Messages & meaning: word choice Flashcards
2 main computer tools for analysing adverts> (2)
- semantic differential scales (grouping & rating words in a text)
- corpus techniques
how can the computer assisted analysis help us understand the lang of advertising> (2)
-1> SDS–>groups & rates words in a text
-2>SSA–>used to look at words & how many (%) are positive, negative and neutral in corpuses –>to look at ‘polarity’ of advertisements
what are semantic differential scales>
rating words on a scale according to different semantic features
osgood’s semantic differential scales> rates words on a scale of: (3)
- valency (i.e. + or - evaluation)
- dominance (i.e. potency)
- arousal (i.e. activity)
osgood’s semantic differential scales> from what to what (nos)> (3)
0-8
>0 as furthest left
>8 as furthest right
semantic prosody=
looking at how a word is used in a language & associations it develops as result
positive semantic prosody=
when word found to be used in mostly positive context, it sorts of “rubs off” on the word–>so when word in isolation now has positive connotations with–>thus develops on positive connoations
2 types of ‘meaning’ (Leech)>
1>conceptual or denotative meaning (dictionary)
2>associative meaning
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> (5)
-connotative
-social
-affective
-collocative
-reflected
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> connotative>
network of concepts, word association
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> social>
what this tells us about the speaker or writer’s social identities (e.g. gender, age, nationality, occupation, relationships)
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> affective> (3)
emotional charged, feelings & attitudes
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> collocative>
associations with words which tend to occur with it
Leech (1981)- types of associative meaning> reflected>
when a particular sense of the word becomes dominant even when its used in other contexts (e.g. double entendre, sexual innuendo)
adverts & vagueness> (3)
- adverts use a lot of vague, positive adjectives “beautiful, premium, stunning”
- advertising regulation allows for strong claims if HEDGED with modifiers (i.e. “probably”)
-superlatives like “best” may be interpreted as subjective in some contexts, but obj in others
Adverts & precision> (2)
-adverts use a lot of precise numbers (e.g. ‘this kills 99% of germs’)
-can be loopholed (‘loved by 9/10 cat owners’>when only 1 brand explored in 1 country)
ads & positive & negative language> (2)
- ads as normally using positive lang
- sometimes use NEGATIVE words to make us think harder (e.g. “i hate lucosade because it makes me get back to school”)
types of ambiguity & puns (in ads)> (2)
- Meaning based puns= plays on different MEANINGS of words (“find yourself at river island”)
- Grammatical puns= playing on fact that a word can be used as different parts of speech (e.g N & V) (“nuts about nuts”)
metaphor=
talking & potentially thinking about one things in terms of another
metaphor>source domain>
the concept from which the metaphor is drawn, typically more CONCRETE
>(e.g. ‘JOURNEY’ in LIAJ)
metaphor>target domain>
the concept to which the metaphor is applied, typically more ABSTRACT
>(e.g. ‘LIFE’ in LIAJ)
nuances of metaphor & source/target domain in advertising>
> concrete vs abstract doesnt always hold true with advertising (often concrete & concrete)
(i.e. “the cream of manchester”>SD=Cream & TD=bodingtons beer)
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising> (F,1996)
1>pictorial metaphors with ONE pictorially present term
2> pictorial metaphors with TWO pictorially present terms
3> pictorial similes
4> Verbo-pictorial metaphors
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising> (F,1996) (LONGER)
1>pictorial metaphors with ONE pictorally present term (MP1)–>usually= target domain
2> pictorial metaphors with TWO pictorially present terms (MP2)–>source & target domain are MERGED
3> pictorial similes (MP2)–>2 pictroally present terms but source & target domain are SEPARATE
4> verbo-pictorial metaphors (VPM)–> one domain is represented linguistically, the other visually
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising (F,1996)– 1>Pictorial metaphors with ONE pictorially present term
pictorially present term usually= target domain (the advertised product)
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising (F,1996)– 2>Pictorial metaphors with TWO pictorially present terms
Source & target domain are MERGED
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising (F,1996)– 1>Pictorial similies
=2 pictorially present terms, but source & target domain are SEPARATE
4 forms of visual metaphors in advertising (F,1996)– 1>Verbo-Pictorial metaphors
=one domain is represented linguistically, the other visually
concs on M,M & word choice> (3)
- words can carry connotative, social, affective, collocative & reflected meaning in addition to their literal or conceptual meaning
- advertisers can selectively choose words to convey valency, dominance or arousal
- advertisers can often play with vagueness, precision, negativity, puns and metaphors
