A Systemic-Functional Linguistic Approach To The Advertising Discourse Of Apple Computer

Studies of Apple's advertisements are usually from perspectives of communication and marketing to analyze the communication strategies and communication effects of Apple Company.Linguistic studies in this area are rare with only one multimodal discourse analysis and one semiotic study,both of which focus on the video images of Apple's advertisements.However,there is none of systemic-functional linguistic study of the advertising discourse of Apple computer.This paper attempts to analyze the advertising discourse of Apple computer on the level of both lexico-grammar and discourse semantics under the framework of systemic-functional linguistics to figure out linguistic patterns of different phases,and thus discuss what changes these patterns reveal in terms of construing the social reality.It is found that the advertising discourse of Apple computer has different lexico-grammatical and discourse semantic patterns which realize different ideational and interpersonal meaning with the advertising text Think Different as the dividing point.Firstly,two phases have different ideational meaning.In terms of Transitivity,phase 1 is narrative while phase 2 is descriptive;in terms of IDEATION,phase 1 states computer characteristics while phase 2 emphasizes the brand image.Secondly,in both two phases,there are more declarative clauses which aim at imparting information,more modal verbs of median and low value that show Apple's discourse space and the respect for the audience,and more heterogloss and appreciation resources.But in phase 2,fewer modal verbs and more mood Adjuncts expressing usuality makes the texts more objective.In addition,more positive judgment resources help the company establish its brand image.Discourse can reflect and construe social reality.The changes of Apple's advertising discourse patterns exactly reflect the social change.It's hoped that this study can shed light on future related studies.