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［摘 要］In Halliday's functional grammar，metafunctions can be used to explore how meanings are created and understoodThis paper makes an extended comparison of three advertisements for the same product based on three categories of metafunctions，in order to show the great strength of functional grammar and how to advertise for products

［關鍵詞］advertisements ideational function interpersonal function textual function

1Introduction

Harris and Seldom(1962：40)define adverting as a public notice \"designed to spread information with a view to promote the sales of marketable goods and servicesFrom this definition，if the reader can accept the information provided by the adverts and gets the goods or servicesSuch an advertisement is successfulHow to achieve this goal when advertising？ It is really a problem

About this topic，the writer has something to say about how to advertiseThe theory used is Halliday's three categories of metafunction：ideational，interpersonal and textualThe ideational function，which expresses cognitive meaning，the fundamental \"idea-conveying function\" of languagethis draws on the systems and networks of transitivity to create propositions which convey the user's experience of the external world of the senses and inner world of the mindthe interpersonal，which expresses speech function meaning by drawing on the systems and networks of mood to create sentences which carry the speaker' relationship with others to whom the messages are being addressed：speaker as questioner，respondent，etcthe textual which expresses discourse meaning by drawing on the systems and networks of theme to create and realize texts in which are not only able to carry propositional content but are also ordered cohesivelyThe utterances connect with each other to constitute a linguistically linked text and cohesively； the communication acts themselves are rationally linked and appropriate to the context of their usenow I will compare these three advertisements using three categories of metafunctions

2Data analysis and discussion

In order to be convenient，I order these three advertisements：advert 1，advert 2，and advert3And similarities and differences will be made and mixed in each category of metafunctionsInterpersonal metafunction

One of the main purposes of communicating is to interact with other people：to establish and maintain appropriate social links with themIf we try to view language simply as a one-way system for telling other people thingswe end up with a very distorted view of how language works，because we are overlooking the fact that we use it to exchange meanings，that communication is inherently two-wayWe tell other people things for a purpose：we may want to influence their attitudes or behavior，or to provide information that we know they do not have，or to explain our own attitudes or behavior，or to get them provide us with information，and so onTherefore，language system has evolved(and constantly evolving)to serve the functions that we need it forThe fact that interaction having a purpose for introducing things to other people-is an inherent part languageOf course，the most fundamental purposed in any exchange are giving or demanding a commodity of same kindIf we look at this from the point of view of a speaker in a verbal exchange，the commodity that the speaker may be giving or demanding is informationin such cades，the speaker's purpose is carried out only，or primarily，through language ：the speaker makes a statement to give information，or asks a question to demand it ； from this aspect，we can see that all advertisements advertise through language and all adds graphs to assist the language to realize the aimFrom the definition，advertisements first have to spread informationThrough language，the addresser provides all the information to the addressee，which aims at influencing the addressee's attitudes or behavior and purchase the productsThe exchange is successful if the addressee receives the information that the addresser gives or provides the information demandedsometimes，the exchange will only be successful if a non-verbal action is carried outSuch is the case of advertisementsAdvertisements provide the new informationThe addressee responds only through consuming the products instead of verbal waysSuch case，another commodity is being exchanged：what Halliday(1994：68)calls \"good or services\" we then end up with four basic speech roles：giving information，demanding information，giving goods or services and demanding goods and servicesThe usual ways is to giving information and give goods and servicesBecause advert is a special communication，it only provides information and goods or servicesEach advertisement tries to get rid of addressee's anxiety of consumingAdvert 1 tells the readers it's unnecessary to worry because somebody has used it and get a good effectAdvert 2 tells the reader the top executives chose this face spa and success goesAdvert 3 tells reader that the expert says it is goodSo these three adverts do provide the concerned and important information to the readerAnd the reader is informed and they，of course，will consume the productFrom the interpersonal，three adverts can be well understoodand the functions of advertisements can be fulfilled easily

Experiential function

As well as using language to interact with people we clearly use it to talk about the world，the external world，things，events，qualities etclanguage comprises a set of resources for referring to entities in the world and the ways in which those entities act on or relate to each otherat the simplest level，language reflect our view of the world as consisting of 'goings-on'(verbs)involving things(nouns)which may have attributes and which go on against background details of place，time，manner，etcwe know experiential function draws on the systems and networks of transitivity to convey the user' experiencethe advert use many mental words \"feel\" \"nervous\" which try to express the inner heart of the user of the user，in order to convince reader this product is really goodalso，it uses the first person which aims to shorten the distance of writer and readerUsing question marks try to show what the advertisement advertises is very object and not relate randomlyThis advert employs the user's experience to persuade readers to buy the productThe other two adverts mainly tell us what is \"going on\"-introducing the product，especially，advert 3 which says \"whether you have dry or oily skin，age spots，wrinkles or blemishes，there is always or relaxing and effective facial to suit your needs\"Anyway，the writer aims to persuade readers，either relating user's experience or introducing the characteristics of products

Textual function

Having looked at the text from the perspective of what interaction is being carried out and what is being talked about，we will now turn to examine aspects which can only be properly understood by looking at the clausesWhen we look at language from the point of view of the textual function，we are trying to see how speakers construct their messages in a way which makes them fit smoothly into the unfolding language event

The adverts attempt more or less consciously，more or less expertly and more or less successfully to help the listener to perceive the coherence of the text by organizing the way in which the meanings are expressed，which is called \"texture\"，iethe quality of being recognizably a text rather than a collocation of connected words or clausesThere are generally grouped together under the label of cohesion(halliday，1994)in advert 1，there is a marked cohesive chain which is compromised by \"I\"

Advert 1

Sentence cohesive chain

1 i

2 I

3 I

4 everyone

5 I

6 my skin

Also in the advert，many conjunctions are used like \"now，after all，regardless，and，not only\"these cohesive devices make this advert close-related and express a central meaning-using this facial is goodThis advert is addressee-orientedText can be addresser-oriented，addresser-oriented and outsider-orientedSometimes，both addressee-oriented and addresser-orientedIn advert 2 and advert 3，texts are a little complex including addresser-oriented and addressee-orientedThere is a lexical chain in every advert

Advert 2 Advert 3

Sentence lexicon sentence lexicon

1 men 1 executive

2 you 2 our

3 our 3 you

4 our 4 your

5 you 5 your

6 you

Why does writer use \"your\" or \"our\" alternatively？In my opinion，writer attempts to tell the reader what he has done for the reader，you can use it as your willRegardless，using \"your\" or \"our\"，the writer's aim is to persuade \"you\" so we can see that adverts always focus on persuading readers to consume their products

At last，let's look at the headlines of three adverts\"For professional facial advice，consult the face spa\" \"I was man enough to have a facial\"\"Success begins with a freshing experience at the face spa\" Do you find the logical relation between them\"After reading these adverts，you may have this image； a man would like to use a face spaFirst he has to construct the expertThe fundamental need is to make him manly enoughFurther，it is better if this spa can make him successful in careerWhy we can imagine like this？ Because these adverts advertise for the same productThe writer wants to get a better effect； the logical method is a good deviceAlso，the graphics can reflect this meaningIn adverts，a quite handsome man shows \"he is man enough after using the facial\"In advert 2，a man is inquiring the information the information of spa to a woman expertIn advert 2，a man wearing a suit and tie shows he is successful in his careerso the text and graphics are well matched to express a common theme：if you want to be a successful man，you'd better use it

3Conclusion

Through comparing these three advertisements，I find functional grammar really have the advantage in analyzing the advertisementslanguage is a good device to communicatethrough it，communicators provide the information and good or serviceAdvert functions as introducing a certain of goods or service to the readerSo the interpersonal function interprets the advertisement fully and clearlyAlso，adverts want to influence the readers' attitude or behavior it must present the whole situation of the product to the reader，it is the application of experiential function-\"which use language to interact with people either the external world or the inner\" After reader receives the whole situation about this product，then the reader will consider whether consume it or notThe important point is how advertiser organizes the whole textthe textual function helps to solve the problemThere are so many cohesive devices，repetition conjunction and so onI analyze three advertisements aboveI hope it can be helpful

［參考文獻］

［1］Bell，Roger T2001Translation and Translating：Theory and PracticeBeijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

［2］Gillian Brown，George yule2000Discourse AnalysisBeijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

［3］Halliday，MAK1994An Introduction to Functional Grammar(2nd edition)London：Edvard Arnold

［4］Thomas Bloor，Meriel Bloor2001The Functional Analysis of English：A Hallidayan ApproachBeijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

［5］黃國文：《語篇分析的理論與實踐——廣告語篇研究》，上海外語教育出版社2001年版。

［6］胡壯麟：《語篇的銜接與連貫》，上海外語教育出版社1992年版。