浅析广告英语的修辞特色---毕业论文

1、【标题】浅析广告英语的修辞特色 【作者】万 海 燕 【关键词】英语广告；音韵修辞；词义修辞；结构修辞 【指导老师】张海霞 伍海英 【专业】英语 【正文】. introductionnowadays, people live in a society that is covered with varieties of advertisements. all kinds of english advertisements are shown to us through newspapers, magazines, radio, television and so on. the word“adve

2、rtise” derives from latin word: advertere, which refers to a means of calling peoples attention to something and induce people to a certain direction. at present, although advertising explanations from different countries scholars are different in the literal, they are largely identical but with min

3、or differences.english advertisement, as a kind of application language, has been apart from the normal english and has developed to a substandard special language because of its special use. in order to make the advertisements more attractive, the designers often create their advertisements by usin

4、g rhetoric, which makes the advertisement more vivid and attractive. artistic effect produced by using rhetoric in english advertisements gives people enjoyment of beauty, which makes customers accept goods information in the delight atmosphere; at the same time, advertisements achieve their commerc

5、ial purposes.the whole thesis is concerned about rhetorical devices in english advertisements, but there are so many kinds of rhetorical devices in english advertisements. thus, this paper concerns some common rhetorical devices through three parts. the first part concerns phonological rhetorical de

6、vices of english advertisements such as rhyme and onomatopoeia. the second part illustrates rhetorical devices of english advertisements from vocabulary, including simile, metaphor, pun, personification and hyperbole. the third part presents syntactical rhetorical devices in english advertisement, s

7、uch as repetition, parallelism and antithesis. phonological rhetorical devicesphonological rhetorical devices are the rhetoric which is created by using the words of phonetic features and mainly include onomatopoeia, alliteration and consonance. phonological charm in english advertisements makes peo

8、ple obtain an abundance of aesthetic enjoyment. this part presents the rhetoric of rhyme and onomatopoeia in english advertisements and sets examples in english advertisements for rhetoric.a. rhymerhyme is identity of sounds between two words or verse lines extending back from the end to the last fu

9、lly accented vowel and not further.1 three points should be explained about this definition: the last accented vowel must be the same; all the sounds following this vowel, if there is any, must be the same. the consonants preceding this vowel, if there is any, must be different. rhyme in english adv

10、ertisements contains alliteration and consonance. english advertisements use this kind of rhetorical skill to make its music rhythm. in this way, the advertisement is suitable for reading. and the target audiences get a happy mood; therefore, consumers become interested in products from its advertis

11、ement introduction, thus this kind of advertisements excite consumers purchasing desire.1. alliterationalliteration is the use of words that begin with the same sound in order to make a special communicative effect. usually they are pleasing to ears because of the clever choice of the word by the ad

12、vertiser. in addition, the repetition of the beginning sound emphasizes the meaning the advertisement wants to express. alliteration is also a typical characteristic of many advertisements. for example:(1) sea, sun, sand, seclusionand spain.2this is an advertisement for“spain” hotel. the advertiseme

13、nt composer describes beautiful and romantic scenery in only a few words. by using alliteration, the advertisement composer uses the simple words to express complex meanings. all those four words“sea”,“sun”,“sand”, and“seclusion” begin with the same letter“s”. all those four words rhyme the same sou

14、nd/s/.and the following is an excellent english advertisement that can well demonstrate the charm of rhyme.(2)hi-fi, hi-fun, hi-fashion, only from sony.this is an advertisement for sonys products. in this advertisement, the repeated sounds of“hi” not only give the customers a deep impression and mak

15、e it memorable, but also emphasize the quality of the product at the same time. in this advertisement, alliteration is used effectively. by using rhyme, sonys products win customers hearts in a short time. english advertisement has the function of promoting sales. this advertisement gives the functi

16、ons charm full play. another good example:(3) health? humor and happiness it is a gift we had loved to give.this is an advertisement for a kind of newspaper saturday evening. in this advertisement, the three words“health”,“humor”,“happiness” rhyme the same sound/h/ and the two words“gift” and“give”

17、rhyme the same sound/g/, attracting the customers attention. this twopairs of alliteration contribute to the customers memorization of this advertisement. obviously, this advertisement has a value of strong emotion. by using alliteration, this advertisement leaves much space for the customers to thi

18、nk. this is the reason why saturday evening enjoys a high circulation quantity among so many newspapers. alliteration is extremely popular with advertisements.2. consonanceconsonance is the repetition of the final consonant cluster in stressed syllables. it should be pointed out that the vowels that

19、 precede them differ.3 the repetition of the ending sound emphasizes the meaning the advertisement wants to express. at present, advertisement composers make use of consonance frequently. for example:(4)hash, dash classic splash?this is an advertisement for swimming costume. in this advertisement,“h

20、ash”,“dash”,“splash” rhyme the same consonance/. all those three words end with the same two letters“sh”. by using consonance, the advertisement can be worth of being called a good advertisement in the use of consonance. in the advertisement, consonance is used simply to impress the product on custo

21、mers memory through sheer repetition of final two letters“sh”. this advertisement can effectively demonstrate the magic power of consonance. this advertisement transmits information to customers, too. by using consonance, the advertisement successfully arouses consumers interest of buying the produc

22、t.(5) hasty, tasty.(an advertisement of a snack bar)once people read the advertisement, they will find it is rhythmic. on one side, it can arouse peoples interest easily. on the other side, it also can avoid arrhythmic belonged to snack bar. it is so-called kill two birds with one stone.b. onomatopo

23、eiaonomatopoeia means making words used in the advertisements simulate specific sound of animal or human.4 the function of onomatopoeia could not be neglected because onomatopoeias simulate sound of things, they can manifest the features on sound of the productions vividly and add innervations of ad

24、vertisement. onomatopoeias are commonly used in some productions advertisements with special sound, such as beer, watch, can opener, and the other machines. people often get deep impression by onomatopoeias in advertisements. for example:(6) deck the hallswith plop plop plop, fizz, fizz.fallalalalal

25、ala. ahhh!(advertisement of alka-seltzer)the advertisement is recomposed by a famous christmas carol, whose outstanding sound shows a chirrupy scene that people enjoy themselves on christmas day: the sound of decorating room, opening bottle cap(plop plop plop), foaming by beer and all kinds of drink

26、(fizz fizz), and peoples singing(fallalalalalala. ahhh). the magical use of onomatopoeias in the advertisement makes people seemed to be personally on the scene.(7) just pour it in, brush, let it stand ten minutes, then flush.this is one sort of laundry detergent advertisement. advertiser applies th

27、e word“brush” to describe the sound of cleaning the toilet and“flush” to depict the sound of washing the toilet. this laundry detergent advertisement uses photographic sound effect to promote their laundry detergent product to customers successfully. lexical rhetorical deviceslexical rhetorical devi

28、ces are the rhetoric which is created by lexical association and the change of the language and mainly include simile, metaphor, allusion, metonymy, transferred epithet, personification, hyperbole, irony, euphemism, pun, oxymoron, zeugma, contrast and so on. this part sets examples of some common le

29、xical rhetorical devices in english advertisements.a. similea simile is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common，and it explicitly signals itself in an advertisement, with the words as or like. the simile helps to

30、 create the clear image, much easier for readers to accept. for example:(8)breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine. this is an advertisement for“orange juice”. it can be found that, in this advertisement,“orange juice” is“the tenor” and“sunshine” is“the vehicle”. the word“like”

31、 signals that the advertisement makes use of the rhetorical devicesimile. thus by using simile, the advertisement makes the products characteristic more vivid and lively. if the“orange juice” really has such an effect, the customers are eager to drink this kind of juice at breakfast. precisely, this

32、 advertisement is a good example in simile craftsmanship. it can not be imagined what the world will be look like without sunshine. the importance of“orange juice” is no less than“sunshine”. since the significance of this kind of“orange juice” is so great, nobody would refuse to drink it. thus this

33、advertisement touches the customers heart and greatly promotes the sale of this kind of“orange juice”. another example:(9) feather water, light as a feather. this is an advertisement for“feather water” eye-glasses.“feather water” is just a brand. in this advertisement,“the tenor” is the“feather wate

34、r” eye-glasses and“the vehicle” is“feather”. the word“as” is the simile marker in the advertisement. however, the association between“the tenor” and“the vehicle” is hidden, which means that even wearing a pair of“feather water” eye-glasses for a long time will not make eyes and noses out of shape. t

35、he weight of the“feather” eye-glasses is equal to the weight of a feather. this advertisement can easily win the customers hearts. for most of customers, they can not help buying this kind of glass for it gives them such a good opportunity to enjoy the beautiful world. in this advertisement, the use

36、 of simile makes the hidden association between the tenor and the vehicle become clear to customers. this advertisement successfully stimulates customers to buy the product. in the process of illustrating the advertisement, the force and the beauty of the advertisement can be appreciated.b. metaphor

37、metaphor can also transfer qualities from one thing to another. there is a formal difference between metaphor and simile, however, in metaphor, the word like or as do not appear. a metaphor, like a simile, also has a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is imp

38、lied rather than stated. 5in metaphor, one thing is directly compared to another thing, without the marker“like” or“as”. thus the relationship between them is implied in other words is unstated. therefore, the use of metaphor makes the language more vivid and also makes the product it advertising mo

39、re attractive. metaphor is a kind of rhetoric devices which is favored by most advertisement composers. for example:(10) the most sensational place to wear satin on your lips.(lipstick)in this piece of advertisement, satin alludes to lipstick. that is to say, this kind of lipstick rouged on ones lip

40、s where is full of enthusiasm, it seems wearing the illuminant and silky satin. the euphemistic and implicit description makes consumers full of imagination and expectation.(11) something within you is dior.(christian dior).this is the advertisement of perfume“poison” brought for the international b

41、rand cd of cosmetic series. on the propagandism of“poison”, the smart use of metaphor is manifested thoroughly. is fascination existing inherence and emanating spontaneous or poison subsisting in heart and spreading voluntary? two weeks later after the perfume coming to the world, one bottle of perf

42、ume is sold per fifty seconds and the action has broken worlds record. certainly, this piece of advertisement gives its contribution in selling the products.(12) one great gift, a million ways to enjoy it together.(carnival group advertisement)this is an advertisement of“carnival”. liken“carnival” i

43、nto“gift” in the advertisement is to signify that this product can bring the joyful sense to somebody. it makes people produce the good morale, actually“carnival” was the amusement park, such an advertisement made people happy, thus solicits more visitors.c. personificationpersonification is a figur

44、e that endows objects, animals, ideas, or abstractions with human form, character, or sensibility. by personification, a product is personified as an image with emotions and thoughtin the other words, the use of personification in advertisement can make ordinary goods become rich of emotion, give th

45、e target audience cordial sense. customers will think they are not reading the advert，but talking with their old friends. for example:(13) why your skin drinks it down so quickly?(olay)“skin” is personified in the advertisement, which drinks olay quickly. because of personification on“skin”, the cha

46、rm of olay displays incisively and vividly.(14)hi, im rusty jones.im the one new car option you can buy that will actually appreciate in value. ill stay with you, winter and summer, day and night. no vocations, not even a coffee breaksaving your car from rust. and a rust free car is always worth mor

47、e.this is an advertisement of rust inhibitor of matex company u.s.a. this advertisement, calls the rust inhibitor rusty jones, makes consumers produce cordial sense to read, dispels consumers vigilance of this product, thus wins the confidence and approval of people and finds a good market for the p

48、roducts.(15)she has her own spirit and it graces everyone she comes near.this is a piece of advertisement for“perfume”. it can be found that this kind of perfume is personified in the advertisement. in the advertisement,“she” not only refers to those who favor this kind of perfume but also refers to

49、 the perfume itself. by giving life to the product, it can effectively shorten the distance between the advertisement composer and the customers, making the customers feel more cordial. absolutely, the advertisement will make the customers willing to buy the perfume. the use of personification endow

50、s the advertisement with such magic power.d. punpun is the humorous use of a word, or of words which are formal or sound alike but have different meanings, in such a way as to play as two or more of the possible application.6 puns are very popular in advertisement because they attract the attention

51、of bored recipients, saturated with advertisement. and puns are very popular with copywriters, for they may provoke amusement, or add spice to an unpretentious conversational exchange. if readers think that the advertiser is witty and amusing, it may go some way to overcome their distrust of the adv

52、ertiser. puns involve ambiguity, and one common type of play on ambiguity in advertising is one which involves interpreting an item both as part of an idiom and as a lexical item in its own right. for example:(16)gillette, the best men can get.here, ambiguity does not rise from the meaning of a part

53、icular word but from the function of the linguistic unit“the best”, which can be considered as both the pre-modifier of“men” and a nominal group consisting of an article and an adjective. two interpretations apply to this sentence:“gillette is the best shaver that men can buy” and“gillette is the sh

54、aver manufactured for the best men”. in this way, a man should buy the gillette shaver whether he wants to get the best shaver in the world or he wants to become one of the best men or both. the employment of pun not only enriches the advertising information but fulfills the vanity of men consumers.

55、another often-cited example is“players please” for american cigarette. it can be read as either“please give me some players” or“players are pleasing”. the slogan“spoil yourself and not your figure” for“weight-watchers” ice cream is another example of playing on the word“spoil”. it involves interpret

56、ing it in the idiom as“enjoy yourself to your hearts content” and as a word in its own right. the advert is targeted at weight-watchers who may find it difficult to resist the temptation of the delicious ice cream. by utilizing its ambiguity or double meaning, which the linguists call“homonymy”, cop

57、ywriter intends to create a sense of humor and to provoke interest in the advertisement.e. hyperbolehyperbole is a figure of speech that deliberately uses exaggeration in order to give emphasis. generally speaking, things modified by hyperbole cannot be understood by literal. designers often use hyp

58、erbole in advertisements to strengthen the merit of the products. for example:(17) mornings are golden with eggo.( eggo biscuit)hyperbole in the above example exaggerates that mornings are golden because of“eggo” biscuit, while morning actually cannot be golden for this reason. morning is the beginning of the day and people always attach great importance to breakfast. this advertisement is just based on the fact that people believe good breakfast can keep one energetic for the rest of the day. eggo, coined after“egg”, is the brand name of the biscuit. it