Abstract：Advertising penetrated every corner of our lives. Its purpose is to encourage people to take actions. Besides, it represents culture to the world. In this article a study was made on Chinese advertising language to see how culture influence language as well as how language reflect culture.
Key words：advertising; culture; advertising language; language
中图分类号： H319.5 文献标识码： A 文章编号：1672-1578（2012)04-0001-02
1 Language and culture
In daily life people use language to make contact with their surroundings, to express their feelings, to tell their advices, and to show their loves and hatreds, etc. Language made human beings more sophisticated and advanced than animals, and it is a symbol that differ human being from animals. However, language differs a lot owing to the different living environment and the different culture. Take the culture element for example: people with different cultures share different values, beliefs and custom which passed down from older generation to younger generation, the culture divergence impose great influence on the language people speak. For this reason it is impossible to separate our use of language from our culture.
When talking about culture, it is really necessary to learn some basic knowledge about it. Culture is an abstract concept which is too broad to explain what on earth it is. It is a kind of custom, beliefs, values, and also heritage that transmitted from the former generations. Culture exists wherever we are, despite of the above mentioned aspects culture still covers a wide range of areas. Such as politics, economics, literature, etc. With a better knowledge of culture we will find it easier to deal with the intercultural communication, which has became more and more important nowadays. What""s more, obtaining a good knowledge of culture helps us to fairy understand how language performed or functioned in different fields, different communities and different countries.
After the above introduction of language and culture, now it is necessary to sum up the relationship between the two. According to Sapir-Whorf hypothesis the relationship between language and culture is that language is a reflection of culture and culture is a reflection of language. (Larry A. Samovar, 2000: 123). Another point need to add is that culture imposes influence on language.
2 Advertising language
Language has its features, so does advertising language. People choose proper communication language according to the situation, social and education background,status,and professions of the counterpart. Only put those elements into consideration can an efficient communication take place. A successful advertising is with the same case. Before making the advertising the advertiser should analyze the target market, including the geographical features of the target place, characteristics, cultures and beliefs of the target people and then choose the appropriate language to appeal and persuade consumers.
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