[Abstract] In modern society, advertisement’s influence is universal. Pun is to add more attraction, being applied as a kind of figures of speech in advertisement and deeply loved by people. Pun has many forms of expression such as pun on polysemy, homophone, hononymy, parody, illustrations and words, grammar, etc. The advertisers use brand, idiom, and phrase, etc, to form pun skillfully. The proper use of pun in advertisement results in the effects of humor, wit, beauty, economy, warning, and even makes the product more competitive and profitable, and makes the advertisement sweet to the ear, and please both the eye and mind.
[Key words] advertisement; pun; pragmatic function
【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。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；语用功能
1. Introduction
“The definition of advertisement by AMA(American Marketing Association): Advertising is the nonpersonal communication usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services of ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.[1] It is a device to arouse consumers’ attention to a commodity and induce them to use it. In the practice of the advertising English, people pay more attention to pun to make the advertisement succinct, accurate and vivid and to provide rich imagination and plentiful associations for readers so as to stimulate their desire.
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. Among the figures, pun is loved deeply. Oxford Advanced Dictionary defines pun as “humorous use of a word that has two meanings or of different words that sound the same”.
2. Types of pun in advertisement
A pun is a rhetorical device in which people use the polysemous, or homonymous relation of a language to cause a word, a sentence of a discourse to involve two things of meanings. It has several types.
2.1 Pun on Polysemy
“While different words may have the same of similar meaning, the same one word may have more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called polysemic word. Historically speaking, polysemy can be understood as the growth and development of or change in the meaning of words.
2.2 Pun on Homonymy
“Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words with different meanings have the same form, i.e, different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both. When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones. When the words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.
2.3 Pun on Parody
“Parody” is a piece of speech, writing of music that imitates the style of an author, composer, etc in an amusing and often exaggerate way.[2] Pun on parody uses the outfit of saying, apothegm, proverb or idiom to form new meanings.
2.4 Pun on Grammar
Many advertisers use pun produced for grammar problem to attract the audiences, such as ellipsis or word with different grammar functions. If this type of pun can be used properly, it will achieve unexpected effect.
2.5 Pun on Illustration and Words
A lot of advertisement associates with illustrations and words to achieve better effect, especially on TV, because people are more easily attracted by pictures than words. The illustrations and words can help people to understand the advertisement fully. Pun in the advertisement must be connected with illustrations and words, so people can understand the implied meanings.
3. Pragmatic analysis of advertisement pun
From analyses above, people can understand that a pun usually uses one word in a sentence relating to double meanings, surface meaning and implicit meanings, which is the main idea the speaker wants to convey. The advertisers like to use the double meanings to produce ambiguity. While, analyzing from pragmatic maxims, it breaches Cooperative Principle.
3.1 Cooperative Principle
“The theory of conversational implicature was originally suggested by Herbert Paul Grice, an Oxford philosopher, who later went to America.”[3] His approximation is “We might formulate a tough general principle which participants will be expected to observe namely: Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. One might label this the COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE.”[4]
The CP is specified from four aspects. And the content of each category is known as maxim.
3.1.2 Quantity
a. Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purpose of the exchange)
b. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required”[5]
3.1.2 “Quality
a. Do not say what you believe to be false
b. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence”[6]
3.1.3“Relation: be relevant”[7]
That means what you say must be relevant. For example, when you are hungry, you don’t expect you partner giving you a book, but a cake, because cake is relevant to your feeling at this situation.
3.1.4 “Manner
a. Avoid obscurity of expression
b. Avoid ambiguity
c. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity)
c. Be orderly”[8]
4. The pragmatic function of pun in advertisement
Pun has a lot of advantages such as conciseness, wit and humor, novelty and vividness. It produces a particularly rhetorical and pragmatic effect when people use the language creatively in a specified context. The proper use can make the advertisement impressive and attractive.
4.1 Wit and humor
Pun, the game of word, produces wit and humor effect to attract the audiences’ attention and inspires their association. In the age of rapid rhythm, advertisement with pun like a spice makes people enjoy themselves in the advertising atmosphere, and reduces their pressure in a relaxed environment.
[3] “When the wind has a bite… and you feel like a bite… then bite on a whole Nut.”[9]
The word “bite” has several meanings: grip, food, and eat. The whole sentence means that when the strong wind hurts you and you are very hungry, just eat some Nut. After day working, people would feel tired and hungry, while the advertisement is just the situation of them.
4.2 Creativeness and originality
This is typical of advertising language. An advertisement has a high demand of diction every word playing an important role. If human emotions have to be inspired, the words, strong in expressing emotions, will be chosen. In advertisement, originality is king. A new way of sending message can set a brand apart from copycats and also-rans.
[5] “Cab Fourward.”[10]
It is an advertisement title of Ram Car produced by Doqi company. The word “fourward” sounds like “forward”. Connecting it with the picture in the advertisement, people would know why it uses ‘fourward”. Because the four doors of this kind of car could be opened from four directions. The advertiser creates the word “fourward” from “forward” to show the speciality of the car.
4.3 Satisfying people’s requirement of beauty
A good advertisement is a text from which people can appreciate the art of language, especially advertisement using pun. For instance:
[7] “Give your hair a touch of spring.”[11]
It is an advertisement for shampoo. The word “spring” here is very vivid and like a picture in people’ mind: after using the shampoo, the long hair becomes elastic and shining. When you stand there, your hair will go with wind.
4.4 Satisfying the requirement of society--Economy
Pun uses fewer words to express full message which is the content of Economy Principle, and it usually reaches the purpose of advertisement that is arouse consumers’ attention to a commodity and induce them to use it.
4.5 Implying Warning
Some advertisements imply warming. Pun can make the warming vivid and effective so that people can pay attention to it. For instances:
[12] “Better late than the late.”[13]
It is a public service advertising of traffic. It derives from the proverb “Better late than never”. In the sentence, “the late” means” the dead”, and it reminds the drivers to drive slowly and carefully. The advertisement with pun here has more powerful to persuade the drivers to care their security.
4.6. Making the product more profitable and competitive
The speciality of pun is useful in advertisement, and favored by people. If a advertiser can make full use of it to satisfy people’s requirement, the product may precede others and gain the market.
“A deal with us means a good deal to you.”[14]
Here, the double meanings of “deal” are: the amount and business. The meanings of the advertisement are that: do trade with us is a good business to you; doing business with us, you will get a lot. Advertisers use pun skilful to inspire the audiences’ curiosity and attract their interest to do the deal.
5. Conclusion
Advertisement is a way for the company to propaganda their product. To gain the market among the severe competition, it is important to carry out a wonderful advertisement to promote their product, and figures of speech is an effective way to achieve the purpose. Among the figures, pun is a wide and frequent approach, because it is an effective way to make the advertisement attractive, accurate, striking, vivid and forceful. Advertising words must be vivid, conspicuous and impressive, with high readability and the force to promote sales, so it is used widely in advertisement. ?
Bibliography
[1]Oxford Advanced Learner’s English—Chinese Dictionary [Z], Oxford University Press,1997/7, P1202
[2] 戴炜栋，何兆熊，新编简明英语语言学教程[M]，上海外语教育出版社，2002/7，P74-75
[2]姜望琪，语用学理论及应用[M]，北京大学出版社，2000，P34
[4] 同[3] P34
[5] 同[3] P39
[6] 同[3] P39
[7] 同[3] P40
[8] 同[3] P40
[9] 同[2] P50
[10] 同[6] P35
[11] 同[2] P42
[12] 同[3] P44
[13] 王笑施，广告英语语言技巧浅析[J]，北京邮电大学学报（社会科学版），2001/4，3（2），P123
[14] 周红，英语广告双关语的运用技巧及其语用功能[J]，北京，国际关系学院学报，2005，P295
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