Você está na página 1de 23

THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING

*Lakshmanan.M.P
There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we
have contact with the world. We are evaluated and
classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we
look, what we say, and how we say it.

-Dae Carnege
Abstract
We are vng n an era of nformaton exposon n whch advertsng seems to be
an ndspensabe budng bock of the meda. Over-producton and under-
demand often ead to a compettve market where advertsng s |ustfed. Of a
busness actvtes, probaby none s better known, more wdey dscussed, or
more hghy crtczed by the pubc than advertsng. One reason for ths s that
advertsng has become the spokesman for busness. As a form of mass
communcaton cosey nked wth the word of commerce and marketng,
advertsng s a powerfu too for the fow of nformaton from the seer to the
buyer. It nfuences and persuades peope to act or beeve. There are many
speca and specfc reasons for usng advertsng n ts severa forms.
Announcng a new product or servce, expandng the market to new buyers,
announcng a modfcaton or a prce change, educatng customers, chaengng
competton, recrutng of staff and attractng nvestors are a few of such reasons.
In the process of creatng advertsements for a these reasons, anguage, .e.,
choce of expresson s of cruca mportance. What knds of choces make an
advertsement hghy effectve s somethng worthy to be studed from a
ngustc perspectve.e the dstnctve ngustc characterstcs of advertsement.
Introdut!on
In the words of the renowned
advertsng poneer, Wam Bernbach, "The truth snt
the truth unt peope beeve you, and they cant beeve
you f they dont know what youre sayng, and they cant
know what youre sayng f they dont sten to you, and
they wont sten to you f youre not nterestng uness
you say thngs magnatvey, orgnay, freshy", whch s
mportant because, "It s nsght nto human nature that s
the key to the communcators sk. For whereas the
wrter s concerned wth what he puts nto hs wrtngs,
the communcator s concerned wth what the reader gets
out of t. He therefore becomes a student of how peope
read or sten."
*Assstant Professor,Govt.coege,Chttur,Paakkad
Wth these two famous quotes, Bernbach emphaszes the
mportance of anguage n the modern word of
advertsng. Commerca verbage s desgned to entce
the reader to "read on", to expore the product or servce
beng offered n greater deta.

L!t"ratur" R"#!"$
The study of anguage of advertsng from a ngustc
perspectve has been attempted by severa schoars
(Leech 1966; Ges 1982; Vestergaard and Schrodder
1985; Mencher 1990, etc.). Leech (1966), n hs
poneerng and comprehensve study on Engsh n
advertsng, has anayzed n deta dfferent aspects
pertanng to grammar, vocabuary, dscourse and rhyme
and rhetorc of advertsng wth speca reference to
teevson. Iustraton, dspay typography, voca
emphass, prompt speng, grammatca soecsm,
metaphor and paradox are some of the aspects nked
wth attenton vaue. Smpe and cooqua stye and
famar vocabuary are connected wth readabty.
Phonoogca reguartes such as ateraton, rhythm,
rhyme and |nge are reated to memorabty. Frequent
use of mperatves and superatves are connected wth
seng power. The dstnctve property of advertsng
anguage has been cosey dentfed wth the use of
causes, phrases and words as mnor sentences, whch
consttute a dfferent knd of grammar caed as
ds|unctve grammar. Ges (1982) has made an attempt
to descrbe how anguage s used n Amercan
advertsng, especay teevson advertsng. He has
focused on certan ngustc devces that fgure most
promnenty n advertsng. Accordng to hm, the
advertsng cams empoyng the word hep as n
phrases ke heps to acheve and comparatve phrases
ke more or ess are mpressve because they are
ndstngushabe from the aw ke generc cams of
scentsts. He has concuded that advertsers n genera
tend to prefer vague anguage rather than anguage wth
expct emprca consequences and to prefer sub|ectve
cams to ob|ectve cams. Vestergaard and Schroder
(1985) have studed the anguage use n commerca
press advertsng n reatonshp wth communcatve
functons of anguage such as expressve, drectve,
nformatona, contextua and poetc etc. They have aso
dentfed the mportance of mperatves and drectve
speech acts n encouragng the audence to buy the
products. Mencher (1990) has ooked nto the aspect of
vocabuary n advertsng and dentfed ten words as the
most persona and persuasve. They are: "new", "save",
"safety", "proven", "ove", "dscover", "guarantee",
"resuts", "you" and "heath".

Lan%ua%" as a m"ans o& ad#"rt!s!n%
Language has a powerfu nfuence over peope and ther
behavour. Ths s especay true n the feds of
marketng and advertsng. The choce of anguage to
convey specfc messages wth the ntenton of
nfuencng peope s vtay mportant. Vsua content and
desgn n advertsng have a very great mpact on the
consumer, but t s anguage that heps peope to dentfy
a product and remember t. Language s consdered as an
effectve too n extendng a companys message to the
peope, partcuary to consumers. Advertsements are
used prmary to provde the consumer product
awareness, and ths w not be effectvey done wthout
the use of anguage. The marketng and advertsng
personne have to consder the emotve power of the
words they use n advertsng. There are severa ways n
whch advertsng s beng used to persuade peope to
buy ther product.
Advertsng unfes anguage, pctures, musc; t contans
nformaton, nvokes emotons and magnatons, t can
capture a fve senses and, besdes t, t has soca and
practca am. Advertsng s the saes and promoton of
goods, deas and/or mages through mpersona meda. It
s wth us everywhere n our modern socety and t hts us
n dfferent ways - even when we are not ready for t. The
anguage of advertsng s not for the uneducated as t s
fu of rhetorca fgures and ncongruty. It s hghy
persuasve, fu of devatons, ambgutes, euphemsms
and ungrammatcates whch make anguage Pursts to
frown serousy at t. But, one of the best ways the
anguage of advertsng can be eye-catchng and
memorabe, s for t to express new deas n new ways -
ncudng new creatons and conages even f t means
voatng the rues of the anguage as ong as t acheves
ts goas through these technques persuasvey.
The anguage of advertsng s usuay very
postve and emphaszes why between party products
one stands out aganst the other. The anguage of ads s
often used n ways whch are more frequenty assocated
wth poetry or oratory than wth commerce, snce the
socety s ever-changng, ad technques are aso often
changng n order to keep up wth the socety and aso for
novety. Even wth the frequent change n ad technques
from tme to tme, they nevertheess contnue to make an
mpact on socety.

Advertsng heps n seng .e., seng
through the art and busness of persuasve
communcaton. Wth emphatc use of anguage, the
copywrter draws catchy and memorabe nes and makes
hs seng deas cear before the buyers. Advertsng
makes a psychoogca mpact on the consumers and so
nvtes them to buy a product. Beng oaded wth
psychoogca overtone, the anguage of advertsng
messages s subte and mesmersng. A dusky woman w
buy a tube of mported farness cream at hgh prce
because the advertsement assures her great career and
perfect marrage wth nstant oveness. Therefore t s
the psychoogca makeup of the advertsement that
makes us thnk that when we buy Marut, we buy
prestge; when we buy Chawanprash, we buy heath and
ongevty.
Language s the most powerfu, convenent and
permanent means of communcaton and, therefore, t
makes mass seng possbe through advertsements.
Advertsng s an art of persuadng peope. The copywrter
s ke a |ugger. He knows whch words woud be most
emotona and movng n a headne to attract the buyers.
It s the power of anguage that ses the product ke a
hot cake and takes out money from the pockets of
buyers. Language, not used artstcay, fas to str the
mnds of the peope.
Language has creatvty and productvty. It
s ths feature, whch enabes the advertser to create
exctng appeas n the advertsements. Whe desgnng
an advertsement, he brngs together art and commerce.
Advertsement agences are n search of gfted wrters
who can begue the customers by the beauty of ther
anguage. Se the szzes, not the steak s another way of
sayng. "Show, dont te". Peope are aways more
mesmersed by seght of hand than a documentary. It s
human nature to want to escape from the humdrum nto
fantasy and. Advertsng offers peope a reason to be
seduced. Se them an dea, draw them a pcture, and
nvte them nto paradse, even for a moment. They w
come down to earth agan when they actuay use the
Product. Consumers subconscousy expect ths to happen
(Vaadares, 2000).A vast amount of tme, money and
energy go nto the creatve work of deveopng
advertsng appeas to nfuence the buyng behavour of
consumers. The basc concepts n marketng te us that t
s a about satsfyng consumers wants and needs. A
appeas are created for the purpose of advertsng needs
and wants and sharng how the advertsed products can
satsfy those needs and wants.
Advertsers try to assess whch needs are most mportant
to consumers at any gven tme. However, no category of
needs constanty takes precedence over the other. Here
agan anguage does wonder n conveyng the message n
the most approprate manner. Language meant for
advertsement s very wtty, charmng, and sometmes
mysterous. Its basc ob|ect s to convert an ndfferent
customer nto a potenta buyer.
'om(on"nts o& )an%ua%"
Lngusts have dentfed fve basc components
(phonoogy, morphoogy, syntax, semantcs, and
pragmatcs) found across anguages.
Phono)o%!a) &"atur"s o& Lan%ua%" o& ad#"rt!s!n%
The study of speech structure wthn a anguage,
ncudng both the patterns of basc speech unts and the
accepted rues of pronuncaton, s known as phonoogy.
The smaest unts of sound that make up a anguage are
caed phonemes. Advertsng anguage often uses the
technques smar to those n poetc texts. The advantage
of so-caed mnemonc devces (rhyme, rhythm,
ateraton and assonance) s the mnemotechnca effect.
It guarantees that the recever of the advertsement
better remembers the text and recas t at the rght
moment.
Rh*m"
Rhyme s a pattern of "dentty of sound between words
or verse-nes extendng from the end to the ast fuy
accented vowe and not further." Rhyme refers to sounds,
not speng. It s commony found n |nges, sogans and
headnes. Rhyme covers the repeatng of the smar
sounds n the words.
For e.g.:- "Don't |ust book t, Thomas Cook t" (Thomas
Cook s a trave company)."Nothng sucks ke an
Eectroux" (vacuum ceaner).
Rh*thm
The am of advertsng s to be catchy and easy to
remember for whch the prosodc features - ntonaton,
rhythm and exca stress, that are havng great
emotona and mnemonc effect, w be usefu. Even the
scentsts cannot expan attractve power of rhythm and
repetton on human mnd. Copywrters often use
anguage wth rhythmca arrangement. The stener or
reader need not notce t and he perceves t ony
subconscousy. The resut s that the text s memorabe
and ngustcay neat.
A))!t"rat!on
Ateraton can be defned as "terary technque, n whch
successve words (more strcty, stressed syabes) begn
wth the same consonant sound or etter." It s wdey
used n advertsng sogans.
Eg:- "Performance. Prestge. Passon for Innovaton."
Assonan"
Assonance s a ngustc devce, n whch the same vowe
n successve stressed syabes creates a vowe harmony.
It s not so obvous type of scheme as ateraton.
"How much reaty can you hande?"
Trans)!t"rat!on
Even the use of transteraton n advertsement s not so
frequent. When t s occurred t makes a postve resut. It
defntey attracts readers attenton. Transteraton
means the transformaton of foregn words nto Engsh.
Usuay the speng of the foregn word s dfferent but
the pronuncaton n these speca cases s the same as
Engsh. For E.g.:-"BE COINTREAUVERSIAL." (Here:
COINTREAU s the name of French acohoc drnk)
Homo(hon"s
In Engsh, there are many words that sound the same but
are speed dfferenty. Lngusts ca them homophones.
Copywrters use homophony to create puns n advertsng
anguage. Ths knd of pay works best n prnt.
Onomatho(o"! $ords
"It s a combnaton of speech-sounds produced n nature
(wnd, sea, thunder.) by thngs (machnes, toos) by
peope (sngng, aughter) and by anmas. A combnaton
of speech sounds of ths type w nevtaby be assocated
wth whatever produces the natura sound."
Onomathopoec sounds can hep to magne certan
stuaton or acton better. They can n a way serve as
mnemonc as we. It defntey brngs somethng
appeang to the sogan and that s the goa of
advertsers.
Morphological and Lexical features of
Advertising Language:-
Morphoogy s the study of the smaest unts of
meanng, morphemes. Knowedge of the morphoogy of
our anguage s crtca to vocabuary deveopment and
refects the smaest budng bocks for
comprehenson.The characterstcs of the vocabuary of
advertsng s anaysed n foowng paragraphs.
V"r+ (hras"
There exst two types of structure of verb phrase: fnte
verb phrase and non-fnte verb phrase. The frst one s "a
verb phrase n whch the frst or ony word s a fnte verb,
the rest of the phrase (f any) consstng of non-fnte
verbs. The nfntve, the -ng partcpe and the -ed
partcpe are the non-fnte forms of the verb." In
advertsng, "verba groups are mosty of maxmum
smpcty, consstng of ony one word." Accordng to
Leech, passve voce occurs very sporadcay and so does
the appcaton of auxary verbs. Two auxary verbs
often used n advertsng are the future auxary w,
because t evokes the mpresson of promse and the
moda auxary can. If an anmate sub|ect precedes the
verb can, (n most cases you = customer you
can.), the consumer s tod that the product gves hm
or her the abty to do ths or that. If an nanmate
sub|ect (n most cases the brand-name e.g. Nvea
peeng can.) precedes can, the consumer s tod what
possbtes the product offers.
Noun (hras"
In genera, noun phrases n advertsements are far more
compex than verb phrases. In advertsng anguage, the
nterestng part of the noun phrase s the pre modfyng
part, whch s usuay very compex and s characterzed
by certan unusua structura features. The compexty of
pre-modfcaton s based on the effort to catch, descrbe
and specfy the propertes of the product n attractve
way:
"Frst automatc chronograph wth a 72-hour power-
reserve and patented compresson push-buttons.
Mechanca automatc movement , made n house."
Here the ony verb s the verb make n passve voce. In
many cases, whoe advertsng text does not contan any
verb; t conssts ony of noun phrases. Insde the noun
phrase, custers of two, three or more ad|ectves are
possbe:
Eg:-"Gngery Fudgy Nutty Creamy Mschevous
Mouthfus."
Ad,"t!#"s
In many cases advertsements may contan the
h*("r+o)! harat"r of the anguage. Ths
exaggeraton causes ncreased number of comparatve
and superatve ad|ectves. The product s better, ncer,
newer, and tghter and the customer s happer and more
satsfed. The product offers more nformaton, more
entertanment, more comfort, more than any other
product. Most advertsements use %rada+)" ad,"t!#"s
(they descrbe quates that can be measured n degrees;
they can be used n comparatve or superatve forms)
than non-%rada+)" ad,"t!#"s ("they descrbe quates
that are competey present or competey absent). A
mted range of "#a)uat!#" ad,"t!#"s ncudes new,
cean, whte, rea, fresh, rght, natura, bg, great, sm,
soft, whoesome, mproved are aso used n
advertsements.
Num"ra)s
Many advertsements make use of numeras to defne the
characterstcs of the product exacty. Numeras are used
to defne quantty of varous aspects, for exampe
percentage of some substance n a product, number of
years n connecton to the ength of the tradton of the
product (Bhma God 85 Years od), the number of
satsfed customers, etc. Manpuatng numbers to gve an
exaggerated noton of ther gan and a mnmzed verson
of ther spendng s one of the trcks of the trade. So, we
say, your safety costs |ust Rs. 5 a day rather than Rs. 150
a month or Rs. 1825 a year. But when t comes to your
gan, you say get an nterest of Rs. 1800/- a year rather
than Rs. 5 a day. Zeroes have a mesmersng quaty
whch a smart copywrter expots to se (Thomas, 1997).
The Hero Honda (!"!awn# ad pcks up the smar theme
and hghghts the magc of dgts n ths way:
100 Days;1,00,000 Bies; !ele"rating a #ecord
Breaing Achieve$ent%
Zeroes eptomse the hugeness of sze. It mutpes the
vaue of number and so the product. Some ad nes
ncude mathematca sgns to estabsh ther product n
the market. These sgns coud be anythng, but they are
effectve and meanngfu when they are use n context of
pace. Two more ads have the smar propostons are
D"tto): Be 100& sure and Anhor 'ooth (aste:
100& vegetarian.
In both ads, % marks are used to emphasze the USP
(unque seng proposton). The numerca ad|ectve
(cardna) 100 s beng actvey paced wth % mark to
ensure the genuneness of the product. Frst ad taks of
purty as a unque seng funda whe other ad targets the
vegetaran gentry. Detto s a symbo of the good heath
and hygene. The brand Detto shows that how much one
cares and oves for hs famy. Anchor toothpaste has a
dfferent appea segmented to a partcuar group who has
an averson to no vegetaran products. When wrtng ad
copy, copywrter tres to ncude sgns and symbos as
they take ess space and effort and fnay convey the
messages across the consumers
Format!on o& n"$ $ords and (hras"s
Advertsng texts take advantage of usng made-up or
adapted words and expressons n order to support the
creatve aspect of advertsement and ts attracton. The
other forms of creaton of new words are affxaton,
converson, shortenng, bendng, and back-formaton.
Us" o& 'om(ound $ords
Very strkng feature of advertsng anguage s a varety
of "exca unts, where each unt s consstng of two or
more bases (roots)".They are caed compound words. A
compound word may be characterzed by ts
nseparabty (t cannot be nterrupted by another word),
semantc unty, morphoogca and syntactc functonng
and certan phonetca and graphc features. Exampes of
compounds used n advertsements are: good-as-
homemade, pan-reevng, state-of-the-art, hand-crafted,
head-to-toe, one-of-a-knd, patnum-nayed, a-new,
front-facng, touch-senstve, but-n etc.Compounds are
very fexbe and embody the nnovatve sprt of
advertsng fuy; they can aso make a profound
mpresson on peopes mnd when the consumers see the
product for the frst sght.
Id!omat! onstrut!ons
Copywrters use doms and proverbs n advertsements,
because these constructons are famar to most
potenta customers n a socety. If the pcture
accompanes the text, the pcture usuay does not
represent the fguratve - and, of course - correct and
common meanng of the dom, but t represents the
mage and representaton of the tera meanngs of ts
consttuents
"Chaenge us - and get yoursef a bi$$er slice of the
cake." (Semens Fnanca Servces)
An dom a bgger sce of the cake means a share of the
avaabe money or benefts that you beeve you have a
rght to. A pcture represents two happy young women
eatng a cake
Us" o& F!rst and S"ond P"rsona) Pronouns
Pronouns of the frst and second person: "we", "I" and
"you" outnumber the other pronouns n advertsements
because these hep create a frend-ke ntmate
atmosphere to move and persuade the audence.
Advertsements wth ots of pronouns of the frst and
second person are caed gossp advertsements. The
audence w easy accept a product, a servce or an dea
as f a good frend recommended them. The use of
second person addressee "you" tends to shorten the
dstance between the product or the producer and
consumers, as f the producer or the ad s speakng to you
face to face, makng sncere promses, honest
recommendatons. For exampe:
Ford: The choce s *ours. The honor s ours.
Ths headne s from the Ford motor, where the
manufacturer put tsef n a very humbe poston
therefore t makes the readers fee they are respectabe
and hgher n status.
The use of frst person addresser "we" and "us" s the
most drect way to te the recever what the sponsor of
an ad sogan stands for, hs dea, hs vew, and hs credt.
Its a tte bt ke a sef-ntroducton to the potenta
customers to et them know you, recognze you, beeve
you and trust you. For exampe,
Yamaha: Every tme $" race, *ou wn.
It s for Yamaha eectronc organ. It mpes no matter how
ferce the competton s, the customer s aways gettng
benefts.
Us" o& Emot!#" or E#a)uat!#" Ad,"t!#"s or
Ad,"t!#a) Phras"s
Such words can stmuate envy, dreams and desres by
evokng ooks, touch, taste, sme, and sounds wthout
actuay msrepresentng a product.Accordng to the
research of choce of words n advertsng by ngust G. N.
Leech, the most frequenty used 20 words are:
1.new 2.good/best 3.free 4.fresh 5.decous 6.fu
7.sure 8.cean 9.wonderfu 10.speca 11.crsp
12.fne 13.bg 14.great 15.rea 16.easy 17.brght
18.extra 19.safe 20.rch
Among these words, "new" s the most common one,
whch shows peopes desre for orgna dea and fresh
concept. An Amercan advertsng expert once sad, "The
most powerfu words you can use n a headne are free
and new."
Us" o& T"hn!a) T"rms and S!"nt!&! Sound!n%
.ords
In the advertsements of eectrca appances, especay
exquste nstruments, such as photocopers, dgta
vdeos, dgta teevsons, one can see ots of technca
terms that s rarey heard of. Usng of these words heps
to eave an mpresson of professona and advanced n
the technca fed. For exampe:
Pure Coor. Beautfu fu-coor copes are n fu boom
from Mnota. Because our Las"r Int"ns!t* Modu)at!on
S*st"m (LIMOS) varous coor ntensty per dot n 256
gradatons wth 400 dots per nch resouton. A to create
subte coors and textures you have to see to beeve. So
experence Mnota dgta fu coor copers. For coor
copyng, theyre pure quaty. Ths s the advertsement of
Mnota coor coper, n whch LIMOS (Laser Intensty
Moduaton System) s the technca term and sounds very
professona. Peope may not know the exact meanng of
t, but they may consder t scentfc and trustworthy.
Us" o& N"%at!#" .ords
Negatve words are often used n advertsements such as
no, none, nothng, never, etc. to show the unqueness and
unparaeed quaty of the product. For exampe: Opum:
N"#"r has a perfume provoked such emoton.
Us" o& In)us!#" .ords
Apart from negatve words, the admen are aso fond of
the ncusve words such as a, every, aways, etc. to
ndcate that the reference s unversa. For e.g. Coca-
Coa: A)$a*s Coca-Coa.
Us" o& 'o!n"d .ords
Coned words are both new and memorabe. Coned
words are knd of smart words that have speca meanng
n the specfed context. They can rase the nterests of
the ad headne recevers, make them ponder upon the
meanng and marve at the smart dea of the admen. By
so dong, they recognze the brand.
For exampe: Hote: T.OGETHER. The utmate a
ncusve one prce sun kssed hoday.
It s an advertsement on provdng a coupe wth a
hoday nn. "Two$ether" and "together" are smar both
n speng and pronuncaton. "To" s msspeed as "Two"
on purpose by the advertser to ndcate that the coupe
coud get the romantc yesterday once more f they spend
ther hoday together n ths nn. Psychoogcay, emoton
between overs tends to become common and ordnary
on the surface after a ong perod, "Twogether" here can
remnd them of the romantc tme n the past.
Ths advertsement s |ust ntended to cater for
such a psychoogca need.
Pun
The pun s "s a form of word pay that deberatey
expots an ambguty between smar-soundng words for
humorous or rhetorca effect. The use of Puns by admen
has a number of advantages: 1. t attracts readers
attenton 2.make advertsement readabe and memorabe
3.arse consumers nterest and magnaton and fnay
4.t deepy affect readers by ts readabty, wt, and
humour. Pun s a pay on words; t ncreases the humour
of advertsng and makes the advertsng pregnant wth
meanng. Approprate appcaton of pun can attract
readers attenton, make the body copy readabe and
memorabe and arouse consumers nterest and
magnaton.
For exampe:
"Coke refreshes you ke no other can"(Coca-Coa)
In ths advertsng, "can" maybe understand as a
botte for drnk, and t aso can be used as an auxary
verb. So ths sentence has two meanngs:
Frst s "Coke refreshes you ke no other can (can
refresh you)";
Second s "Coke refreshes you ke no other (drnks)
can (refresh you)".
For"!%n $ords/Loan .ords
Foregn words are used n advertsements to emphasze
the orgn of the product or excusveness of the product
n reaton to partcuar country:
"La crme de a crme of p coour."
French word crme evokes the mpresson of good-cass
French cosmetcs. Even more, the phrase crme de a
crme s taken from French and t means the best
peope or thngs of ther knd.
Humour
Humour s one of the greatest thngs n human bengs
fe. It heps us to overcome hard fe stuatons, to
smpfy the probem or |ust to make our day or mood
better. It s no wonder that humour s not omtted n
advertsng branch. The cause mght be the fact that as
some peope remember good |okes, some peope
remember good sogans and humour s a good means
how to acheve t. Readers usuay do not tend to
memorze the thngs that are sad or borng. These two
aspects are avoded by marketers. Advertsers know that
the more fun n the sogan, the better. It s matter of fact
that the use of humour must be approprate to the type of
advertsed product. Consequenty t s obvous that n
some cases serousness must preva.
)yntax:-
The study of how ndvdua words and ther most
basc meanngfu unts are combned to create sentences
s known as syntax. The rues of grammar that s foowed
whe communcatng usng a anguage s caed syntax.
S"nt"n" T*("s0-
Sentences may be cassfed nto any of foowng four
types; decaratves, nterrogatves, mperatves and
excamatves. The functon of decaratve sentence s to
descrbe the products reasonaby and perfecty; the
functon of mperatve sentence s to persuade consumers
to buy the product; the functon
of nterrogatve sentences s to rase a queston then
answer t, whch heps the consumer to emnate the
doubt of the product. These three types of sentences are
a ft for the prncpe that advertsng shoud have
attenton vaue and memory vaue. Ouestons are used n
advertsements as t evokes the sense of persona
communcaton n the reader. It causes that the reader
cooperates wth the text havng hs own ndvdua
stuaton n mnd. One nsurance company emotonay
bargans the consumers by creatng the fear of crtca
ness n ts medcam pocy:
*+ho ,ill tae care of your fa$ily, if you fall ill-.
Another reason s the (r"su((os!t!on. Angea
Goddard wrtes that presupposton s "a about readng
between nes; snce ths s, as t suggests, a hdden
process, t s very nterestng to advertsers, as we can be
takng n a sorts of assumptons wthout conscousy
payng attenton to them." Presuppostons are present n
any communcaton and many questons presuppose
somethng. An E.g.:-
"Why do eadng beauty experts and modes use and
recommend Perfect?"
Here one can deduce and beef from the content of ths
advertsement that beauty experts and modes use and
recommend Perfect. In advertsng anguage,
presupposton s very frequent way of expressng the
content. Advertsers rather use presupposton than
asserton because t s much easer to deny an asserton
than a presupposton: The statement "Leadng beauty
experts and modes use and recommend Perfect." one
may oppose: "I dont beeve. No way." But n queston
mentoned above, the recever s unconscousy ed to
beeve that the content s truthfu and that there are no
doubts about the fact that they use and recommend t. In
advertsements, there are often cases where the queston
s stated as knd of a probem and then the text offers
an answer - a souton for the probem:
"Got weddng on the bran? Tme to vst our new
webste."
Another typca type of queston used n advertsng s
rh"tor!a) 1u"st!on. It assumes ony one possbe
answer:
"What more coud anyone ask from a Carns gft?"
The mped answer to ths s "Of course, nothng."
Im("rat!#"s are sentences, whch normay have
no overt grammatca sub|ect, and whose verb has the
base form. Copywrters use mperatves, because t
creates a sense of "one person s takng to another
because a ads are urgng us to some acton." The
frequenty used mperatve causes n advertsements
are:
*Items, whch have to do wth the acquston of the
product: get, buy, ask for, choose, etc.
*Items, whch have to do wth the consumpton or use of
the product: have, try, use, en|oy, etc.
*Items, whch act as appeas for notce: ook, see, watch,
remember, make sure, etc.
For E.G:-
Express card: Dont eave home wthout t.
Unted Arnes: Lfe s a |ourney, trave t we.
E2)amat!#"s are sentences whch have an nta
phrase ntroduced by what or how, usuay wth sub|ect-
verb order."
S"nt"n" strutur"0-
The most mportant structura tendences used by
copywrters n advertsng anguage are outned beow.
Sh"mat! Patt"r!n%
Para))")!sm s one of the forms of schematc patterng.
It can be defned as "repetton of forma patterns".
Paraesm means the parae presentaton of two or
more than two smar or reevant deas n smar
structura forms. It s a rhetorca devce heghtenng the
emotona tone of the message and ts mportance. For
Eg:
"Tps for a good nghts seep: - Drnk ess caffene.
- Take warm baths.
" %rran$e your insurance with &'( )utual."
Each cause has the same dea and structure begnnng
wth verb n mperatve foowng by drect ob|ect. The
typography and ayout often contrbutes to the text; n
ths case, each cause s prnted n separate ne. The ast
cause makes up a semantc and forma parae to frst
two causes. Paraesm s often accompaned by
Ana(hora - "the repetton of the same word or group of
words at the begnnng of severa consecutve sentences
or verses to emphasze an mage or a concept"
"E2()or" the hs. E2()or" the rvers. E2()ore the
mountans. E2()or" the sea."
E(!(hora - "the repetton of the same word or words at
the end of successve phrases, causes or sentences."
"See n"$. Hear n"$. Fee n"$."
Ant!m"ta+o)" s another form of schematc patterng. It
s
defned as "the repetton of words n successve causes,
but n reverse grammatca order, e.g. I know what I ke,
and I ke what I know." Schematc patterng occurs n a
eves of anguage. Anaphora, epphora, ateraton,
assonance and antthess aso beong to technques of
schematc patterng.
E))!(s!s
Epss beongs to cohesve devces and t s defned as
"the omsson of part of a structure." Epss n
advertsng s used for economca reasons; to save space
and money because words cost money.
Inom()"t" s"nt"n"s
In some cases the whoe advertsement may come
wthout a man verb. There s a wdey spread tendency to
punctuate phrases. One reason s, that the reader of the
advertsement turns to the vsua ayout, whch provdes
hm many cues to correct nterpretaton, so the expct
structure of the sentence s not so mportant. For E.g.:-
"The curs of your dreams. Now avaabe when youre
awake."
We may connect these two ncompete sentences wth
the nkng verb are. In ths case, the verb can be ceary
deduced from the context and ntegrated, but there are
cases where the tense and aspect are not so defnte.
Another reason for omttng verbs s that there s no
mportance to defne nether the tense nor the aspect of
the verb or t woud be cumbersome.
*emantics
*emantics refers to the ways n whch a anguage
conveys meanng. Semantcs moves beyond the tera
meanng of words and s cuture-dependent. The same
ngustc expresson, however, may have aso ts
fguratve meanng. It onnot"s addtona ayers of
meanng and evokes assocatons. The connotatve
meanngs depend on peopes entre prevous
experences and on conventons of communty.
Therefore, the connotatons of the same expresson w
dffer sghty from person to person and the same
denotatons can have dfferent connotatons n dfferent
context. (Vestergaard and Schroder 1985) beeve that n
advertsng anguage, the most frequent word for
acquston of product s get, and not buy, because
buy has some unpeasant connotatons, ke money and
the partng wth t. A tro(" s "a word or phrase that s
used n a way that s dfferent from ts usua meanng n
order to create a partcuar menta mage or effect." It s a
fguratve expresson. The most mportant tropes used n
advertsng anguage are: personfcaton, sme,
hyperboe, metaphor and metonymy, antthess,
poysemy, and homonymy.
P"rson!&!at!on
Personfcaton s a term used many n terature to name
the fgure of speech, whch "nvoves drecty speakng of
an nanmate ob|ect, or an abstract concept, as f t were
a vng entty, often one wth specfcay human
attrbutes. These attrbutes may ncude sensatons,
emotons, desres, physca gestures and expressons, and
powers of speech, among others." The readers of
advertsements usuay do not regster or reaze that
there s used personfcaton n
the text. It s used very wdey - n a the expressons ke
".(name of a faca crme) gves you sky skn", ".
(name of a product) fufs your wshes" or "Drty ktchen?
Nothng ceans t up ke . (name of a ceaner)" are on
the base of personfcaton of a brand name: a ceaner
ceans, but even thought, ceanng s an actvty proper
to human bengs.
S!m!)"
Sme s defned as "a drect, expressed comparson
between two thngs essentay unke each other, but
resembng each other n at east one way." Usuay,
smes are marked by use of the words ke, than, as
or as f.
We may aso fnd comparatve constructons used when
comparng two thngs or two stuatons: "as.as", "so.
as".
H*("r+o)"
A hyperboe s "the deberate use of overstatement or
exaggeraton usng ad|ectves and adverbs to acheve
emphass. Busnessmen and manufacturers use the fgure
of speech to advertse ther goods n as attractve a way
as possbe. For E.g.:- "No other pan-reevng ge works
ke Deep Reef."
M"ta(hor
Lakoff and |ohnson defne metaphor as "statements
and/or pctures whch cause a recever to experence one
thng n terms of another.", for exampe: HALLS
advertsement
A snge metaphor may be worth of a hundred words of
advertsng text. It has an nterestng vaue and
stmuates the curosty of the reader about the product.
In advertsng, a metaphor usuay creates a comparson
between the product or servce and some other quaty
the advertser wshes to be assocated wth the product or
servce advertsed. There are cases, n whch a famous
person stands for and represents the whoe brand.
M"ton*m*
A metonymy s "the use of a snge characterstc to
dentfy a more compex entty. It s extremey common
for peope to take one we-understood or easy-to
perceve aspect of somethng and use that aspect to
stand ether for the thng as a whoe or for some other
aspect or part of t." The commony used exampes of
metonymy are The press for the news meda, Wa
Street for the Amercan fnanca ndustry.In
advertsements, an assocated word often expresses the
whoe group: I ke Vovo (= Vovo cars)
Ant!th"s!s
"Antthess s a fgure of speech, whch uses the same or
smar structure to express two opposte deas so as to
acheve the effects of emphaszng the meanng and the
contrast. The combnaton of peasant senses of vson
and hearng often stmuates the good feengs of readers
and arouses consumers' buyng desre." Antthess reates
to words, causes or sentences. It s based on antonyms
(words of opposte meanng) or opposte deas:
"Taks nsde. Shouts outsde. New 2006 Festa."
"Imagne a mn phone wth maxmum stye and desgn."
(rag$atics
"Pragmatcs refers to the ways the members of the
speech communty acheve ther goas usng anguage."
The way we speak to our parents s not the same as the
way we nteract wth a sbng, for exampe. The anguage
used n a forma speech may bear tte resembance to
what we woud hear at a unch wth fve frends. Knowng
the dfference and when to use whch stye s the essence
of pragmatcs.
'ON'LUSION
Advertsng takes the consumers to a usonary word
where n |ust a mnute a hungry chd gets nstant
gratfcaton wth Magg noodes, a dark rustc gr
becomes Mss Inda n few days after appyng a partcuar
brand of farness cream and the back pan of a housewfe
gets out of the wndow, n a few seconds wth )oov.
These are the unque marves of advertsng that heavy
broods on our emotona anxetes, psychoogca fears
and soca affatons. In ths way, advertsng ses hope,
pro|ects dream, satsfes ego and ensures prestge and
status by nvtng us to grab a partcuar product.
Advertsers often refer to core vaues, when seectng
ther prmary appeas. Because vaues are so cosey ted
to human behavour and so dffcut to change, prvate
research frms try to montor vaues and ook for groupng
of vaues and behavour patterns. Atttudes are a
refecton of our vaues. Some ads are based on our
strong, postve emotons. Expotng our dreams and
aspratons, the advertsers pck-up the beautfu words
and phrases to desgn emotona messages.
Advertsements are the best specmen to wtness the
soca changes and trends that affect the masses. The
copywrters crteron for creatng an advertsement s the
fnest form of deep anayss and strong command over hs
customers and market. Language s a weapon that he
trggers off on human psyche. The advertser knows the
nerves of the socety and ts sub|ects, and accordngy he
pans hs advertsng messages and casts hs spes over
the customers. The copywrter s very cautous n
seecton of words and phrases whe wrtng an ad copy.
He studes the temperament of a buyer and makes use of
anguage wth the assurance that t w evoke the desred
reacton to what he wants to se. The copywrters are
aways n search of smarter ways to grnd the customers
to part wth hs money. Sometmes, the advertser s over
ambtous n promotng hs product by creatng unreastc
desres wthout showng the means to fuf such desres.
REFERENCES
The foowng resources have been extensvey referred
for the preparaton of the artce.
1."Advertsng Language: the psychoogy behnd the
advertsng messages", Language n Inda strength for
today and brght hope for tomorrow",Dr G S Chauhan,
|une 2006
2."The anguage of advertsng wth the concentraton on
the ngustc means and the anayss of advertsng
sogans", |ana Lapsanska, unversty of Bratsava,
October 2006
3."Gender reated means n advertsng", Martna
krzkova, bacheor thess, Tomas Bata unversty n
zn,May2009
4."Language use n advertsng: an anayss of ngustc
features across readershp domans",Kaev Hannes
Leetaru,May2001
5."The nfuence of anguage on communcaton and
persuason n advertsng:, Wam Rya Caro, The cty
unversty of Newyork,2008
6."The anguage of advertsng ",Kpougbo Stea N and
Masagbor Rchard A, An Encycopaeda of the arts ,
2006,p175-188
7."The Language of advertsng; who contros
quaty?",Robert G Wyckham,P M Bantng and AKP
wensey, |ourna of busness ethcs(1984) p47-53

Você também pode gostar