A Relevance-Theoretic Interpretation Of Puns In English Advertisements

Advertisement is one of the forms of the public communication. More and more linguists pay attention to it. However certain advertisers do not always transfer their intents directly, but in some indirect ways, and one of them is pun. Punning, as an effective rhetorical device, is favored and frequently employed by advertisers. A pun involves the use of a polysemous word to suggest two or more meanings. The whole point of a pun is the user's intent to produce a humorous or witty effect from the juxtaposition of meaning. However, a pun is an ambiguity in essence. Because its ambiguity and double contexts would cost addressees extra effort to understand the intents the advertisers intend to transfer.Then why do the advertiser prefer puns even though its ambiguity and double contexts? Because the principle of advertisement requires that the most complicate meaning should be conveyed in the fewest words. Punning, owing to its concise language and rich connotation, meets the demands of advertisement in all aspects. As one of the most common rhetorical devices used in advertisements, pun can draw the attention as well as make the advertisements briefer, more meaningful, more humorous. Thus, it is widely adopted in all kinds of advertisements to achieve the best communicative purpose and to arouse the customers'emotional appeal and to provoke certain purchasing action.Many scholars employ Austin's Speech Act Theory and Grice's Cooperation Principle to explain English puns. Relevance Theory suggests that communication is a process of ostensive-inference, a cognitive process for the audience to identify the communicator's intent on the basis of Relevance Theory, why pun is used and how it is used to express the communicative intent are interpreted. The employment of pun increases the memory value as well as the attention value of advertisement. However, discussions on the effects of pun exist more in literature while less in advertising. The present paper, based on an analysis of the main categories and the discussions of the related knowledge in understanding pun, is an attempt to give some enlightenment to the understanding and study of pun in English advertising. Based on Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory, the present paper attempts to demonstrate how English advertising puns work and the readers interpret them.After the introduction and literature review part, chapter three introduces key concepts of Relevance Theory which serves as a theoretical foundation of this study. Chapter four introduces the definition, features and functions of puns in English advertisements. Based on chapter three and chapter four, chapter five approaches pun application in the framework of Relevance theory. Efforts are devoted to exploring how relevance governs the whole communication process. At last, two conclusions can be drawn:(1) For the advertiser, pun is a proper ostensive stimulus because it is a attention-grabber and economical and humorous.(2) For the consumer, pun interpretation seems to need extra effort and a little more complicated than other rhetorical devices in advertisements.However, whichever way it takes, pun interpretation creates extra contextual effects, enhances message memorability and gives the audience intellectual pleasure from solving the pun.