For quite some time, advertising is a gateway for anglicisms into the German language. The VDS (Verein Deutscher Sprache/ Association of German Language) also shares this opinion. They say that the main transmitters for anglicisms in Germany are the mass media and the advertising and entertaining industry.
Although anglicisms belong to the most explored aspects of advertising language, there haven’t been many empirical studies yet. Their proportion in a temporal comparative and in connection with various product groups is rarely studied in the German-speaking area. Especially the researches of Dagmar Schütte and the database slogans.de offer a basis to investigate these questions.
In this paper, it will be mainly referred to slogans since they appear in every kind of media and because they are the main representatives of the trends in the advertising language. First the evaluation of Schütte (1996), which reaches until 1991, should be checked. Then it should be examined whether the increase of English slogans continues onwards in the 1990s and the 2000s. Furthermore the sectoral distribution of English slogans will be analyzed. In order to provide a prospect to the future, this work will also contain a chapter about the new language trend in German advertising. Schütte defines an anglicism as a linguistic sign, consisting wholly or partly of English morphemes, regardless of whether it is connected to a common meaning in the English language usage or not. In the following, this definition is adopted, what means that the term anglicism is generally an English coined word or expression.
At a glance
- Grade: 1.0 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Examines the slogans.de database alongside Schütte’s historical advertising study
- Considers Vodafone, Beck’s and Sat1 slogans as examples of misunderstandings
- 11 sources in the bibliography
- 3 figures
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Usage of English in German Advertising Slogans
2.1 Development of English Slogans in German Advertising
2.2. Function of English Slogans
3. A new trend in German Advertising
4. Conclusion
Aim and Topics
This work examines how the use of English in German advertising slogans has developed over time and across product sectors. It asks whether the increase documented in earlier research continued into the 1990s and 2000s, and considers the functions of English slogans and a possible shift towards German-language advertising.
- Historical development of English-language slogans
- Differences between advertising sectors
- The slogans.de database and its Slogometer
- Symbolic associations and multilingual advertising
- Comprehension of English slogans and changing language choices
Excerpt from the Book
2.2. Function of English Slogans
Those Anglicisms used in German advertising are not the common ones, but English slogans are rather a result of targeted language and thus represents a case of multilingual advertising communication (cf. Piller 2001). The decision for English or another foreign language is already made during the conception -and production of texts-phase. They specifically choose a foreign-language slogan. On the one hand to give the internationally marketed products and services a unified identity, on the other hand to make recourse within the national market to the symbolic associations to the relevant foreign language. (Schütte 1996, p.284-286)
A relationship with English slogans and certain product groups is repeated and determined for different language communities. Schütte says that fashion, technology, travel, cosmetics, alcohol and cigarettes are particularly “English receptive” industries, whereas in promotion of services, medicines and everyday consumer goods, German slogans are used. They are connected with rather traditional products (politics, food). (Schütte 1996, p.290-297) In certain areas, such as in political advertising, you can even call it a “foreign Language-talk taboo”. (Martin 2002 p.383)
The decisive factor is not (only) the communicative function of a foreign language, but (especially) their symbolic value. In this sense, English in advertising is a cultural symbol: it stands for certain stereotypical values and properties that the seller, the product or the recipient / target group are attributed with. (Cheshire & Moser 1994, p.451) Therefore, it is not surprising that many English slogans are not understood by the population. (cf. Thun 2003) But this is not primarily about the literal intelligibility of the message, but about the, through the foreign language triggered, associations - the language itself is the message. (cf. Androutsopoulos et al. 2004)
The peculiarity of English is its wide spectrum of associations. Progress, internationality, innovation and openness are always called symbolic values of anglicisms in advertising. Anglicisms convey “hedonistic values” such as individuality, recreational enjoyment, modernity, success, lifestyle and trend awareness. (Schütte 1996, p.225)
Piller (2001) represents the thesis that English-language advertising in Germany constructs multilingualism as a personality trait of the target group. The ideal recipient is constructed as someone who has mastered the language well enough to understand allusions, wordplays, ambiguities, etc.. Piller works out five characteristics of multilingual recipients: international, future-oriented, success-oriented, cultured, fun-oriented. Here, a range of values is drawn which can apparently transferred to a wide range of different products.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: The introduction sets out the research question, identifies earlier research and the slogans.de database as points of reference, and defines anglicism.
2. The Usage of English in German Advertising Slogans: This chapter discusses the historical and sectoral distribution of English slogans and the symbolic functions attributed to English in advertising.
3. A new trend in German Advertising: The chapter considers difficulties in understanding English slogans and examples of companies adopting German-language alternatives.
4. Conclusion: The conclusion brings together the discussion of historical change, industry differences and the values associated with advertising languages.
Keywords
anglicisms, German advertising, English slogans, advertising language, slogans.de, Slogometer, multilingual advertising, language choice, symbolic value, product sectors, consumer comprehension, advertising trends
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It explores the use and development of English-language slogans in German advertising.
What are its central themes?
The work addresses historical change, differences between industries, the symbolic functions of English and the comprehensibility of slogans.
What is the primary research question?
It asks whether the increase in English slogans continued into the 1990s and 2000s and how their use varies across sectors.
What method does the work use?
It draws on existing advertising research and examines temporal and sectoral patterns using the slogans.de database and its Slogometer.
What does the main discussion cover?
It considers the development and functions of English slogans, followed by examples of a shift towards German-language advertising.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include anglicisms, German advertising, English slogans, language choice, symbolic value and consumer comprehension.
What is the Slogometer?
It is a feature of slogans.de that ranks frequently used words in the database’s slogans by decade.
Why does the work discuss Vodafone, Beck’s and Sat1?
It uses their slogans as examples in a discussion of how English advertising phrases can be misunderstood by German audiences.
How does the work approach the symbolic role of English?
Drawing on earlier scholarship, it discusses associations such as internationality, innovation and modernity, as well as the construction of multilingual target audiences.
- Quote paper
- Anna Theresa Wendel (Author), 2013, Anglicisms in German Advertising Slogans, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/279557
