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AStudyonPragmaticPresuppositioninAdvertisements1IntroductionTheadvertisementisakindoflinguisticart.Nowadays,advertisementscanbefoundeverywhere,whichhavebecomeaninescapablepartofourdailylife.Asamatteroffact,theadvertisementisakindofpublicactivity,whichmeanstoinformsomebodyofsomethingandcatchhisattention.Advertisementsintendtotriggeraspecialresponsefromtheconsumers;thereforetheyareloadedwithgreatpersuasivelanguage.Itisnoexaggerationtosaythatourlifeismoreorlessinfluencedandevenchangedbysomanyadvertisementsaroundusinthemodernsociety.Alotofadvertisementsinthepublicationarecompetingfortheaudience’sattention,andthentheadvertiserstrytomaketheiradvertisementscatchtheaudience’sattention.However,sometimessmartadvertisersusesomeconcealedmeansorimplicationtocontroltheirtruemeanings.Inordertorealizethetruemeaningsoftheadvertisement,wemustlearntoutilizefullypragmatics.Pragmaticpresuppositionconcernsaboutthespeakersandthehearers,sodoestheadvertisement.Therefore,pragmaticpresuppositionisacomprehensivemeansappliedtotheadvertisements,whichmakesadvertisementsmoreconcise,attractiveandpersuasive.1.AnIntroductiontoAdvertisements1.1DefinitionsofAdvertisementsandItsImportanceTheadvertisementisoneoftheoldestformsofpublicannouncements.EncyclopediaBritanniadefinesadvertisingasfollowing:Thetechniquesusedtobringproducts,services，opinionsorcausetopublicnoticeforthepurposeofpersuadingthepublictorespondinacertainwaytowardswhatisadvertised.Mostadvertisinginvolvespromotinggoodsthatisforsale,butsimilarmethodsareusedtoencouragepeopletodrivesafely，tosupportvariouscharities，ortovoteforpoliticalcandidates.Inmanycountriesadvertisingisthemostimportantsourceofincomeformedia(e.g.newspaper,magazines,ortelevisionstations)AStudyonPragmaticPresuppositioninAdvertisements2throughwhichitisconducted,(EncyclopediaBritanniaDictionary，1985:96).Asamatteroffact,thedefinitionsof“advertisements”aremanyandvaried.Amongthem,oneofthebothwidelyacceptedandlatestdefinitionsisputforwardbyO’Guinn,T.C.andSemenik,J.R.(1998.6)as“advertisingisapaid,mass-mediatedattempttopersuade.”Asweknow,advertisementshavebecomeapartofourdailylifeandweareallexposedtovariouskindsofadvertisements—onradioandtelevision,innewspapersandmagazines,oncitystreetsandbuses,andevenoncomputerscreensandmobilephones.Intoday’sageofmassproductionandfiercecompetitionformarkets,theadvertisementhasbecomeanessentialmeansforadvertiserstomaketheirproductsorservicespubliclyknownandultimatelytomoveconsumerstobuyandkeepbuyingtheirgoodsorservices.Nationaleconomyneedsadvertisementsforitsdevelopment.Enterprisesneedadvertisementsforcompetition.Peoplegenerallyneedadvertisementsforhelpinchoosingcommoditiesandfortheenrichmentofspirituallife.Therefore,itisnoexaggerationtosaythatourlifeismoreorlessinfluencedandevenchangedbysomanyadvertisementsaroundusinthemodernsociety.1.2PurposesandFunctionsofAdvertisementsFromthedefinitionofadvertisementwehavementionedabove,wecanlearnthefunctionsofadvertisement:informingandpersuading.Byinforming,advertiserswanttocommunicateinformationabouttheproducts,itsfeatures,anditssale.Bypersuading,advertiserstrytoinduceconsumerstotrynewproducts.Theultimategoalofadvertisementistoinformthepotentialconsumersoftheadvertisedproductsorservices,andtopersuadethemtotakepurchaseactions.Therefore,ifadvertiserssucceedinprovidingagreatdealofinformationabouttheirproductsbutfailtopersuadeanybodytobuytheproduct,itishardtosaytheadvertisementissuccessful.Generallyspeaking,advertisersshouldlettheiradvertisementsconformfollowingsteps:Firstly,itisnecessarytocatchtheaudience’sattentionforalongtime.Oncetheaudience’sattentionhasbeencaptured,theadvertisementmustholdtheaudience’sattentionandconvincehimthattheadvertisementisparticular.ThesuccessfuladvertisementshouldletAStudyonPragmaticPresuppositioninAdvertisements3theaudienceshavethedesiretobuytheproductsandpersuadethemthattheproductssatisfytheirneedsorprovideaneedthattheyhavenotfeltbefore.Moreover,theadvertisementsmustletthemknowthattheproductsadvertisedarebetterthanothercompetitiveproducts.Iftheadvertisementissuccessful,itwouldpromotetheaudiencestobuytheproducts.Then,theaudienceswilltakeactionsandbuytheadvertisedproducts.Maybetheywillbuytheproductsinashorttimeorevenafewyearslater.So,themoresuccessfultheadvertisementis,themorepossibletheconsumerswillbuytheadvertisedproducts.Fromtheabovediscussion,wemaymakeitclearthatthepurposeofalloftheadvertisementsisthesame:topersuadeconsumerstobuytheproducts.Inordertoreachthepurpose,thelanguageoftheadvertisementsmustbepersuasive.Allinall,theadvertiserswillusekindsofmeanstoletconsumerstoaccepttheirgoodsandservices.1.3FeaturesofAdvertisementsInordertomakeclearhowpragmaticpresuppositionworksinadvertisinglanguage,itisnecessarytoknowsomethingaboutthelexical,syntacticalandrhetoricalfeaturesofthelanguageofadvertisements.1.3.1LexicalFeaturesThelanguageofadvertisementshasitsownusage.Thevividandexpressivespokenwordsarehighlyusedinadvertisements.Amongthesewords,adjectives，verbs,compoundsandderivativesalloccurinhighfrequency.Someofthemevenhavebeendevelop