onalcom muni cati onofinformation,usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature,about products(goo

40、ds or services) or ideas byide ntifiedspon sors through variousmedia.(Cook,Guy. The Discourse of Advertis ing. London: Routledge,1992)Ano therlin guistBole ndefi nesadvertis ingas a Paid,non-pers onalcom muni catio nthrough various mass media by bus in ess firms, non profitorganizations, and individ

41、uals who are in some way identified in the message and who hope to informor persuade membersof a particular audienee.(Carter,Ronald and Goddard,Angela, Reah Danutaet al. Working with Texts.London:Routledge,1997)If the defi niti ons of advertis ing were too vague and abstract to comprehe nd, a few wo

42、rds of its function would help to clarify this crucial term. Broadly speaking, advertisementshave at least one of two functions:informing or persuading,although overlap may often take place in one single piece. The trick here is that an in formative advertiseme nt in forms the customer about goods,

43、services, or ideasand the n tells how toget them meansof an identifiedspon sor (Bole n6).Examplesofin formativeadvertiseme ntsare not a few,rangingfrom flyerstoin serti onsinmagaz ineand n ewspapers,all of thataim toadvertisenewThis type ofproducts/services or special prices on certainproducts/servi

44、ces.advertiseme nt gives basic, factual in formati on and sometimes shows a photos oran illustration of the product/service to give the target audienee a better view about the advertised product.Persuasive advertiseme nts are thus the in strume nts used by advertisers whohave defined their targetaud

45、iencesand determinedthe effect they hope toachieve through persuasive advertisements in the media (Bolen 9). And a persuasive advertiseme nt should try to persuade the pote ntial customers to buy the new product. (Bolen 6) The persuasive function is not only limited to attracting the potential custo

46、mer into buying a certain object, but also including the sellingof services, ideas, norms and values.To summarize, we would get the idea that firstly advertis ingis acom muni catio n process. Secon dly, at least a medium is used. Thirdly, this com muni catio n process has a defi nite purpose to conv

47、ince the target audie nee.The above three characteristics suggest advertis ing is closely conn ected with thesociety, employingits media,interconnectingwith its people and guidingtheirbuying habit. Also in achievingthe advertising effect, the advertisingIanguageshould be vivid and attractive, whose

48、linguistic characteristics would be covered in the Chapter 3.Chapter 2 Theoretical Backgro und2.1 Advertiseme nt2.1.1 Defini tio n and GoalAdvertis ing is the paid, impers onalcom muni cati onof informationaboutproducts or ideas by an identifiedsponsor through mass media in an effort topersuade or i

49、n flue nee behavior. Not all advertis ing is alike. Advertiseme nts differ depe nding on who the message is inten ded for, where the advertiseme nt is show n, which media are used, and what the advertiser wants to accomplish.(see Table 2.1)Table 2.1Advertis ing can be classified in four ways: by tar

50、get, geographic area, media used, and purpose.By Target By Geographic Area By Media Used By PurposeAudie nceCon sumerBus in ess:In dustrialTrade Professi onal AgricultureIntern ati on alNati on alRegi on alLocalPrint: NewspaperMagaz in eElectr onic:RadioTelevisi on In ternetOut-of-home:Outdoor Tran

51、sit Direct mail Directories Othermedia Productive or non productiveCommercial or non commercialPrimary dema nd or selective dema ndDirect action or in direct acti onThe purpose of copywritingis to persuade or remind people to take someaction to satisfy a need or want. But first people need to be mad

52、e aware of the problem or, if the problem is obvious, of a solution. To create awareness,thecopywriter must first get peoples atte ntio n-for example, by using large type and provocative visuals. Next, the copywriter must stimulate the prospects in terest in the product and build credibility for the

53、 product claims. Then the copywriter focuses on gen erati ng desire and fin ally on stimulat ing acti on. These five aspects should be prese nt in every advertiseme nt or commercial.Here is the advertis ing pyramid.2.1.2 Eleme nts of an Advertiseme ntAs one will see, any advertisementis made up of s

54、everalelements.Mostadvertisements usedall of them. They include the headline or display line; theillustration; the body copy or text; the theme line or slogan, trade character, seal, and other marks; and the logotype or sig nature. Each will be con sidered in some detail below.(1) Headli nesThe head

55、li ne or display line appears in most advertiseme nts for several reas ons.First, it is an atte nti on-gett ingdevice; sec on dly, it also selects an audie nee byappealingto a specific group, as this line dose: Arthriticsreduce painfulin flammati on and get stomach upset protect ion. (An ad for medi

56、ci ne) Fin ally, it is the key factor in gett ing people to read the body copy.(2) Illustratio nIn additi onto headli nes,mostadvertiseme ntscontainillustrati ons.Theillustrati onlikethe headli ne,attracts atte nti on,selectsthe audie nee,andstimulates in terest in body copy. What is more, the illus

57、tratio n can be in valuable in show ing the product or product use and expla ining graphically certa in ideas or situati ons that are cumbersome to put into words. The old say ing that one picture is worth a thousa nd words has much merit in it.(3) Body CopyTo begi n with, some expla natio n of the word copy is n ecessary. The job of body copy is to stimulate in terest in the product or service or idea being advertised, creates desire for it, and urge action. This is a big task and calls for right words. Although headli