Study On Hedges In Advertising English

The study of advertising has become an important focus of mass communication studies, for advertising has overwhelmingly penetrated every corner of our life as an important way of communicative channel. Its language is informative, simple, accurate, and persuasive when it starts. However, it tends to be more and more fuzzy and attractive with the development of commerce and market competition, and the introduction of fuzzy theory and fuzzy linguistics. Hedges, the best representative of fuzzy expressions, are frequently used by advertisers. The fuzziness of hedges in advertising leads to advertisers' misleading intention and consumers' misconception. Different ideas on it have arisen in related researches in recent years. Some suggest that hedges cause deception, while others hold that they enhance efficiency.Based on the latest findings of semantics, pragmatics, and cognitive science, this thesis aims to make a dialectic analyses and discussion of hedges in advertising English. These viewpoints are set forth in five chapters.The thesis falls into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the definitions of advertising and advertising language. Chapter Two introduces the studies of hedges by Zadeh, Lakoff, and Wu Tieping. Chapter Three and Chapter Four present the realizations of hedges in advertising English from semantic and pragmatic perspectives. Chapter Five probes into the motivation of the use of hedges, and further interprets and analyzes the two-sided functions of hedges in advertising English from cognitive perspective. At the end of the thesis a conclusion is made. The two-sided functions of hedges in advertising English are emphasized. The use of hedges is neither all "good" nor all "bad". What matters is whether hedges can be used appropriately and how they are used appropriately. The author points out that advertisers should observe honesty principle, and to a certain extent consumers themselves should raise awareness to avoid being deceived. Only through mutual efforts, can the communication bridge be built between advertisers and consumers.