实习论文定稿广告语言的特征.docx

1、实习论文定稿广告语言的特征 CHANGSHA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 实习论文题目： 英语广告语言的特征分析 学生姓名： 吴茂荣学 号： 201060130321班 级: 1003专 业： 英语指导教师： 彭娟 2014年6月PRACTICE THESIS (Grade 2010) AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE FEATURE IN ENGLISH ADVERTISEMENTSName： Wu Maorong Number： 201060130321 Class： 1003 Tutor: Peng JuanDepartment:

2、School of Foreign LanguagesDate of Completion: June 2014英语广告语言的特征分析摘要本文旨在通过对书面英语广告的语言分析总结出广告英语在词汇句法篇章上的语言特点。为了使研究从数据出发得出科学结论，本文作者建立了一个拥有60篇各类广告的小型语料库。通过对此语料库中日用品广告科技设备广告服务业广告的深入细致的定量和定性分析，总结出广告英语在此三类广告中的相同点与不同点，并且根据语言的意义，风格及功能解释广告英语的共性以及广告英语在不同类型广告中的特殊性。本文共分五个部分，第一部分和第五部分分别为介绍与总结，中间三个部分为本文核心，分别展开广告英

3、语在词汇句法篇章三个层面的分析。本文的结论均来自于对语料库的分析。整个研究从数据出发，由数据驱动，由此进行语言学上的分析与概括。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：广告英语；词汇；句法；篇章AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE FEATURES IN ENGLISH ADERTISEMENTSABSTRACTThis paper presents an analytical study of the language features of English advertisements at lexical, syntactic

4、and discourse levels. In order to conduct a data-driven study, the author builds a corpus of 60 English advertisements. It is hoped that through the detailed survey of three types of advertisements: namely, daily consumer goods ads, technical equipment ads, service ads, similarities and differences

5、in advertising language features can be summarized and possible reasons will be given in the light of the meaning, and function of language.This paper will be presented in five parts. The first part is the introduction and the last conclusion. The focus of the paper is laid on the three middle parts

6、 which respectively analyze language features at lexical, syntactic and discourse levels. The conclusion of this paper is drawn from the data analysis. In the analysis, examples from the corpus will be given; figures, tables and graphs will also be offered to make the paper understandable and persua

7、sive.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 learnersKey Words: English Advertisements; Lexical; Syntactic; DiscourseContentsIntroduction 11 Lexical Features 2 1.1 Classification of advertising

8、 and its audience 2 1.2 Similarities at the lexical level 3 1.2.1 Few verbs are used 3 1.2.2 Few verbs are used 4 1.3 Differences at the lexical level 4 1.3.1 Selection of adjectives 5 1.3.2 Compound words 5 1.3.3 Use of pronouns 52 Syntactical features 7 2.1 Similarities 7 2.2 Differences 93 Discou

9、rse features 11 3.1 Body Copy of an Advertisement 11 3.2 Differences in Body Copies 11Conclusion 14Bibliography 16Acknowledgements 17IntroductionWe live in a world of advertising. As potential consumers, we are endlessly bombarded with all kinds of product or service information from various media i

10、ncluding newspapers, magazines, television, radio, posters and Internet, etc. Advertising provides a valuable service to society and its members, because it defines for consumers the meaning and the role of products, services, and institutions. It indicates the difference that exists between brands

11、of products and alternative services, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of companies and institutions. Advertising also 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

12、 and services that he or she uses. On the other hand, by making people aware of products, service and ideas, advertising promotes sales and profits. Finally, advertising is one of the major forces that are helping improve the standard of living around the world. Combined with all these communication

13、al, marketing and social functions. Advertising becomes indispensable in the modern world.Naturally, advertisements in English have become an important means of communicating ideas, demonstrating a variety of linguistic features of its own. The present study attempts to examine these features at the

14、 lexical, syntactic and discourse levels, in the hope of bringing them to light and, thereby, offering help to advertisement writers and language learners.1 Lexical FeaturesAccording to the Definition Committee of American Marketing Association(方薇, 1997:2) 1, advertising is defined that advertising

15、is the no personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.1.1 Classification of advertising and its audienceGenerally speaking, advertisements can be divided into two types: pub

16、lic relation ads and commercial ads. The former tries to advocate reputation for a social group, whose purpose is to leave a favorable impression upon the potential audience. The latter leads to the act of purchasing the products or using the recommended service. Commercial ads are much more present

17、ed through mass media for the reason that manufacturers and companies are willing to spend a large sum of money to make a certain product known or to boost the image of a certain brand. In some cases, competitors, like Coca-cola and Pepsi, even spare no expense to launch advertising campaigns to win

18、 over the market share. Commercial advertising can also be divided according to the target audience into two groups: consumer advertising and business advertising. Most of the ads in the mass media are consumer advertisements. They are typically directed at consumers. By contrast, business advertisi

19、ng tends to be concentrated in specialized business publications, professional journals, trade shows targeting at a certain group of people involved in some business. Actually, advertising works effectively some of the time and doesnt work other times. The single crucial reason that advertising does

20、 not work is that in specific instances the information it conveys never reaches the consumer at all, or is judged by the consumer to be redundant, meaningless, or irrelevant. For example, a motorbike advertisement will probably be invisible to housewives on the lookout for new cutlery. Social statu

21、s and individual interest decide that consumer goods ads are mainly targeting at women while technical equipment ads are largely aiming at men. The amount of shared knowledge between the advertiser and the audience together with the thinking habit of the audience directly influences the advertising

22、language. Since products and audience change in every advertisement in order to achieve high advertising effectiveness, language used differs in different types of advertisements. Thus, in this paper we discuss not only the similarities of language shared by all types of advertisements but also diff

23、erences of language used in different kinds of advertisements.1.2 Similarities at the lexical levelIn order to make the information accessible to audience effectively, the choice of words in advertising is very cautious and skillful. The aim of the advertiser is quite specific. He wishes to capture

24、the attention of the members of a mass audience and by means of impressive words to persuade them to buy a product or behave in a particular way, such as going to Hawaii for all their holiday needs. Both linguistic and psychological aspects are taken into consideration in the choice of words. Sharin

25、g the same purpose of advertisingto familiarize or remind consumers of the benefits of particular products in the hope of increasing sales, the techniques used at the lexical level by advertisers do not vary markedly. The following points are some prominent similarities.1.2.1 Few verbs are usedG. N.

26、 Leech, English linguist, lists 20 most used verbs in his English in Advertising: Linguistic study of Advertising In Great Britain (方薇, 1997:20) 1. They are: make, get, give, have, see, buy, come, go, know, keep, look, need, love, use, feel, like, choose, take, start, taste.All these frequently used

27、 verbs are monosyllabic and most of them have Anglo-Saxon origin that is the common core of English vocabulary. Linguistic study shows English native speakers tend to use words of Anglo-Saxon origin, because native words have comparably stable meaning2. In advertising, these simple words can win the

28、 consumers by their exact, effective expression and a kind of closeness. Etymological studies show that the 20 verbs listed before, except use and taste which are from ancient French, all are Anglo-Saxon origin. Even the two words, use and taste have long become indispensable lexical items in the st

29、ock of common core vocabulary of the English people, developing their stable meaning and usage.1.2.2 Few verbs are usedA close scrutiny of recent advertisements suggests that the soft-sell technique is now popular. By soft-sell technique we mean the one that favors a more emotive and less directive

30、approach to promote a product, mainly focusing on the building of brand image. As a result, emotive words, most of which are pleasant adjectives, are greatly encouraged to use. New, good/better/best, fresh, free, delicious, sure, full, clean, wonderful, special, crisp, real, fine, great, safe, and r

31、ich. 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 addition, comparatives and superlatives occur to highlight the advantage of a certain prod

32、uct or service. For example:Nothing comes closer to home. (Vegetable and Chicken Pasta Bake).1.3 Differences at the lexical levelWhile we found quite a lot of similarities in the choice of words, we have also found some delicate differences in the choice of words in the three types of advertisements as classified before: daily consumer goods ads, technical equipment ads, and service ads.Language, as a communicative tool, is not only to impart information, to communicate ide