Language and advertising

Advertising represents a specific form of communication. It wants to establish contact between producers and consumers. Like every type of communication, it too has a long history. Politicians or taverns were advertised as far back as the ancient times. The language of advertising uses specific elements of rhetoric. Because it has a goal, and is therefore a planned communication. We as consumers should be made aware; our interests have to be roused. However, above all we need to want the product and buy it. The language of advertising is typically very simple as a result. Only a few words and simple slogans are used. In this way our memory should be able to retain the content well. Certain types of words like adjectives and superlatives are common. They describe the product as especially beneficial. As a result, advertising language is usually very positive. Interestingly, advertising language is always influenced by culture. That is to say, the advertising language tells us a lot about societies. Today, terms like "beauty" and "youth" dominate in many countries. The words "future" and "safety" also appear often. Especially in western societies, English is popular. English is considered modern and international. For this reason it works well with technical products. Elements from Romance languages stand for indulgence and passion. It is popularly used for food or cosmetics. Those who use dialect want to emphasize values like homeland and tradition. Names of products are often neologisms, or newly created words. They typically have no meaning, just a pleasant sound. But some product names can really make a career! The name of a vacuum has even become a verb – to hoover!

Guess the language!

Dutch is a member of the West Germanic language family. That means that it is related to German and English. Dutch is the native language of about 25 million people. The majority of those people live in the Netherlands and Belgium. Dutch is also spoken in Indonesia and Suriname. This is due to the fact that the Netherlands used to be a colonial power. As a result, Dutch also formed the basis for several Creole languages. Even Afrikaans, spoken in South Africa, originated from Dutch.

It is the youngest member of the Germanic language family. Dutch is distinctive in that it contains many words from other languages. In the past, French had a very large influence on the language. German words are often adopted too. More and more English terms have been included over the past few centuries. As a result, some fear that Dutch will completely disappear in the future.