Iconicity Inadvertising Language

Iconicity, in contrast to arbitrariness, is the other attribute of language. It is an importanttheory in cognitive linguistics and is being hotly discussed at home and abroad. It means thatthe relationship between language form and its conveyed meaning on phonology, graphologyand structure is not arbitrary but motivated. Language structure has a natural relationship withhuman beings'experience and concept structure, in other words, there is an inherentrelationship between language form and its content. At present, the theory of iconicity iswidely applied to analyze poetry, novels and other styles, but rarely is it applied to analyzeadvertising language.With the rapid development of economy and industry, advertising becomes more andmore important in selling all kinds of products. To get more profits, to let more and moreconsumers know their products, sellers not only guarantee products quality but also makeattracting and persuasive advertising to hold consumers'"heart". Sellers use persuasiveadvertising language to attract consumers'attention, which is justly consistent with the theoryof iconicity, therefore, advertising language conveys iconicity.In this thesis, the author will apply the theory of iconicity and several principles oficonicity to analyze the phenomenon of iconicity in advertising language: imagic iconicityand diagrammatic iconicity. Imagic iconicity can be further divided into direct phonologicaliconicity, such as onomatopoeia; indirect phonological iconicity which shows the similaritiesbetween the sound of the signifier and the signified by the pronunciation of the sound; andgraphological iconicity which is shown by the Capital letters, the size of the words, the colorof the words, and the typesetting of the text.By analysis, we can find that iconicity, a basic attribute of language, is widely applied inall kinds of styles. In this thesis, the author proves to us that iconicity widely exists inadvertising language. Advertising language is more persuasive than many others for itcontains lots of iconicity bodies which are consistent with people's cognition. By theapplication of iconicity, advertising becomes more vivid and persuasive.