[作者简介]李荣华,女,包头师范学院外国语学院讲师,硕士,研究方向:二语习得及应用语言学。

Rhetorical Devices i n English Advertisi ng TextsUse of Pun and PersonificationL i R onghua(Baotou Teacher !s Co llege ,B aotou,Inner M ongolia,014030)[Abst ract] R hetor i ca l approaches i n copy w r iti ng a re very i m portant to ga i n the attention of the aud ience and to l eadthem to t he des i red m essage successfull y .T o attract the audience ,copyw riters use var i ous rheto rical approaches to m ake the ir cop i es m ore readab le ,mo re i n teresti ng ,m ore m e m orab le and ,to t he end resu lt ,m ore e ffecti ve .In this pape r ,pe rson ifi cation and pun are d i scussed i n Eng lis h adverti sing tex ts .[K ey words] rhe torica l dev ices; personificati on ; pun ; Eng lish adverti s i ng texts [中图分类号]H 315 [文献标识码]A [文章编号]1672 8610(2010)08 0003 03I .IntroductionR hetor i c is about the body o f pr i nciples and t heory hav ing todo w ith the presentati on of facts and i deas i n clear ,conv inc i ng ,and a ttracti ve language .The study of rheto ric is usua ll y on lite ra t u re ,espec iall y on class i c literature .But t h i s pape r concentrates on adv erti sing texts and stud i es rhe t o ric from a m ore practi ca l po i nt o f view .R hetor i ca l approaches i n copy w r iti ng a re very i m portant to ga i n t he atten tion o f the aud i ence and to l ead t hem to the des i red m essage successfu ll y .T o attract t he aud i ence ,copyw riters use va ri ous rheto rica l approaches t o m ake t he ir cop i es m ore reada b l e ,m ore i nte resti ng,m ore m e m orab le and ,t o t he end resu lt ,m ore eff ec ti ve .Copyw riters who str i ve to w rite i m pressively tend to produce w riti ng that is artificia,l fl ow ery ,and po m pous .T hey m ay l oad the i r w riti ng w ith b i g words ,h i gh-sounding phrases and too m any ad j ec tives and adverbs ,and a l so trite fi gures of speech .Such a sty l e is sa i d to be ∀over w r itten #.H owever ,a good copy often consi sts of ord i nary ,eve ryday w ords woven i nto o rd i na ry ,everyday sen tences .A fresh ,apt fi gure o f speech appea l s to the i m ag ina ti on ,creates m ental p i ctures and m akes the w r i ting v i v id ,i m press i ve and i nteresti ng .T here are m any k i nds o f rhetor i ca l approaches that can be used .T he se lec ti on o f rhetorica l approaches m a i nly depends on the w ay to de liver t he m essag e ,rega rdless what t he i dea is .In constructi ng a copy ,copyw riters are at libe rt y to take li be rti es w it h the language .W ord cho i ce and sentence construc tion are the essenti a l sk ills i n t he use o f Eng li sh .W hil e figures o f speech are regarded as ∀deco ra ti ve dev ices #i n the use o f Eng lis h ,they compr i se various uses of language that depart from the custom ary constructi on or orde r so as to ach i eve special effects or m ean i ng s .R hetor i ca l dev i ces are used frequently i n advertisi ng at every li ngu istic leve.l Thus w e find at t he g ramm atica l leve,lthe re is functi ona l conversion i n w hich a wo rd o f one c l ass behaves as t hough it w ere in ano t her ,and many syn tacti c construc ti ons ,w hich cannot be g enerated by an Eng lis h gra mm ar bu t are neverthe less interpretable .T he ac t ua l t o ta l nu m be r of figures of speech is a dry m a tter of defi n iti on ov er wh ich acade m ics m ay argue .N o ma tter how m any t here are ,t hey are comm only d i v id ed i nto t hree categor i es :A.L ex i ca l fi gures of speech .B .Syntacti ca l fi gures o f speech .C .Phonetic fi gures o f speech .A ny rheto rical dev ice can be used to ach ieve t he goa ls of adverti s i ng .H ow eve r ,person ificati on and pun w ill be discussed in this paper .∃.PunPun i s a hu m orous use of a w ord i n such a way as to suggest d ifferentm eani ngs or app licati ons ,o r of wo rds hav i ng t he sam e o r nearly the sam e sound but d iffe rent m eanings :a p l ay on w ords .T hus t he f o r m er i s usua lly ca lled hom og raph w hereas the latter ho m ophone .T he re are three e l em ents in analyzi ng and composi ng a pun :doub le context ,h i ng e and tri gge r .H o m ograph and ho m ophone usuall y act as hinge ,wh ich is t he w ord or phrase unexpec ted l y and si m ultaneously co m bi nes t wo unre l a ted m ean i ngs .Pun is a linguisti c t w i st .Because of t he dua lm ean i ngs con ta i ned i n a si ng le w ord ,a pun can wo rk as t wo or even m ore w ords .It is t hen m ore pow erful and can m ake the copy m ore a m azi ng .It is one of the mo st co mmon l y used rhetor i ca l dev ices in adverti s i ng Eng li sh .It adds a ttracti veness ,m e m orab ili ty and ef fecti veness to adverti s i ng copies .T he f o ll ow ing exa m ples show us ho w pun w orks .2.1Puns co m posed o f ho m ographs (1)G illette ,the best m en can get . G ill e tte shaver3 语文学刊%外语教育教学 2010年第8期H ere,amb i guity does no t rise fro m the meaning of a parti cular w ord but fro m the f uncti on o f t he li ngu istic un it∀the best#, wh ich can be consi dered as bo t h the pre-m od ifi er of∀men#and a no m i na l group consisti ng of an article and an ad j ec tive.Two interpretations app l y t o t h is sentence:∀G illette is the best shav er tha tm en can buy"and"G illette i s t he shaver m anufactured f o r the bestm en#.In th i s w ay,a man should buy t he G illette shav er whe t her he w ants to ge t the best shav er in the w or l d or he wants to become one of t he best m en or both.T he e m ploy m ent o f pun not only enriches t he adverti s i ng i nfo r ma ti on but f u lfills the vanity o fm en consu m ers.T he a m bigu ity i n a pun is i n tentiona l and us ua lly reso l va b l e.A dvertisers deli berate l y cause the ir aud i ence ex tra process i ng e fforts by emp l oyment o f puns,because t he first and perhaps the mo st i m po rtant requ i re m ent of an adv erti se m ent is t hat it should attract and hold on the reader!s attention.(2)M ind your own busi ness.M ove it to M ilt on K eynes.M ilt on K eynes T he expression o f"m i nd your own busi ness"i n advert(2) usuall y m eans∀do not concern yourse lf w ith other peop l e!s af fa i r#.Th is obv iously does no t agree w ith the adve rtisi ng context and purpose.R eaders have to search for a lternative i nterpreta ti ons,and would hopefully re m e m be r that∀m i nd#may m ean ∀l ook afte r#and that∀busi ness#can m ean∀fir m#or∀co m pa ny#.The second part of the advert should a lso suggest this i nte r pretation,espec iall y as the aud i ence knows tha t it is an adve r ti se m en t.T he re f o re,th i s adve rt can be i nte rpre ted as:you can i m prove your company!s pro spects by m ov i ng to a prom isi ng i n dustr i a l park,M ilton K eynes.T he t w o ex a m ples above show tha t puns attract attenti on, because t hey frustrate i n itia l expectati ons o f relevance and create a sense of surprise.T hey arouse the readers!i nte rest by mak i ng them think∀what on earth does thatm ean?#C reati ng a puzzle is one way o f try i ng t o m ake a sale m essage mo re appea li ng.In this sense,extra pro ceeding e ffort m ay there fore be the pr i ce,wh i ch the adv erti ser has to pay to get h i s m essage no ted.W ithout an ∀attenti on-grabbing#dev i ce such as pun,readers m ay pay lit tl e a ttenti on to an advertisi ng m essage,wh ich w ou l d thus achieve little eff ec ts.T hus examp l e(2)w oul d certa i n l y be mo re suc cessfu l i n a ttracti ng attention t han the one be l ow:M ilton K eynes i s a good l ocation for busi ness.O nce attention has been attracted,the advertiser!s m ain desire is t hat h i s reade rs should consi der,li ke and remember the adverti se m en t.B ecause a pun i nvo l v es a l onge r pro cess of sol v i ng amb i guity,it sustains the readers!a ttenti on over a period of ti m e,and once co m prehended,it is o ften re m e m bered.Besi des,the hu m orous s i de o f pun is a lso very i m po rtant in ach i ev i ng t he advertiser!s goa l s.By o ffer i ng an a m usi ng pun, the adv erti se m ent prov i des his audience w ith enterta i n m ent,and thus m akes the m feel congen ial towa rds the adv erti sed product. T he adve rti se r si m u ltaneousl y overco m es some of the d istrust wh ich readers m ay have towards h i m.T h i s helps estab lish t he ir confi dence i n the pro m oted product and m ay l ead to their fi na l purchase action.Further examp l es o f the copy w r iters!creati vee mp l oym ent of puns are as f o ll ows.(3)Put a T iger i n Y our T ank.ESS O GA S OL I NE(1964)T iger is the brand na m e o f the gaso line and it a lso stands f o r dr i ve and pow er.So the sentence can m ean"add po w er to your automob ile".(4)The first schoo l that encourages copy i ng.the ad o f a pho tocopy i ng tra i n i ng schoo l T he pun i n this ad achiev es a humo rous effec t.R eadersw ill s m ile at t he sentence and remember the adve rti si ng easily.∀Copy ing#re fers to bo t h∀chea ti ng i n schoo l#and∀m aking rep li cation o f docu m ents#,that is what one learns fro m the tra i n i ng schoo.l(5)The D on!t B e Lonely Ca l.lBecause p i cking up t he phone w ill pick you up.N ew Y o rk te lephone T he first∀p i ck up#means∀to lift up#wh ile t he second one m eans∀to enter i nfor m a lly i n t o conversation o r compan i onship w it h a prev iously unknown person.#Thus t he ad m eans by ca ll ing,your l oneli ness w ill be re lieved.Ex.13to ex.17are exa m p l es o f usi ng po l yse m y as the hinge o f pun,w hich i s one of the m ost popu l ar techn i ques i n advertisi ng Eng li sh.T h i s k i nd of pun m akes use of wo rds w ith si m il a r spe lli ng and assoc i a tion o fm eani ng.(6)T ry our s w eet corns you!ll s m ile from ear to ear.A n ad to se ll s w ee t cornsT he pun m eans if you eat our s w ee t corns one ear after an o t her,you!ll be satisfi ed w it h a b i g s m ile.(7)Don!t get m ad.GET G LAD. G l ad trash bagsExa m ple(7)contai ns a pun on ho m ograph,that is,the pun here results from the w ords t hat have the sa m e spe lli ng but differ in m ean i ng.T he w ord∀g l ad#in(3)has been endow ed w it h a ne w m ean i ng一a b rand na m e of a trash bag.R eade rs m ay t h i nk o f that as long as t hey use G lad trash bag they w ill becom e g lad. In t h is adverts,t he brand na m e such as∀GLAD#appea rs as the so l uti on or pro m i se.An adve rt w it h brand nam e i n it can help the na m e to be re m e m bered wh ile o ffe ri ng a t w o-laye red m ean ing to the sl ogan.T he second layer o f meaning can interest andi m press the peop l e w it h its s m artness and its nove lty.(8)If it w asn!t i n VOGU E,It w as n!t i n vogue.VOGUE fashion m aga zi ne T h i s ad actua ll y m eans t hat∀w hatev er is i n VOGUE(nam e o f a fash i on m agazi ne)is i n vogue(in fashion)#By usi ng pun, the copy w r iter c leve rl y e m phasizes the fas h i on m onger sta t us of the m ag azi ne.(9)T he Self-M ade w o m an.She!s liv i ng better all the ti m e. Self w o m en!s m aga zi ne Se lf i s a w o m en!s m ag azi ne,so∀se lf-made#re fers to w o m en g rown up w ith t he Self m ag azi ne.Se lf-m ade a l so m eans ∀i ndependen t,self-reli ant.#In t h i s ad,t he second m ean i ng is also i m pli ed i n the sentence.2.2Puns co m posed o f ho m ophone(1)Y ou Au t o Buy N ow A utomob ile A dsT he pronunc iati on o f t he wo rd∀auto#is very si m ilar to the phrase∀ought t o#.So t he i ntended meaning o f advert(1)is probably directl y li ke∀Y ou ought to buy auto t hat"you ought to buy auto now#,but if t he adv ert is w r itten li ke t ha t,it w ill ap pear dull and less attractive.(2)T he BERD!s i n hand. t he ad of the Bank of European R econstructi on and D eve l op m ent4LANGUAGE L iRonghua/RhetoricalD ev ices in Eng lish Advertising Tex tsH ere BERD is the abbrev i a ti on o f∀t he Bank of European R econstructi on and D eve l op m ent.#It has the sa m e pronunc i a ti on as∀b i rd#and re m i nds readers of the idi om:∀A b ird i n hand is w orth t wo i n t he bush#,w hich is usuall y s i m p lified i nto∀a b i rd in(the)hand#m ean i ng i nte rests one already had o r had no risks t o l ose.A ll t hese ads c leve rl y use ho m ophones i n pun to c reate a hu mo rous e ffect and l eave an i nde li ble i m pression on t he reader.F rom the above adverts w e co m e to kno w tha t a rea lly good pun i n advertisi ng can work m irac l es.A l m ost any co m pe ti ng brand cou l d use this fi gure o f speech.&.P er s on ificationPe rson ifi cation is a fi gure o f speech,wh i ch endo w s an i m als,i deas,abstractions,and i nani m ate objects w it h hu m an for m,character,o r sensi b iliti es;t he representi ng of i m ag i nary creatures or th i ngs as hav i ng human persona lities,intelligence, and emo ti ons,w he t her real or fi ctiti ous,by anothe r person.By us i ng person ifi cation,the copyw riter g i ves lif e to prod ucts advertised and m akes the adve rti se m ent interesti ng to read and easy to remember.P erson ifi ca tion pull s t he reader c l oser to the m essage natura lly and pro m pts acti on to buy.Look at t he f o ll ow ing exa m ple:(1)K i w ifruit,w hen it co m es to po tassiu m,I!m t he best o f the bunch.I!m l oaded w ith po tassiu m and a taste that beats you.Spoon m e or slice m e,you get m ore V ita m i n C i n a serv i ng than an orange and plenty o f po tassi um to boo t.I m ay no t be prett y on the surface,but w hen I!m soft and ripe,I!m the best little fruit ever crea ted by G od andM o t her N ature.Send a self-addressed,stamped enve l ope f o r m y de lic i ous recipe pamph let. It!s free and full o f i deas.W r ite to me persona lly:K i w ifru it, 1540R i ver P ark D r i ve(120,Sacram ento,CA95815.)Ca liforn ia Swee tK i w ifruitA lthough t he above i s an adve rt about a k i nd of fru it K i w ifru it,it does no t read li ke an adve rtisem ent w ith a gu l y spoo fi ng but like a pure-hearted mono logue fro m a friend,i n trodu ci ng he rself from inner wo rld to t he outsi de.Th is i m press i on should be attr i buted to t he emp l oy m ent o f pe rson ifi cation,wh i ch is i nd i cated by the usage of first person∀I#.A ctuall y,∀I#here re fers to the fru it pro m oted,K i w ifruit.Furthe r mo re,t he adopti on o f first person∀I#narrow s t he d i stance bet w een readers and the fru it adver tised,m eanwh ile it e li m i nates the readers!psy cho log i ca l de fensi veness aga i nst comm erc i a l prom oti on.So readers are m ore incli ned to accept the no tion as w ell as the product i t con veys.O ne m ore si m ilar examp l e is as fo llows:(2)I!m a L ucky Dog.M y ne w dog f ood has a tende r bee f y center i nsi de a crunchy bone mea l crust.It!s new Luck D og brand dog food fro m Pur i na.T hat!s what m akes m e a l ucky dog.Lucky Dog Food T he first i m pressi on t hat t h i s advert leaves upon reade rs m ay be that a dog,like a l ove l y k i d,i s proud l y ta l k i ng t o friends a bout h is l uck story eati ng L ucky Dog food,and as it happens, h i s fa t uous speak i ng i s overheard by h i s friends!owners read e rs.In this case,if you have a dog,you of course w ill no t let your dog see its fr i ends sp l urg e.A fter a l,l you do no tw ant to be a cheesepar i ng o w ner.So reade rs,parti cular l y dog owners,m ay eas il y fa ll i nto t he trap placed by t he copyw r i te r to buy Lucky Dog for their dogs.V e ry often person ificati on is de m onstrated t hrough t he use of pronouns li ke∀I#,∀w e#,etc.but t h i s is not a l w ays the case. So m e w ords suggesti ng hu m an characteristi cs like∀l ove#,∀speak#,etc.can a lso serve t h is function.In adve rti sing,t hese w ords can br i ng a sense o f inti m acy to readers so as to hook t he ir hearts,f u lfilli ng its communicati ve functions.A n exa m ple to il lustrate t h is po int i s:(3)P icture SPEAKS L ouder than W ordsThe H i gh-i m pact pro j ecto rS ANYO J A PANP ro j ec t o r Exa m ple(3)is an advertisement o f a SANYO mob ile pro jector,and its crea tiveness lies i n the use o f wo rd∀speak#.W e all know tha t∀speak#literall y m eans convey i ng a message ora l ly,and its agent should be m an,but in this advert the agent of speaking becom es p i c t ure.Obv i ousl y,the copyw riter de li berate l y v io l ates t he g ramm ar rule to produce pe rson ifi cation e ffect.T his novelty i n language use arrests the readers!attenti on and in a lovely w ay it te lls the m the advertiser!s i ntended m essag e:the SANYO projector can present a clear and v i v i d p i c t ure on the screen.(4)F lo w ers by Interfl o ra speak from the heart.Interfl o ra fl o rist(5)W e m ake other v ege tab l es g reen w it h envy.W hy would o ther vegetables be j ea l ous o f pota toes?the P otato Board of U.S(6)IF YOUR FEET COU LD DR E AM!TH IS IS W HAT THEY!D DREAM ABOUT. so ft Spots(shoes) In these examp l es,fl ow ers∀speak#,vegetables∀envy# and feet∀dream#,j ust li ke hu m an beings do.A ll t hese products are endowed w ith hum an senses and abilities t o take ac ti ons.In t he serial ads for N ok i a m ob ile phones,a ll o f the m con ta i n this figu re of speech person ificati on,wh i ch have left a very deep i m pressi on on t he aud i ence.(7)N ok i aH old m e,touch m e,ta l k to m eIt speaks your language.N ok iaA pparen tly,the first persona l pronoun∀m e#i s pe rson ifi ed as a hu m an be i ng and i m presses its reader so m uch tha t it i s not on l y very c l ose but also fam iliar t o hi m.T he re f o re,it crea tes a v iv i d i m age i n t he reader!s m i nd that t he phone itse lf is ta l k i ng quietl y and pass i ona tely to its owner.W hat a life-li ke adve r ti se m en t it i s!F rom the above ana l ysis w e can concl ude t hat person ify i ng the adverti sed product by g iving it feeli ng and emo ti on t hat on l y peop le have m akes an adve rtisem ent mo re acceptable to the read e rs.M oreover,life less ob j ects are en livened as they assu m e hu m an tra its and becom e v i go rous and dyna m ic.A nd t he rea li ty te lls us that an i m ati ng i m ages can dra m aticall y shorten t he dis tance and,m eanwh ile,c reate a sense of i nti m ateness bet ween readers and the objects pro m oted.In a w ord,t he use o f pe rson i fi cation can he l p advertisements catch t he atten tion o f the pro spective readers and arouse the ir i nterest i n read i ng.(下转第23页)5语文学刊%外语教育教学 2010年第8期∀li ke#o r∀as#,bet ween things that are essenti a ll y d ifferen t yet have so m e t h i ng i n co mm on∋Pe rson ifi cation:a fi gure of speech that attri butes hu m an qual ities t o a concept o r i nan i m a te ob jec t.(T he pa ttern of sound i n a speech crea ted by the cho ice and a r rangem ent o f wo rds.)P ara lle lis m:t he expression of i deas usi ng si m il a r gra mma ti ca l structures.R epetition:restati ng w ords,phrases,or sentences for e m phasis.∗A lliterati on:the repetiti on o f beg i nning sounds i n w ords t hat are adjacent or near one ano t her.+References,[1]L ucas,S.E.T he A rt of Pub li c Speaki ng[M].N ew Y ork:V on H o ff m ann P ress,Inc,1986.[2]Lew Sare tt,W illia m T rufant Fo ste r,A l m a Johnson Sa rett.Bas i c Pr i nc i ples o f Speech[M].Boston:H oughton M iffli n,1985.[3]D oug lasM ac A rt hur.F arew ell to t he Cade ts i n ContemporaryAm er ican Speeches[C]//W il A.L i nkuge,l R.R.A llen, R i chard L.Johannesen.Be l m on t,C ali.f:W ads wo rt hPub li sh i ng Co m pany,Inc.,1969.[4]G eorge L.G r i ce.M asteri ng Pub lish Speak i ng[M].N ewJe rsey:P ren tice-H a l,l1993.[5]M ichae l S.H anna.Publi c Speak i ng f o r Personal Success[M].W m.C.B rown P ublishers,1989.[6]O s born.P ublic Speaki ng[M].N ew Y o rk:H ough t onM iffli n,1997.[7]徐有志.现代英语文体学[M].河南大学出版社,1992.公众演讲中如何使语言变得生动联想和押韵王晶(韩山师范学院外语系,广东 潮州 521041)[摘 要] 生动的语言是成功的演讲的基础,枯燥无味的语言使听众厌倦,从而导致演讲的失败。