广告中双关语的语用功能和运用技巧.docx

广告中双关语的语用功能和运用技巧.docx

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广告中双关语的语用功能和运用技巧

PragmaticFunctionandApplicationofPuninEnglishAdvertisement

[Abstract]Inmodernsociety,advertisement’sinfluenceisuniversal.Punistoaddmoreattraction,beingappliedasakindoffiguresofspeechinadvertisementanddeeplylovedbypeople.Punhasmanyformsofexpressionsuchaspunonpolysemy,homophone,hononymy,parody,illustrationsandwords,grammar,etc.Theadvertisersusebrand,idiom,andphrase,etc,toformpunskillfully.Fromtheaspectofpragmatics,punviolatestheCooperativePrinciplebyGrice.Peopleusuallyviolatethemaximsinfourways.Thearticleanalysespunfromthefourthwaythatthespeakermayfloutamaxim;thatis,hemayblatantlyfailtofulfillitandtoachievesomepurpose.Theproperuseofpuninadvertisementresultsintheeffectsofhumor,wit,beauty,economy,warning,andevenmakestheproductmorecompetitiveandprofitable,andmakestheadvertisementsweettotheear,andpleaseboththeeyeandmind.

[Keywords]advertisement;pun;pragmaticmaxims;pragmaticfunction

广告中双关语的语用功能和运用技巧

【摘要】当今社会，广告作为一种竞争手段无处不在，而双关语是一种广泛运用于广告创作并深受人们喜爱的修辞格。

双关语的表现形式多种多样，可分为一词多义双关，同音异义双关，谐音双关，仿拟双关，插图和文字双关，语法双关等。

广告商巧妙地运用品牌、成语、习语等构成双关语以增加宣传效果。

但从语用学的角度去分析双关语，它违背了Grice提出的合作原则。

合作原则的违反通常有四种情况，而本文主要从第四种进行分析双关语，即说话人公然不执行某一条准则，也就是说话人知道自己违反了一条准则，他还想让听话人知道他违反了一条准则。

运用恰当的双关语产生了幽默、风趣、经济和警告的作用，使人享受语言的美，同时帮助厂家在激烈的竞争中立于不拜之地，获得更大收益。

【关键词】广告；双关语；语用原则；语用功能

1.Introduction

“ThedefinitionofadvertisementbyAMA（AmericanMarketingAssociation）:

Advertisingisthenonpersonalcommunicationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,servicesofideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughthevariousmedia.[1]Itisadevicetoarouseconsumers’attentiontoacommodityandinducethemtouseit.Inmodernage,peoplefindthemselvessurroundedbyvariousadvertisementseachday.AnAmericanwriterwrites:

“wefindadvertisementofallkindseverywhere,forexample,glitteringneonsignsontopofhighbuildingsandalongmainstreets,colorfulpicturespaintedonbusespamphletssenttoveryhouse,advertisementjammedbetweenTVprogramsvariousadvertisementglutting,newspaperandradiobroadcast;etc.”[2]Facingsomanyadvertisement,howtomaketheadvertisementimpressiveisthemainpurposeoftheadvertisers.Inordertoenhancetheappealofanadvertisement,advertiserspaymuchattentionnotonlytosuchexpressivedevicesasplates,colorandthelayoutofaprintedpage,butalsotothechoiceofwordsorphrases,tomakeanadvertisementbeautifulandattractive.InthepracticeoftheadvertisingEnglish,peoplepaymoreattentiontopuntomaketheadvertisementsuccinct,accurateandvividandtoproviderichimaginationandplentifulassociationsforreaderssoastostimulatetheirdesire.

ThefrequentandwideuseoffiguresofspeechisanimportantcharacteristicofadvertisingEnglish,whichisaneffectivewaytomaketheadvertisementattractive.Amongthefigures,punisloveddeeply.OxfordAdvancedDictionarydefinespunas“humoroususeofawordthathastwomeaningsorofdifferentwordsthatsoundthesame”.[3]Apun（alsoknownasparonomasia）canbeunderstoodlikethatitisadeliberateconfusionofsimilar-soundingwordsofphrasesforrhetoricaleffect,whetherhumorousorserious.Itleavesadeepimpressiononreadersbyitsreadability,witandhumor.Itcansatisfytherequirementofadvertisementcharacteristics—sellingpower,memoryvalue,attentionvalue,andreadability.Sopunisverypopularinadvertisement.Thearticlejustwantstopresentthepragmaticfunctionandapplicationofpuninadvertisement.

2. Typesofpuninadvertisement

Apunisarhetoricaldeviceinwhichpeopleusethepolysemous,orhomonymousrelationofalanguagetocauseaword,asentenceofadiscoursetoinvolvetwothingsofmeanings.Ithasseveraltypes.

2.1 PunonPolysemy

“Whiledifferentwordsmayhavethesameofsimilarmeaning,thesameonewordmayhavemorethanonemeaning.Thisiswhatwecallpolysemy,andsuchawordiscalledpolysemicword.Historicallyspeaking,polysemycanbeunderstoodasthegrowthanddevelopmentoforchangeinthemeaningofwords.”[4]Punonpolysemyisusedwidely,especiallywiththenameoftheproductsuchasthefollowingexamples:

[1]“Fromsharpminds.Comesharpproducts.”[5]

TheexampleisanadvertisementfortheSharpcopier.Theword“sharp”praisestheconsumers’brightness,butalsoreferstotheSharpproduct.Theadvertisementpraisestheconsumerswhoaresharptobuytheproductwhichissharp.Thevanityoftheaudiencesisarousedandtheywanttouseittoshowtheirwise,andalsotheybelievetheproductisreallysharp.

[2]“Moneydoesn’tgrowonthetrees.Butitblossomsatourbranches.LioydBank.”[6]

ItisthesloganofLioydBank.“branch”means“partofatreegrowingoutfromthetrunk”,buthereitimpliesthedivisionofbank”.ThesloganencouragespeopletostoretheirmoneyinLioydBank,andtheirmoneywillbelikethebloomingflowers,yieldingbetterfruits.Afterunderstandingitsmeaning,readerswillfigureitoutinmindthattheirmoneywillbecomemoreandmoredailyanddaily,justliketheleavesinspring.

2.2PunonHomonymy

“Homonymyreferstothephenomenonthatwordswithdifferentmeaningshavethesameform,i.e,differentwordsareidenticalinsoundorspelling,orinboth.Whentwowordsareidenticalinsound,theyarehomophones.Whenthewordsareidenticalinspelling,theyarehomographs.Whentwowordsareidenticalinbothspellingandsound,theyarecompletehomonyms.”[7]Thefollowinstanceswillexplainthat:

[3]“‘VIPs’anatomicalcomfort.

    VariableImpactPressureSole”[8]

  Theadvertisementofsportshoesusesthehomophonicword“VIPs”.Asweknow,VIPusuallystandsfor“veryimportantpersons”,while,here,itstandsfor“VariableImpactPressureSole”.ItimpliesifyouuseVIPs,youwillbeaVIP.Theword“VIPs’motivatestheaudiences’vanityandinducesthemtobuytheproduct.

[4]“Trustus.Over5000earsofexperience.”[9]

  Itisanadvertisementforaudiphone.Theliteralmeaningisthattheproducthasexperiencedalotoftexts.While“ears”and“years”areapairofhomophone.Soitimpliesthattheproducthasalonghistoryandhashighquality.

[5]“Goodbuy

Winter!

100%cottonknitwear$40”[10]

Itisanadvertisementforthesaleofwinterclothes.Theadvertisementseemstopeoplethatitsagoodandcheaptobuycottonknitwear.Butwhentheaudiencesread“goodbuywinter”together,theywillunderstandthegooduseofpun.“Goodbuywinter”soundsthesameas“goodbyewinter”.Theadvertisementusehomophonetoshowtwomeanings:

itisagoodbusinesstobuythecottonknitwearnow,andwinterhaspassedaway.Naturally,peoplewillassociatethesituationhappeningeveryyearthatwhentheysaygoodbyetowinter,theclotheswillhaveagreatdiscountanditisgoodtimetobuythem.

[6]“Moresunandairforyoursunandheir.”[11]

 Theadvertisementisforabathingbeach.Theadvertiseruseshomophoneskilfully,sunvs.son,andairvs.heir.Theadvertiserencouragespeopletobringtheirsonandheirtothebathingbeachtogetsunandairtokeepfit.Eachcouplehopestheirsonandheirwillbehealthyalltheirlife.Punmakestheadvertisinglanguagesoundsweet,fluentandpersuasive.

2.3PunonParody

 “Parodyisapieceofspeech,writingofmusicthatimitatesthestyleofanauthor,composer,etcinanamusingandoftenexaggerateway.”[12]Punonparodyusestheoutfitofsaying,apothegm,proverboridiomtoformnewmeanings.Englishhasalotofwell-knownphrases,idiomsandsayings.TheyareimportantpartofeverydaylanguagespokenbytheEnglishspeakers,andhavebecomeoneoftheaspectsoftheEnglishculture.Theadvertisementdesignersaresharp-mindedandimaginative.Theychangeapartoftheexpressionsandputtheirideasintothemtoachievesensationaleffect.Andmostofthemachievearemarkablesuccess.Thetransformationsarenotonlyeyecatching,butalsoeasytobeacceptedbythecommon,whowilldoaccordingtothetradition.Asthesayingsofidiomshavebeenonepartofthetradition,thepeoplewillbeeasilypersuadedbytheadvertisementworksofthiskind.Sopunonparodyispopularinadvertisement.

[7]“AMarsadayhelpsyouwork,restandplay.”[13]

   ItisthesloganofMarschocolatecompany.Lookingatthisadvertisement,peoplewillassociateitwithtwoidioms:

“Anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway”and“AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy”.Fromthemeaningsofthetwoidioms,thewatchwordtellspeoplethataMars’chocolateadaywillmakeyounotbeadullboy（makeyouwise）andkeepthedoctoraway（keepfit）.

[8]“Tryoursweetcorn,you’llsmilefromeartoear.”[14]

   Itistakenfromtheadvertisementforakindofsweetcorn.Theword“ear”hasdoublemeanings:

theorganofhearingandtheseed–bearingpartofacereal.Teidiom“fromeartoear”alsoisapun.Onemeaningisthatpeoplearesatisfiedwiththeproduct.Theotheroneisthattheconsumerseatoneearbyanother.Sotheadvertisementimpliesthatthesweetcornisverydelicious,andyouwillenjoyitandeatingonebyone.Howcanpeoplerefusesuchdeliciousfood?

[9]“Alliswellthatendswell.”[15]

   Thisisanidiom,buthere,itistakenfromanadvertisementofacigarette.“End”,asaverb,means“finish”,while,asanoun,means“cigarettebutt”.Thesentencemeansthatifthecigaretteendsaregoodthatthecigaretteisgood.

2.4PunonGrammar

Manyadvertisersusepunproducedforgrammarproblemtoattracttheaudiences,suchasellipsisorwordwithdifferentgrammarfunctions.Ifthistypeofpuncanbeusedproperly,itwillachieveunexpectedeffect.

[10]“Which