THE STRATIGIES OF USINGLANGUAGE IN COSMETICS ADVERTISING

Abstract

This research work is aimed at studying the use of language in advertising discourse on cosmetics in Thai and analyzing the relationship between language use and the construction, emphasis and expression of values on beauty. Data are from cosmetics advertisements in Phraw. The findings are two-fold. The first one deals with which parts of body appear in the advertising discourse on cosmetics and how they are described in relation to beauty. The second one is and analysis of linguistic strategies which are used to present various aspects of beauty.

The linguistic strategies can be divided into 2 types : (1) semantic strategies consisting of the use of verbs describing beauty ; the use of intensifiers which are further divides into 2 sub-types : degree intensifiers and aspect intensifiers ; and the use of words to negate the kind of non-beauty according to advertising perspective, and (2) pragmatic and discourse strategies consisting of the use of figure of speech which is further divided into metaphor, simile, and hyperbole ; claiming composed of claiming facts, and claiming opinions ; rhetoric question ; and presupposition manipulation which is further divided into presuppositions expressing general beauty, those indicating non-beauty and presuppositions expressing prototypical beauty.