-
Pragmatic Function
and
Translation
of Pun in
English
Advertisement
Abstract
:
Advertising English is characterized by
its originality, flexibility of language usage
and the diversity of the from the
distinguishing features at lexical and syntactic
levels,
rhetorical
vehicles,
as
decorative
devices
of
language,
are
frequently
employed
in
advertising
English. Punning, a concise way to
express humor and wit, is particularly favored by
advertisers to
enhance
the
appeal
of
language.
Drawing
on
existing
studies
in
the
field,the
author
offers
five
strategies
in
the
translation
of
puns
in
advertisement,
i.e.
preservation,
creation,
compensation,
explication
and author argues that each of the five
strategies is not always applied
on
its
own,
and
sometimes
two
or
more
stratrgies
are
jointly
employed
in
advertisement
translation in
accordance with the principle of optimal relevance
depending on the situation.
Key words:
Advertisement
;
Pun; Pragmatic Function; Translation
广告英语中双关语的语用功能及其翻译
摘
要
:
广告英语的独特性在于其新颖、
灵活的语及其形式多样化，除了在词汇和句法
方面别具一格外，
修辞手法也被广泛地运用来润色广告语言。
双关，
一种集幽默与
智慧于一
身的语言表达形式，
因其独特的语言魅力而倍受广告商
的青睐。
结合大量的实例分析，
本文
详
细地探讨了双关语在英文广告中所起的作用及其分类。
通过分析与归纳，
作者提出了广告
双关语翻译的五种策略：保留、再造、补偿、解释说明以及省略
不译。译者在翻译过程中可
以选择一种或者多种策略以达到译文的最佳关联。
关键词
：
广告；双关语；语用功能；翻译
Introduction
The
definition
of
advertisement
by
AMA(American
Marketing
Association):
Advertising is
the nonpersonal communication usually paid for and
usually persuasive
in nature about
products, services of ideas by identified sponsors
through the various
media.
It is a device to arouse consumers‘
attention to a commodity and induce them
to use it. In modern age, people find
themselves surrounded by various advertisements
each day. An American writer writes: ―
we find advertisement of all kinds
ever
ywhere,
for example,
glittering neon signs on top of high buildings and
a long main streets,
colorful
pictures
painted
on
buses
pamphlets
sent
to
very
house,
advertisement
jammed between
TV programs various advertisement glutting,
newspaper and radio
broad
cast;
etc.‖
Facing
so
many
advertisement,
how
to
make
the
advertisement
impressive is
the main purpose of the advertisers. In order to
enhance the appeal of an
advertisement,
advertisers pay much attention not only to such
expressive devices as
plates,
color
and
the
layout
of
a
printed
page,
but
also
to
the
choice
of
words
or
phrases, to make an
advertisement beautiful and attractive.
In the practice of the
advertising
English,
people
pay more
attention to
pun to
make the advertisement succinct,
accurate and vivid and to provide rich imagination
and plentiful associations for readers
so as to stimulate their frequent and
wide
use
of
figures
of
speech
is
an
important
characteristic
of
advertising
English,
which
is
an
effective way
to
make the
advertisement attractive. Among the figures,
pun is loved deeply.
Oxford
Advanced Dictionary
defines
pun as ―humorous use of a
word that has
two meanings or of different words that sound the
same‖
[1]
. A pun (also
known
as
paronomasia)
can
be
understood
like
that
it
is
a
deliberate
confusion
of
similar-sounding words of phrases for
rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious.
It leaves a deep impression on readers
by its readability, wit and humor. It can satisfy
the
requirement
of
advertisement
characteristics
—
selling
power,
memory
value,
attention value, and
readability. So pun is very popular in
advertisement. The article
just
wants
to
present
the
pragmatic
function
and
translatability
of
pun
in
advertisement.
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1
Definition and classification of pun in
advertisement
1. 1 Definition of pun
Looking
at
the
same
issue
from
different
perspectives,
we
may
often
come
up
with different
definitions of the thing under discussion. And,
not surprisingly, pun can
be
thus
defined
in
many
ways.
There
is
such
a
humorous
explanation
about
pun:
―punning –
to
torture one poor word ten thousand ways (John
Dryden)‖.
In
Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary
English
, pun is defined as ―An amusing
use of a word or
phrase that has two
meanings, or words with the same sound but
different meanings‖.
According
to
The Oxford English
Dictionary
, pun is defined as ―the use
of word
in
such a way as to
suggest two or more meanings or different
associations, or the use of
two or more
words of the same or nearly the same sound with
different meanings, so
as to produce a
humorous effect‖. In
Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
,
pun
is
defined
as
―A
figure
of
speech
depending
upon
a
similarity
of
sound
and
a
disparity
of
meaning‖
.
From
the
above
definitions,
we
can
see
that
homonyms,
homophones, and
homographs all are available to construct puns
with.
1. 2 Types of pun in
advertisement
1. 2. 1
Pun on
Polysemy
―While
different
words
may
have
the
same
of
similar
meaning,
the
same
one
word may have more than
one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and
such a
word is called polysemic word.
Historically speaking, polysemy can be understood
as
the growth and development of or
change in the meaning of words.‖
Pun on
polysemy
is
used
widely,
especially
with
the
name
of
the
product
such
as
the
following
examples:
―From sharp
minds. Come sharp products.‖
The example is an
adverti
sement for the Sharp copier. The
word ―sharp‖ praises the
consumers‘
brightness, but also refers to the Sharp product.
The advertisement praises
the
consumers
who
are
sharp
to
buy
the
product
which
is
sharp.
The
vanity
of
the
audiences is aroused and they want to
use it to show their wise, and also they believe
the product is really sharp.
―Money doesn‘t
grow on the trees. But it blossoms at our
branches. Lioyd Bank.‖
It is the slogan of Lioyd
Bank. ―branch‖ means ―part of a tree growing out
from the
tru
nk‖,
but
here
it
implies
the
division
of
bank‖.
The
slogan
encourages
people
to
store their money in
Lioyd Bank, and their money will be like the
blooming flowers,
yielding
better
fruits.
After
understanding
its
meaning,
readers
will
figure
it
out
in
mind that their money
will become more and more daily and daily, just
like the leaves
in spring.
1. 2. 2 Pun on Homonym
―Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that
words with different meanings have
the
same form, i.e, different words are identical in
sound or spelling, or in both. When
two
words are identical in sound, they are homophones.
When the words are identical
in
spelling, they are homographs. When two words are
identical in both spelling and
sound,
they are com
plete homonyms.‖
The follow instances will explain that:
― ?VIPs‘ an
atomical le Impact Pressure Sole‖
The
advertisement
of
sportshoes
uses
the
homophonic
word
―VIPs‖.
As
we
know,
VIP usually stands for
― very important persons‖, while, here, it stands
for ―Variable
Impact Pressure Sole‖. It
implies if you use VIPs, you will be a VIP. The
word ―VIPs‘
motivates the audiences‘
vanity and induces them to buy the
product.
―Trust us. Over 5000 ears of
experience.‖
It
is
an
advertisement
for
audiphone.
The
literal
meaning
is
that
the
product
has
experienced a lot of texts. While
―ears‖ and ―years‖ are a pair of homophone. So it
implies that the product has a long
history and has high quality.
―Goodbuy
Winter!
100% cotton knitwe
ar $$40‖
It
is
an
advertisement
for
the
sale
of
winter
clothes.
The
advertisement
seems
to
people
that it s a good and cheap to buy cotton knitwear.
But when the audiences read
―goodbuy
winter‖
together,
they
will
understand
the
good
use
of
pun.
―Goodbuy
winter‖ sounds the same as ―goodbye
winter‖. The advertisement use homophone to
show two meanings: it is a good
business to buy the cotton knitwear now, and
winter
has passed away. Naturally,
people will associate the situation happening
every year
that when they say goodbye
to winter, the clothes will have a great discount
and it is
good time to buy them.
―More sun and
air for your sun and heir.‖
The advertisement
is
for a bathing beach. The
advertiser uses homophone skilfully,
sun vs. son, and air vs. heir. The
advertiser encourages people to bring their son
and
heir to the bathing beach to get
sun and air to keep fit. Each couple hopes their
son
and heir will be healthy all their
life. Pun makes the advertising language sound
sweet,
fluent and persuasive.
1. 2. 3 Pun on Parody
―Parody is a piece of speech, writing
of music that imitates the style of an author,
composer, etc in an amusing and often
exaggerate way‖
[2]
. Pun on parody uses the
outfit of saying, apothegm, proverb or
idiom to form new meanings. English has a lot
of
well-known
phrases,
idioms
and
sayings.
They
are
important
part
of
everyday
language spoken by the English
speakers, and have become one of the aspects of
the
English culture. The advertisement
designers are sharp-minded and imaginative. They
change a part of the expressions and
put their ideas into them to achieve sensational
effect. And most of them achieve a
remarkable success. The transformations are not
only
eye
catching,
but
also
easy
to
be
accepted
by
the
common,
who
will
do
according
to the tradition. As the sayings of idioms have
been one part of the tradition,
the
people will be easily persuaded by the
advertisement works of this kind. So pun
on parody is popular in advertisement.
―A Mars a day
helps you work, rest and play.‖
It
is
the
slogan
of
Mars
chocolate
company.
Looking
at
this
advertisement,
people
will associate it with two idioms: ―An
apple a day keeps the doctor away‖ and ― All
work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy‖. From the meani
ngs of the two
idioms, the
watchword tells people that
a Mars‘ chocolate a day will make you not be a
dull boy
(make you wise) and keep the
doctor away (keep fit).
―Try our sweet corn, you‘ll
smile from ear to ear.‖
It
is taken from the advertisement fo
r a
kind of sweet corn. The word ―ear‖ has double
meanings:
the
organ
of
hearing
and
the
seed
–
bearing
part
of
a
cereal.
The
idiom
―
from
ear
to
ear‖
also
is
a
pun.
One
meaning
is
that
people
are
satisfied
with
the
product.
The
other
one
is
that
the
consumers
eat
one
ear
by
another.
So
the
advertisement implies that the sweet
corn is very delicious, and you will enjoy it and
eating one by one. How can people
refuse such delicious food?
―All is well that ends well.‖
This is an idiom, but here,
it is taken
from an advertisement of a
cigarette. ―End‖, as a
verb, means
―finish‖, while, as
a noun, means
―cigarette butt‖. The sentence means
that if the cigarette ends are good
that the cigarette is good.
1. 2. 4
Pun on
Grammar
Many advertisers use pun
produced for grammar problem to attract the
audiences,
such as ellipsis or word
with different grammar functions. If this type of
pun can be
used properly, it will
achieve unexpected effect.
―Which lager can claim to be truly
German?
This can.‖
It is an
adverti
sement for Lager beer. ―Can‖ is
a modal verb. But in the advertisement,
a can of beer beside it reminds people
―can‖ has another meaning—tin. Also ―Lager‖
refers
to
the
name
of
beer.
With
the
illustration,
the
whole
advertisement
brings
a
humorous
effect
and
impresses
the
audiences
deeply.
The
Coca-cola
company
also
uses
―can‖ to do their advertisement.
―Coke refreshes
you like no other can.‖
Just like last example, ― can ‖ has
double meanings, so the sentence can be understand
like that Coke refreshes you like no
other (can; tin, drink) can (refresh you). It
implies
their product is the best one.
Of course, people like to buy the best one.
1. 2. 5 Pun on
Illustration and Words
A lot of
advertisement associates with illustrations and
words to achieve better
effect,
especially
on
TV,
because
people
are
more
easily
attracted
by
pictures
than
words. The illustrations
and
words can help people to understand the
advertisement
fully.
Pun
in
the
advertisement
must
be
connected
with
illustrations
and
words,
so
people
can understand the implied meanings. For
instances:
―50%
OFF.‖
It is a shopwindow
advertisement of E-spirit exclusive shop in
Shanghai from 2001
and spring festival.
The illustration is a picture with six lights,
three on and three off.
From the
illustration, people know it does not only mean a
half of the lights are off,
but
also
means the whole sale
discounts
50%. The illustration and
words are vivid,
and attract the
passers-
by‘ attention more easily.
―Stop at two.‖
It
is
the
title
of
an
public
service
advertising
(PSA)
which
the
Population
and
Community
Development
Association
(
PCDA)
of
Thailand
uses
to
advocate
the
couple
to
have
children
no
more
than
two.
The
illustration
is
the
photo
of
Wistern
Churchill who formed a ―V‖ letter with
h
is forefinger and middle finger. The
gesture
―V‖ means victory. So people
also can understand that it is a victory to have
only one
child.
This
picture
is
famous,
so
people
will
remember
it
easily.
To
achieve
the
success of their country, people may
more like to control the population.
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2
The pragmatic function of
pun in advertisement
Pun
has
a
lot
of
advantages
such
as
conciseness,
wit
and
humor,
novelty
and
vividness. It produces a particularly
rhetorical and pragmatic effect when people use
the
language
creatively
in
a
specified
context.
The
proper
use
can
make
the
advertisement impressive and
attractive.
2. 1 Wit and humor
Pun, the game of
word,
produces wit and humor effect to attract the
audiences‘
attention and inspires their
association. In the age of rapid rhythm,
advertisement with
pun like a spice
makes
people enjoy themselves in
the advertising atmosphere,
and
reduces their pressure
in a relaxed environment.
―When the wind has a bite… and you feel
like a bite… then bite on a whole Nut.‖
The word ―bite‖ has several
meanings: grip, food, and eat. The whole sentence
means
that when the strong wind hurts
you and you are very hungry, just eat some Nut.
After
day working, people would feel
tired and hungry, while the advertisement is just
the
situation of them. Therefore, they
would be attracted to buy the product, so they
will
not suffer hunger after work.
Also, the sentence sounds like tongue twist.
―Excellent
Taste!‖
It is a word in an
advertisement for a whiskey
product
—
Jamson. In the
advertisement,
when the hero drank the
Jamson whiskey that the heroine introduced to him,
he said,
―Excellent
Taste‖.
Generally
speaking,
―taste‖
means
―favor‖,
but
here,
another
meaning is ―the ability to appreciate
what is beautiful‖. So the advertisement means:
this kind f
whiskey as good flavor; the heroine has high
appreciation. The advertiser
uses pun
to praise both the product and the consumers
who choose their product.
It
caters for people‘ vanity and induces
them to buy the product.
2.
2 Creativeness and originality
This is
typical of advertising language. An advertisement
has a high demand of
diction every word
playing an important role. If human emotions have
to be inspired,
the words, strong in
expressing emotions, will be chosen. In
advertisement, originality
is
king.
A
new
way
of
sending
message
can
set
a
brand
apart
from
copycats
and
also-rans.
So
it
is
important
to
use
something
novelsuch
as
coinage
in
the
advertisement to draw people‘
attention. Normally, a new created word accepted
by
readers
can
enhance
the
freshness
and
attraction
of
the
advertisement.
Good
advertisers use
coinage to
refresh the advertisement
and to
achieve its propagandist
purpose.
―Cab Fourward.‖
It
is
an
advertisement
title
of
Ram
Car
produced
by
Doqi
company.
The
word
―fourward‖ sounds like ―forward‖.
Connecting it with the picture in the
advertisement,
people would know why it
uses ?fourward‖. Because the four d
oors
of this kind of car
could
be
opened
from
four
directions.
The
advertiser
creates
the
word
―fourward‖
from ―forward‖ to
show the speciality of the car.
―Catch the
Raincheetah and cheat the rain.‖
It
is
an
advertisement
in
Toronto
Daily
Star.
The
pu
nny
word
―Raincheetah‖,
the
name of the raincoat, sounds like
―raincheater‖ while the word ―raincheater‖ derives
from
―windcheater‖.
The
word
―cheat‖
in
the
sentence
makes
it
wonderful
and
let
people feel that this kind of raincoat
can protect the consumers well. Pun gives people
impression of novelty and interest.
2. 3
Satisfying people’s
requirement of beauty
A
good
advertisement
is
a
text
from
which
people
can
appreciate
the
art
of
language,
especially
advertisement
using
pun.
Pun
in
advertisement
is
orderly
and
antithetic that makes people feel the
aesthetic modality of language. The characters of
pun, such as vividness, wit and humor,
pleasure people‘s spirit and let them enjoy the
beauty of language. For instance:
―Give your hair a touch of
spring.‖
It is an
advertisement for shampoo. The word ―spring‖ here
is very vivid and like a
picture in
people‘ mind: after using the shampoo, the long
hair becomes elastic and
shining. When
you stand there, your hair will go with wind.
Everyone likes beauty, so
the
advertisement
caters
for
people‘
desire
and
induces
them
to
buy
the
product
to
make them more beautiful.
2. 4 Satisfying the
requirement of
society
—
Economy
With the rapid development of the
society, people become busier and busier, so
they
require
short
and
easy
remembered
advertisement
to
supply
the
message
they
want. But how to impress the audiences
is a question. The answer is using pun. But
why is pun especially favored by the
advertiser? The main reasons as following:
―Firstly,
advertisement
is
paid
message,
with
limited
space
and
time,
so
it
doesn‘t
allow
verbiage
to
waste
the
investment.
Pun
with
double
meaning
has
the
characteristic
of
small
carrier
but
plenty
of
connotations.
So
it
is
very
economic,
effective and
money-saving to the advertiser. Secondly, in
modern society, people pay
more and
more attention to effect, and get tired of the
tedious advertisement. The pun
in
advertisement
is
usually
formed
by
short
sentences.
Some
use
the
name
of
the
product
as the theme of the
advertisement.
Some use excellent
phrases to
show the
specialties of the product. To the
audiences, it saves their time to get the
information
they want. Thirdly,
usually, the audiences read or watch advertisement
unintentionally
and
only
can
remember
something
unconsciously.
So,
to
achieve
expected
propagandist
effect,
the
advertisement
must
reduce
the
memory
message.
Pun
is
suitable
for
the
requirement.
The
content
is
short,
the
form
rhythmic,
and
the
style
novel, which are
easily
remembered and impressed people
deeply‖
[3]
. In a word, pun
uses fewer words to express full
message which is the content of Economy Principle,
and it usually reaches the purpose of
advertisement that is arouse consumers‘ attention
to a commodity and induce them to use
it. For instance:
―Two beer or not two beer, that‘s a
question.
----
Shakesbeer‖
Looking at the beer
advertisement, people would associate it with the
proverb ―To be
or knot to be, that‘s a
question‖ in Hamlet. Shakesbeer is the
name of the beer, but it
sounds like ―Shakespeare‖ who is known
nearly all over the world, so it is easy for
people to
remember the Shakesbeer. And the word said by
Hamlet is also very famous,
especially
in
western
country.
The
sentence
is
short
and
the
pattern
is
famous,
so
people will remember the product
naturally.
―Go
well, Go Shell.‖
It
is
an
advertisement
for
Shell
Oil
Company.
―Well‖
sounds
like
―where‖,
so
it
implies
that
go
to
Shell
company
to
buy
oil.
Only
four
words
are
used
in
the
advertisement, but
express the meaning fully and impress people
deeply. Imagine that
one day, when you
drive your car, suddenly, the oil is run out. So
you are wondering
where to go, then, of
course, you will remember the words ―Go well, go
Shell‖. So
you will go to Shell at
once. The slogans impress the audiences deeply and
persuade
them to buy the product
invisibly.
―Make Time For Time.‖
It
is
an
advertisement
for
Time
magazine.
The
advertisement
uses
the
pun
on
homonymy of the word
―time‖ to refer two meanings: c
ommon
sense of time, and the
name
of
he
magazine.
The
advertisement
means
that
read
Time
magazine
to
seize
time. In the society
full of competition, time is important and
magazines also play an
important role
which people have to read to broaden their view.
While Time magazine
will not only
broaden view, but also save your time. It
satisfies people‘s requirement.
2. 5 Implying Warning
Some
advertisements
imply
warming.
Pun
can
make
the
warming
vivid
and
effective so that people
can pay attention to it. For instances:
―Better late
than the late.‖
It is a
public service advertising of traffic. It derives
from the proverb ―Better late than
never‖.
In
the
sentence,
―the
late‖
means‖
the
dead‖,
and
it
reminds
the
drivers
to
drive
slowly
and
carefully.
The
advertisement
with
pun
here
has
more
powerful
to
persuade the drivers to care their r
example:
―The
driver is safer when the road is dry;
The road is safer when the driver is
dry.‖
It
is
also
an
advertisement
for
safe
driving.
The
excellent
word
is
―dry‖
which
has
double meanings: without water and
without drinking. It expresses if the road is dry
and the driver doesn‘t drink, all
drivers will be safer. The antitheses and thyme of
the
sentence has more powerful to warm
people.