The Language of Advertising

1. The Language of Advertising Creativity in Ads – Lesson 2 Lingua Inglese, Module B A.A. 2009/10

2. Linguistic levels (1) • Language as a system. • Language is organised into subsystems on the basis of which language can be analysed. • The denominations of the various linguistic levels also refer to disciplines in which the respective phenomena are studied. Linguistic Levels

3. Linguistic levels (2) • Level of sounds→ Phonetics studies the sounds of a language as they are actually realised. • Level of morphology → it studies the internal structure of words and the processes whereby complex words are constructed. • Level of grammar → it studies the classes of words, their inflections and their syntactic relations and functions. • Level of semantics → the study of meaning. • Level of pragmatics → it studies the factors that govern our linguistic choices in social interaction.

4. Language as a system Language USE STRUCTURE (Pragmatics) Grammar Phonetics Semantics Syntax Morphology Lexicon Phonology Discourse Morphonology

5. Playing on the level of sounds A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. • catchy • memorable • funny • It echoes an old saying. • Rhyme → day and play. • Repetition of ending sounds. • Similarity of all the last sounds of two words, from the ending of the last stressed syllable on.

6. Rhyme • It’s the Viakalfizz that does the bizz! • Soothe it away the Oraldeneway. Use of a rhyme and mention the brand name without it actually rhyming. • To save and invest, talk to NatWest. • It needn’t be hell with Nicotinell. • Don’t be vague, order Haig. Cases in which the brand name is the rhyming word.

7. Assonance Gillette. The best a man can get. Assonance • It entails the repetition of the samevowel sounds in stressed syllables.

8. Alliteration Don’t dream it. Drive it. Britain’s best business bank. Functional. Fashionable. Formidable. Alliteration • It entails the repetition of consonant sounds in initial position.

9. Consonance • Repetition of internal or endingconsonant sounds of words close together.

10. The level of morphology • antiglobalisation • What elements does this word consist of? step • Can we subdivide it into further parts? dishonestvs.honestdis • Are there any rules that determine possible and impossible combinations of elements within words? • How can we create new words? Morphology A subdiscipline of Linguistics which studies the internalstructure of words, the rules that govern them, as well as the ways of creating new words.

11. Morphology (1) • Morphology is normally subdivided into two branches: • Derivational(or Lexical)Morphology it studies the means by which existing words have been constructed and by which new words might be created. 2.Inflectional Morphology it studies the way words are adapted in different grammatical contexts. (e.g. making a noun plural)

12. Morphology (2) DREAMLESS DREAM + LESS • It cannot be subdivided into further parts. • Both elements are meaningful: • DREAM = ‘a train of thoughts passing through the mind during sleep’ • -LESS = ‘without’ Morphology deals with the analysis of words into meaningful units

13. Morphology (3) • Words can be analysed into meaningful units. MORPHEMES Since it cannot be subdivided further into meaningful parts, ‘dream’ is the smallestmeaningful unit in the word DREAM. A word must consist of at least one morpheme. Morpheme = form+meaning DREAM A MORPHEME is the smallest meaningful unit.

14. Types of morphemes (1) • Morphemes may differ from each other in a number of characteristics, so that it is possible to group them into certain types. • ‘mother’ • It is difficult to combine a career with motherhood. • Jane is a full-time researcher and a mother of three. • ‘-ment’ • Management of a business firm is a very large complex of activities. • *I saw a ment yesterday. • Both can appear in combination with other morphemes. • BUT ‘mother’ can also stand alone, without any other morpheme attached to it. FREE Morphemes BOUND Morphemes

15. Types of morphemes (2) • unhappy • dislike • mispronounce • malnutrition • management • motherhood • cheerful • settlement • Bound morphemes, such as ‘un-’ and ‘-ment’, which appear only attached to other, usually free, morphemes are termed AFFIXES. PREFIXES SUFFIXES Affixes attached before the base Affixes attached after the base

16. Word Formation • Among other things, morphology deals with the ways of creating new lexemes. • The formation of new words is not a random process. There are several distinct patterns and paths by which new words come into the language. These fall into four major categories, which in turn can be subdivided. • The major categories are: A)New Root Formation B)Modification C)Generation D)SemanticChange • An aspect of linguistic creativity in advertising is the formation of new words.

17. Onomatopoeia A)New Root Formation • Root creation = the coining of a new word • Motivated root creation = there is some discernible logic behind the new word. • One fairly common form is echoic or onomatopoetic words. They refer to a sound and supposedly imitate it (e.g. miaow, crash). Words in the slogan: they reflect the unique sound the cereal makes as milk is being poured over it.

18. Conversion (1) B)Modification • = an existing word is changed to form a new one. • Conversion = It is a productive method to create new words by a change of word classwithout any alteration of the word itself. Also called zero derivation. • Adjective→Verb e.g. The athlete tried to better his previous performance. • Adverb→Verb e.g. The opposition tried to out the President. • Noun→Verb STAR > Julia Roberts co-starred with Hugh Grant in Notting Hill.

19. Conversion (2) • ACCESS • Noun → Verb The police gained access (N) to the premises. The programmer accessed (V) the files on her PC. Calvin:I like to verb words. Hobbes:What? Calvin:I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when 'access' was a thing? Now, it's something you do. It got verbed. Verbingweirds language. Hobbes:Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding.

20. Conversion (3) 10 ways to improve your sminting technique Noun → Adjective Don’t ask how well a microwave browns. Ask how well it reds. Adj → Verb Jeans your skin. Noun → Verb

21. Abbreviation B)Modification • Abbreviation • The main sub-classes of word formation through abbreviation are: • initialisms • acronyms • clipped forms In initialisms and acronyms, the initial portions of the words or syllables of a phrase are used to form a word.

22. Acronyms ACRONYM ≠INITIALISM An acronym can be pronounced as a single word instead of being spelt out by letter (many people use the term acronym to mean both). Acronymic word origins are a XX century phenomenon. This method of word formation is unknown in earlier periods. RAM → random access memory WASP → White Anglo-Saxon Protestant BAAP → British Association of Academic Phoneticians Scuba → Self-contained underwaterbreathing apparatus Aids → Acquired immune deficiency syndrome Laser → Lightwave amplification by stimulated emission of radar Dinks→ Double income no kids + morpheme-s for plural Yuppy → Young urban professional + -y

23. Initialisms • In the case of INITIALISMS, abbreviations are also formed from the initialletters of other words but this time they do not make pronounceable words, and instead the letter names are spoken. CD→compact disk RSPCA→Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals BBC →British Broadcasting Corporation LAGB→Linguistics Association of Great Britain CID → Criminal Investigation Department VIP → Very Important Person AI → Amnesty International / Artificial Intelligence

24. Clipping (1) • The third type of abbreviation is CLIPPING. • A clipped form is simply one where elements of a word have been dropped in common use, still maintaining the same meaning. • Either the beginning, ending or both ends of the original word may be removed. Front clipping→ the beginning of a word is removed. PHONE < telephone FICHE < microfiche BUS < omnibus

25. Clipping (2) Back clipping→ the ending of a word is removed. TELLY < television SIT COM < situation comedy MASH < mashed potatoes CRED< credibility AD or ADVERT < advertisement Back clipping is more frequent. Most clippings are monosyllabic and refer to everyday objects. Although not very frequent, there are also cases of mixed (e.g. FRIDGE < (re)frige(rator) and middleclipping (e.g. VEGAN< vegetarian)

26. Glam > Glamorous Back-clipping G.I.V.E. →Acronym

27. Word Formation: Generation C)Generation • = the creation of new words through combinations of roots and affixes. There are three distinct sub-classes of word formation through generation: • DERIVATION • COMPOUNDING • BLENDING

28. Derivation • DERIVATION is the formation of new words by adding affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to a root. e.g. unwisely is derived from the root wise • Bound morphemes (other thanroots) are added to bases, either initially or finally. Prefix → dis-agree, un-comfortable Suffix→king-dom, sad-ly Infix→ hoo-bloody-ray, abso-blooming-lutely AFFIXATION

29. Examples... Guinnless isn’t good for you. It acts as a constant exfoliant, to de-flake, de-age the look of skin. = to smooth = to rejuvenate A fresh un-makeup so weightless and flexible it floats on the skin.

30. Compounding (1) • In compounding, two independent words are put together to form a new meaning that is not obvious from their individual meanings. e.g. LONGBOAT It is made up of two independent words ‘long’ + ‘boat’. The meaning is slightly more specialised though and refers to the largest boat carried by a sailing ship. • We say that compound nouns are syntactically headed.Thus the syntactic properties of one component decide the syntactic properties of the whole compound. • Generally in English compound nouns are right headed so the second element decides the syntactic properties of the compound. In ‘longboat’ → ‘boat’ is a noun and ‘longboat’ is a noun too.

31. Compounding (2) • Compounds can belong to any major word category. • Compound Nouns: N + N → bookcase,windscreen V + N → pickpocket, playground Adj + N → greenhouse, blackbird N and N → ginandtonic Phrase → mother-in-law • Compound Adjectives: N + Adj → sugar-free, Adv/Prep. + V → ready-cooked Adj + N → long-life Phrase → ready-to-wear Adj + Adj → icy-cold, bitter-sweet • Compound Verbs: N + V → to proof-read Adj + V → to shortcut Adj + derived Adj → blue-eyed

32. Compounding (3) • Compounds may be semantically transparent or opaque. • Transparentcompounds are endocentric. The syntactic head is also the semantic head, therefore the entire compound is a member of the class expressed by the head. sunflower→ a kind of flower • Opaque compounds are exocentric. They do not contain a semantic head and are members of some unexpressed class. red tape → it does not refer to ‘tape’ (Ita. ‘burocrazia’) • A third category is represented by copulative or appositional compounds, in which the elements are of equal semantic status. queen mother → a queen and a mother

33. Exercise… • Are the following compounds endocentric, exocentric or appositional? • actor-manager • laser printer • white-collar • silkworm • author-reader • windmill • German-English • fast-food APPOSITIONAL ENDOCENTRIC EXOCENTRIC ENDOCENTRIC APPOSITIONAL ENDOCENTRIC APPOSITIONAL ENDOCENTRIC

34. Hamilton Beach:Wrinkle-free for over 100 years. FUJIFILM :The Z33 waterproof underwater fun OLAY:Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes

35. Blending Blends are hybrid words (also called telescope or portmanteau word).They are rather like compounds except that only part of each individual word has been used. SMOG → smoke and fog BRUNCH → breakfast and lunch OXBRIDGE → Oxford and Cambridge Blends are very popular in journalism, advertising and technical fields. BIT → binary digit GINORMOUS → gigantic and enormous CHUNNEL→ Channel and tunnel REAGONOMICS → Reagan and economics

36. Taiwan. The market place for Innovalue. DECLEOR: Aromessence Contour. A revolutionary new Aromatherapy innovation.