Stylistic-Features-of-Advertising-Language---Ameri

StylisticFeaturesofAdvertisingLanguage--AmericanCosmeticsandClothingCommercialsAbstract:Commercialadvertisementsarenotonlyatoolforsalespromotion,butphenomenonthatcanreflecttheculture.OurstudyaimstoanalyzethestylisticfeaturesofadvertisinglanguageinAmericancommercialadvertisements(advertisementsincosmeticsandclothes)atthreeaspects:forwords,westudythesimplicityandpopularityoftheadvertisingwords,thepickanduseofadjectivesandtheweaselwords;forsentence,westudytheuseandeffectoffourbasicsentencepatterns;forfiguresofspeech,westudytheuseandtheeffectofmetaphor,repetition,hyperboleandpersonification.Inthisway,wewanttohelpEnglishlearnerstopromotetheirabilitiesofreadingcomprehensionandthelevelsofappreciatingliteraryworks,sothattheycanhaveabetterunderstandingoftheAmericancultureaswellaslearningsomething.Keywords:Americancommercialadvertisements;Stylisticfeatures;Americanculture1.IntroductionWiththedevelopmentoftheeconomicglobalization,advertising,asthecarrierofinformation,haspenetratedintoeveryfieldofpeople’slife,andhasbecomeanindispensablepartofthemodernlife.Thepurposeofadvertisingistopromoteproductsorservicessothatthepublicwillhavetheinteresttobuythem.Toachievethisgoal,besidesusingsound,picturesandvideostoproducevisualandauditoryeffect,polisheverywordoreverysentencemayhavebettereffects.ThepopularityofAdvertisingEnglishoffersanotherwayforEnglishlearnerstoanalyzeandmasterthecharacteristicfeaturesofEnglishlanguage.Also,EnglishlearnerscanimprovetheirEnglishlevelbylearningthesebrilliantadvertisements.Accordingtostylistics,analysisinwords,sentencesandfigureofspeechinadvertisementsofcosmeticsandclothingwillbedoneinthispaper.2.Thecharacteristicsofthewords2.1ThepopularityandsimplicityofadvertisingwordsAdvertisementsaremadeforordinarypeople,whichdeterminetheirpopularity.Thepopularityofadvertisingwordsmeansthatusagesofwordsareaccordingwithlanguagehabitsofordinarypeople.So,verbalwordsarefrequentlyused,anduncommonandprofessionalwordsareoftenavoided.Advertisingdesignerswanttheirsproductstoattractconsumersintheshortesttime,soadvertisementsareoftendapperandfocused.2.2ThecommonuseofPositiveadjectives,comparativeandsuperlativeadjectives.AlargenumberofpositiveadjectivewordsinEnglishadvertisementsareusedtoestablishagoodimageandtoarouseconsumers’desiresforconsumption.AccordingtoYongpingShu,allthepeople’sintuition,understandingandjudgmentsoftheworldarebuiltonthebasisoffeeling.Intheprocessofbuying,consumersestablishakindoffeelingfortheproductfirst,whetherit’sgoodornot.Thenaccordingtothisfeeling,theyanalyzethisproductuntilafinaldecisionismade.Therefore,asuccessfuladvertisementfortheproductwillbringconsumersgoodfeelings.Commendatoryadjectivecanoftendothis.WorldfamouslinguistGNLeechhassummarizedthemostcommonlyused21Englishadjectivesinadvertising,theyare:（1）new，（2）crisp，（3）good，（4）better，（5）best，（6）fine，（7）free，（8）big，（9）fresh，（10）great，（11）delicious，（12）real，（13）full，（14）sure，（15）easy，（16）bright，（17）clean，（18）extra，（19）safe，（20）special，（21）rich.Theyareallcommendatorywords.Now,let’susetheadvertisementofCalvinKleinperfumetostudytheusageofadjectives:Begood,bebad,justbeyourself.Behot,becool,justbeyourself.Usinggood,bad,hotandcool----fourmostcommonlyusedadjectivesinEnglishinthiscosmeticsadvertisement.Thisadcannotonlybereadsmoothly,butalsoimpliesthatnomatterwhattemperamentyoupossess,thefragranceoftheperfumewillalwaysbesuitableforyou.Mostadsdesignersprefertousecomparativeadjectivesandsuperlativeadjectivesintheiradvertisements,likebetter,best,prettier,younger---theyarefrequentlyappearedintheEnglishadvertisements.Althoughmanyproductsdonothaverealcomparisonwiththesimilarproducts,advertisementswhichincludecomparativeandsuperlativeformsoftengivepeopleanimpressionofgoodquality.TheuseofcomparativeandsuperlativeadjectivesinEnglishadvertisementscanreflectthistheory.ONLY(Olay)showsustheuseofcomparativeadjective:Wecanprovethatyoulookyounger.Thiscosmeticscommercialusesyounger--acomparativeadjective.Consumerswillimmediatelythinkthismakeupcanmakehimorherlookyoungerthansheorhenowafterseeingtheadvertisement.2.3Creatingnewwordstocreatetheeffect.Althoughtheuseofsimpleadjectivesinadvertisementscanexpressitsmeaninginamoresimpleanddirectway,sometimestheyareoftenlackinginbeauty.Especiallyintheadvertisementsofcosmeticsandclothing,magicaleffectsoftheproductsareoftenmoreappealingthroughsomecreativewords.Let’suseMaryKay’scolorblushadvertisementforanexample.Silky-smoothcheekcolorformulaprovideslong-lasting,naturalcolor.Dermatologist-tested.Non-comedogenic.Suitableforsensitiveskin.100%fragrance-free.Clinicallytestedforskinirritancy.Adjectivewordsaccountsformorethan80%inthiscosmeticadvertisement,Silky-smooth,long-lasting,Dermatologist-tested,Non-comedogenic,fragrance-free---thosenewwordsformedbyhyphenscanoftenmakepeoplefeelthemagicaleffectsoftheproduct.2.4WeaselWordsinadvertisementsWeaselWordsareoftenusedinEnglishadvertisements.InEnglishtherearesomewordsandphraseswhoseinformationisincompleteandoftenvaguecaneasilymisleadtheaudience.Suchwordsarecalledweaselwords.Whenusingweaselwords,