摘要

歧义是一种特殊的语言现象，同时也是一种普遍的语言现象，它存在于任何一种语言当中。歧义能够使语言文字具有两种或多种不同的意义，或有两种或几种可能的解释。广告商利用语言的歧义这一特性，广泛地将歧义运用于广告语当中，从而达到吸引消费者眼球，推广商品从而获取更高的利润的目的。与此同时，这些广告也具有很强的艺术性和幽默感，推动大众对语言的欣赏。由此可见，广告也是一门艺术。尽管歧义有消极的一面，我们也不能够否认它的积极作用。本文试从歧义的定义、歧义产生的原因以及歧义在汉英广告语中的表现等方面来分析歧义在英汉广告语中的作用机制及其重要性，以及充实英汉广告语歧义研究的理论基础，从理论角度为翻译等实践活动提供依据，促进英汉广告语的跨文化理解与交际。

关键词：歧义；英汉广告语；作用机制
 
Abstract

As a specific and universal linguistic phenomenon, ambiguity exists in each kind of language. Ambiguity makes a word have more than two different meanings or explanations. Due to the character of ambiguity, advertisers apply it into advertisements generally to attract consumers and popularize their commodity for higher profits. At the same time, these advertisements possess strong qualities of artistry and humor which promote popular appreciation of language. It shows that advertisement is a kind of artistry. Although there are some negative aspects of ambiguity, we cannot deny its positive effects. This paper tries to analyze the mechanism of action and importance of ambiguity in Chinese and English advertisements from the aspects of its definition, reasons and expression. We are looking forward to that this paper can make contributions to theoretical researches of ambiguity in Chinese and English advertisements, and provide theoretical foundation for practical activities as translations, to improve the cross-cultural understanding and communication of Chinese and English advertisements.

Key words: ambiguity; Chinese and English advertisements; mechanism of action
 
1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose of This Thesis
Ambiguity is a common phenomenon in the English language. The people with different social and cultural backgrounds have different linguistic practices. That means the same word or sentence has different meaning in different social and cultural backgrounds. This caused the phenomenon of ambiguity.
As an attractive and humorous marketing device, ambiguity is widely used in both Chinese and English advertisements for several decades of years. Moreover, due to the distinctions of languages and cultures of different nations, Chinese and English advertisements present their special peculiarities which are tightly connected to their own cultural backgrounds. So, the difference of ambiguity in Chinese and English advertisements still exists. However, as a result of the economic globalization, the relevance of ambiguity in Chinese and English advertisements expands.
Based on peculiarities of Chinese and English advertisements, this thesis generalizes a simply research about ambiguity, summarizes their relevance and comparison and sum up their two mechanisms of action.