Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Discourse Cues in Iranian Advertisements: 

A Critical Discourse Study

by Zahra Akbari

Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Introduction

Many studies have critically examined a number of institutional and professional discourse genres, including media discourse (e.g., Hall et al. 1980).  The undeniable power of the media has inspired numerous critical studies in many disciplines, not least in the field of mass communication itself.  In order to analyze how discourse may control people's minds, we can refer to the bank of experiences and subjective representations that people have accumulated during their lifetime (Van Dijk, 1998b), and the more general and abstract socio-cultural knowledge, attitudes and ideologies (Mannes & Fletcher, 1995, Duin et al. 1988).  By resorting to these mental representations, the authors can communicate messages implicitly, without actually asserting them, and with less chance that they will be challenged.

People are not merely influenced, persuaded or manipulated by properties of discourse, but also by the speaker's or writer's ideology and other factors like the time, place, circumstances, roles and wishes of the participants (Giles & Coupland 1991). Critical discourse analysis (CDA) typically studies how context features influence the way members of society define and interpret the communicative situation based on their mental representations (Rojo & Van Dijk, 1997). This study is an attempt to identify and categorize, from a critical discourse point of view, the linguistic and nonlinguistic cues and devices used to convey messages to the readers or audience in Iranian newspapers and television commercials, bringing to the fore the kinds of misunderstandings that may result in poor cross-cultural communication.

CDA has made the study of language into an interdisciplinary tool and can be used by scholars from various backgrounds, including media criticism.  Most significantly, it offers the opportunity for one to adopt a social perspective in the cross-cultural study of media texts.  As Kress (1990) points out, CDA has an "overly political agenda which serves to set CDA off … from other kinds of discourse analysis" and text linguistics "as well as pragmatics and sociolinguistics".  While most forms of discourse analysis aim to provide a better understanding of sociocultural aspects of texts, CDA aims to provide accounts of the production, internal structure and overall organization of texts.  One crucial difference is that CDA "aims to provide a critical dimension in its theoretical and descriptive accounts of texts."  More specifically, according to Kress' definition, CDA treats language as a type of social practice used for representation and signification (including visual images, music, gestures, etc.). Texts are produced by "socially-situated speakers and writers". Meanings come about through interaction between readers and receivers, and linguistic features come about as a result of social processes.

In addition to language structure, ideology also has a role to play in CDA.  Kress stresses that "any linguistic form considered in isolation has no specifically determinate meaning as such nor does it possess any ideological significance or function". Language "can never appear by itself ___it always appears as the representative of a system of linguistic terms which themselves realize discursive and ideological systems".

Aim of the Study

The aim of this study is to identify the features of advertisements in Iranian newspapers (Hamshahri and IRAN) and on television, and to analyze these features in the framework of CDA.  Furthermore, it explains what kinds of linguistic and non-linguistic devices are used by the authors to encode their intent and also to help the receiver to decode the author's intent.  It is true that the basics of a text consists of syntax and lexicon, its grammar, morphology, phonology and semantics; however, "the understanding of grammar and lexicon does not constitute the understanding of the text. Rhetoric intent, coherence and the world view that author and receptor bring to the text are essential" (Kaplan, 1990).

The advertisements can be classified into three main groups:

1.Serial advertisements

1. In each advertisement, one product is introduced to the reader (e.g., Samsung and Bootan companies)

2. In each advertisement one of the qualitative features of the product is presented by the author (e.g., Shiraz thin floor-mat, Bahar oil)

2. Advertisements on the occasion of religious and national ceremonies

For example, the birthday of her Majesty, Fatemeh, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammad, which is the equivalent to Mother's Day (e.g. Pars Khazar Company); the birthday of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shi'ite, which is the equivalent of Father's Day (e.g., Denis Teriko clothing shop); the day the Prophet Mohammad received a mission as a prophet and the birthday of the last Imam of Shi'ite, his Majesty, Mahdi).

3. Introducing different kinds of products from the same company in one advertisement 

e.g., National, Pars Behshargh, Ghods Iran.

The actual decision on the part of the journalist or editor to use specific linguistic or non-linguistic devices is definitely a matter of choice, and not chance.  In order to have more exposure of their products, advertisers try to use the devices that conform with the laws of the given social, economic and cultural circumstances and conventions.

Non-Linguistic Cues

After analyzing ninety-five advertisements, the following visual devices could be identified that are important for interpretation of the text (advertisement) and help the receiver to mesh his interpretation with the author's intent:

1. Using colors. 

Especially red, yellow, green, white and blue. The contrast between colors and the psychology of colors (e.g., red is a "hot" color and green is a "cold" colors) are used to attract the readers' attention.

2. Specifying the length of the guarantee and the post-purchase services. 

3. Using upside-down pictures.

4. Presenting the standard certifications that prove the product has been controlled qualitatively. 

In one case the phrase "tazmin-e mâ govâhi bar t'iid-e keyfiyyat-e khadamât-e mâ" was used, which means that the product has undergone standard tests and its quality is guaranteed.

5. Offering prizes to those who buy the product.

This encourages the addressee to buy the product in order to receive the prize. It can especially attract the attention of children and those adults who believe in luck and like to take a chance.

6. Using the word "New". 

Especially in an attractive color and at the top of the advertisement in order to motivate the addressees and stimulate their curiosity.

7. Using exciting sports pictures.

To impress the younger generations who are after excitement, speed and power.

8. Presenting a variety of products in different shapes, colors and sizes.

In order to satisfy different needs, desires and tastes.

9. Emphasizing the unique features of the new product.

To show that it is really different from a similar or previous product and is worth buying.

10. Advertising foreign products.

Especially those that are developed by countries with high technology which would imply a guaranteed top quality, e.g. Japan.

11. Conveying that the product is of high quality because it has been produced jointly with a country known for its scientific and technological advances. 

This is shown by using the phrase "This is the international product of A and B countries". One of these countries is usually the native country and the other one is a developed, industrial country.

12. Using children's and women's pictures to inspire beauty, delicacy, liveliness, cleanliness and cheerfulness, and men's pictures to suggest power, excitement and surprise (this may come from the general belief in Iranian culture that men are not surprised as easily as women, and if a man is surprised at seeing something, it really must be surprising). 

However, women are only used in advertisements in accordance with Islamic rules and beliefs, and it is forbidden to use women as goods or to abuse their personalities.  Therefore, using women in advertisements is very limited and mostly associated with advertising cleaning products.  For example, since women are required to cover their hair, only men's or children's hair is shown in a shampoo advertisements.

13. Using unreal pictures made by computers (e.g., a black man with blue eyes).

The philosophy behind this may be that humans are able to materialize what they can imagine or think of or, in other words, they can make possible what seems to be impossible.

14. Using clear, obvious pictures.

"Pictures speak louder than words".

15. Providing the address of distribution centers and authorized sales agencies of the products.

To provide opportunities for the addressee to obtain more information about the product, and to gain trust.

16. Offering installment plans.

17. Offering free home delivery.

18. Using the results of recent scientific research (especially in the domain of medicine to promote and maintain health) in the development of new products.

19. Using the technologies of developed countries in the production process.

20. Mentioning the price of the product.

Or the phrases "appropriate price", "low price" and "exceptional price" to enable the addressee to evaluate the product not only by taking into account its qualities, but also its price, and to compare that price with similar products on the market.

21. Using natural resources to symbolize our culture. 

For example, a shampoo advert: A fisherman is fishing in the sea.  He falls into the water when his boat violently hits another boat.  The sailor of the second boat brings him "shâmpoo Bâboon-e Sehhat" to wash his hair.  Here sea is a symbol of cleanliness.  The shampoo is made of natural plants, and this naturalness is conveyed by associating the product with nature.  In another advertisement by the same company for another kind of shampoo called "shâmpoo Sedr-e Sehhat", the shampoo bottle is shown in a jungle.  The jungle with its green trees is a symbol of life and vitality.  In addition, such advertisements can indirectly make the addressee aware of the advantages of natural products over chemical products for the body.

22. Using traditional contexts. 

For example, in advertising a kind of shampoo called "Hannâ-ye Sehhat", the advertiser places the interlocutors in a context in the past in which they wear traditional clothes and have traditional names and relations (i.e., a master and his servant). They pass by old clay buildings while the master is riding a donkey and his servant is walking along with him. They enter a traditional public bath and the servant looks for the shampoo in the master's bag but he cannot find it; the owner of the bath, who is standing at a counter on which there are a lot of bottles of shampoo and is watching what is going on, asks them if they want to buy some shampoo. All of the features of this context place the addressee in the past and remind him of the natural cleaners that were used at that time. Past time here is associated with being natural, intact and original.  It derives from the cultural belief that nature is free from chemical hazards.

23. Contrasting past and present facilities. 

By doing so, the advertiser is, in fact, emphasizing the development of science and technology and their achievements in making life much easier and more comfortable for humans.  For example, when some birds call a polar bear named 'amoo yâdegâr who is walking in the snow: "'amoo yâdegâr nemiri to 'ghâr", and the bear replies: "bâ Iran Râdiyâtor (brand name for a radiator) dige ki mire to 'ghar". The words "'gh âr" and "'amoo yâdegâr" are representative of the past.

Linguistic Discourse Cues

Furthermore, the language of advertisements as a particular style of discourse is a complex blend of national, social, economic and linguistic traditions which work together with the addressees' expectations. The following are the characteristic features observed in the sample of advertisements:

1.Using words bearing its name.

For example:

• Highway lamps named "Portavân" which reflects its high electrical power.

• "Parsân blanket" which indicates it is heat impenetrable the same way that birds features keeps them warm in cold weather . It can also imply the low weight of this blanket , i.e., it is as light as the feathers of birds and it can also suggests softness.

• "Bâdpâ  motorcycle" which implies it is as fast as wind.

• "Takro motorcycle" which implies it is superior to other motorcycles. It can also suggest that this motorcycle is suitable for only one person. But the former meaning is more probable.

• "Tondar motorcycle" which uses "tondar" or "thunder" as a symbol of something that passes through the air at high speed.

• "Mârâl motorcycle".  "Mârâl" is the name of a deer, and is a symbol of agility and speed.

• "Mizân watch".  "Mizân" is a device for measuring something.  Here, as it is accompanied by a watch, it measures time.  This word is derived from Persian literature; when a person wanted to repair his/her watch, he/she referred to a repairman and asked him to set his/her watch; what is said is "mizân kardan" in Persian.

2. Using traditional and national terms.

For instance:

• "Pârs Khazar products" uses the term "Pârs", which refers to a tribe who lived in the south of Iran as the first Iranian inhabitants, and the term "Khazar" or the "Caspian Sea" which is located in the north of Iran. In addition to implying nationalization, it also implies that the responsible company provides services from the south to the north of Iran.

• "Sabalân  mineral water".  "Sabalân" is a mountain in the Zgros range, located in آzarbâyejân in Iran.

• "آtropât", which is the old name of a city in Iran, i.e., Azarbâyejân.  It is also the name of one of the holy fire-temples of Zoroastrains which was located in آzarbâyejân.  The word "آtropât" is also the name of a thermal device used for heating in winter.

• "Bahâr oil arrived at the market" inspires the concept of spring; the same way that spring refreshes the nature, this oil is also a "new" product which brings about liveliness and vigorousness in human beings. 

• "Soleimân carpet" reminds us of the holy Soleimân's carpet which was a magic carpet with beautiful designs and patterns.

• "Denna tyre", "Alborz tyre", "Yazd tyre".  "Denna" and "Alborz" remind us of the mountains that are located in the north of Iran, and Yazd is the name of one of  Iran's historical cities famous for its tyre industry.

3. Parallelism. 

This is another linguistic device which helps the editor to produce a rhyming prose in order to attract the reader's attention, and to add to the beauty of the writing style.  It also leads to the coherence of the text.  For example, "Isâco ta'min-e ghata'ât   tazmin-e khadamât" or "har chizi mâl-e ye fasl-e Ashi-mashi châr fasl-e".  Note: "Ashi-mashi" is the brand name for a kind of snack. This is also true for the advertisement for "Mahrâm (brand name for salad dressing)  khoshmaze-o khoshnâm". 

4. Poetry. 

Poetry is mainly used in television commercials. As they are musical and accompanied by animation, computerized pictures and music, they draw the attention of different generations in society, e.g., "zendegi-e khoob-o âsân    bâ yakhchâl freezer-e Emersân    zibâ jâdâr motma'en    sarmâ dâre farâvân    yakhchâl freezer-e Emersân". In this advertisment, there is a picture of a white (symbol of beauty) refrigerator which is at the top of a hill and starts moving over snow on skis, and skis down the hill, finally jumping a long way through the air, landing on a lower slope.  As soon as the refrigerator starts moving, the music also starts playing.  At the end of the line, its door is opened to show how capacious it is, and it is filled with different colorful foodstuffs.  Finally, the standard certificate (a symbol of reliability) appears next to it to fill the audience with a sense of confidence.  The context in which the advertisement is displayed suggests coldness needed for preserving foodstuffs.  

In another advertisement introducing a thin floor covering (mat), there is " 'âli-ghâpoo dâre Esfahân  pol-e-khâjoo dâre Esfahân châhâr-bâgh-o chehel-sotoon  si-o-se-pol-o naghsh-e-jahoon (originally naghsh-e-jahn jahân)  je Esfahâni mishnovi nesfe jahâni mishnovi sanâje-esh mo'tabare nemoonash Zarif Mosavvar-e har ki honar shenâse Zarif-o mishenâse mooket-e Zarif Mosavvar hâsel-e zogh-o honar".  In this advertisement, Isfahan is first introduced as a historical and industrial city, and suggests that it is the "cradle of science and art", popular for its artifacts and handicrafts throughout history.  At the same time that the music is playing, the historical monuments and industrial factories are displayed to exhibit the artistic skill and deliberation used in producing the buildings and goods.  In addition, it is necessary to mention that the word "Zarif Mosavvar" by itself builds up the picture of deliberation and delicacy in our minds.

5. Using arithmetic symbols such as "=". 

For example, in an advertisement we have "kebreet = Tavakoli", which indicates that the word "Tavakoli (the brand name for match, i.e., a small stick for lighting fires) is associated with match and it is the unique producer of matches.  In the same advertisement, there is a picture of the Iranian flag with its red, white and green colors which symbolize our national identity.  

In another advertisement we have "Bahâr oil" on one side of the equation, and ten other oils on the other side, to convey the idea that as far as quality is concerned,  "Bahâr oil" can compete with other kinds of oil available in the market. 

6. Homonymy. 

This is another linguistic device which uses words with similar spellings but different meanings, and which leads to coherence of the text.  For example, " tamâm-e sâl bâ آbsâl (the brand name for cooling apparatus) or in an advertisement which has a dialogue between a wife and her husband.  The wife is in the kitchen washing up the dishes, and addresses her husband: " khaste shodam dige jâm injâ nist".  Her husband puts some washing-up liquid named "Jâm" on the kitchen table, and replies "hâlâ Jâm injâst". The first "jâm" means place and the second is the brand name of the washing-up liquid.

7. Homophony. 

This linguistic device is used in words with similar pronunciation but different meanings. For example, "Shoomâ (the brand name for a kind of washing powder) emtehân-e khod râ pas dâde ast shomâ (the second person singular or plural) niiz ân râ emtehân koniid". In this advertisement, there is also a homonymy in the form of "emtehân" which takes two different meanings in the phrases "emtehân pas dâdan" (has been successful) and "emtehân kardan" (try it out).  

In another case, we have "آzmâyesh (the brand name for a refrigerator) sar boland az har âzmâyesh" which means that this product has been proven successful.  The second azmayesh means emtehan (test).

8. Proverbs. 

For example, there is an advertisement which uses part of a poem which through frequent use has taken the form of a proverb: "dar khâne agar kas ast yek harf bas ast".  This is an advertisement for a kind of shampoo with the brand name "Bas", which is used here in the form of homonymy with two meanings: one of them is the name of a shampoo and the other means "enough". 

In another advertisement, there is the proverb "Dei ân ast ke khosh bebooyad ……..". This reminds us of the proverb "moshk (musk) ân ast ke khod bebooyad     na ân ke attâr begooyad". i.e., "Dei" is a kind of soap with such a nice, favorable smell that it does not require us to describe it any more.  The dotted line in this advertisement gives it the form of a cloze test and the reader fills it out on the basis of his/her knowledge of literature. "Dei" is the brand name of a kind of soap with a pleasant smell as here it has been associated with musk.

9. Contradiction in terms. 

This technique is used to highly emphasize the quality of the product in an indirect way and to introduce some variety.  For example, we have "har lâstiki mikhâein bekharin ammâ Denna nakharin" which is in an advertisement by a mechanic who complains about not being as busy as before because of the introduction of "Denna" (the brand name for a kind of tyre) to the market.  The context used in this advertisement is a garage in which a man asks the mechanic what kind of tyre he suggests he buy. The mechanic's answer, in fact, indirectly gives us information about the quality and durability of this tyre. 

In another advertisement, we have "bâvaram nemishe Shoniiz (the brand name for butter) kare nabâshe" which implies that the word "Shoniiz" (which is the name of a plant, from which oil is derived) automatically reminds us of butter with a favorable taste, smell and high quality; in other words, it is nothing but real butter.

10. Exaggerating. 

Exaggeration is used to inspire a high degree of confidence in the reader through emphasizing and foregrounding the unique characteristics of the product. These terms can be either in the form of intensifiers or generalizations.  For example, we have the phrase "davâm-e fogholade zyyad" (i.e. very high durability) in order to introduce a kind of CD.  Or in advertising a pictorial telephone, we have the phrase "bâ keyfiyyati bâvarnakardani" (i.e. with incredible quality) or "آbsâl nahâyyat-e pakizegi" (i.e., آbsâl, a washing machine, makes clothes extremely clean).  In these cases, the intensifiers are underlined.  In the case of generalizations, the words "all" or "always" and the like are used.  For example, in advertising a kind of carpet called "Shirâz", we have "Farsh-e Shiraz hamishe zibast" or for a mat called "Shirâz", it is written "mooket-e Shirâz barâye har no' salighe" or "Yazd Bespâr râ hame be keyfiyyat mishnâsand.  Another technique which is used to indicate the newness and high technology used in producing a given product is the use of the phrase "the first …."; for example, in advertising a kind of chair called "Râyyane sanat", the phrase "the first standardized chair in Iran" is used, and when describing a steam iron, we have the phrase "the first standardized whole metal iron".

11. Dialogues. 

Dialogues are used to provide a natural or authentic situation which necessitates the use of a certain advertising product. This motivates the addressee to test the product at least for one time.  For example, in a conversation between two women talking about a special kind of diaper called "My baby".

W1: "shomâ che kâr mikonid ke bachchatoon inghadr âroome?"

W2: " az pooshak-e (napkin) "My baby" barâsh estefâde mikonam."

W1: "râs migi?"

W2: "emtehân kon."

12. Incomplete sentences. 

For example, in this advertisement, "mâ zard-o sorkh-o sabz-o âbi-o bahâne gharâr dâde-iim tâ ……….      Reef (brand name for paint)." which uses colors as a device for introducing a kind of paint, the reader is expected to complete the sentence based on his/her knowledge of the main application of colors in human life.

13. Comic language. 

This attracts the attention of the addressee since the use of the product is not dictated directly but in a comic style.  E.g., a customer referring to a tyre shop and observing there are no tyres in the shop asks the owner of the shop in a comic way: "oossâ hassan! cherrâ lâstikâttâ doz borde   nakone moosh oomade-o lâstikâtto khorde". The addressee receives the message of the advertiser by putting himself in the position of the customer and activating his own cultural expectations, presuppositions and schemata regarding the current situation.

Discussion and Conclusion

Each culture has its own way of materializing reality in the form of language.  As the linguistic and semantic structures that make up each language are constructed by its users to satisfy their communication needs, the symbols by which humans produce meaning are also specific to their language.  Different symbols in different societies are used to decode different scripts, and their use is dependent on their culture's history, its evolution and development.

Since a text from a foreign culture is tended to be perceived within the framework of one's own cultural presuppositions, this framework may pre-program the receiver to misunderstand, misinterpret or not receive the encoded message. According to Ertelt-Vieth's lacuna model (1989), "texts are the flesh and blood of a culture".  Access to another culture can "only be achieved through exemplary examinations of texts while integrating these texts into a more comprehensive cultural analysis". Language and communication are carriers of society's cultural characteristics.  "The decoding abilities of author and receptor are constrained by their receptive knowledge of syntax". Syntax, however, is not the only constraint on understanding.  Decoding also depends on the recipient's "awareness of key conventions" which is "often historically defined".

This study is an attempt to identify and systematize the discourse cues, whether linguistic or nonlinguistic, that were used in newspapers and television advertisements taking the CDA framework into consideration.  The study reveals that there are some contextualization cues that help us to decode the author's intended meaning which is implicit in the text, i.e., advertisements.  These cues, in fact, activate certain aspects of the ideological makeup of any audience in terms of his/her religious, national, cultural and psychological points of view, beliefs and attitudes, as well his/her tastes and values.  This study can help us to reveal gaps and defects in the cross-cultural understanding of the texts. i.e., advertisements, and to categorize differences between implicitly understood discourse styles.

Implications of the Study

Advertisements generate messages.  Although there may be some intentional or unintentional gaps in the text, it still has meaning to the culturally initiated recipient since he/she can decode deeper cultural and political connotations.  But a foreign audience may have significant difficulties in perceiving the discourse cues. Therefore, awareness of the historically defined key conventions and their social and linguistic significance are crucial for them.  

References 

1. Dellinger, B. (1995). Views of CNN Television News: a Critical Cross-Cultural Analysis of the American Commercial Discourse Styles. Universitas Wasaensis.

2. Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (2000). The Discourse Reader. Routledge: London and New York.

3. Kaplan, R. (1990). "Concluding Essay: on Applied Linguistics and Discourse Analysis". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 2.

4. Luke, A. ( 1995). Text and Discourse Analysis in Education: an Introduction to Theory and Practice in Critical Discourse Analysis.

5. Van Dijk, T. A. (1998a). Ideology. A Multidisciplinary Study. London: Sage.

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