ЛИНГВОКРЕАТИВНЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ЛЕКСИЧЕСКИХ СРЕДСТВ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ ТЕКСТОВ ТУРИСТИЧЕСКОЙ РЕКЛАМЫ)

Tourism is one of the most promising and profitable sectors of the economy in many countries. The tourism industry, which has a vast untapped potential, began its active development in Russia in the 90s after dissolution of the Soviet Union as an element of a new market system. Tourism is not only a business; it can be defined as a specific science and even, to some extent, art. Advertising in tourism is commonly aimed at attracting travelers and tourists. In the modern community, tourism is “an easy way to achieve sustainable trade relations with other countries. Tourism fosters international understanding and improvement of the economics in the country” [1, P. 464].

Due to the rapid technical progress over the past decades, advertising has become an integral part of mass culture and a market economy. Not only the text of advertisements acts as a pivot of trade, but it is also a driver for the speech development. The aim of tourism advertisements is to manage the buying behavior of potential tourists. In order to achieve this goal by the most effective way, advertising professionals should make modern, attractive and, of utmost importance, creative advertisements.

The issue of creativity is typically in the center of attention of advertising researchers as one of the key factors to increase the attractiveness of advertisements. The term “creative” is borrowed from the Latin language and translated into Russian as “tvorchestvo, tvorcheskie sposobnosti” (creativity, creative abilities) [3, P. 355]. This concept is of interest to the various humanities researchers - philosophers, psychologists, teachers and, clearly, linguists. The following Russian linguists focused on language creativity: T.A. Gridina (1996), O.K. Iriskhanova (2004), E.N. Remchukova (2005), I.T. Vepreva (2013), N.A. Fateeva (2016) et al. Their works describe specifics and various aspects of linguistic creativity (hereinafter referred to as LC).

A review of definitions of the language phenomenon makes obvious that linguistic creativity is often explained by using the word potential. T.A. Gridina considers LC as “a process of detecting the potential of a language that is not realized in the language usage and the language norm” [6, P. 3]. In addition, N.A. Fateeva makes a point with regard to the unrealized potential of the language system and update of existing language units [4, P. 14]. In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia potential (from Latin potentia - “power”) is explained as “means, stocks, sources available and able to be mobilized, put into action, used to achieve a specific goal, implement a plan, solve a problem” [5]. Small Academic Dictionary, edited by A.P. Yevgenyeva, defines potential in a more concise way as “the complex of all means, stocks, sources that can be used with any purpose if necessary” [12]. It should be noted that language has strong potential as one of the most significant means of human communication and information transfer. Following the opinions of the above mentioned linguists, in order to summarize and give the gist, the following definition is offered: potential of linguistic creativity is the possibilities to use language means that can be activated at a certain moment to solve specific problems.

Our study is focused on advertisements as a special type of texts which goal is achieved through the use of language units of all levels, wherein the level of vocabulary plays the most active and important role. Values of modern society can be understood by examining lexical features of the advertisements. Consequently, the study investigates the lexical level of tourism advertisements where the nominal character of texts is especially clearly represented seeing that advertisement authors actively use nomenclature vocabulary (in a broad sense, the vocabulary of names). Pursuant to G.G. Shpet, A.G. Khodakova describes nomen (Lat. Nomen-name) as a name used to define a “visible object without mapping its exact place in the classification system and correlating with other objects” [8, P. 411].

The following nomenclature was examined while analyzing a large corpus of tourism advertisements:

1) Nomens in advertisements of travel agencies and companies:

Travel agency "Around the World" – Travel gift certificates.

Travel agency "My Sea" - Give yourself the sea!

Travel company "Whole World" - Relax while enjoying!

Travel agency "Fly away": Order a tour to any corner of the world!

Travel agency "Neva" - Your reliable travel partner.

The examples highlight that tour operators tend to choose titles not too complicated to be understood by the average person. They frequently contain no more than two words. The names of travel agencies are often directly associated with space, travel, etc.

Each advertisement provides specific information and should influence potential buyers. Therefore, when naming their travel agency, its representatives typically try to use a positive association positioning. Based on A.A. Potebnya’s point of view, A.R. Popova mentions that “creativity and associations are certainly correlated: association – according to A.A. Potebnya, representation - is the key to creativity” [11, P. 161]. The examples below represent associations with the names of travel agencies and creative potential of the names used to influence prospective tourists.

1) “Flying ship” – Center of activities.

2) “Travel Caravan” - Guarantee of safety and unforgettable vivid impressions of the trip!

The first example refers to a well-known cartoon based on a Russian folk tale. The main characters leave a tyrannical tsar and fly away on board a magical ship. Hence, the flying ship can symbolize the path to happiness, freedom, a fantasy world. When seeing this title, readers should have an expectation of happiness or something good.

The second example demonstrates the potential of the word caravan which is able to evoke an association with a group of pack animals, people or transport vessels in the desert and in the steppe, carrying goods one after another. The world famous collection of folk tales “One Thousand and One Nights” added a mythical hue to the word. Due to a new semantic potential, the caravan is associated with interesting trips and makes potential tourists to order tours.

In the examples cited, it is observed that many travel agencies prefer to choose names associated with fairy tales and characters known to all Russians. By awakening childhood memories, such vocabulary can evoke positive emotions in the audience and have a positive impact on the buying behavior of prospective tourists.

In particular, names of animals - symbols of a certain country should be mentioned, e.g.:

1) “Panda Tour” - Tours in all directions.

2) Travel agency “Kangaroo”: from Anapa to Australia.

3) Travel agency “Giraffe”: Rest on top.

Names of popular animals are used by the above mentioned travel agencies as symbols of specific tourist destinations.

The famous panda bear, a national symbol of China, plays an important role in diplomatic relations of the PRC with other countries. With the development of comprehensive partnerships between the two countries in recent years, China has become one of the most visited countries for Russian tourists. Moreover, the panda is treated with affection in Russia. In a tourist context this animal symbolizes an exotic ancient Eastern culture; therefore, the name panda is associated with a tourist direction of East Asia.

The name of a kangaroo, one of the worldwide recognized symbols of Australia, is used in the second example. The kangaroo appears on the Australian coat of arms, coins and is also used by some of the well-known Australian organizations as an emblem. In turn, Australia is perceived by Russian tourists as a distant unknown attractive continent.

In the last example the emphasis is laid on the lexical item giraffe which denotes a unique animal with a specific appearance. It is generally regarded with curiosity. For Russians, Africa is a mysterious continent with a wide range of rare species such as zebras, hippos, lions, etc. Modern tourists are attracted to this land due to its exotics. In addition, associations with Africa caused by the stimulus giraffe, evokes in mind the image of the sun, a limitless desert and a peculiar culture that is a prerequisite for an interesting holiday.

An analysis of the features these animals have in common has revealed that they are symbols of certain places. Their names are directly associated with trips and journeys. With the help of tourist advertisements travel agents influence consumers and make them pay attention, firstly, to their favorite animal, and then to the tourist direction itself.

Besides being used in advertising of travel agencies and companies, nomens are also noted in advertising tours as the main travel product.

2) Nomens in tour advertisements

When analyzing the language materials, it was found that advertising of tours has a greater scope than advertising of travel agencies. Tour advertisements should be as convincing and memorable as possible due to intangibility of the product. In general, nouns are used that is demonstrated by some examples.

It’s amazing in Petersburg!

It's time to relax in Egypt!

Experience new feelings in Malaysia!

Excursion tours in Europe: Czech Republic from 8,000 rubles, France from 9,200 rubles, Italy with a rest on the sea from 16,800 rubles.

Gemma Tour: rest on the sea! The best resorts from leading operators. Turkey, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Bulgaria and the whole world! Next to you.

As can be seen from the examples, each tour advertisement includes proper nouns. The most frequent proper nouns are names of cities and countries. It is explained by nature of the advertised tourism product - virtually all tours have specific destinations. In their turn, proper nouns can realize linguistic creative potential that is proved by the following texts.

Family in Peru. Or so, or with us.

Tan in Cuba. Or so, or with us.

Holidays in Chad. Or so, or with us

Sahara Safari. Or so, or with us.

The above examples are a successful result of language creativity coupled with non-verbal means (in this case, pictures). In the given context it is a pun based on the use of grammatical homonyms: one homonym is verbalized in the text, and the other is depicted. It is worth discussing the first example in details. The advertisement of the tour to Peru consists of two parts - a text and its illustration. The illustration depicts feather pillow fight of a happy family. The pun is based on grammatical homonymy: one lexical item verbalized in the text is a proper noun Peru, a name of the country; the other noun, shown in the picture, is a feather (in Russian - pero). The advertisement considers the coincidence of the word forms in different cases: the noun pero and the proper noun Peru in the prepositional case have the same spelling and pronunciation. From a linguistic perspective, it is obvious that there are no similarities in the origin of these words and their word stems. However, an average person will perceive the words Peru and pero as related both by the similar spelling and pronunciation. Additionally, the creative advertising technique refers to an emotional component. An advertiser deliberately creates the image of warm family ambience because the family is generally defined as the main target audience. The advertisement author intends to attract attention of family customers and psychologically influence potential buyers through portraying fun moments in family life.

Apart from certain nomens, advertising exploits a significant number of loanwords. Intense international cooperation results in the use of loanwords in many areas of social life, especially as developing and modern one as tourism. It is worth noting that types of loanwords and reasons for their use are different. Compared with Western Europe, the tourism in Russia developed later and is still a relatively young industry. It results in lack of some professional terms. Thereby, loanwords ​​(from English, primarily) are typically used to fill lexical gaps in the Russian language. Reasons for borrowing words were presented by D.S. Lotte [10], L. P. Krysin [9] and others. Some researchers believe that the use of loanwords is the principal way of introducing new concepts; others advocate against terminological redundancy. In their opinion, an excessive use of such words spoils the purity of the language. However, an increasing number of loanwords in multiple areas of the modern Russian language, including tourism, appear popular among the younger generation.

The main ways of borrowing words are phonological adaptation, transliteration and calque (loan translation). The word tour itself is a clear example of transliteration from the English tour (trip, travel).

Loanwords that denote types of outdoor activities are used as illustrated below.

Diving school: training, equipment and travel.

Rafting on the Southern Bug.

Surfing in Sri Lanka - Your First Steps!

Jeep safari in Sahara - or so, or with us.

Sea cruises: super relaxation on the new generation liners.

Shopping tours to the cities of Italy!

Relax in Bermuda - or so, or with us.

Modern tourist advertisements often contain English words used without phonological adaptation or transliteration, for instance, abbreviations:

VIP Tourism! Hot tours!

SPA Tours to China

A survey was conducted in the research: 30 respondents aged 15-65 years old were asked if they could see the difference between the Russian words дайвинг (diving, a recent loanword from the English language) and ныряние (the same meaning). According to the respondents’ answers, the two words are synonyms. The majority of the respondents, whose age does not exceed 50 years old, stated that the word дайвинг is associated with better quality and more expensive activities. Millenials believe that the word дайвинг refers to sports and relaxation while ныряние is related to usual swimming. They are eager to accept and use such loanwords in colloquial speech. Older generation has almost no such associations. Its representatives are more likely to experience difficulty in perceiving words of foreign origin.

The survey findings and analysis of the examples confirm that the main consumers of tourism products are young and middle-aged people. In comparison with the representatives of the older generation, it is easier for them to keep up with innovations in speech and evaluate such vocabulary as more stylish and fashionable. P.S. Ukhova points out linguistic creativity of youth and mentions, for instance, that the use of loanwords “is conditioned by the youth’s need to create words. Russian young people are attracted to bizarre phonetic forms” [13, P. 183]. One may note that the use of loanwords in modern advertising has become a social and psychological pattern. Based on psychological needs analysis, travel advertisements contain loanwords borrowed from the Western countries languages. It is a guarantee of high quality as believed by many Russians. Specific vocabulary is used by the authors of travel advertisements to evoke desired associations in limited texts and influence the audience. As M.M. Bakhtin argued, “Understanding and evaluation cannot be divided: they are simultaneous and constitute a single integral act” [2, P. 190].

Conclusion

Lexical decomposition of advertisements, in particular, advertisements of travel agencies, leads to the following conclusions: firstly, shorter names are preferred in travel agency nominations; secondly, the names of fairy-tale characters and symbolic animals are typically used. The reason is that such names are able to cause positive emotions or associations with traveling in potential tourists. Proper nouns appear to be highly frequent due to such feature of tour advertising as the need to indicate specific destinations. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of advertisements where linguistic creativity is implemented with a pun. A significant number of loanwords is also highlighted. The survey to identify the role of borrowed vocabulary was conducted. It demonstrated that modern Russian youth uses loanwords as a result of a tendency to be verbally creative and use non-standard forms of language means. Indeed, one can conlude that vocabulary has great potential in making creative advertisements.