Visualization of speech act constituents in advertising text

Abstract

The article establishes pragmatic features of English and German advertising discourse. Advertising discourse acts include three related constituents: proposition, illocution and perlocution, and are implicit, i.e. showing assertive, directive, emotive and comissive illocution on the surface level, but having a directive illocution on the deeper level which is realized in the implicature. Since advertising text as a result of realization of advertising discourse act is creolized, the specified constituents are reflected not only in verbal component of the text, but also in non-verbal one – being visualized. Visualization of illocutionary constituent is only possible in case of emotive illocution. Visualization of perlocutionary constituent means visualization of advertiser’s perlocutionary goal, i.e. picture of the addressee who has already bought the advertised product or service. Visualization of propositional constituent refers to subject, object, locative, instrumental arguments or the whole proposition (explicit or implicit one).