Adjectives of evaluation in English ad texts

Content

Introduction

Part 1. The category of evaluation and advertising texts
1.1. Evaluation as the most important mean of expressing value
1.2 Types of evaluation
1.3 Advertising as one of the forms of mass communication
1.4 Advertising types and features

Part 2. Linguistic means of expressing evaluation in advertising texts
2.1. Adjectives of evaluation as expressive means of persuasion
2.2 Types of evaluative adjectives
2.3. Aesthetic type of evaluative adjectives
2.4. Forms of adjectives used in ad texts
2.5. The use of neologisms in ad texts
2.6 Game of words in advertising texts

Conclusion

References

Appendix

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, society constantly changes and it affects absolutely all spheres of human activity. Advertising, as an integral attribute of any entrepreneurial activity, also varies according to the development of society. The effectiveness of an advertising campaign depends on the linguistic design of the ad text.

Advertising as a means of influencing a person's choice is aimed at creating relationships between a company and a potential buyer in order to induce the latter to acquire the advertised product. The interest of scholars in advertising text as one of the types of texts of mass influence, aimed at achieving communicative-pragmatic and expressive-suggestive goals and based on the use of expressive capabilities of language resources of all levels, is at the center of scientific studies (, R.Terkan,L. G. Feshchenko, O. G. Fomin, Ch. Mundy Edwards).

The problem of evaluation was of interest to philosophers of different times, from ancient Greek thinkers (Anaxagoras, Socrates, Democritus). Today, evaluative values are actively studied in linguistics. The category of evaluation is considered at all levels of the language, linking it with modality, emotionality and expressiveness.

The urgency of this work is stipulated by the fact that insufficiently highlighted the following aspects of the problem under study as means of creation and expression of evaluation in English-language advertising and the specifics of their operation in different types of advertising text.

The subject is adjectives of evaluation.

The object of the course work are adjectives of evaluation in English-language advertising.

The aim is to understand the characteristics and features of the functioning of lexical-grammatical means of expressing an evaluation in English-language advertising. The following tasks were set:

-to describe the adjectives and their role in the evaluation of ad texts
- to describe the process of advertising;
˗ to identify and analyze means of expressing an evaluation;
- to import the concept, structure and function of advertising text;
- identify and describe strategies of advertising.

The theoretical significance of the work is the knowledge about the ways of expressing evaluation in the English advertising texts.

The practical significance is to prevent inaccuracies and misunderstandings caused by the translation without preserving the evaluation component, as well as due to linguistic and cultural differences of the speakers.

During the course work such research methods as descriptive method, comparative method were used.

The research material is the texts of commercial advertising, represented by the advertising of food products, cosmetics, clothing and automobiles .The research material are pages from British and American popular magazines ( `Food & Wine`, `Bella`, ` Vogue `,`Cosmopolitan`,` Reclaim`,`Vanity Fair`).

The work consists of two parts.

The first part is devoted to adjectives and their role in the evaluation process, describes the evaluation as a linguistic category ,as well as to the types and functions of advertising.

The second part is devoted to the lexical and grammatical means of expressing evaluation, as well as the examples of their application in the advertising texts.

The conclusion summarizes the results of the research and outline the prospects for further scientific research.

The appendix contains the results of structural components of the advertising text.

PART 1. THE CATEGORY OF EVALUATION AND ADVERTISING TEXTS

1.1. Evaluation as the most important mean of expressing value

In recent decades, the interest of linguists to the study of the phenomenon of evaluation is growing - one of the most important language categories, because its semantics carries the system of values of the world and the value of man in it. Adjectives form a semiotic subclass of sign names that denote properties, qualities, attitudes, states. They reflect not only the external but also the inner world of man, his attitude to the surrounding reality, since expressing a certain view of the world, man constantly imposes on him a grid of universal and individual notions of good and evil (good and bad) [7, 102] .

Adjectives are part of a language that has a huge variety of evaluative semantics. Therefore, among the linguistic means of expressing the emotional modality, evaluative adjectives occupy a significant place.

The evaluation is an integral part of the connotative component of the semantic structure of the linguistic unit (words or phrases), which represents the attitude of the speaker to the designated "perfectly -neutral-bad "and the relative scale" great-good – neutral- bad-worse. "

The evaluationis a universal category: there is no language in which there would be no idea of "good / bad". When evaluated it should be noted that evaluation is a subjective expression of the significance of objects and phenomena of the world for our lives and activities, that is, the evaluation is a mental act, which results in the relationship of the subject to the object being evaluated in order to determine its value for life and meaning of the subject[25, 19].

Evaluation is characterized by a special structure, that includes a number of mandatory and optional elements. The following components of evaluation can be distinguished: subject,object, basis and character of evaluation.

The object of evaluation is a person (or socium), that shows the value of a particular subject, by expressing an assessment.The subject of evaluation is an object or phenomenon whose value (or anti-value) is determined. This basis of evaluation is numerous classifications of ratings.The character of the evaluation is a recognition of the value (positive, negative or zero) of the object of evaluation.

Depending on which characteristics are actualized in the evaluation act, the basis for the evaluation is taken to differentiate into external and internal. The inner expresses the emotional sphere of a person, his feelings, positive and negative emotions associated with the mental sphere of sympathy and antipathy. External oriented at the cognitive sphere of man, they reflect the knowledge of the subject, formed by the ratio of the mental and social nature of the surrounding person of reality.

There are usually two types of evaluation - absolute and relative. In the first, terms such as "good / bad" are used, and the second one is "better / worse". In absolute assessment, as a rule, one object is evaluated, and in the case of a comparative one, at least two objects or two states of the same object. In absolute evaluative structures, the comparison is not directly expressed [21, 39].

In the first group, the given adjectives pass an absolute mark. Expressions of this type always mean the stereotype and the scale on which the evaluation is oriented. Consequently, an absolute estimate is based on the general nature of social stereotypes.The adjectives of the second group represent a comparative estimate based on the matching of objects with each other.

1.2. Types of evaluation

There are different classifications of evaluative adjectives. The evaluation of the language, depending on its nature, can be of two types There are two following types of evaluation: positive and negative [20, 86]. The evaluation is considered one of the components of the statement, having different communication goals.

Furthermore,according to the other classification of evaluative adjectives,two types of evaluation are usually distinguished - absolute and comparative [2, 6]. In the wording of the first, the following terms are used: "good / bad", the second - "better / worse". In absolute terms, it is usually a single object, for comparative there are at least two objects or two states of the same object. An absolute score contains an implicit comparison, based on the commonality of social stereotypes, while the comparative evaluation is based on a comparison of objects with each other [2, 12].

V. Fedoseev highlights the following types of evaluations: moral and ethical (moral / immoral; good / bad; fair / unfair; truthful / false; possible / impossible); pragmatic (right / wrong; reasonable / foolish; useful / harmful; normal / abnormal); aesthetic (beautiful / ugly, great / disgusting, beautiful / terrible, tasty / tasteless, grazing / not grateful) [13, 102].

Moral and ethical evaluation, as a rule, is achieved by means of lexemes, in which the score is expressed directly [13, 105]. This type of evaluation is expressed in the text of a printed advertisement, in which it is reported not about a specific advertised subject, but about services such as various promotions, sales etc [13, 105].

Aesthetic evaluation is expressed and based on the criteria "good / bad " [13, 106]. From the aesthetic point of view such criterias are used: "beautiful / ugly"; "tasty / tasteless"; "new /old ". In texts with aesthetic evaluation we can usually see an attractive image of young person, accompanied by an advertising offer that prompts the purchase of the advertised product or the use of the service.

Pragmatic evaluation in advertising texts is much more prevalent than other types, because of , the function of advertising to convince the addressee to make that or that choice [13, 102]. The reason for the dominance of the pragmatic evaluation is also that, for the most part, the advertising text is of practical importance. Essential for the transfer of pragmatic evaluation are epithets. The content-oriented line of print advertising type should be short, clear and understandable.

1.3. Advertising as one of the forms of mass communication

The language of advertising and its impact on potential consumers have become the subject of research in different directions: types and subspecies of advertising (Barabyan A.V., Ch. Mundy Edwards), the concept of evaluation and its characteristics as a language category (Pasinok V.G. , Vasilenko VA), the estimated component of the text and the linguistic means of expressing the evaluation in the texts of the advertising character (Moschevova S.V.) [ 19 ].

The word "advertisement" comes from the French reclame, and those in turn from the Latin reclamo (exclamation). The history of advertising is characterized by an increasing interest in the theory of advertising not only from psychological, but also from linguistic point of view. Nevertheless, the actual linguistic study of advertising began only in the middle of the last century [19, 5] .In domestic linguistics, the study of advertising texts was carried out in two directions: its functional and stylistic affiliation was determined and its structural and linguistic characteristics were described. Most advertisements have a well-defined structure: a headline, or a slogan to attract attention, the text that provides the necessary information about the product, the illustration, the trade mark and the address of the firm. The slogan - simple, short, clear and easily perceived formulation of the advertised idea. Advertising as an element of the system of mass communication influences the recipient of the advertisement text through ad texts. This impact is planned at the stage of creating an advertising message and should contribute to change of the behavior of the addressee (the desire to buy the offered product, the desire to satisfy needs).

The effectiveness of the impact of advertising depends on many factors: social conditions in which there is communication, the consumer, representations of the society about the source of advertising (prestige), subjective characteristics of the advertised product ,etc [19, 8].

Modern advertising presents goods from the position of the buyer. Hence, one more feature of modern advertising- its motivational character. People buy things to satisfy psychological needs. Motives may be the need for respect, the possibility of obtaining family happiness, the desire to have a higher social status,the need for self-expression.

The basis on which all advertising messages are constructed and which dictates the choice of means of representing goods, from visual to linguistic, is the image of a product. The basis for creating an image of a product is the creation of a positive perception of the object of advertising by the recipient. The purpose of creating an image of a product is to make it different from the similar products. Image is also a means of creating additional value characteristics of the advertised product, which should be correlated in the minds of the recipient with certain socially significant values, traditions, stereotypes. In the context of advertising, the thing is presented not by itself, but with an orientation towards a well-defined circle of potential consumers. Therefore, a thing is endowed with properties that are a reflection of an advertising plan or idea, the realization of which depends on the success of advertising [16, 122] .

Consequently, advertising activity is a set of means of disseminating information, making promotional texts, which forms perception of information to the consumer and encourages the execution of certain actions sought by the author of the ad text.

1.4. Advertising types and features

Advertising at its core is, first of all, an economic phenomenon that has a significant impact on market participants and participants in economic relations, affecting both producers and consumers. The function of advertising as an economic tool is to stimulate market relations of supply and demand, which is produced through the provision of information models of market sentences to consumer audiences.. In addition to having a powerful impact on the economy as a whole, advertising activity itself is an important part of the national economy. [3, 11]

The essence of the marketing function is the promotion of the goods. The marketing function of advertising only seems to be similar to the economic function. Most reputable experts who specialize in advertising, yet distinguish the marketing function as an independent function.Advertising is an important component of a promotion mechanism. Promoting products on the market is one of the intermediate tasks along this path. But to promote goods without advertising is almost impossible, so this function is very important.

Advertising is also one of the specific forms of communication. Advertising is designed to transmit certain information from the producer and the buyer,so one of its functions is the communication.With the help of market surveys used in the process of market research, surveys, analysis of the process of sales of goods, feedback is maintained between the market and the consumer. All this allows to control the movement of goods to the market, create and secure a stable system of benefits to the consumer, and, if necessary, adjust sales and advertising activities. Thus, the control and adjustment functions of advertising are realized 22.

When introducing new products to the market advertising promotes knowledge about various spheres of human activity, instills certain practical skills for consumers, showing their educational function. Performed on a high professional and artistic level, advertising promotes the feeling of beauty in the audience, brings up a good taste in it. In this case, the aesthetic function of advertising is realized .

The main purpose of advertising is the impact on potential buyers, their tastes and preferences, predisposition to the purchase of a particular product / service. Based on this definition, we can highlight some types of advertising [19, 6]:

1) informative advertising - prevails mainly at the stage of placement of product on the market, when the main task is to create primary demand, that is, to inform the market about the new opportunities for using the existing product, to inform the market about price changes,to explain the principles of the product, to describe the services provided, to correct inadequate representations or main factor of consumer concerns, to form the image of the firm;
2) comparative advertising seeks to confirm the superiority of one brand due to its comparison with competing brands within the given product class. The main tasks of advertising is to form the advantage of a certain brand, to encourage buyers to acquire the "necessary" brand, to change perception of consumer properties of goods;
3) reinforcement advertising seeks to assure the buyer in the correctness of his choice. Such advertisements often include satisfied customers who create a friendly (informal) atmosphere. The main tasks of this type are the consumer's awakening of sympathy for the product, creating an image, increasing confidence in both the product / service and the firm itself / manufacturer;
4) reminder advertising is extremely important at the stage of maturity, in order to make the consumer remember the product. The main tasks are to remind the consumer that the goods may be needed in the near future, remind the potential consumer about where to buy the goods, keeping the name of the product in the consumer's memory during the off-season, maintaining the awareness of the product.

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Diagram 1

However, the analysis of advertising texts shows that quite often the boundaries between the above-mentioned types of advertising are blurred, as one advertisement can combine several such types.[19, 7].

By the nature of emotional influence advertising is divided into the following types:

1) rational, or substantive: appeals to the mind of a potential buyer, gives convincing arguments;
2) emotional, or associative: appeals to feelings and emotions. The main means of persuasion are images and photographs; the sense of the text plays an auxiliary role. Most of the time, advertising combines both types of influence.

The main feature of modern advertising is communicative. Even though, the main purpose of advertising is to increase the sale of goods, it is also important to increase the level of awareness of the goods and to change the image of the product.Today's advertising actively forms the mass consciousness, becomes a strong tool for the formation of needs and living standards of people.

So, advertising texts use a wide range of possible mechanisms of influence on the audience and therefore in such texts one can observe a rather high concentration of various expressive means, one of which is an evaluation.Evaluation is one of the most interesting for the study of human categories. It is inherent in man by nature and is associated with all kinds of human activity. Adjectives are one of the most productive lexical means of expressing an evaluation. Unlike nouns, they do not point to an object, but attribute to it a certain sign, property, quality. The evaluation belongs to subjective-pragmatic categories and is defined as the judgment of the subject, his approval or disapproval, desire, encouragement, etc. Adjectives of evaluation have two main meanings: "good" and "bad".The diversity of approaches to research this category are constantly increasing.

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