The Concept of Family in Advertising Discourse: Linguistic and Pragmatic Aspects

Abstract

The linguacultural concept of family remains understudied in radio advertising. Advertising is a complex sociocultural phenomenon. Radio advertising lacks visual images: information is provided to the listeners only at the verbal level. The present research featured 800 commercial radio spots with words family, parents, father, mother, child, children, grandparents, and home. The conceptual analysis made it possible to identify the main and additional semantic components, to reveal the value components of the concept, and to consider advertising strategies and tactics. The lexeme of house proved to be the core of the concept; the subfields of family and coziness were the central components. The interpretation field was represented by such lexemes as furniture, gifts / toys, holidays, entertainment, recreation, sports, and car. In radio advertising, the concept discourse appeared to generate new meanings that go beyond its dictionary definitions. The value picture of the world of native Russian speakers highlights the most significant cultural meanings of value dominants, which are represented by the explication of physical, social, and spiritual values.

Keywords

• radio advertising discourse
• conceptual analysis
• linguistic worldview
• values
• text pragmatics
• advertising strategies and tactics