英语专业论文Pun in Advertising English文档格式.docx
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2.2.3SperberandWilson’srelevancetheory6
3.Classificationofpun6
3.1Homophonicpun6
3.2Semanticpun8
3.3Grammaticalpun9
3.4Idiomaticpun10
4.Functionsofpuninadvertisements12
4.1Informationconveying12
4.2Attentionattracting13
4.3Makingadvertisementsbrief14
4.4Makingadvertisementsaesthetic14
4.5Makingadvertisementspolite15
5.Variationandderivationofadvertisingpun16
5.1Classificationofvariationandderivativeinadvertisingpun17
5.1.1Embeddingpun17
5.1.2Creatingpun18
5.1.3Punrelatingwithparody18
5.2Effectsofvariationandderivative19
6.Translationofadvertisingpun21
6.1Literaltranslation21
6.2Freetranslation22
6.3Combinationofliteraltranslationandfreetranslation23
7.Conclusion24
References25
1.Introduction
Withthedevelopmentofsocietyandeconomy,advertisementshavebeeninfiltratingthrougheveryfieldofthesocietyandhavebecomeoneoftheessentialpartsinpeople’slife.Nomatteritisbusinessadvertisementornon-profitadvertisement,advertisementmakingisacomprehensiveart.Thisartneedsmuchmoreskillsandtechniquesthanotherartsdo,foritisthecombinationofsociology,aesthetics,psychology,marketing,acoustics,literatureandlinguistics.
Thegoalofadvertisementsistodrawconsumers’attentionandtoinspiretheirdesiretoconsume.Togetaudiences’attentiontomaketheirproductsbest-sellers,advertisersshouldwellequiptheiradvertisinglanguagewithmemoryvalue,attentionvalueandreadability.Toachievetheabovevalues,differentkindsofrhetoricalmethodsareoftenusedinadvertisingEnglish.Withtheuseoftherhetoricaldevices,advertisementsaremorealive,aestheticandemotional.Punistherhetoricaldevicemostoftenusedinadvertisementsbyadvertisers.
TogettoknowmoreaboutpuninadvertisingEnglish,literaturereviewandpracticalapplicationareanalyzedinthefollowing.Thedefinitionandthepragmaticapproacharecontainedintheliteraturereview.Differentlinguistsholddifferentopinionsaboutpragmaticapproachofadvertisingpun.Aftertheliteraturereview,theclassificationissummarized.Generallyspeaking,advertisingpunhasfourtypes:
homophonicpun,semanticpun,grammaticalpunandidiomaticpun.Thenfunction,variationandderivativeareanalyzedaftertheclassification.Inaddition,translationisverynecessarytoanalyzepuninadvertisements.Therearethreetranslatingmethods:
literaltranslation,freetranslationandcombinationofliteraltranslationandfreetranslation.Accordingtoitscertaincircumstance,differentpunsneeddifferentmethods.
2.Literaturereviewofpun
2.1Thedefinitionandgeneralfeaturesofpun
AccordingtotheOxfordEnglishDictionary,apunisdefinedastheuseofwordinsuchawayastosuggesttwoormoremeaningsordifferentassociationsortheuseoftwoormorewordsofthesameornearlythesamesoundwithdifferentmeanings,soastoproduceahumorouseffect(Murray:
1928).
Redfernbelievesthat“pun,indeed,isapostrenaissanceword,andaninaccuratebutconvenienttagforawholevarietyofrhetoricaldeviceswhichplayonwords”(1984:
6).Healsoarguesthatpunsdonothavetobefunny,andtheepithetsare“serious”or“unicomic”,andtheyhaveoftenbeenappliedtothem.
Althoughdifferentdictionariesanddifferentscholarsmakedifferentdefinitionsaboutpun,theyhavethesameessence,thatis,apunisakindofplayonwords.
Punhastwofeatures,whichareambiguityandadoublecontext.Ambiguityisdefinedasalanguageitemwhichmayhavetwoormorethantwocognitivemeanings(Leech:
1983).Thefirstcharacteristicofapunisthatthefocusofitsmeaningliesinitsambiguity.Nomatterwhatformstheyare,thespeakersaimtoachieveanambiguity.Apunraisestheawkwardproblemofthepresenceofanambiguityinlanguage.Inthedailycommunication,peopletrytoavoidthepresenceofambiguity,butasforpuns,peopledeliberatelycreateambiguity.Thatisbecausetheessenceofapunliesinitsambiguity.
Itisimportanttokeepinmindthatthecentralandfundamentalphenomenonuponwhichpunoperatesisambiguity.Apundeliberatelyemploysphonemicorsemanticconditionstoexpressonemeaningonthesurfacewhilehidinganother.
Anotherstrikingcharacteristicisthatapuncontainsadoublecontext.AccordingtoAmericanprofessorArchibaldA.HillinAustenTexasUniversity,therearethreeelementsinanalyzingandcomposingapun:
adoublecontext,ahingeandatrigger.Ahingeisthepunitself,andatriggerreferstotheintentionandbackgroundthatlurkbehindtheexploitationofpun,whichisoftenemployedwhenweanalyzepun.
2.2Thepragmaticapproachtoadvertisingpun
2.2.1Grice’sfourmaximsofco-operation
Speakersholdthewishtocooperatewithothersandtomaketheircommunicationsuccessful,sotheyneedtoagreeuponcertainprinciple,whichistheCooperationTheory(Grice:
1989).GriceputsforwardfourMaximsofCooperation,whichareQuantityMaxim,QualityMaxim,RelevantMaximandMannerMaxim:
QuantityMaxim:
saynomorethanisnecessary;
saynomorethanisnecessary.
QualityMaxim:
donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse;
donotsaythatforwhichyouarelackofadequateevidence.
RelevantMaxim:
berelevant.
MannerMaxim:
avoidambiguityofexpression;
avoidobscurityofexpression;
bebrief,beclear.
However,insomeinformationcommunications,speakerscouldbreakaboverules.Theiraimistoexpresssomeimpliedmeanings.Itiswhatadvertisingpundoesinadvertisements.Becauseadvertisinglanguageisdifferentfromdailylanguage,advertisersusuallyconveymeaningindirectlythroughdeliberatelyemployingpun,becausethefirstandperhapsthemostimportantrequirementofadvertisementsisthattheyshouldattractandholdtheaudiences’attention.Inthiscase,advertisementscouldbemosteffectiveonlywhenadvertisinglanguagedeliberatelybreaktheMannerMaxim.
2.2.2Leech’seconomyprincipleandclarityprinciple
AccordingtoLeech,advertisingEnglishshouldconformtoEconomyPrincipleandClarityPrinciple.Firstofall,EconomyPrinciplerequiresbriefness.Heholdstheopinionthatthecourseofaudiences’encodinganddecodingwillbetime-savingandlabor-savingwhenthemessageconveyedisnotonlyshortandpithy,butalsocompleteandunabridged(1983).However,becausetheprinciplehasadisadvantageoflimitingtheamountofinformationwhichprobablycausesambiguity,advertisinglanguageshouldconformtoClarityPrinciple.Ithappensoftenthattwoprinciplesconflictwitheachother.Therefore,itisnecessarytomakeabalancebetweentheprinciplesindifferentcases.
Advertisinglanguageistheunityoftwoprinciples,sometimesevenEconomyPrincipleismoreemphasized.Inmodernsociety,duetotheaccelerationoflivingpaceandincreaseofpsychologicalpressure,audiencesaregettingmoreandmoretiredoflongliterarypiece.Generally,onlythebriefonesarewelcome.
2.2.3SperberandWilson’srelevancetheory
AccordingtoSperberandWilson’sRelevanceTheory,languagecommunicationisacourseofsignalandinference.RelevanceTheoryisthatpeople’scognitiveactivitiesarebasedonMaximalRelevance,whilelanguagecommunicationisbasedonOptimalRelevance(1986).Hearerstrytoacquirethemostcontextualeffectswiththeminimumcognitiveefforts,whichisawaytoassumethespeakers’intention.Therefore,tounderstandisnotjusttodistinguishitsovertassumption,buttounderstandthesignificanceofcontextualeffectsandthegreatrolewhichcognitivefactorsplayinutteranceinterpretation.
Asaspecialmeanstocommunicate,itisbeyondalldoubtthatpunisveryeye-attracting.SeenfromRelevanceTheory,advertisersmakegooduseofpun’scharactertoofferaudiencestwoormoreexplanations.Generallyspeaking,inthecourseofdecoding,punneedsmoretimeandlaborthanotherdirectexpressingways.However,itiswhatadvertiserstendtodo.Besidesattractingandmaintainingtheattentionofaudiences,employingpuncanalsomakethemfallintotheenchantmentofadvertisements.
3.Classificationofpun
3.1Homophonicpun
Thisformisadvertisers’favorite.Itistheuseofwordswiththesamepronunciationsbutdifferentspellingsandmeanings.InmodernEnglish,thereexistsalargeofnumberofwordsthathappentosharethesamepronunciationswithdifferentmeanings.Advertisersareintendedtousethisform,becauseitisastyleofhumor,interestandfun,canstrengthentheadvertisements’persuasionandaffection,leavingagoodanddeepimpressiontotheconsumers.Forexample:
(1)Makeyoureveryhelloarealgood-buy.(AdvertisementforTelephone)
Here“buy”provokesreaders’associationof“buy”and“good-buy”andstirsuptheassociationof“good-bye”.Themakeroftheadvertisementintendstoattractreaders’attentionandensuresthatthepurchaseoftheirtelephoneisagoodandworthwhiledeal.
(2)MoresunandairforyoursonandHeir.(AdvertisementforBeach)
Therearetwopairsofhomophoneformshere:
“sun”and“son”;
“air”and“heir”.Advertiserstendtoconveythemessagethatsunandairinthebeacharehealthyfortheconsumers’families.Theemployofhomophonicpunmakestheadvertisementnotonlysoundsmoothly,butalsofunnyandhumorous.
(3)Everybodykneadsit.(AdvertisementforPillsburyWheatFlour)
Intheadvertisement,“kneads”has