LOCAL FRAMEWORK OF CHINESE ADVERTISING SLOGANS

Introduction

The purpose of the work is to identify the main invariant features of the text-forming category of locality, which is involved in the construction of the microtext of advertising slogans in Chinese. In accordance with the goal set, the following tasks are solved in the work:

1. highlighting various language models of advertising slogans based on the concept of speech acts by John Searle ;
2. establishing a set of invariant features of the text-forming category of locality, which are directly involved in the formation of different models of the microtext of an advertising slogan in Chinese.

The main hypothesis is that the functioning of the advertising slogan substyle is possible not only within the stylistics of the language of mass communication, but also in the field of general text typology based on the identification of common grammatical textual characteristics of the microtext under study and its inherent invariant features.

Chinese scholar Yu Gengyuan (与根元) notes that the advertising slogan is an important component of the advertising text and is the words repeated in the advertisement, which are specifically aimed at the addressee of the message and represent the most important value of the product or service [1, P. 20].

From the point of view of Chinese researchers, the advertising slogan has the following characteristics:

• conveys the most important value of enterprises, goods or services,
• slogan strategy is a lasting benefit,
• strengthens the image of enterprises, goods and services, helps to create your own image,
• usually exists in a concise, understandable, expressive and easy to remember form [1], [2], [3].

Methods

The material for the study was 500 advertising slogans in Chinese, obtained by continuous sampling from the Internet and from modern Chinese magazines “Chinese National Geography” [7], [8], [9], [10].

When solving the tasks set, a complex research methodology is used, which includes: structural and semantic analysis of language material, the method of typological study of texts and their individual components, as well as the method of contextual analysis.

In the Stylistic Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language, edited by M.N. Kozhina “text space” considers as a text category, which is a permanent property of all objects of reality, therefore, those objects that do not have a spatial nature also have local characteristics. The dictionary emphasizes that it is impossible to create a text outside of spatial coordinates, thus, we can say that locality is an invariant feature of any text message [4, P. 539-541].

The category of locality can be characterized as a set of explicit and implicit markers of the local orientation of the text under study from the standpoint of their correlation in functional and semantic terms, where four invariant features are distinguished [5], [6]:

1. Local determination of the described events of the text (auto-semantic, synsemantic and zero local architectonics).

2. Consistency of local architectonics – the ratio of local subsystems of the author and characters (one- or two-system local architectonics).

3. The presence of the main language means of local architectonics (homogeneous or heterogeneous type).

4. Local type of text (monolocal or polylocal, defined from the point of view of the constancy or change of the space in which the described events occur).

Space is one of the categories of being, a universal category that is embodied in all languages. A person is born with a feeling and perception of the space around him. We can say that our idea of space is interpreted quite early. All human life is a spatial interaction with the world.

In any language, the category “space” receives a variety of designations. Local architectonics in Eastern languages can be formed using the following linguistic means: nouns with the seme “orientation in space”, prepositions with local meanings, pronominal adverbs, adverbs, clauses of place and verbs with the seme of locality, verbs of movement or movement in space, toponyms and geographical names, as well as the names of well-known organizations or brands.

Results

1. The slogan-commissive is an advertising statement-promise.

CANON EOS 招呼想象的视角会今你惊叹。Zhāohū xiǎngxiàng de shìjiǎo huì jīn nǐ jīngtàn. You will be pleasantly surprised if you trust your imagination.

The synsemantic local marker in this slogan is the brand name of the camera, which implicitly indicates the local landmarks of the advertised product, through which you can find the points of sale of the advertised camera.

The analysis of lexical material makes it possible to characterize the local architectonics of the Chinese commissive slogan as hidden synsemantic and homogeneous, since there is a single linguistic means of locality indicated above. From the standpoint of the correlations between the local subsystems of the author and the characters, we can speak of a single-system grammatical structure of the microtext, since the core form of the utterance is monologue speech. The constancy of local orientation is an indicator of the monolocality of this type of text.

2. The slogan-directive is an imperative speech act.

飞利浦。让我们做得更好！Fēilìpǔ. ràng wǒmen zuo de geng hǎo! Philips. Let us do better!

In this phrase, the author also uses the only synsemantic indicator: the name of the home appliance brand. The local composition of the Chinese slogan-directive has a homogeneous grammatical structure, hidden synsemantic composition using the brand name. From the standpoint of the correlations between the local subsystems of the author and the characters, we can speak of a single-system grammatical structure of the microtext. The constancy of space is an indicator of the monolocality of this type of microtext.

3. The slogan-axiom is a fact without evidence.

Peugeot 308. 选择出色。Xuǎnzé chūsè. Choose something unusual.

The synsemantic local marker in this slogan is only the brand name, which, as mentioned above, is a necessary condition for a successful advertising message. It is supported by action verbs that help navigate the text space.

The analysis of lexical material makes it possible to characterize the local architectonics of Chinese advertising slogan-axiom as hidden synsemantic and homogeneous using the name of the advertised brand. As for the second invariant feature – the correlation of the local subsystems of the author and the characters, then we can talk about the single-system grammatical structure of the microtext, since the core form of the utterance is monologue speech. The constancy of local orientation is an indicator of the monolocality of this type of text. It can be argued that the absence of autosemantic signals for localization, advertised goods and services are characteristic grammatical features of this type of microtext.

Consider the following Chinese slogan-axiom:

CASIO watch. 感知大自然 。Gǎnzhī dà zìrán. Feel nature.

In this slogan the spectrum of synsemantic indicators is expanded due to spatial nouns. The author uses the name of the advertised brand, which address of production and the point of sale can be easily found, for example, online. In addition, we can see the artistic orientation of vocabulary with the seme “functional space”, such as – natural space 自然.

Local determinism in this type of microtext is defined as explicit synsemantic and heterogeneous due to a group of synsemantic language devices: brand name and nouns with spatial characteristics, monolocal (no change of text spaces) and single-system (only author’s speech).

Let’s pay attention to the following group of advertising slogan-axioms:

1. Canon. 全家打印新精彩，工作生活都出色。Quánjiā dǎyìn xīn jīngcǎi, gōngzuò shēnghuó dōu chūsè. The whole family prints new impressions at work, at home everywhere they do a great job.
2. M&M牛奶巧克力 – 只溶在口，不溶在手. Niúnǎi qiǎokèlì – zhǐ róng zài kǒu, bùróng zài shǒu. M&M - melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

These slogans have a different set of invariant features that distinguishes them from the cases considered above. In these slogans a change in spatial orientation in the narrative is clearly visible: in the first example – at home, at work工作生活 gōngzuo shenghuó; in the second example – in the mouth在口zài kǒu and in the hands of在手zài shǒu. Therefore, here we can talk about polylocality of the microtext type. The local architectonics of these slogans is defined as clearly synsemantic and heterogeneous, since the main synsemantic local markers are the brand name and prepositional constructions: work, home工作生活gōngzuò shēnghuó, in the mouth在口zài kǒu, in the hands of在手zài shǒu; single-system in terms of the presence or absence of two subsystems of the author and characters.

4. Slogan-interrogative – an interrogative statement.

他的世界正的无忧无虏吗？ Tā de shìjiè zhèng de wú yōu wú lǔ ma? Is his world really that safe? Social advertising for parents.

In this question, the author also uses only one synsemantic indicator of locality, namely, a noun with spatial coordination – his world他的世界 Tā de shìjiè. The spatial determinism of this slogan-interrogative is defined as synsemantic due to the vocabulary with the seme “space”, homogeneous (one local language indicator), single-system (monologic speech) and monolocal (no change of artistic space).

5. The slogan-qualitative is a nominative construction.

Let’s examine a group of Chinese advertising slogan-qualitatives:

1. 雪花啤酒。勇闯天涯。Yǒng chuǎng tianya . Xuehua beer. Boldly to the end of the world.
2. SUBARU 我行我路。 Wǒ xíng wǒ lù. My movement. My road.

In these verbless advertising slogans, the set of synsemantic local markers includes two parameters: the name of the advertised brand and nouns with the seme of spatial orientation, such as: end of the world天涯tiānyá, road我路wǒlù. Analysis of the presented lexical material allows us to characterize the local architectonics of advertising slogans as explicit synsemantic and heterogeneous, since the synsemantic markers orienting the addressee of the advertising message in the text space are the brand names and vocabulary with the seme “locality”. According to the ratio of the local subsystems of the author and characters, one can speak of a single-system grammatical structure of the microtext. The constancy of local orientation is an indicator of the monolocality of this type of microtext.

Let’s take a look at 4 slogan-axioms (an indisputable fact) and 1 slogan-qualitative (nominative structure):

1. 奥迪AUDI走中国路，乘一汽奥迪！Àodí AUDI zǒu zhōngguó lù, chéng yīqì àodí! Travel around China with AUDI!
2. 红旗Hong Qi坐红旗车，走中国路。Hóngqí Hong Qi zuò hóngqí chē, zǒu zhōngguó lù. Drive Hong Qi on Chinese roads!
3. 欧宝OPEL德国科技轻松享有！Ōubǎo OPEL déguó kējì qīngsōng xiǎngyǒu! German technology is easy to use!
4. 昆仑山矿泉水。水的质量决定生命的质量。Kūnlún shān kuàngquán shuǐ. Shuǐ de zhìliàng juédìng shēngmìng de zhìliàng. Kunlun mountain mineral water. The quality of water determines the quality of life.

In each of these examples, there are autosemantic markers indicating the geographical location of the described events or phenomena. In the first and second examples, the authors name China as a territory where you can enjoy driving cars of advertised brands, only in the first case an international brand is advertised, and in the second a Chinese-made car. In the third example, the author emphasizes the impeccable quality of German technology, which is known throughout the world and which can now be easily driven on Chinese roads. The fourth example advertises mountain mineral water, which is produced in the Kunlun Mountains in China.

Thus the presented advertising slogans in Chinese can be identified as autosemantic by the type of local determinism, single-system (the author’s speech), monolocal (since there is no change in space) and heterogeneous (the main language means describing space in the text are geographical names, an additional synsemantic lexical device is the name of the product).

Discussion

The analysis of language models of Chinese advertising slogans from the standpoint of the functioning of invariant features of the text category of locality has the following indicators:

• slogan-commissive is characterized by a hidden synsemantic local composition (due to the brand name),
• slogan-directive also has an implicit synsemantic spatial structure (using the brand name),
• slogan-interragative expresses synsemantic local characteristics (with the help of synsemantic nouns with the seme of spatial orientation and the name of the trademark),
• slogan-axiom can have a synsemantic local composition (based on the name of the advertised product, nouns and adjectives with the seme “space”, prepositional constructions), rarely an autosemantic spatial structure (country name),
• slogan-qualitative also gravitates towards a synsemantic spatial composition (due to vocabulary with the seme “space”, trademark names), isolated cases with autosemantic determinism (country name).

The results of our analysis let us draw some particular interesting conclusions:

1. In the vast majority of cases, advertising slogans in Chinese are characterized by a hidden synsemantic local orientation, which can be expressed using the name of the advertised brand or explicit synsemantic locality, expressed by such a set of language tools as:

• nouns with the seme of locality: end of the world天涯tiānyá; 你的世界Nǐ de shìjiè your world; 出国chūgu abroad; 全球 quánqiú the whole world ; 生命shēngmìng life; 工作生活gōngzuo shenghuo at home, at work;
• adjective with space seme: far远yuǎn;
• prepositional constructions with在 zai.

The autosemantic local architectonics of an advertising slogan in Chinese is a rare, single phenomenon that was identified only in five cases due to the name of the country.

2. The single-system nature of an advertising slogan as a type of microtext is confirmed as a universal characteristic.

3. In terms of the use of language techniques to express minimal artistic space, advertising slogans in Chinese have the same indicators between uniformity, expressed only by the name of the advertised brand, and heterogeneity through the synsemantic language set indicated above.

4. Chinese advertising slogans also do not tend to change the artistic space, that is, they have a monolocal character.

Conclusion

Summing up, we can say that the slogan as a small genre of advertising communication has characteristics that make it possible to identify it as a specific type of grammatical microtext.

The results of the study demonstrate the effectiveness of interpreting the linguistic architectonics of an advertising slogan as a type of microtext based on text-forming category such as locality and its invariant features. We should submit that further study of advertising slogans in other languages will make it possible to identify another list of variant features of the microtext linguistic architectonics within advertising communication. From there it will undoubtedly have a beneficial effect on expanding and updating the theory of grammatical construction of the text, and will help to supplement the general typology of texts within the framework of language theory.