RHETORICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Advertising is a device to arouse consumers' attention to a commodity and induce them to use it. In the increasingly keen competition of the market economy, advertising is an important means of scrambling for markets. The advertising English is a functional variant of modern English. As a special practical style, it has its own features in the creative design or in the use of words.
In order to enhance the appeal of an advertisement, advertising writers pay much attention not only to such expressive devices as plates, color and the layout of a printed page, but also to the choice of words or phrases, to make an advertisement beautiful and attractive. In the practice of the advertising English, people pay more and more attention to the use of figures of speech to make every effort to make the advertising English succinct, accurate and vivid and to provide rich
imagination and plentiful associations for readers so as to stimulate their desire.
THE RHETORICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING ENGLISH
The frequent and wide use of figures of speech is an important characteristic of advertising English, which is an effective way to make the advertisement attractive. A figure of speech is an example of the figurative use of words, which produces a particularly rhetorical effect when people use the language creatively in a specified context. [P27] The use of figures of speech in advertisements aims at arousing and persuading consumers to buy what is advertised. And their proper use can make an advertisement sweet to the ear, and pleasing to both the eye and the mind. So advertising writers often use figures of speech in advertisements.
APPLICATION OF ALLITERATION IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound or sounds appear at the beginning of two or more words that are next to or close to each other. Alliteration can make advertising words rhythmic and pleasing to the ear. The figure of speech usually makes people love the advertisement at first sight. In the advertisement it is used to strengthen the effects of the adverting words and the appeal of the advertisement.
EXAMPLE: Sea, sun, sand, seclusion-and Spain. You can have this when you visit the new Hotel.
Reading the advertisement, people will promptly call to mind the beautiful scenery of sunshine, a sandy beach and rough sea. So they will be attracted easily by the advertisement. The words "sea, sun, sand, seclusion" describe a vast expanse of sea, the bright sun, a beautiful sandy beach and quiet villas, and what's more, the repetition of the initial letter of the words "s" - alliteration, makes people feel that sea breeze is stroking their faces, that the sea tide is singing and that lovers are murmuring; because the coherent sound makes a smooth and continuous reading.
APPLICATION OF RHYME IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Rhyme is the use of words that end with the same sound as each other. The purpose of this rhetorical device is to obtain the effects pleasant to the ear. In has the same lasting and strong appeal as an alliteration, because it makes people easy to read.
EXAMPLE Spend a dime, save you time.
This advertisement of an electrical appliance uses the "dime" and "time" rhyme to tell the reader cleverly that the appliance can help him save time and that time is money.
APPLICATION OF ANTITHESIS IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Antithesis is a figure of speech, which uses the same or similar structure to express two opposite ideas so as to achieve the effects of emphasizing the meaning and the contrast. The figure has the characteristics of harmonious combination of sound and rhyme, balanced syllables, sharp rhythm and compendiousness. The combination of pleasant senses of vision and hearing often stimulates the good feelings of readers and arouses consumers' buying desire.
EXAMPLE Warehouse Clearance. Their Loss, Your Gain.
One man's disaster is another man's delight. The sale is now on.
The writers of these two advertisements use cleverly the figure of speech "antithesis" to catch readers' attention and arouse their curiosity.
APPLICATION OF PARALLELISM IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Parallelism means the parallel presentation of two or more than two similar or relevant ideas in similar structural forms. The structure of the figure gives you a beautiful sense of balance, and its sound gives you a beautiful sense of rhythm. Parallelism can help you express your strong feelings easily, emphasize the words and strengthen the beauty of the metre. These rhetorical characteristics are in agreement with the advertising prominence, persuasiveness and appreciativeness. So parallelism is often used in English advertisements.
EXAMPLE Earth is a person to be cared for.
Earth is a home to be managed.
Earth is a ball to be played with.
Earth is a pad for spaceships.
Earth is an eye watching us.
This advertisement includes 4 parallel sentences of similar structure. The subject, link verb and indefinite article used in each sentence are the same, and the whole advertisement is well organized, with the rhythm sharp and the idea conveyed smoothly.
APPLICATION OF REPETITION IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Repetition is a rhetorical device of using some words or sentences naturally and repeatedly to stress an important message or indicate a strong feeling. The figure has the characteristics of good layout of words and sweet winding sound. And the harmonious sound of the figure makes the advertising words easy to read and remember.
EXAMPLE Monita, finest to put you finest.
In the advertisement of Monita (the name of a camera), the first "finest" is used to praise the product, and the second "finest" to praise the consumer. The repeated use of the word makes the advertisement possess as good effects as the sound of the words.
APPLICATION OF SIMILE IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
A simile is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic in common. The comparison is purely imaginative.[P159] In the advertising English, the figure is used very often, and it is lively and vivid.
EXAMPLE Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.
In this advertisement, "breakfast without orange juice" is compared to "a day without sunshine", to stress the importance of the product advertised ---- orange juice. It is very vivid, and it impresses readers.
APPLICATION OF METAPHOR IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
A metaphor is a figure which also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but this comparison is implied rather than stated.[P166-167] So it differs from a simile in form and artistry. It is in a sense a condensed simile. The proper use of a metaphor in an advertisement can make the advertising words vivid. Through the figurative comparison of the advertised product or service with the thing with similar feature, the characteristic of the product or service is vividly stressed, and it is easily understood and remembered by consumers.
EXAMPLE Fresh food and fresh air. The perfect recipe for a healthy life. I've chosen. It's Candy.
In the advertisement of the refrigerator, "fresh food and fresh air" is compared to "the perfect recipe for a healthy life", which is lively and vivid.
APPLICATION OF METONYMY IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
A metonymy is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another. This substituted name may be an attribute of that other thing or be closely associated with it. In other words, it involves a "change of name", the substituted name suggesting the thing meant.
A metonymy is a very useful and effective rhetorical device, for it compresses much into a single word or a short noun phrase. Writers of advertisements use the figure of speech frequently, because a metonymy can express briefly and effectively what would otherwise require a whole clause or sentence.[P182-183] Brevity, vividness and concreteness are its chief virtues.
EXAMPLE Laurent Beaute invites you to discover his new collection of collors…delicate corals, pinks and peaches for lips; matte, muted earthy neutrals for eyes ...
In this advertisement, all the nouns of colour are metonymies, and they are used to refer to cosmetics of different colours.
APPLICATION OF HYPERBOLE IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
A hyperbole is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. Businessmen and manufacturers use the figure of speech to advertise their goods in as attractive a way as possible, so as to induce customers to buy their products, and thereby increase sales.[P198-203] When they describe their products in advertisements, it is not enough for them to say they are simply "good", they must be "perfect, spectacular, out-of-this-world, superb, fantastic, etc.
EXAMPLE Nobody cares for eyes more than Pearl!
Here "Pearl" is a glasses brand. It is obvious that the advertisement is exaggerated.
APPLICATION OF PUN IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
A pun is a rhetorical way in which people use the polysemous, or homonymous relation of a language to cause a word, a sentence or a discourse to involve two things or two meanings. A pun makes words implicit, humorous, conspicuous, and it can arouse people's association, which will make a deep impression on consumers.
EXAMPLE She's the nimblest girl around. Nimble is the way she goes. Nimble is the bread she eats. Light, delicious, Nimble.
In this advertisement, the word "nimble" as an adjective means clever, and as a proper noun, it is also the name of the product. So it has two meanings, forming a pun, which can arouse consumers' buying desire.
APPLICATION OF PERSONIFICATION IN THE ADVERTISING ENGLISH
Personification is a figure of speech that gives life and personal attributes to inanimate objects. In the advertising English, a personification gives life or personal attribute to commodity, and makes the commodity advertised full of feelings so as to strengthen its affinity.
EXAMPLETo the ends of the earth,and to the top of the world. Only two of us have made it. ... It's the only thing that's been on all the trips with me and it's never once let me down…
The advertisement personifies the product advertised, a kind of watch. The use of the word "us" makes both the human and the watch become human beings, accompanying each other.
We have thoroughly analyzed the figures of speech used often in the advertising English and their characteristics, which makes us find their frequency and importance in the advertising English and that each figure has its own form and characteristics and its own way of achieving good effects.
Rhetoric is the art of a language in use. The use of various figures of speech in advertisements can make the expression of the language more accurate, striking, vivid and forceful, and the advertisements can be more attractive. Geoffrey N. Leech, a famous British linguist, said advertising words must be vivid, conspicuous, and impressive, with high readability and the force to promote sales. [P27-30] In creating this kind of advertising words, the proper use of rhetorical devices and the careful choice of words are of the utmost importance.
1. Wang Dechun. Figures of Speech and Vocabulary [Z]. Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.
2. Feng Chuihua. English Rhetorical Options [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1995.
3. Leech, G. N. The Language in Advertising [M]. London: Longmans, Green and Co. LTD. 1966.
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