1. The Language of Advertising
Syntactic Analysis – Lesson 3d
Lingua Inglese, Module B
A.A. 2009/10

3. Ellipsis (1)
Besides using the regularity of parallelism, an advertiser can throw in an unexpected irregularity:
It entails syntactic reduction, a form of inexplicitness consisting in the unspoken, the unexpressed, but understood.
It entails the omission or deletion of some items of the surface text, which are recoverable in terms of relation with the text itself.
It is a major cohesive device, contributing to the efficiency and compactness of a text (Beaugrande-Dressler, 1981; Halliday-Hasan, 1976).
ELLIPSIS

4. Ellipsis (2)
We can find ellipsis both in written and spoken language, but especially in face-to-face conversation, we often do not bother to encode information that can be understood from the linguistic or situational context.
It is mainly a feature of orality, used to avoid repetition and redundancy.
The use of ellipsis in advertising:
Create ambiguity in order to attract the reader’s attention
Interpretation: visual or verbal text, referents outside the text (exophoric)
Reproduce speech, informal register, in order to create a confidential relationship with the reader.

5. Starts perfect… Stays perfect...
Types of Ellipsis (1)
Starts perfect… Stays perfect...
(Maxfactor) It It
Ellipsis of the Subject
It entails the omission of the pronoun or noun functioning as Subject within the Nominal group.
Are your
Mates coming around?
(Heineken)
Verbal Ellipsis: Operator Ellipsis
It involves the omission of the operator, so that the lexical verb is always explicit.
Generally, the Subject is also omitted from the clause
Are you
Feeling fruity?
(Del Monte)

6. Types of Ellipsis (2) “I keep my hands clean! Why can’t he?”
(Lava soap)
“I keep my hands clean! Why can’t he (keep his hands clean)?”
Verbal Ellipsis: Lexical Ellipsis
It involves the omission of the lexical verb, so that the verbal group consists only of the operator – expressing modality (can, will, would, may, might) or tense (be, have, do).

7. The key to your dream car is in your home
(Halifax Insurance)
Summertime’s here
(Häagen-Dazs)
This is what a Honda feels like
(Honda)

8. Deixis
A word or phrase whose meaning requires contextual information (e.g. in ads, the image on the page).
A feature of orality, common in face-to-face conversation (→ shared situational context).
Types of deictics:
personal pronouns (I, you, we) or Adjs (your)
Advs of time (now, then) and place (here, there)
Demonstrative Adj/Pronouns (this, that)
Use of the pronoun ‘you’ in ads is ambiguous as it is doubly exophoric.
It refers to:
Discourse participants – i.e. the receivers of the advert.
The situation – i.e. the character in the picture

9. Paralanguage
It is distinctive of oral communication and is used to express attitude and emotion.
= voice tone, facial expression, gesture, body posture, physical proximity.
In advertising, it is realised via speech, images, graphology and layout.
Communicative importance of the way writing is displayed (Cook 1992).

10. Reproducing speech
Do us a favour, will you? Write to your MP about that Climate Change Bill. (Christian Aid)

11. Exercise
Up to 15-hour wear. Light as air. New. Double Wear Light.
Long-wear makeup is now lightweight makeup. Fresh, natural, comfortable. Goes on sheer, leaves skin free to breathe all day. Controls oil, resists smudging and won’t "melt" off through heat and humidity. For a look that stays vibrant and fresh whether it’s a workday, a workout or a weekend. It’s makeup that keeps up. Oil-free. Photo-friendly. Fragrance-free. Non-acnegenic. Dermatologist-tested.
Extensive use of punctuation, especially full-stops > fragmentation
Minor clauses > Fresh, natural, comfortable.
Extensive use of Adjectives (Compound Adj) > Oil-free. Photo-friendly. Fragrance-free. Non-acnegenic. Dermatologist-tested.
Ellipsis > Goes on sheer, leaves skin free, controls oil, resists smudging and won’t "melt" off ...

12. To sum up...
Linguistic features of ads (mainly on the syntactic level):
Imperatives
Exclamations and interrogatives
Disjunctive grammar, fragmentation, NPs
Extensive use of adjectives
Parallelism
Ellipsis
Deixis
Paralanguage

13. To sum up...
Linguistic features of ads (mainly on the syntactic level):
Imperatives
Exclamations and interrogatives
Disjunctive grammar, fragmentation, NPs
Extensive use of adjectives
Parallelism
Ellipsis
Deixis
Paralanguage
Typical features of orality