Semiosis in Visual and Textual Texts of Advertising Billboards :A Functional Approach

Authors
F. Kazemi 1
B. Birunrah 2
1 Associate Professor of Linguistics, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Linguistics, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
A-14-13568-1
Abstract
The main purpose of present article is studying Tehran billboards based on Halliday’s functionalism regarding social semiotics. Communicative and functional roles are the main roles of language in functional approaches. Advertising billboards are tools trying to communicate and transfer messages to audience. They try to communicate with the audience and convey meaning and message through a variety of multi-layered texts. Each billboard image is sometimes a text that contains different elements such as color, shape, line, and speech, and there are always different linguistic and extralinguistic factors involved in conveying commercial messages. In this paper, an attempt is made to represent the three experiential, interpersonal and textual metafunctions in the image and speech of advertising billboards from the perspective of Halliday’s functional approach and to determine how to convey meaning through semiotic mechanisms. Therefore, in order to accomplish the objectives of the paper (representing the metafunctions in images and speeches of billboards),the topics of social semiotics, semiotics of images, metaphor, action and tension processes of discourse are also discussed to explain how to convey meaning through verbal and visual signs.

The main assumption is that advertisers have been able to convey and express meaning through words and images by using theoretical mechanisms and metafunctions of Halliday’s functional grammar and its connection with the field of special discourse. Therefore, in order to conduct the research, during a simple random sampling with a free subject, billboards in Tehran were photographed and then the research data were analyzed by analytical research methodology. Billboards containing visual and textual texts have

been analaysed in accordance with theoretical mechanism of systematic grammer in terms of ideational, interpersonal, textual metafunctions and semiotics to achieve semiosis methods.

Findings confirmed the desirable performance of this functional theory in the field of advetising billboards. Results of this study indicates that Halliday functional approach with its sociological semiotic features is an ideal model for achieving and gaining means of expressing meaning and can well be the basis of classifying, analyzing and explaining words as well as image. In these billboards textual texts have informative function and visual texts have expressives function.The current article shows that interpretation of meaning is done in different methods in multi-layer texts of billboards and the manifestation and embodiment of mentioned metafunctions are indicative of the fact that each advertising billboard is in fact a unitary and integrated text and the coherence resulted from aggregation of verbal and visual layers, provides a suitable basis for the semiosis of the various concepts and transmission of it to the audience.

Keywords

Subjects

• Afrashi, A. (2002). Reflective Semantics, a New Hypothesis in Cognition and Explanation of the Meaning. PhD Dissertation in Linguistics. Allameh Tabatabaei University: Tehran. [In Persian].
• Babak Moein, M. (2006). “Semiotics and advertisements”. Journal of the Academy of Arts. No. 1. Pp: 93-103. [In Persian].
• Babak Moein, M. (2013). “The Dual Role of the Urban Elements and Spaces in - Advertising Discourse”. A Meeting about the Representation of Urban Spaces in Art and Literature, Iranian Artists Forum, Retrieved 1 November 2017 from World Wide Web: http://www.academyhonar.com/research/1389-04-31-14-09-19/1832-cityrepresentation.html .[ In Persian].
• Fries, P. H.(1981).On the Status of Theme in English: Arguments from Discourse. Forum texts. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlage.
• Halliday, M. A. K. & Matthiessen C.I.M. (2004).An Introduction to Functional Grammar.3rd Edition. London: Edward Arnold.
• Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
• Kazemi, F. (2014) “The role of systemic linguistics in academic textbooks (the study of the book general biochemistry)”. Journal of University Textbooks Research and Writing, Eighteenth year, No. 34. Pp: 1-27. [In Persian].
• Kim, M. (2007).“Discourse features and marketing strategy in American magazine advertising”.Department of Linguistics.Indiana University, Bloomington.Pp:95-102.
• Kress, G. & Theo Van Leewen, (2006).Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London/New York: Routlege, Taylor & Francis Group, 2nd ed.
• Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980).Metaphor We Live By. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• Richards, I.A. (1936).The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Sadeghi, L. (2013). “The blending of words and images in literary texts based on conceptual blending theory”. Language Related Research. No. 3. Pp. 75-103. [In Persian].
• Saleh Bolvardi, A. (2014). “Visual and verbal communications by enunciator or speaker: semiotic study of cultural and educational advertising”. Language Related Research. No. 4. Pp: 67-86. [In Persian].
• Samsam Shariat, M. R.et. al. (2008), “Factors between ordinary people and advertising Specialists point of views in commercial advertisements”. Knowledge and Research in Applied Psychology. No. 32. Pp: 90-120. [In Persian].
• Sedghi, M. (2004). “Relationship between variations of Point of view and modification of message in visual arts”. Beautiful Arts. No. 46. Pp: 5-14 [In Persian].
• Shahrokhi Shahraki, M. (2006). The Study of Child Poetry from Halliday Functional Linguistics Point of View. M. A. Thesis on Linguistics. Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. [In Persian].
• Shairi, H.R. (1997). “Visual Semiosis: Reread a work”. Modarres Humanities. No. 3. Pp. 78-85. [In Persian].
• Shairi, H.R. (2004). “Towards a semiolinguistic study of picture. Art and Architecture”. Binab (Sooreh Mehr), No. 5 & 6. Pp: 162-167. [In Persian].
• Shairi, H.R. (2013). Visual Semiotics: Theory and Artistic Discourse Analysis. 1 th, Tehran: Sokhan Publication. [In Persian].
• Shairi, H.R. (2016). Semiotic Analysis of Discourse . Tehran: Samt. [In Persian].
• Shamisa, S. (1994). Expression. Tehran: Mitra Publication, [In Persian].
• Sojoodi, F. (2001). Structuralism, Post Structuralism & Literary Studies. Tehran: Hozeh Honari, Sooreh Mehr [In Persian].
• Soltani, A. (2006). Power, Discourse and Language: Mechanisms of Power in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran: Ney Publication [In Persian].
• Taj, M. (2002). A Corpus-based Approach to Cognitive Metaphors in Persian. M. A. Thesis on Linguistics. Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran. [In Persian].
• Wang, L. (2007).”Theme and rheme in the thematic organization of text: implication for teaching academic writing”,Asian EFL Journal.
• Yousefi Rad, F. (2003). A Cognitive Semantic Approach to Metaphors in Persian Language. M. A. Thesis on Linguistics. Tarbiat Modares University: Tehran. [In Persian].
• Zeimaran, M. (2004). An Introduction to Semiotics of Art. Tehran: Ghese Publication. [In Persian].
Language Related Research
Volume 11, Issue 3 - Serial Number 57
July and August 2020
Pages 1-29