认知语言学论文 5页

TheAnalysisofPuninChineseAdvertisingBasedonFigure-GroundTheory[Abstract]Theresearchesonthepuninadvertisinghavebeenverypopularintheseyears，whicharemostlyfromtheperspectivesofpragmaticfunctions，aestheticfunctionsandtranslation.ThisthesisintendstostudytheinterpretationmechanismofpuninChineseadvertisingbasedonFigure-GroundTheoryfromtheangleoftheaudience.[Keywords]ChineseAdvertising;Pun;Figure-GroundTheory1.BriefIntroductionofAdvertisingandPunWiththerapiddevelopmentofinternationaltradeandinformationexchange,advertisingisbecominganevenmoreindispensablepartofoursociety.Weare,indeed，livingintheseaofadvertisements.AccordingtotheAmericanMarketingAssociation，advertisingis“thenon-personalcommunicationofinformationusuallypaidforandusuallypersuasiveinnatureaboutproducts,services，orideasbyidentifiedsponsorsthroughvariousmedia•，’（赵静，6）Therearemanykindsofadvertisementsaccordingtodifferentsortsofdivision.Andaboveall,theroleofadvertisingistoinform，persuade，andremindgroupsofcustomers,ormarkets，abouttheneed-satisfyingvalueofthecompany’sgoodsandservices.ThisthesisspeciallyaimsattheprintedcommercialChineseadvertisements.Then,wearegoingtotakealookatpun.Asforthedefinitionofpun,therearealsovariousonesgivenbydifferentscholarsfromdifferentperspectives，andwecangetageneralideaaboutthepun.Apunemploysphoneticorsemanticconditionsofaword,wordsorphraseskillfullytocreatemorethanonemeaninginsameutterance.Itisbasedontheambiguityofawordandusesthesoundormeaningconditionusuallytocreatetwomeaningsandthustoproducesomehumorouseffect.Andaccordingtothat,wecanclassifythepunintothreemajortypes,namely,phoneticpun，semanticpunandcomplexpun.Punaregreatlyemployedinadvertsforitsnoveltyandexcellenthumorouseffectwhichcaneasilyarouseaudience’sinterestandmoreovertodeepentheaudiences’impressiontowardstheproducts.2.ThegeneralunderstandingofFigure-GroundTheoryTheFigure-GroundTheoryisanimportanttheoryundertheprominenceviewincognitivelinguistics.Incognitivelinguistics，Figureisthemoreprominentpartincognition,whichisthefocusofattention，andmoreeasilyattractspeople’sattention,whiletheGroundislessprominentthanFigureincognitionandcanberegardedasthe\nreferenceofFigureinpeople’scognition.Let’shavealookatthewell-knownface/vaseillusion.Therearetwoillusionsinthispicture:awhitevaseandtwofaces.Onthefirstsightofit，wecanseeoneillusionthewhitevaseortwofaces,butafterlongobservationorimplication，wecaneasilynoticetheotherpossibilityandmakeiteasily.ButthereisnopossibilitythatwecancatchbothofthematthesametimeandwhatliesbehindourinabilitytoseebothofthemistheFigure-GroundSegregation.Inthecognitivelinguistics’view，people’sperceptionfieldisalwaysdividedintotwoparts:theFigureandtheGround,whenweperceptasituationwewillputourattentionandinteresttotheonewhichismoreprominentandsingleitoutasFigurefromtherestwhichactsasitsenvironmentGround.Overall，thePrincipleofPrgnanzistheguidingprinciple，whichreflectsthewaythatpeopleselectsomethingasFigure.Itcontainsseriesofformulaandportraysaphenomenonthatthemoreconfigurationofanelementsatisfiesthegestaltprinciples(whichcontains“principleofproximity”,“principleofsimilarity”，“principleofclosure”and“principleofcontinuation”)，themorepossibilityithastobesingledoutasFigure.1.TheAnalysisofFigure-GroundTheoryinPuninAdvertisingIntheinterpretationprocessofpuninadvertising，theaudiencesusetheirlanguageknowledgeandtheadvertisingintentiontointerpretthepuninadvertisingfromformtomeaningandobtainthreelevelsofFigure-GroundOrganizationunconsciously.Thefirstlevelisthedestructionlevel，whichcontainstheadvertisingexpressionandcommonexpressionofthepuninadvertising.Thesecondlevelisthepunninglevel,whichcontainsthepun，anditscontext.Thethirdlevelisthejointlevel,whichcontainstheadvertisingmeaningandthecommonmeaning.Theaudiences’interpretationofthepuninadvertisingisinsuchorderfromformtomeaning.Throughtheanalysisofthedestructionlevel，theaudiencesactivatethepunninglevel，jointlevelandcompletetheinterpretationofthepuninadvertisinginformandmeaningrespectively.Inthedestructionlevel,theadvertisingexpressionisprominentasFigureandthecommonexpressionfromlanguageknowledgeincognitiveworldistheGround.Inthepunninglevel,thepunofthepuninadvertisingistheFigureanditscontextistheGround.Inthejointlevel，theadvertisingmeaningwhichisimplicitandconnectswiththeadvertisingpurposeisprominentasFigureandthecommonmeaningwhichisexplicitandeasilyachievedistheGround.\n1.1IllustrationofFigure-GroundTheoryinphoneticpunThephoneticpunmeansthepuntheyuseisawordorphrasethathassameorsimilarsoundwithwhatisfixedinourexperiencebuthasquitedifferentspellingandmeaning.Thischaracteristicmakesthepuninadvertisingbecomeprominentinourperception.Thenlet’sseetwoexamples:①闲妻良母（全自动洗衣机）（姚俊，2004）Inthisadvertisement，therearetheFigure‘‘［闲1’’，thepuncontext“妻”andthecommoncontext“（良母）”•Intheinterpretationofthispuninadvertisingthelanguageknowledgeisthatthewords“I闲”and“贤”havethesamepronunciation“xi6n”inChinese.ThefixedChinesefourcharacteridiom“贤妻良母”isthecommonexpressionofthisadvertisementandactsastheGround，whilethedeviatedphrase“闲妻”astheadvertisingexpressionistheFigure.Fromtheexperienceinourlanguageknowledgewewilleasilyknowthemeaningoftheidiom贤妻良母”，itmeans“agoodhousewifewhoisveryunderstanding,considerate，andgoodathousekeepingwork”.Buthereitbecomesthedeviatedone‘‘闲妻良母’，，andthustheword“闲’’hereisthefocusoftheaudiencesandbecomesFigure.Theunderstandingofthiswordmustbeonthebaseofitscontext，whichactsasGround.Consideringthisisanadvertisementofanautomaticwashingmachine，theaudienceswillobtainanothermeaningwhichcontainstheintentionofadvertisementthat“thisautomaticwashingmachinewillhelpthehousewivesalotinwashingworkandsavethemmuchtimeandenergyandfreethemfromthistiringandboringwork”.Inall,thisadvertmakesuseofthewell-knownidiom贤妻良母”asitsGroundgivestheaudiencessuchanimpressionthattheautomaticwashingcanfreethehousewivesfromwashingwork.②聪明的妈妈会用“锌”（三精葡萄糖酸锌口服液广告）（殷志纯，2007）Inthisadvertisement，theword“锌”hasthesamepronunciation“xln”withtheword“'ll?”•Onhearingthisadvertisementpeoplewillmisunderstandthecharacterof“xln’’is“心”andobtainsuchmeaning“agoodandclevermotherknowshowtotakecareofherchildwithconcentratedattention’’，whileafterseeingthisadvertisementespeciallythe“wrong”“锌”whichmeansachemicalelementtheywillobtainanothermeaning“aclevermotherknowhowtoaddzincgluconatetoensurechild’snutrition”.Whatthisadvertisementwantstoexpressis“aclevermotherknowshowtotakecareherchildwithenoughnutritionandknowhowtoaddthezincgluconate”.1.2IllustrationofFigure-GroundTheoryinSemanticPunDifferentfromthephoneticpun，thesemanticpunusesawordorphrase，whichhastwoormorethantwomeaningstocreatepuninadvertising.Whentheaudiences\nobservethispuninadvertising,theywouldconsiderthisadvertisementisquiterightandinterpretitasthecommonexpressioninourlanguageknowledge.Whiletheadvertisingintentionwillmaketheaudiencesreconsiderthisadvertisementandtheywillgettwoexpressions.Then，let’shavealookatthefollowingexamples:①您的健康是天大的事（天大药业广告）（姚俊，2004）Inthisadvertisement，therearetheFigure［天人］”，thepuncontext您的健康是的事’’，andthereisnocommoncontext.ThisisanadvertisementofamedicinecompanywhosenameisTianda.Atfirstsightofthisadvertisement，theaudienceswillnotconsiderthisasanadvertisementbutregarditasacommonsentence,whichemphasizestheimportanceofhealth.Consideringit’sanadvert，theaudienceswillnaturallyreconsiderit，andwithsomeefforts，theywillfinallyobtainitstwoexpressionswhicharethecommonexpressionandtheadvertisingexpression:“您的健康是天大的事”and“您的健康是天大的事.Althoughthesetwoexpressionsaresameinform,theyhavedifferentmeaningsandbasis.Thecommonexpressionwhichbasedonourlanguageknowledgehasthemeaningof“yourhealthisthemostimportantthing”，whiletheadvertisingexpressionwithadvertisingpurposeasitsbasismeansthat“yourhealthisthebusinessofourTiandaCompany”.TheadvertisingintentionmakestheadvertisingexpressionsalientandprominentastheFigureandthelanguageknowledgemakesthecommonexpressionbecometheGround.Afterassociatingthesetwomeaningswiththeadvertisingintention，theaudienceswillobtaintheultimatemeaning“ThehealthisthemostimportantforapersonandourcompanyTiandawilltakegoodcareofyourhealth”②做女人挺好！（丰胸产品广告）（殷志纯，2007）Thisisanadvertisementofabreastenhancementproduct.Naturally,thissentencecanbeinterpretedasthis“tobeawomanisreallyverygood”，whileassociatedwithitsproductandtheadvertisingintention,theaudiencesturntheirfocusontheword“挺”easily,whichisnotaadverbinthefirstinterpretationbutisaverbandmeans“tautenorkeepbreastsfirm”.Thisadvertisementwantstogivetheaudiencessuchinformationthat“ourproductwillmakewomenkeeptheirbreastfirmandbecomeperfectwomen,andmakethemfeelgoodtobewomen”1.1IllustrationofFigure-GroundTheoryinComplexPunThereisaspecialpuninadvertising,whichcontainboththephoneticpuninadvertisingandthesemanticpuninadvertising.Theinterpretationofthiskindofpuninadvertisingisnotsocomplicatedasitsnamesuggests.Let’stakealookattheexamplestraightly:③“愈满全球”（某眼药水广告）（姚俊，2004）\nInthisadvertisement，therearetheFigure［愈］’’and“［球］”，thepuncontext‘‘满全”，butthereisnocommoncontext.Theword“愈’’isthephoneticpun，whichhasthesamepronunciationof“yfi”withtheword“誉”•Theword“球”isasemanticpun，andithastwomeaningsinthisadvertisementoneofwhichisthewholeworld，theotherofwhichisthewholeeye.Theultimatemeaningofthispuninadvertisingis“Ourproductcancureyoureyesanditsgoodeffectivenessmakesitfamousallovertheworld.”Astheexamplesofthiskindofpuninadvertisingarenotsocommon,herewejustgivethistypicalonetoillustrateitsinterpretationprocess.1.ConclusionInshort,wecanseethatthepuninadvertisinghasfeaturestocorrespondenttoFigure-GroundTheory，whichguidestheaudiences'interpretationprocess.TheFigureofpuninadvertisingcangiveprominencetothefeaturesandfunctionsofproductsandgiveprominencetothebrandnamesandtheproducts.TheGroundinpuninadvertisingcanbringcomfort，happyandpleasingatmospheretotheproductsadvertisedgivingtheaudiencesenoughspacetoimagine,oratleastitwillreducesomeawkwardandembarrassingatmosphereforsomespecialproduct.WorkCited薛冰，李悦娥，“广告双关语的语用观和美学观”，《外语与外语教学》，6(2000):36-47。姚俊，“广告双关语的认知研究”，《四川外语学院学报》，5(2004):102-106。殷志纯，“论广告语构成屮的语言手段”，《语言应用研宄》，8(2007):72-73。赵静，《广告英语》，北京:外语教学与研宂出版社，1993。