広告のことばにおける比喩的表現 : タイ語と日本語の考察

Abstract

Advertising language plays an important role in the consumer behaviors of our daily lives. In several ways, figuration such as simile, metonymy (including synecdoche), and metaphor is of special importance in advertising copy. Advertisers employ such kinds of figurative language not only to create aesthetically pleasing phrases but to persuade their audiences. In this way, the language of advertising demonstrates the force of language itself. In this paper the author explores how such figuration is being used in Japanese copy as contrasted with Thai advertising. The paper then addresses the role played by social and cultural differences in the advertising language of each country. For example, regarding the text presented below, we find that the Japanese characterize nature and the four seasons in unique ways. Sakura ga saku. Haru no otayori. (Cherry blossom blooms. The letter of spring.) As for Thailand, various examples reveal the social situation of the present day. Thai advertisers take this contemporary condition into account in creating copy to win the public's heart. This study concludes by pointing to the ways the language of advertising can be used to study culture and society.