The Study of Codeswitching in Advertisements

Abstract

Codeswitching has become one of the most common language phenomena in these days. Researchers have launched various studies on codeswitching from different perspectives and thus achieved different findings. The Chinese-English codeswitching in Chinese advertising discourse can be categorized into three types: insertional codeswitching, alternational codeswitching and diglossia codeswitching. Moreover, the insertional codeswtiching can be further divided into letter insertion, lexical and phrasal insertion, clausal insertion, and discourse insertion. Chinese-English codeswitching in ads is a normal linguistic and social phenomenon. The purpose of advertisers’ applying Chinese-English codeswitching is mainly to realize their final commercial goals. Good Chinese-English codeswitching in ads can achieve good results, while overuse and misuse of it may leave bad impressions on consumers. Therefore, proper guidance should be offered and other actions should be taken immediately in order to address the problems in Chinese-English codeswitching in ads and to maintain a healthy development of Chinese advertising, which will facilitate the harmonious coexistence between English and Chinese in Chinese advertising, thus contributing to the final social harmony.