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Dissertation Information for Linda Katherine Coleman

NAME:
- Linda Katherine Coleman

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Linguistics

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1982)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

Abstract: As with any communication, understanding the message of a television commercial is a matter of drawing inferences about what the semantic material on the surface means within the context. This process is guided by a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic signals. Much of the communicative load is thus assigned to channels other than the lexically realized portion of the message. This study examines various aspects of the inferencing process as applied to television commercials.

The advertiser relies heavily on the audience's knowledge of the genre. Deviations from the standard phonology of television can be used to create a context for the message or evoke cultural stereotypes which provide a background for the message.

Prosodic cues guide the hearer in determining the relationships between segments and signal which segments are in focus. Other prosodic features, such as voice tone, provide information about the speaker's attitude or understanding of the context.

Puns, semantic anomaly, and other forms of word-play are used to catch the audience's attention and create the impression of a joking relationship between advertiser and audience, with concomitant implications of solidarity. The added work required to understand the double meaning also makes the message more memorable. As with phonological and prosodic features, semantic or syntactic forms associated with particular activities or groups can evoke cultural stereotypes or schemata, adding more information to the message.

In order to correctly interpret what is going on in a commercial, the hearer must know a specialized set of pragmatic rules for television commercials, in addition to the pragmatics of English, since inferences are based in both the overall commercial context and the embedded context(s) created within the commercial. Part of this knowledge includes the hearer's ability to perceive complete units when presented with truncated forms, and to fill in the missing material.

The success of any communication relies on the fit among all channels carrying the communicative load. In the case of commercials, the various linguistic and paralinguistic features operate in harmony to support the overt selling message.

MPACT Scores for Linda Katherine Coleman

A = 0
C = 3
A+C = 3
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-27 21:29:43

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