1. Englishisation in Greek Ads: The Rise of a Novel Metaphor Effie Tsaroucha PhD Student in Cognitive Linguistics Aristotle University eftsar@enl.auth.gr TCLR http://www.enl.auth.gr/tclr/index.htm

2. Objectives  The impact of English on Greek ads (TV commercials)  English phrases in Greek language license for new metaphors  Such metaphors encompass social characteristics of Greek youth culture  Metaphors with the verb “to hit” [htipo (χτυπώ)]  HIT Metaphors: Orientational metaphors due to semantic extension

3. Englishisation in Greek Media  Continuous influx of English phrases in Greek language  Global Language Network (GLN) (Ronen 2013)  English becomes the bridge between the original community and the new community  English is ranked first by the share of the information its speakers produce of the total information produced world-wide (Lobachev 2008)

4.  Social networking services, blogs and other platforms for user-generated content: bridge figures connecting language communities (Zuckerman 2008)  Englishisation in Greek Media Discourse:  English as a lingua franca  English as a language used for communication between people whose first languages differ  English as a language of trade or commerce, used with a restricted vocabulary.

5. Hypothesis: Englishisation in Greek TV commercials is subject to the degree of exposure to English. Given that Greek youth culture is constantly exposed to English, it is possible that more and more English-driven phrases appear in media discourse.

6. The Greek Youth Culture in Media  Media language (mainly TV commercials) is subject to the concept of public space and/or public sphere.  Commercials introduce the advertised product by promoting certain ideologies and idiosyncrasies, which reflect consumers’ social stance (Tsaroucha 2012).  Hence, consumers constitute a set of dispositions that generates practices, perceptions, habits and attitudes (Thompson 1991).  According to the National Consumers’ Service (NCS) the Greek youth culture is the main target audience of gadgets (smartphones, tablets, etc.,) (2013-January 2014).

7.  Greek Youth Culture (GYC) in its vast majority is acompetent learner of English (65% B1 level, 15 % B2level in approximately 9 years of learning) (Annual Report of the Ministry of Education 2013)  (GYC) is continuously exposed to English especiallythrough social media and other user-generated platforms like youtube, wikipedia and blogs.  74 % GYC makes use of the web in English (especially, twitter and facebook ).  Hence, language use constitutes a means ofunderstanding: what it means to be is seen in terms ofsocially constructed realities (Birch 1989: 43).

8. The Case of HIT  Greek TV commercials whose main trading product is smart-phones and gadgets make use of the verb “to hit” when appealing to their target audience (mainly, GYC).  The verb “to hit” is translated in Greek language as /htipo/(χτυπώ) but its semantics carries the cultural aspects of the English language.  The metaphorical interpretation of the verb “to hit” has to due with the concepts of physical contact and orientation.  The novelty of the generated metaphors lies to the direct incorporation of the semantics of the verb “to hit” from English to Greek.

9. The Novelty of HIT in Greek TV Commercials 1. English  Greek (Direct Influx) 2. English to English (Meaning Extension)  Greek Direct Influx (Target Language) + Meaning Extension (Within the Source Language)

10. The semantics of “hit” VerbNoun

11. HIT Metaphors in Greek TV Commercials The main metaphorical context is: “Hit a smart-phone/gadget”  I.e.) Don’t be late! Hit this phone  I.e.) The fastest you hit it (a tablet), the better joy you get!  I.e.) Are you staying still home? I hit first!

12. Semantic Shift: “to touch something with force”, “have a bad effect”, “have a problem and/or difficulty”  “to start to affect”, “to reach a state” and “to achieve something” (Macmillan Dictionary)

13.  Metaphorical interpretation due to semantic extension: (Radden & Dirven 2007)  ADVERTISED PRODUCTS ARE HITTING GOALS  SMART-PHONES/TABLETS/GADJETS ARE HITTING GOALS  TO HIT A SMART-PHONE IS TO REACH A GOAL/TARGET  TO HIT A SMART-PHONE IS TO ACHIEVE A GOAL

14. HIT Metaphors as Orientational Metaphors (Lakoff & Johnson 1980)  Consumers orient themselves towards a particular spatial location (the physical space of buying the advertised product).  Hence, the reaching of a destination means the reaching of a goal as well.  It seems that the advertised product is positioned in a verticality axis  The reaching of the UP part indicates the state of hitting (purchasing) this product.

15. Concluding Remarks  The gross exposure of GYC to English explains the continuous influx of English phrases in Greek media discourse.  2 steps in incorporating HIT metaphors in Greek TV commercials  Direct influx+ Semantic Extension  By means of semantic extension and orientational use of metaphor the target audience (GYC) changes its perspective on the referent (advertised product).  The target audience looks at the trading product from the domain of achieving and/or reaching a goal.

16. References  Birch, D. 1989. Language, Literature and Critical Practice: Ways of Analyzing Text. London, New York: Routledge.  Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: Chicago UP.  Macmillan Dictionary. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/hit (last accessed April 2014).  Lobachev, S. 2008. Top languages in global information production. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 3(2). Retrrieved from https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/826/1358 (last accessed 25 April 2014). https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/826/1358  Radden, G. & Dirven, R. 2007. Cognitive English Grammar. Volume II. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

17.  Ronen, S. 2013. The Structure and Implications of the GlobalLanguage Network. Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree of Master of Science in Media Arts andSciences, MIT.  Steen, Gerard (2008): The paradox of metaphor: Why we need athree-dimensional model of metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, 23: 213-241.  Thompson, J. 1991. Ideology and Modern Culture. Cambridge: Polity.  Tsaroucha, E. 2012. A Multidisciplinary Approach to ImpliedDiscourse: Subliminal Stimuli in Advertisements. Unpublisheddissertation, Aristotle University: School of English, Deaprtment ofTheoretical and Applied Linguistics.  Zuckerman, E. 2008. Meet the bridgebloggers. Public Choice, 134(1): 47-65.