广告英语中的模糊现象分析(1)(4)
2014-12-01 01:15
导读：Paul Therous ever trenchantly said, “Language is deceptive, and though English is subtle, it also allows a clever person with one alert to the ambiguities of English to play tricks with mock precisi
Paul Therous ever trenchantly said, “Language is deceptive, and though English is subtle, it also allows a clever person with one alert to the ambiguities of English to play tricks with mock precision and to combine vagueness with politeness. English is perfect for diplomats and lovers.” Lakoff in his work also said, “ Some of the most interesting job is to make things fuzzier or less fuzzy. ” [7] Indeed, accuracy and determinacy of language occurs in the extreme, while uncertain and inaccurate language is often found here and there. Just based on the existence of uncertain objects and vague ideas, fuzzy language came into being. In spite of the unclearness, we seldom challenge the speaker to an exact explanation of the subject in question since these expressions are understandable and communicative enough in most cases. Thus, we can say, this intrinsic uncertainty in natural language is called fuzziness or vagueness .The following two definitions will help us have a clear mind of fuzziness.
Max Black wrote in his Language and Philosophy that “Vagueness consists in the existence of objects concerning, which it is intrinsically impossible to say either the symbol in question does, or does not, apply”. [8] While Crystal defines fuzziness as a term derived from mathematics and used by some linguists to refer to the indeterminacy involved in the analysis of a linguistic unit or pattern. For example, several lexical items, it is argued, are best regarded as representing a semantic category that has an invariant core with a variable (or “fuzzy”) boundary, this allowing for flexibility of application to a wide range of entities, given the appropriate context. [9] For instance, the boundaries of cup and glass are difficult to be defined. Invariant core with a variable boundary had become the essence of fuzziness recognized by most investigators in this regard.
To sum up, fuzziness can be defined as an indeterminacy or uncertainty of the borderline of the subject in question while fuzzy linguistics is a branch of linguistics that studies the intrinsic uncertainty or vagueness of the borderline of the linguistic units in a language.
（科教作文网 zw.nseac.com整理） 4. Linguistic realizations of fuzziness in advertising English
How does the language fuzziness function in the advertising after all? Perhaps linguistic realizations of fuzziness in advertising English can be analyzed from semantic as well as syntactical perspective, to rhetorical devices or other areas. And this text is focused on semantic and rhetorical realizations of fuzziness in advertising English. The purpose of this study of language fuzziness is to raise the level of awareness about the persuasive techniques expressed in the application of fuzzy language in ads.
4. 1 Semantic Realizations of Fuzziness
Since fuzziness is embodied in many aspects of advertising, the article will focus on the verbal especially semantic realization of fuzziness, including fuzzy qualifier, numerical fuzzy quantifiers, fuzzy verbs, descriptive adjective and symbols and abbreviations. The diffused application of fuzzy language in advertisement is due to its conformity with the semantic features of advertising language. Advertisements with fuzzy language can easily arouse consumers’ interest and stimulate imagination and association of ideas. Hence, fuzzy language shortens the distance between consumers and advertisements, and entices people to make purchase.
