Memetic Analysis On Phonetic Metaphors In Advertisements

Phonetic metaphors, just as metaphors, are not only a way of rhetoric but more a way of cognition in nature, which are constituted by the imitation of the same or similar sounds between tenors and vehicles. In rhetorical area, phonetic metaphors are respectively named xieyin at home and pun abroad. However, with the rapid development of cognitive linguistics, the researches of xieyin are widened into the area of cognition. It is Ivan Fonage who first proposes the term of "phonetic metaphors" in the book Why Iconicity. Since then, the studies of phonetic metaphors have received great attention abroad and at home, especially at home. Most of the studies mainly focus on the aspect of meaning mapping, but put less emphasis on studying their elements, manifestations, transmission process and modes. Therefore, this paper will mainly focus on these aspects, and take examples from advertisements because of the rich examples of phonetic metaphors in advertisements and the increasingly important status of advertisements in daily life.In the paper, the researches of phonetic metaphors in advertisements are based on Memetics, which is a relatively new theory exploring the common connections between living things and laws of cultural evolution. Meme is the core definition of Memetics. It is a unit of cultural transmission playing a great part in the transmission of language and culture. A successful meme should own three traits--fecundity, fidelity and longevity, and go through four stages--assimilation, retention, expression and transmission; it is transmitted in two modes, that is, the memetic genotype and the memetic phenotype.In Memetics, meme is known as a kind of imitation. Phonetic metaphors are also a kind of imitation at the level of sound. Memetics has been used in various areas showing great power in explaining language phenomena. Therefore, based on Memetics, the thesis mainly explores the elements, manifestations, transmission process and modes of phonetic metaphors in advertisements by means of a qualitative analysis. Through analysis, it is found that:first, a phonetic metaphor is composed of a target meme and its corresponding imitation result, that is, the phonetic metaphorical expression; second, phonetic metaphors are mainly manifested in three types-homophone types, prefect homonym types and phonetic parody types; third, its transmission process mainly goes through four stages from the transmission to assimilation, retention and final to expression; fourth, it is transmitted in modes of memetic genotype and memetic phenotype; fifth, a successful phonetic metaphor in advertisement should own the features of simplicity, novelty, coherence and practicality.Based on the memetic analysis of phonetic metaphors in advertisements, the paper is expected to, on one hand, enrich the researches on phonetic metaphors and deepen the understanding of them, meanwhile, enhance the practice of Memetics; on the other hand, to provide some useful guidelines for efficient commercial propagandas under the discussion on the features of strong memetic phonetic metaphors in advertisements.