A Stylistic Approach: How English Advertising Achieves Its Communicative Functions

In modern times, with the commercialization of society, the role advertising plays in every-day life becomes more and more important. As a practical and special genre, English advertising has attracted growing attention from scholars both at home and abroad. Presently, studies on English advertising are in the ascendant. But most of the studies are limited to some superficial aspects like linguistic or rhetorical features, translation, and so on. In reality, English advertising can be explored through some deeper perspectives, for instance, a study can be conducted on how English advertising achieves its communicative functions. Therefore, this thesis carries out the study from four levels of linguistic strategies---language deviation, rhetorical devices, vague language, and language presupposition---via the detailed analysis on some English press advertisements collected from authentic print media like English magazine, newspaper, etc. This study shows that English press advertising resorts to some effective language means like language deviation, rhetorical devices, vague language, and language presupposition to strengthen its persuasive power so as to fulfill its communicative functions. The study also indicates that language functions like the ideational function, the interpersonal function, and the textual function go through the whole process of advertising communication. In this sense, it might be safe to assert that language functions, to a great extent, determine the achievement of communicative functions of advertising. These findings will surely work to better the quality of advertising-writing and to improve the advertising lovers'ability of appreciating the language of English press advertising.