UDC

811.134.2:659

Authors

Aleksandr V. Dziuba
Southern Federal University; ul. Bol’shaya Sadovaya 105, Rostov-on-Don, 344006, Russian Federation; e-mail: aleksandr.dziuba@mail.ru

Abstract

One of the most popular wordplay devices in Spanish advertising is the use of deliberately modified set phrases. This article analysed 17 advertising slogans containing variations of two frequent Spanish proverbs: No solo de pan vive el hombre (Man does not live by bread alone) and Ver para creer (Seeing is believing). The pragmatic potential of the first proverb helps to convince consumers that they objectively need to buy certain products or services. The second proverb’s implicatures are employed to show that the product possesses unbelievable qualities. Pragmatic and cognitive approaches to this technique reveal what motivates slogan creators to make use of modified set phrases in their advertising. The main reasons are: deep background knowledge of the Spanish-speakers, frequent use of the proverbs in everyday speech, and a special binary structure allowing one to modify its key elements. Publicists change the initial model replacing irrelevant words by those appropriate for the advertising. Due to the pseudo-proverbial form of such slogans, the information is perceived as objective and true. Implicatures of the initial structures help to produce the pragmatic effect any advertisement is aimed at: make consumers buy the product or service.

Keywords

Spanish advertising discourse, advertising slogan, modified set phrases as wordplay

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