an investigation into morphopogical and syntactic features in electronic device advertisements in english = nghiên cứu đặc điểm hình thái và cú pháp trong quảng cáo các thiết bị điện tử

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES





ĐỖ THỊ THU



AN INVESTIGATION INTO MORPHOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC FEATURES
IN ELECTRONIC DEVICE ADVERTISEMENTS IN ENGLISH (WITH
REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE)

Nghiên cứu đặc điểm hình thái và cú pháp trong các quảng cáo thiết bị
điện tử bằng tiếng Anh (có sự so sánh với quảng cáo bằng tiếng Việt)



M.A. Minor Programme Thesis



Field: English linguistics
Code: 602215

Hanoi, 2009




VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES





ĐỖ THỊ THU



AN INVESTIGATION INTO MORPHOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC
FEATURES IN ELECTRONIC DEVICE ADVERTISEMENTS IN

ENGLISH (WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE)
Nghiên cứu đặc điểm hình thái và cú pháp trong các quảng cáo thiết bị điện tử
bằng tiếng Anh (có sự so sánh với với quảng cáo bằng tiếng Việt


M.A. Programme Minor Thesis




Field: English linguistics
Code: 602215
Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr. VÕ ĐẠI QUANG







Hanoi, 2009



iv

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale

2. Aims of the study
3. Scope of the study
4. Design of the study
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background
1.1. An Overview of Morphology
1.1.1. Some basic concepts
1.1.2. Inflection, derivation and compounding
1.1.2.1. Inflection
1.1.2.2. Derivation
1.1.2.3. Compounding
1.2. An Overview of Syntax
1.2.1. Some basic concepts
1.2.2. Types of sentences
1.2.3. Voice, Tense and Mood
1.3. Advertising
1.3.1. Definition of Advertising
1.3.2. Classification of Advertising
1.3.3. Functions of Advertising
1.4. Electronic device
1.5. Summary
Chapter 2: Methodology
2.1. Research Questions
2.2. Methods
2.3. Data
2.4. Data analysis
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions
3.1 Morphological and Syntactic Features of Electronic Device
Advertisements in English
3.1.1. Morphological Features

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3.1.1. 1. Inflection
3.1.1.2. Derivation
3.1.1.3. Compounding
3.1.2. Syntactic Features
3.1.2.1. Types of sentences
3.1.2.2. Voice, Tense and Mood
3.2. Some Similarities and Differences in Morphological and Syntactic
Features between English and Vietnamese Electronic Device Advertisements
3.2.1. Morphological Features
3.2.2. Syntactic Features
3.3. Summary
PART III: CONCLUSION
1. Concluding remarks
2. Implications from the study results
3. Suggestions for further researches
REFERENCES
APPENDIX


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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Suffix –s/-e/-eds of verbs in selected English adverts
Table 2: Summary of the derivational suffixes in selected English adverts
Table 3: Summary of the derivational suffixes of adjectives in selected English adverts
Table 4: Formation of compound words in selected English adverts
Table 5: Percentage of types of sentences in selected adverts
Table 6: Frequency of sentences which include “can”, “will” in selected English adverts
Table 7: Some common derivational affixes in selected Vietnamese adverts
Table 8: Percentage of types of sentences in selected Vietnamese adverts


1
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, with the development of technology and mass media, advertising has
influenced our life strongly. Advertisement as a means of representation has been so
frequently used that they become the part of present daily life. As Angela Goddard (1998:5)
commented ―advertising is all around us‖, they can be seen everywhere, on television, on
newspapers, on posts along streets, or on the Internet. Advertising provides a valuable
service to society and its members, because it defines for consumers the meaning and the
role of products, services, and institutions. It indicates the difference that exists between
brands of products and alternative services, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of
companies and institutions. Advertising also tells the consumer what a specific product,
brand or service should do when it is used and thus helps him or her to understand and the
products and services that he or she uses.
Various forms are used in advertisements, and advertisers pay much attention to
expressive devices as plates, colors or layout of printed pages, however, language is the
main carrier of message all along, as Vestergaard & Schroder say in The Language of
Advertising (1985), ―Advertising takes many forms, but in most of them language is of
crucial importance.‖ Language has become a very efficient element in connection with

other aids to appeal the consumption of the readers. In the practice of the advertising,
advertisers normally pay more attention to the use of words or types of sentences to make
the advertisements more vivid, persuasive and reliable, and then to stimulate the desire to
buy and use advertised products.
Furthermore, in the era of new technology development, electronic devices are
products that make our life more relaxing and comfortable. As electronic device products
such as television, computer, mobile phone, etc., have become the most important things in
our daily life, it seems to be very difficult for us to manage our life without them.
Everyday we see hundreds of electronic device advertisements on TV, newspaper or
Internet. Language used in electronic device advertisements has become more and more
familiar through different means of mass media. The language used in electronic device
advertisements has some typical features that make it different from the language used in
other products‘ adverts.
As a result, this study will mainly focus on the language of electronic device
advertising. It will describe some features of the language used in advertisements of
electronic devices in English and then find out some similarities and differences between

2
English and Vietnamese language used in electronic device advertisements. However, this
study does not desire to describe all the language characteristics of electronic device
advertisements in English and Vietnamese, it only focuses on morphological and syntactic
features which are considered as the most typical features in advertising language to create
the success of products.
2. Aims of the study
This thesis aims at answering the research questions:
- What are the most typical features of morphology and syntax in English
advertisements of electronic devices?
- To what extent are the identified morphological and syntactic features similar and
different between English and Vietnamese advertisements of electronic devices?
- What suggestions should be made for advertisers, translators, learners of ESL

from morphological and syntactic features of electronic device advertisements?
3. Scope of the study
Due to the limitation of time and with the limited scope of MA thesis, this study
does not cover all aspects of the language of advertising as well as all language
characteristics of electronic device advertisements. This study deals with some features of
English and Vietnamese electronic device product advertisements based on morphology
and syntax.
For analyzing morphological and syntactic features of advertising language in this
study, pieces of electronic device product advertisements are not selected from all kinds of
media but from some common magazines and famous websites. The study focuses on the
description, analysis and comparison of 40 advertisements in both languages, English and
Vietnamese.
4. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three main parts. In INTRODUCTION PART, the rationale,
aims of the study, scope of the study, and design of the study are presented so that readers
can have the general view of the thesis. There are three chapters in the DEVELOPMENT
part. Chapter 1 deals with theoretical background on morphology, syntax, advertising and
electronic device products. Chapter 2 comprises the methods of the study, data collection,
data analysis. Chapter 3, the backbone of the thesis, shows the findings and discussion.
This chapter mainly presents some morphological and syntactic features of electronic
device advertisements in English and describes some similarities and differences in
morphological and syntactic features between English and Vietnamese electronic device

3
advertisements. The CONCLUSION part presents some concluding marks, some
implications for advertisers, translators, learners of ESL, and suggestions for further
researches.

DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Various concepts and theoretical background in the field of morphology, syntax
and advertising language are required for understanding and analyses of morphological and
syntactic features of electronic device advertisements. Therefore, this chapter will deal
with the basis concepts and ideas to set the theoretical background for analyses which will
be carried out later in this study.

4

There are different definitions of and discussion on some basic concepts of
morphology and syntax from various linguistics authors, however, the most significant
publications on which this study is based are Carstairs-McCarthy (2002) for morphology
angle, and Miller, J (2000) for syntax angle. Their books give a comprehensive account on
English morphology and syntax based on different large-scale linguistic books. The
comprehensiveness of the description of English morphology and syntax in these books
and the fact that they can help the author of this study get the final findings of typical
morphological and syntactic features of electronic device advertisements are the main
factors which account for the heavy reference of these books in this study.
1.1. An Overview of Morphology
1.1.1. Some basic concepts
As defined by Fromkin (2000), ―morphology is the study of words and their
structure‖. Words are meaningful linguistic units that can be combined to form phrases or
sentences. Words are not the smallest units of meaning. They may be simple or complex.
Fromkin (2000) also gives an example of a word carefully. This word form can be
segmented into the smallest constituent elements: care-ful-ly. Or the word schoolmaster
includes two smaller words, school and master. Each of the words in this compound and
the other smaller word parts which cannot be divided into even smaller parts is called
morpheme. Bauer (1983) defines ―a morpheme may be defined as the minimal unit of
grammatical unit.‖ It cannot be divided without altering or destroying its meaning. Some
words consist of more than one morpheme. For example, the word unkind consists of two
morphemes: the stem kind and the negative prefix un
Similarly to the other authors, Carstairs-McCarthy (2002:21) divides morphological
units into two categories: free and bound morpheme. When a morpheme stands on its own
in an appropriate context and constitutes an utterance by itself, it is termed as ―free‖. And
when a morpheme cannot stand in isolation, it is ―bound‖. For example, care in carefully
can stand alone, but –ful and –ly cannot stand alone in appropriate context.
Both Bauer (1983) and Carstairs-McCarthy (2002) agreed that English words
contain morphemes of different types: root-morphemes and affixational morphemes. In
the words valuable, invaluable or valueless, the root valu(e) remains and cannot be

analyzed any further after removing all such other affixes as –able, in- and –less. The root
morpheme is the primary element of the word, conveys its essential lexical meaning and
contains tangible meaning. Affixational morphemes or affixes are inflectional or
derivational morphs added to the roots. Carstairs-McCarthy (2002:20) also defines that

5
―those affixes that precede the root (like en- in enlarge) are called prefixes, while those
that follow it are called suffixes (like –ance in performance, -ness in whiteness)‖.
1.1.2. Inflection, derivation and compounding
In terms of word formation, morphology has three main subdivisions, namely
inflection, derivation and compounding. Inflection deals with patterns of word structure
that are determined by the role of words in sentences. Derivation created new words with
different meanings. Compounding is the combination of nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs
or prepositions to form complex words. The definitions, classification and examples in the
following sections are adapted from the description of these three main processes of word
formation by Carstairs-McCarthy (2002). This description is supplemented with other
consideration from the literature.
1.1.2.1. Inflection
According to Carstairs-McCarthy (2002:30), inflection deals with the inflected
forms of words, it is the kind of variation that words exhibit on the basis of their
grammatical context. Inflection is viewed as the process of adding very general meanings
to existing words, not as the creation of new words. There are eight productive inflectional
affixes (suffixes) in English.
Noun: Number -s/-es book/books, watch/watches
Genitive case -‗s/-‗ the man‘s bicycle
Verb: 3
rd
person singular present -s/-es give/gives, go/goes
past tense -ed learn/learned, paint/painted
perfect aspect -ed paint/painted, play/played

progressive aspect -ing give/giving, write/writing
Adjectives: comparative -er green/greener, happy/happier
Superlative -est green/greenest, good/best
(adapted from Carstairs-McCarthy (2002: 42))
1.1.2.2. Derivation
Derivation is the process by which affixes combine with roots to create new words
(e.g. in 'modern-ize', 'read-er', '-ize' and '-er' are derivational suffixes). Derivation is
viewed as using existing words to make new words. Derivation is concerned with one kind
of relationship between lexemes (Carstairs-McCarthy, 2002: 44). Affixed can change the
word meaning (for example, prefix –un in unreliable) or the word class (for example,
suffix –ity, in electric-ity, changes adjective into noun).

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According to Carstairs-McCarthy (2002), there are a number of prefixes and
suffixes to build up new words. For example, a noun can be built from other nouns by
adding suffixes: -let (droplet), -ess (waitress), -ine (heroine), -er (Londoner), -ian
(American), -ship (kinship), -hood (motherhood), etc. A noun can also be derived from
members of other word classes, such as from adjectives (-ity in purity, -ness in goodness
or –ism in radicalism…) or from verbs (-ance in performance, -ment in development, -ing
in painting….). An adjective is derived from other adjectives (-un in uneatable, -il in
illegal…), or from members of other word classes (-able in breakable, -ent in
dependent…). A verb is also built up from other verbs (re- in repaint, un- in untie, en- in
enrich…) or from members of other word classes (de- in debug, -ise in organise).
1.1.2.3. Compounding
Carstairs-McCarthy (2002:59) states that while inflection and derivation are the
ways to form words from other words, mainly by means of affixes, compounding is the
way to form words by combining roots. A compound word is a word that is formed from
two or more simple or complex words (e.g. greenhouse, blackboard, silkworm).
There are some common compounding patterns:
Word classes

Formation
Examples
Compound verb
Verb-Verb
stir-fry
Noun-Verb
Hand-wash
Adjective-Verb
dry-clean
Preposition-Verb
underestimate.
Compound adjectives
Noun-Adjective
sky-high
Adjective-Adjective
grey-green
Preposition-Adjective
under-full
Compound nouns
Verb-Noun
swear-word
Noun-Noun
hair-net
Adjective-Noun
Black-board
Preposition-Noun
in-group
( adapted from Carstairs-McCarthy (2002:60))
1.2. An Overview of Syntax
1.2.1. Some basic concepts

Grammar is traditionally categorized into morphology and syntax. While
morphology is the grammar of words and the form of word, syntax is the grammar of

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sentences and is connected with the way that sentences are built. Miller (2000) defines:
―syntax has to do with how words are put together to build phrases, with how phrases are
put together to build clauses or bigger phrases, and with how clauses are put together to
build sentences‖. In other words, syntax is the study of the relationships between linguistic
forms, how they are arranged in sequence, and which sequences are well-formed.
Words in English fall into a number of word classes - nouns, verbs, adjectives and
so on. Word classes were traditionally defined by what they denoted – people, places and
things (nouns), actions (verbs) and properties (adjectives). Words are grouped into phrases,
which consist of a word called a head and other words (modifiers) which are said to
modify the head. In the large dog, the word dog is the head and the and large are its
modifiers. In barked loudly, the word barked is the head and loudly the modifier.
According to Miller, J (2000: 5), another unit of syntax is the clause which enables
us to talk coherently about the relationships between verbs and different types of phrase.
An ideal clause contains a phrase referring to an action or state, a phrase or phrases
referring to the people and things involved in the action or state, and possibly phrases
referring time and place. For example, in clause My mother bought a present, the phrase
my mother refers to the buyer, bought refers to the action and a present refers to the what
was bought.
1.2.2. Types of sentences
While words are the smallest units of syntax, sentences are the largest ones. A
sentence is the basic unit of language that expresses a complete thought by following the
grammatical rules of syntax. A real sentence has at least (a minimum of) a subject and a
main verb to state (declare) a complete thought. In English, a simple sentence (containing
a single, independent clause) with a verb (an action), subject (who or what is doing the
action), and an object (who or what the action is done to) is written in a Subject-Verb-
Object word order. For example, in the sentence "Robert opens the door", Robert is the

subject, opens is the verb and the door is the object.
Miller, J (2000: 62) states that simple sentences in English consist of a single main
clause, but many consist of several clauses. Depending on what types of clause are
combined, two types of multi-clause sentence are distinguished. Compound sentences
consist of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction. The most
common coordinating conjunctions are: and, or, but, so. For example:
Henry Crawford loved Fanny but Fanny loved Ed.

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The next type of multi-clause sentence is complex sentence which consists of a
main clause and one or more other clauses subordinate it. That is, one clause, the main
clause is preeminent in a complex sentence and the other clauses, the subordinate clauses,
are subject to certain limitation. There are some types of subordinate clauses: noun clause
(modifying verbs), adjective clause (modifying nouns) and adverbial clause (modifying
whole main clauses). For example:
Elizabeth regretted that she had met Wicham. (noun clause)
The building that we liked is in Thornton Lacey. (adjective clause)
When Fanny returned, she found Tom Bettram very ill. (adverbial clause)
(Miller, Jim: 2000)
Talbut Onions, Charles et al (1971:2) also gives another type of sentences, that is
elliptical sentence or ellipsis. Elliptical sentences lack one or some parts that are ideally
necessary to full form of a sentence as defined above. Elliptical sentences play a great part
in English as well as in other languages. They are common in all styles of speaking and
writing, they give precision and brevity, save time and troubles. For example, in the
sentence, The house to be lent or sold, the verb ―is‖ is omitted. Ellipsis is most commonly
used to avoid repetition. Another important reason for ellipsis is that by omitting share
items attention is focused on new material. For example:
A: Have you spoken to him? B: ( I have) Not yet (spoken to him).
1.2.3. Voice, Tense and Mood
The category of voice has to do with the different constructions available for taking

an event or state and presenting it from different perspective. Voice relates to situation, not
to time but to which participants in a situation are presented to the hearer/reader and which
participants are presented as central. There are two types of voice: active and passive.
Miller, J (2000:151) gives us two examples of voice:
(a) Emma and Harriet were attacked yesterday (by those ruffians).
(b) Those ruffians attacked Emma and Harriet yesterday.
Example (a) is an instance of a passive voice clause which mentions mainly the
patient and possibly omits the agent of action, while example (b) is an instance of an active
voice clause which focuses on agent of action. The active voice order agent-action-theme
seems to be the most common order for English speakers. Passive voice verbs begin with
the copular verb be, which is followed by the main verb in its past participle form (e.g.,
eaten, attacked, sung). In passive voice clauses, it is not necessary to specify the agent. The
by prepositional phrase containing the agent can be omitted, as the parentheses around it

9
indicate. After copular verb be and main verb, passive voice clauses can be followed by by
prepositional phrase or an embedded sentence as the following examples:
The Committee was astonished that the president was willing to nominate such
poorly qualified judges.
While voice relates to situation, mainly to the participants in situation, tense is the
grammatical marking on verb that usually indicates time reference relative to either the
time of speaking or the time at which some other situation was in force. Also, according to
Miller, Jim (2000:148) there are two types of tense: present and past tense. In fact, future
tense is controversial because it is achieved by verbs will or go combined with other verbs
whereas speakers refer to present and past time by means of a single verb. Present and past
tense both formed from verbs stems plus suffixes –s and –ed.
Mood of a verb or verb phrase indicates your attitude toward a statement as you
make it. As Quirk, R et al (1973:40), stated, mood ―relates the verbal action to such
condition as certainty, obligation, necessity, possibility.‖ In classification of Miller, Jim
(2000), there are three types of mood in English: indicative, imperative and subjunctive.

The indicative mood is for statements of actuality or strong probability, for example, a cat
sits on the stove. Most sentences in English are in the indicative mood. It simply states a
fact of some sort, or describes what happens, or gives details about reality. The imperative
mood is for commands and requests made directly: "Give me back my money." One marker
of the imperative is that frequently the subject does not appear in the sentence, but is only
implied: "(You) Give me back my money." Another, rarer mood is the subjunctive mood
which indicates a hypothetical state, a state contrary to reality, such as a wish, a desire, or
an imaginary situation. It is most often found in a clause beginning with the word if. It is
also found in clauses following a verb that expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request,
demand, or proposal. The subjunctive mood can be expressed by using one of the modal
auxiliaries which include can, could, may, might, will, etc. For example, she
could/may/might be in the library.
In fact, voice, tense and mood are not only parts of English syntax, but also belong
to the morphological features of verbs. Therefore, voice, tense and mood, in this thesis, are
taken into consideration in the light of morpho-syntax. Morpho-syntax is the study of
grammatical categories or linguistic units that have both morphological and syntactic
properties. Voice, tense and mood of verbs have features of inflection morphology, that is
with or without inflectional suffix –s/-es/ed, and they also shows how verbs and other word
classes are put together to build clauses.

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1.3. Advertising
1.3.1. Definition of Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade
potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or
service. The term ―advertising‖ originates from a Latin word "advertere", which means to
warn, or to call attention to something. Modern advertising with the meaning ―to spread
commercial information‖ developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and
early 20th century.
Advertising is aimed to influence consumers‘ behavior, stimulated them towards

action such as sales promotion, high purchase, special offer. Since it has different purposes,
advertising can be defined in different ways. Bovee (1992: 7) defines "Advertising is the
nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in
nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various
media." In his book "The Advertising Controversy", Mark Albion defines advertising as
"any paid form of non-personal representation and promotion of ideas, goods or services
by an identified sponsor".
Basing upon the above definitions, we might summarize the features of advertising
as follows: Advertising is to tell about or praise products, services, ideas, etc. publicly, not
personally; Advertising draws support from mass media, such as, newspaper, handbills,
radio, TV and internet, etc; The aims of advertising are to increase the sales of the
product/service, to create and maintain a brand identity or brand image, to communicate
change in the existing product line, or to introduce a new product or service, advertising
can take a lot of different forms to attract customers\' interests.
1.3.2. Classification of Advertising
Advertisements are developed for various purposes, mainly for promoting the sale
of commercial products, directed to different target audiences and transmitted through
various media. According to American Marketing Association, advertisements can be
classified into different groups according to different criteria: by aim, by target audience
and by medium.
Based on the classification by aim, advertisements are mainly developed for
promoting the sale of commercial products. However, there are also advertisements for a
variety of other purposes, such as, asking for service or help, or non-profit-making
governmental advertisements or charity advertisements. So depending on the aim,
advertisements can be mainly divided into two types: commercial (short-term promotion

11
and long-term promotion) and non-commercial advertisements (awareness advertisements,
public relations advertisements, political advertisements, etc.). Different aims will bring
different audience to advertisements.

Based on the classification by target audience, advertisements can be divided into
consumer advertisements, business advertisements, and service advertisements.
In term of the classification by medium, English advertisements may be classified
into two main parts: printed advertisements (newspaper advertisements, magazine
advertisements, and etc.) and non-printed advertisements (television advertisements, radio
advertisements, and etc.). Different kinds of advertisements have their special advantages
and disadvantages. For example, the non-printed advertisements have many a strong point
that the printed ones don't have because they can be screened quickly and widely, and they
can combine picture, music and color together or some of them together to make excellent
sensuous.
1.3.3. Functions of Advertising
Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may achieve this
objective in many different ways. Henderson, Steuart (1994) in Marketing Manager’s
Handbook points out that an advertisement should have four functions: AIDA, which
represent four words—Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
(1). Attention—a good advertisement should attract the consumer to direct their
attention to the product of it. This function is also considered as the identification function,
that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from others; this creates an awareness of
the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other
products.
(2). Interest—the introduction and publicity of an advertisement should arouse
consumers‘ great interest. This function can help establishing an interpersonal relationship
between producer or advertiser and the consumer. This aims at creating a trust or good-will
to customers, which helps the acceptance of product and consumer image.
(3). Desire—the publicity of advertising should stimulate consumers‘ desire to buy
the product, and make them realize that this product is just what they want. This is also
considered as persuasion function which is to induce consumers to try new products and to
suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses.
(4). Action—the advertising makes consumer to response to the advertising
information and evoke them to take the action of purchasing.

1.4. Electronic device

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According to Babylon dictionary, electronic device is a device that accomplishes its
purpose electronically. Electronics is the study of the flow of charge through various
materials and devices such as, semiconductors, resistors, inductors, nano-structures, and
vacuum tubes. Electronic devices are used to solve practical problems is an essential
technique in the fields of electronic engineering and computer engineering.
With the above functions, a number of various products of electronic device are
used and advertised in different kinds of media to attract the customers. 40 electronic
device products which are used in advertisements to be analysed in this study are mainly
components of computer, PDA, mobile phones, answering machine, printers, scanners or
vacuum tubes.
1.5. Summary
This chapter has given the theoretical background on morphology, syntax,
advertising and electronic device products. This will be the base for the author to analyze
the most typical features on morphology and syntax of English and Vietnamese
advertisements of electronic device.

13






CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the research question will be raised in 2.1, the methods of the study
will be shown in 2.2, the data will be described in 2.3, and data analysis will be presented
in 2.4.
2.1. Research Questions
Three research questions which are restated in this thesis are:
- What are the most typical features of morphology and syntax in English
advertisements of electronic devices?
- To what extent are the identified morphological and syntactic features similar and
different between English and Vietnamese advertisements of electronic devices?
- What suggestions should be made for advertisers, translators, learners of ESL
from morphological and syntactic features of electronic device advertisements?
2.2. Methods
In order to reach the final aims of this study, the following methods have been used:
Deductive and inductive methods: the principal method is used in the current thesis
is deduction. Being motivated by theories of morphology, syntax, the author makes some

descriptions and interpretation of English advertisements of electronic devices which are
inescapably grounded in the works of some prominent authors and their contribution to the
literature. However, the final goal of this thesis is to find out the most typical features of
morphology and syntax of advertisements not previously described, induction is essentially
used to support deductive method. By means of induction, we arrive at generalizations of
reoccurring patterns, explanation and form questions for further research.
Descriptive and comparative methods: in order to provide in-depth and detailed
description of electronic device advertisements, the study is obviously descriptive in nature.
The major language analyzed in this thesis is English, and contrastive language is
Vietnamese. The method of making a contrastive analysis is also used to clarify the
similarities and differences in morphological and syntactic features between English and

14
Vietnamese electronic device advertisements. The findings from these methods can help
the author give some useful implications, and some suggestions for further researches.
Qualitative and quantitative methods: in order to describe characteristics of English
and Vietnamese electronic device advertisements in terms of morphology and syntax, this
study is carried out by the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative
method helps the study approach the advertising samples. Qualitative analysis allows the
author to study the individual advertisement texts closely, and then find out general
features of these advertisements. After the qualitative analysis, the data is also gathered
and analyzed by quantitative method which is useful to avoid a subjective over-reliance
during the study.
2.3. Data
English and Vietnamese Magazines namely Người Tiêu Dùng (The Consumers)
(published by VINASTAS), Thế Giới Số (Digital World) (published by Truong Phat
Company), PC World (published by IDG), Electronic Product World (published by Hearst
publication) and websites such as www.sony.com, www.toshiba.com,
are chosen as the sources of my data because of their
prestige to the readers in English speaking countries, in Vietnam and all over the world.

There are hundreds of electronic products are advertised on these magazines and websites,
I have randomly chosen 40 samples (20 of English and 20 of Vietnamese) to analyze.
Among my 40 samples, to get the exact and the best data, I have also randomly chosen 35
texts of medium length (from five to twenty sentences) and 5 texts of lengthy length (more
than twenty sentences). These 40 samples are to be investigated from a cross-linguistic
perspective to study the morphological and syntactic features in advertisements of two
languages.
2.4. Data analysis
As mentioned above, this study is carried out by the combination of qualitative and
quantitative methods. The samples were mainly analyzed through mechanical techniques
rely on counting words, phrases, or coincidences of tokens within the data. These
techniques can help the author scan and sort large sets of qualitative data. Descriptive
statistics then are used to quantitatively summarize the advertisement sample sets and
describe the main morphological and syntactic features of these sets.




15



CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Morphological and Syntactic Features of Electronic Device Advertisements in
English
3.1.1. Morphological Features
This part will focus mainly on the outstanding morphological characteristics of
electronic device advertisements, particularly inflection, derivation and compounding
3.1.1.1. Inflection
Inflection is a grammatical phenomenon which helps characterize an academic text

in general, and a specialized text in particular. In ten collected pieces of electronic device
advertisement in English, suffixes –s/es (after verbs for singular subject), and –er/est (after
adjectives to make comparative and superlative forms) are the prominent features which
distinguishes language of electronic device advertisement from general languages.
Inflectional suffix –s/es/ed after verbs
According to Carstairs-McCarthy (2002), adding –s/es after verb is to form present
simple tense for singular subjects, adding –ed is to form past tense or passive voice.
Among 20 selected English advertisements, there are 272 verbs which are used in simple
and complex sentences. The following table shows the number of suffix –s/es/ed of main
verbs in simple and complex sentences in collected English advertisements. :

Suffix
Number of suffixes of
main verbs in simple and
complex sentences
Percentage of suffixes –s/-es/-ed
of main verbs in simple and
complex sentences
–s/-es
93
34%
-ed
19
7 %
Table 1: Suffix –s/-e/-eds of verbs in selected English advertisements
Beside infinitive verb in elliptical sentences, verbs in simple and complex sentences
in selected advertisements of electronic products are added –s/es to draw the audience‘s
attention about the brand name of products which are repeated in singular forms. This aims

16

at arousing the reader‘s interest on the names of products. Let‘s have a look at some
following examples taken from selected English advertisements of electronic devices:
The ultra-easy SELPHY CP780 features a simpler user and 2.5‖ screen with a
straightforward layout – so anyone can start making prints effortlessly.
[Appendix 1]
When it comes to telecommunications, the Strata® CIX40 IP business
communication system delivers.
[Appendix 2]
MacBook provides a fast 1066MHz frontside bus and 3MB of shared L2 cache, so
you’ll have more than enough horsepower to get the job done.
[Appendix 8]
Inflectional suffix –er/-est after adjectives
One remarkable feature of adjectives in English advertisements of electronic
devices is the frequent use of comparatives and superlatives by adding suffix –er or –est.
Here are some examples:
With its faster Intel processor, faster memory, and larger hard drive, MacBook is a
full-powered, full-featured, do-it-all notebook.
[Appendix 8]
All that and more makes it the best phone you’ll ever use.
Your iPhone gets even better with every new app. Play games. Be more productive.
The iPhone keyboard is software based, so it’s smarter and more adaptable than
the physical keyboards on other phones.
[Appendix 9]
It’s compact enough to take anywhere, which is made even easier with an
optional battery pack.
[Appendix 1]
The adjectives in advertisement help to build a pleasant picture in readers‘ minds
and manage to create a belief in the potential consumer. Comparatives and superlatives
occur to highlight the advantage of a certain product or service. The customers are always
interested in the products which they hear or listen with comparatives or superlatives. By

adding suffixes –er and –est to make adjectives comparative and superlative forms,
advertisements of electronic devices are intended to present the position of their products
in the market in the era of technology development. Using suffix –er/-est can also help

17
customers make a comparison between advertised products and others. Therefore, the final
aim of comparative and superlative form of adjectives is to focus on the quality of the
products advertised, and then to persuade the customer to choose them.
3.1.1.2. Derivation
English advertisement of electronic devices generally exploits a wide range of
derivation (using suffix), in which number and frequency of suffixes are higher than
prefixes, and therefore they are more noticeable than prefixes. The most frequently used
suffixes in collected advertisements are summarised as followed:
Suffix
Meaning
Combinability and
function
Examples in selected ads
- tion


-ity


-ance/ence


-ment

-cy

-ness

-age

- er/or


- ing
state/condition


state/condition


action/result


state/action


state/quality

state/quality

action/result

person/thing

state/action
verb + tion -> N


mainly adj + -ity -> N


verb + -a/ence - > N


verb +- ment -> N


adj + -cy -> N

adj + - ness -> N

mainly V + -age -> N

V + - er/or-> N


V + -ing -> N
availability, scalability,
reliability, functionality….

solution, navigation, distraction,
application…

preference, appearance,
performance, difference

requirement, investment,
equipment

urgency, efficiency, frequency

brightness, preparedness

storage, breakage

player, processor, printer, caller,
filter, converter

handling, scrolling, recording

18

-ful

-en

-less


-al


-able

-ive


-ous

-ize

full of

made of, make

without


relating to


able/can do

causing


full of

to make

mainly V + -ful-> adj

N/adj + -en -> adj/V

N + -less -> adj


mainly V + -al ->adj


V + -able -> adj

V+ -ive-> adj


N + -ous -> adj

mainly adj + -ize-> V

powerful, helpful, colourful

widen, wooden

cordless, wireless, seamless,
effortless

visual, ideal, professional,
optional

adaptable, capable, compatible,

productive, innovative,
responsive,

voluminous,

synchronize, personalize
Table 2: Summary of the derivational suffixes in selected English adverts
Derivation of Nouns
Most of suffixes used in advertisements are to form nouns. These suffixes are
mainly derived from Greek and Latin origins. There are a number of suffixes to build up a
noun in advertisements of electronic products. Nouns are mainly formed from (t/s)ion
which are usually added to Latin verbs ending with –t, representing Latin and French
origin. For example:
When it comes to telecommunications, the Strata® CIX40 IP business
communication system delivers.
Base configuration of 8, 16, or 24 IP channels for IP telephone connections, SIP
trunks, and IP Strata Net multi-system networking.
[Appendix 2]

19
Add to your collection by downloading music and video wirelessly
from the iTunes Store.
[Appendix 9]
The etymological meaning of -(t/s)ion was primarily ‗the state or condition of
being A‘, but in modern English, its commonest meaning is the noun of action, equivalent
to native suffix –ing. Most nouns ending with -(t/s)ion in selected advertisements are
technical words, such as: connection, communication, telecommunication, collection,
resolution, etc.
Other common derivational suffix of nouns in advertisements of electronic products
is –ity, in many case –ility, which means ― state or quality of being A‖. The most frequent
nouns ending with –ity, which are technical words, are capacity, reliability, possibility,
compatibility…This suffix is mainly added after adjectives. For examples:

Scalability means you can expand capacity as your requirements change—without
losing your initial investment.
Because it's from Toshiba, you can count on unsurpassed reliability, audio clarity,
and performance.
[Appendix 2]
Built-in 802.11n wireless capabilities mean you can connect at work-friendly
speeds wherever you are.
[Appendix 8]
Suffixes –a/ence, -ing and –ment, especially –er, adding to verbs are also some
common derivational suffixes to form nouns in collected advertisements. Normally suffix –
er is used to describe a person of an action, but in these advertisements of electronic
products, it mainly means ‗something for an action’. Common technical nouns ended with
–er in these advertisements are printer, player, converter…. Latin suffix –ment means
―state or action‖ and -ance means ―action or result of action‖. Following are examples of
these derivational suffixes taken from advertisements:
If you want an easy, one-stop way to take and print photos, you’ ll love Canon’s
new SELPHY CP780 compact photo printer.
[Appendix 1]

20
Once you register your Walkman MP3 player with Slacker.com, you can choose up
to 3 stations of music.
[Appendix 3]
Easily connects to professional recording mixers and equipment for studio
telephone recording and playback.
[Appendix 10]
Derivation of Adjectives
Adding suffixes –ed and –ing after verbs or nouns are normally two ways to form
adjectives for advertisements. Using these adjectives is an effective way to make
impressive to the readers, because they can help the readers find out a detailed and vivid

description of products. Some other common derivational suffixes added to nouns or verbs
to make adjectives are –al, -full, -ive, ect. They are used to make advertisements more
impressive and persuasive by the way that they create great impact on readers. The
following table show the number of derivational suffixes to form adjectives in selected
advertisements (see Appendix A for the proof):
Suffixes
Frequency in all suffixes
of adjectives
Percentage per total number
suffixes of adjectives (64)
-ed
-ful
-less
-al
-able
-ive
-ous
-ent
-ing
22
8
6
10
2

6
2
2
6
34%

13%
9%
17%
3%
9%
3%
3%
9%