Analysis of Puns in the English Advertisement 英语广告中的双关语.docVIP

Analysis of Puns in the English Advertisement by School of Foreign Languages University June 2011 Abstract: Nowadays, advertisements have become an indispensible part of our life that it comes to our view almost omnipresent. Its influences are intangible. It is an art of concentrated, integrated. In order to make full use of the advertisement, rhetorical devices have been put in to use, especially the puns. There are mainly four forms of puns: homophonic puns, homographic puns, grammatical puns, and parody puns. The puns have their own distinctive function so that they are significant in making advertisement. This article focuses on the pun in advertising and the function of the use of puns to give some analysis. Key words: advertisement, puns, form, function Introduction The purpose of advertising is to attract the aimed customers. A great impression should be given by the unique adoption of words and succinct and content-rich syntax of the advertisements. As for English advertisement, it should have the effect of inducing the customer’s imagination, arising the desire of purchase and catching eyes. A successful advertising not only just shock people with visual, auditory effects, but also passed by people because of the conciseness. Among a number of rhetorical devices, of which the most popular, is the pun. In the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, it defines the pun in such way: the humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest different meanings or applications of words having the same or nearly the same sound but different meanings; a play on words. (Yan, 2008) 所谓“双关”，《现代汉语词典》(1993)的解释是“用词造句时表面上是一个意思，而暗中隐藏着另一个意思”。Pun, also known as paronomasia or play on words, comes from Latin words Paronomazein which means call by a different name. It has two basic characteristics: ambiguous dual context. Its technical use of phenomenon in language such as homonym, ambiguity, vagueness makes a word, phrase or sentence express two meanings to create a se