Communicative and Pragmatic Functions of Lexical Blends in Advertising Discourse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21272/Ftrk.2020.12(2)-8Keywords:
blending, lexical blend, advertising discourse, communicative influence, communicative and pragmatic functions, informational message, language meansAbstract
The article examines the communicative and pragmatic functions of lexical blends in advertising discourse. It determines that advertising discourse is an area that actively uses lexical blends due to its accuracy, information compression, and simplicity of formation. The concept of advertising, which is defined as a special type of communication, the purpose of which is to have a communicative impact on a potential consumer, has been clarified.
The article also describes the classification of advertising types according to various criteria. The main goal of advertising is defined, that is, influencing both specific individuals and society as a whole, and the main purpose of an advertising text is determined, that is to attract attention and promote sales of goods and services.
The concept of blending as one of the most productive ways of word formation in the English language (the language of analytical structure) has been clarified. The authors determine that blending represents the great potential for giving the word an expressive and evaluative color compared to other word-formation ways. They consider and describe the potential of blends not only in Germanic (English and German), but also in Slavic (Ukrainian) languages, having the different — synthetic structure. Examples of blends in English, German, and Ukrainian advertising discourse are analyzed.
The research studies the communicative and pragmatic functions that reflect both the speaker's attitude to the content of the message and its recipient. The article defines that the communicativeness of the blend is in its ability to establish contact with the message recipient, and the pragmatic aspect is to convince the consumer to buy the advertised product.
This article provides an up-to-date idea of the communicative and pragmatic functions of blends in English, German and Ukrainian advertising discourse, as these lexical units strive for expressiveness, evaluation, brevity, and help to attract the attention of the reader or listener.
