Publications

Publication details [#3117]

Buschmann, Matthias. 1994. Zur "Jugendsprache" in der Werbung [On the "language of youth" in advertising]. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 104 (3) : 219–231. 13 pp.

Abstract

An analysis of advertising material in the German magazine 'Der Spiegel' & various youth publications explores the extent to which German advertising copy-writers avail themselves of similarities & convergences between the registers known as "youth language" & "advertising language." The former is principally characterized by the presence of specific deviations from Standard German on various levels. Most such deviations are lexical & semantic; the most conspicuous syntactic deviations consist of phraseologisms. Few deviations are noted on the phonological & pragmatic levels. Common features of the two registers are hyperbole, extended domains of connotation, colorfulness & picturesqueness, creativity, & economy. Differences between the registers are found in the functional & communicative-situational domains; the wide social outreach of advertising contrasts with the social exclusivity of youth communication, & the protest potential of youth language is eschewed by market-bound advertising writers, as is its provocative & often vulgar style. Youth language, on the other hand, rejects the nominal style of advertising. Despite the prestige of youth language & the commonalities described above, scarcely 10% of the advertising data from youth publications contain terms typical of the youth register. (LLBA, (c) CSA [1995]. All rights reserved)