1、 （ 20_ _届） 本科毕业 设计 从合作原则看英语广告中模糊语言的运用及解读 A Study of Application and Decoding of Vague Expressions in English Advertising from the 英语 I 摘要 广告是一种非常重要的信息交流手段，它对人们的消费观产生了很大影响。当代社会中，模糊语言在英语广告中普遍使用。这是广告人为了达到某些目的而故意使用的宣传手段 说服顾客相信他们产品的真实性及效果， 而使他们 最终 购 买这 种产 品。 本文从格莱斯 的合作原则来解读英语广告中模糊语的使用效果 。 广告作为一种顾客与商家之间的特
2、殊交流形式，理所应当遵循合作原则。但在很多种情况下，广告人不遵循合作原则，恰恰是有意违反来达成目的。这就需要广告商把握一定的尺度，这样才不会欺骗消费者。而消费者也应当正确解读广告中的模糊现象，从而进行有选择的理智消费。 关键词 ： 英语广告；模糊语言 ； 合作原则；遵循合作原则；有意违反合作原则； 正确解读 II Abstract Advertising is a very important way of communication, which has great influence on peoples value of consumption. In modern society, v
3、agueness is widely used in English advertising. It is used on purpose by advertisers to achieve some specific goals to persuade customers to believe in the truth and the effect of their products, and then, let customers buy their products as many as possible. This paper is to analyze the effects of
4、vagueness from CP. In daily communication, we observe CP to make sure of regular communication. It takes for granted that advertisers should observe the maxims, because advertising is a special form of communication. Under such circumstances, advertisers always deliberately violate CP to realize the
5、ir aims. Advertisers should apply vague expressions to advertisements properly so that they wont cheat customers. Meanwhile, customers should learn to decode the vagueness in English advertising from the perspective of CP, and purchase goods rationally. Key words: English advertisement; vague expres
6、sions; Cooperative Principle (CP); observing the CP ; violating the CP; decoding correctly III Contents Abstract . II 1 Introduction . 1 2 Literature Review . 2 2.1 The definition of vagueness . 2 2.2 Overview of the Studies on Vague Expressions . 2 3 Application of vague expressions in advertising
7、. 4 4 Decoding vague expressions in advertising from CP . 5 4.1 Violating the Maxim of Quality . 6 4.2 Violating the Maxim of Quantity . 7 4.3 Violating the Maxim of Relevance . 7 4.4 Violating the Maxim of Manner . 8 5 Conclusion . 10 Bibliography . 错误 !未定义书签。 Acknowledgements . 10 1 1 Introduction
8、 In modern society, advertising is an important method to introduce and promote the products. People can see advertisements almost everywhere. They are on TV, on walls, on magazines and so on. They play an important part in influencing customers decisions whether to buy them or not. Can it have so l
9、arge effect? Whats the functions of advertisement? First, it let you get some knowledge of the products. Only after you get familiar with products, it is possible for you to buy them next. Second, it is persuasive. It arouses deep interest of customers and persuades them to buy products. Here comes
10、the question. How can an advertisement become persuasive? How can it make customers to buy products just after reading the Ads? Some special means are used, such as using figures of speech, or vague language. This paper is going to make a research on the usage of vagueness in advertising. Using vagu
11、eness it develops product image, causes the attention of consumers and deepens our impression, thus it can persuade customers to the largest extent. What should we focus on is that vagueness is also a “double toughening sword :“if vague language is used it properly, it can increase advertising emoti
12、onal appeals. And it is hard for precise language to do this; However, if vague language is used too obscurely, the information it can provide is not sufficient, it is likely to be misleading and cheat customers. Therefore, advertisers should make use of vague language to express the advertising mes
13、sage properly to attract customers. Meanwhile, advertisers should master the certain degree to use vagueness, thus it wont cheat consumers, also can achieve the purpose of advertising. As customers, we should understand why advertisers make such ads. On one hand, they may protect themselves from som
14、e legal disputes. On the other hand, they may exaggerate the effect of products, so we should have the ability to judge whether it is true or not, know what the product really is, and purchase goods rationally. Many scholars have done researches on vagueness in advertising. And there are also many t
15、alks about Cooperative Principle(CP). However, few works combine these two together to research advertisement. So, this paper is going to decode the vague language from CP(CP will be discussed in detail in the later part). This is a relatively new perspective. 2 2 Literature Review 2.1 The definitio
16、n of vagueness Black(1949) gives a definition of vagueness in his paper Language and Philosophy In Blacks view, the term “vagueness“ is a label for the phenomenon of borderline cases An expression or concept is vague or vague if and only if it has borderline cases， that is， actual or potential cases
17、 in which it neither clearly applies nor clearly fails to apply Alston is another philosopher who would like to define vagueness through borderline cases In the book Philosophy of Language(1964： 84)， he proposes the definition as “A term is said to be vague，if there are cases in which there is no de
18、finite answer as to whether the term applies “.This definition is one which defines vagueness by vague term， and at the same time it shows the salient position of vague terms in demonstration of vagueness in language That is， vagueness of a term is shown by borderline cases， when people are uncertai
19、n whether to apply or not apply the term Such a term is a vague one Vagueness can be divided into two types: a) It refers to vague language. It means that some words themselves are vague, such as about, possible. It is inevitable. b) It refers to the vague speech. It may be a little different from t
20、he things we thought to be. Vague language is a vague phenomenon in language expressing, which is produced in specific application. Works written or spoken by individual is called vague speech as long as the meaning is no quantitative, or it is infinite. vague speech is largely depends on the specif
21、ic language environment. For example, if its syntactical structure is vague, it is called vague speech. Now many scholars have done new research on vagueness. It has very good prospect. For example, they do research on vagueness in medical science. It is a new field. It can help us know some medical
22、 terms much better. And there are also some scholars from other new field are doing research. Why do people use vagueness in many fields? In everyday speech, vagueness is inevitable, and often has desired effect of language usage. Different people have different desire to use vagueness. Some people
23、use vagueness on purpose to achieve some certain effect. It is common to see this phenomenon. In this paper, it is going to make a research on the usage of vagueness in advertising. It may be used inevitably, or used on purpose. 2.2 Overview of the Studies on Vague Expressions Many scholars have mad
24、e many researches on vagueness in advertising from different perspectives and they have enjoyed the fruit of success. Xu Dongni(2008) put forward that vagueness in language is a common phenomenon. It is 3 frequently used in any language, any style. Vagueness is an important strategy of communication
25、. It has different functions in different occasions. With the ad of vagueness, advertising words can develop good image of their products, arouse the interest of customers and persuade customers to buy their goods to the largest extent. It uses example to explore the application of vagueness in adve
26、rtising. In The Application of vague English in English advertising and Business English, Zhang Lan and Wang Li (2007) wrote, vague language accounts for a rather large part in English using. Vague language is massively used in advertising culture in order to promote the products and deliver commerc
27、ial message rapidly. In International business, vague language is widely made use of because of its unique functions. It classifies vagueness into different categories according to its pragmatic use and meanwhile elaborates ingenious application of vagueness in English. In the Application of vague E
28、nglish in English advertising by Lan Guoxing (2006), his opinion is as follows: the appropriate use of vague language in English advertising will make the language concise and lively. However, improper or excessive use of vague language, will make the consumers confused, and even mislead the custome
29、rs. In Analysis of Usage of the Vague Language in the English advertisement written by Wen Yaqing(2009) says: The vague language is used in all kinds of culture. In the advertisement culture, a lot of vague language is used to promote the sales of commodities, build up the image of the enterprise an
30、d quickly convey the commercial information. The vague language can be seen as a language phenomenon, it is usually rich in content and succinct in style. In this way the needing of communication accords with the advertising expressing and better achieve the effect of advertising publicize. This ess
31、ay is based on the concrete examples; it analyzed some vague words application in English advertisements and the application of vague rhetoric, and tried to sum up the pragmatic function of vague language in English advertising. In Analysis of Usage of the Vague Language in the English advertising b
32、y Zhao Fenglan(2007), it says that the vague language in the English advertising can make the Ads more attractive and convincing and its pragmatic function can help promote the products. The application of vagueness in advertising English violates CP of Grice, which leads that the understanding of t
33、he text doesnt accord with the reality. It is misleading and deceptive. So many articles are about vagueness in advertising. They are all from different perspectives. They have dealt with many problems. Some are from a semantic point of view, others from a cognitive point of view, still others from
34、a pragmatic perspective. They all have done things successfully. But they didnt research on the use of vagueness based on the Cooperative 4 Principle. It is a new research. From the view of CP, you can understand vagueness better. You can learn why advertisers create such Ads and know their language
35、 technique. The most important of all, as customers, we should learn to decode what is in the ads and buy products rationally. Some scholars have made such researches. In Hedges and Their Pragmatic Functions in English advertising, Zeng Zhen (2006) wrote about vagueness in English advertising based
36、on CP. He analyzes the pragmatic functions of hedges in advertising with the assistance of CP. He discovered that when the application of hedges obeys one of its maxims, usually at the same time, it violates another maxim. Backed by the analysis Maxim of Politeness Principle, the author found that h
37、edges in advertising also sometimes comply with the Maxim of Polite. The author has found that hedges can achieve the pragmatic functions of making advertising emphatic, attributing accuracy of advertising, saving advertisers and consumers face and being polite. The pragmatic functions of hedges in
38、advertising also embody the four semantic features of hedges. As we can see, many scholars have written articles about vagueness in advertising. But few people have made research on it based on CP at the same time. Though some people have written something about it, but it may be not overall. This p
39、aper is going to elaborate on the usage of vagueness in advertising from the four maxims of CP one by one. It is going to research every aspect in detail. 3 Application of vague expressions in advertising Advertisement, in essence a special form of communication, is the medium between advertisers an
40、d customers. Therefore, advertising is a form of communication with much peculiarity. Communication doesnt happen in the same place, or at the same time. Generally speaking, “communication“ is reached on basis of some medium, by the form that the advertiser is in real chatterbox, while customers hav
41、e procedure to accept, to judge, to approve or to deny. They wont give reactions immediately. The reaction is reflected by whether to buy the product or not. So advertising words which is a kind of conversation is very important. To make these advertisements more attractive, sometimes, vague languag
42、e is used. In English advertising, words with vague meanings appear in large numbers. It is a way to make Ads better. They speak highly of products with these vague words. Meanwhile, it doesnt seem exaggerating the fact, and it gets rid of awkwardness of speaking directly. It arouses the resonance w
43、ith readers imperceptibly. There are some vague words which are 5 commonly used, such as descriptive adjectives(new, good, free, fresh, delicious, sure, clean, wonderful, special, crisp, fine, big, great, real, bright, easy, extra, safe, rich, etc.) and its comparative level, superlative, quantifier
44、s and some vague verbs(help, make, add, etc.). These words are frequently used in daily life, which can appeal customers and make them thinking so that it can stimulate customers desire to buy the products. Here is an example. (1) Probably the best beer in the world. (Carlsberg) If “probably“ is omi
45、tted here, it says the best beer in the world. Its too absolute. It may cause legal dispute. Another kind of beer may say his is the best. And if we add “probably“ here, on the one hand, customers would think it is the best beer at first sight; on the other hand, if it proves wrongly, advertisers can say that he only says it probably, not definitely. They protect themselves while ac
