Abstract

With the development of economy and the improvement of living standards, car has transformed from a luxury into a common means of transportation.. English automobile advertisements plays a crucial role in promoting products as a link between advertisers and customers. The smart use of rhetoric and other skills make English automobile advertisements more concise, beautiful and attractive, often a few phrases or a short sentence can already show the core features of the product and leave deep impression on customers which can finally stimulate their desire to buy. Therefore, the expression of language is a major force to promote English automobile advertisements to achieve its sales goals.

The Cooperative Principle, proposed by American linguistic philosopher Grice is one of the most important principles in linguistics. It has four maxims, that’s the maxim of quantity, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner. Certainly, each principle contains several rules that must be followed. 

This study aims to analyze the violation of Cooperative Principle of English automobile advertisements presented in different figures of speech that different advertisement shows. The study shows that , by purposefully violating the cooperative principle, the employment of different figures of speech help automobile advertisements achieve their desired expectation of capturing consumers' attention , arousing their desires to purchase, and eventually making a lucrative commercial activity.

Key Words: English automobile advertisements; the Cooperative Principle; violation; rhetoric perspective

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 The Cooperative Principle-2

2.1 The definition of Cooperative Principle-2

2.2 The non-observance of Cooperative Principle-3

3 The Characteristics of Automobile Advertisements-3

4 The Violation of Cooperative Principles of English Automobile Advertisements-4

4.1 The Violation of the Maxim of Quantity-4

4.1.1 Parallelism-4

4.1.2 Rhetorical Repetition-5

4.2 The Violation of The Maxim of Quality-6

4.2.1 Hyperbole-6

4.2.2Metaphor-6

4.3 The Violation of The Maxim of Relation-7

4.3.1 Rhetorical Question-7

4.3.2 Parody-7

4.4 The Violation of The Maxim of Manner-8

4.4.1 Pun-8

4.4.2 Personification-8

5 Conclusion-9

References-10