An Analysis of Interpersonal Meaning of Mood in Public Service Advertising Discourse

【Abstract】From the perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar proposed by Halliday， this essay focuses on exploring how the interpersonal meaning is realized through different mood patterns in public service advertising （PSA） discourse. The results show PSA texts aim to present information about significant social issues to readers and demand them to take positive actions accordingly. Based on the data collected， giving information， as explained by Halliday， is primarily expressed via declaratives. The use of interrogatives indicates that the advertiser tries to create an intimate and casual atmosphere with readers and narrow the distance to them. Demanding action is dominantly achieved by imperatives.

【Key words】interpersonal meaning； mood system； public service advertising

Introduction

Abroad， many scholars like Leech （1966） and Cook （1992） have studied advertising English from its features and social functions. At home， the study in advertising discourse （Huang， 2011） and interpersonal meaning of the commercial advertising English （Zhao， 2011） are explored. But only a few study the interpersonal meaning of PSA from the perspective of the mood system. PSA serves as a bridge between the advertiser and audience， indicating the relationship as well as the interaction and negotiation between them. Thus， it is meaningful to study how the advertiser builds relationship with the audience. As for the research data， this study randomly selects six samples from public service advertisements released by Hong Kong Government on the internet. （http：//www.isd.gov.hk/eng/tvapi.htm）

Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework

1.1 Mood

Mood is a common way to fulfill the interpersonal function， expressing the speakers opinion and attitude toward a particular proposition. Mood is composed by subject and finite on the basis of the Systemic Functional Theory （Halliday， 1994）. Different structures can represent different speech functions.

1.2 Speech Role and Mood

Interpersonal meaning is about the meaning of the exchange of speech roles， which is the basis of interaction. The speech roles of the Table 1.1 define four basic speech functions as statement， question， command and offer and their relation can be clearly seen in the table below.

Table 1.1 Speech Function and Typical Mood Structure

（Wang， 2007：16）

Speech Function Typical Mood in clause

Statement Declarative Mood

Question Interrogative Mood

Command Imperative Mood

Offer Modulated Imperative Mood

Chapter 2 Interpersonal Meaning of Mood System

2.1 Realization of Mood through Different Mood Patterns in PSA

The following table presents the frequencies of three mood choices based on six examples collected. Declarative mood accounts for the largest percentage， followed by imperative mood and interrogative mood. Among the total 58 clauses， 39 are declaratives， occupying 67.3%， while 15 are imperatives that account for 25.8% and 4 are interrogatives that make up 6.9%.

Table 2.1 Distribution of Mood Choices and Frequencies

2.2 Declaratives

As the data suggest， declarative mood is most frequently employed in public service advertising. In terms of speech role， the main aim of declaratives is to give the audience information. Lets take a look at Example 1 first，

Example 1

MVO： When you first showed up， they laughed and laughed.

You just cried on.

When you ran， they were right behind you.

When she tried to hold on to you，

Son： I can do it on my own！

Mum： What about your future plans？

Son： Never mind. You won't understand.

Mum： He hasn't called since he moved out.

MVO： They have always loved you.

What about you？

Son： Mum， please wake up.

MVO： Show your love and care.

This advertisement talks about love and filial piety（孝）. The advertiser intends to increase the youths awareness of filial piety and reminds young people to show their love and care for their parents. The first four declarative clauses are used to transmit the information about how parents took good care of their children when they were young. As an information-giver， the advertiser succeeds in delivering the message as he guides the audience to look back and recall their empathy.

Example 2

Subtitles On the road， being a champion doesnt come first， safety does.

Cyclists must obey the traffic laws - just like motorists. And they should respect each other.

Cyclists should wear a helmet and other protective gear.

At night， cyclists must show a white light at the front and a red light at the rear.

Drivers should keep a safe distance from cyclists.

As all vehicles have blind spots， drivers should be cautious.

Drivers and cyclists have equal rights to use the road.

No matter who you are， when cycling， safety comes first.

Example 2 was published by Road Safety Council in Hong Kong， emphasizing the safety is top priority when individuals are cycling. All the clauses are declaratives. The role of the advertiser is an information giver. By using declarative， the advertiser tells the audience about the significance of safety. Aside from the function of giving information， declaratives can give commands in an implicit way. Lets look at the last clause “safety comes first”， which implies that the advertiser demands the audience to follow his advice. Such demanding is less compelling than imperative mood and is more likely to be accepted by the audience. Here， the demand is achieved by the declarative mood rather than impetrative mood.

2.3 Imperatives

The imperative is the mood for exchanging goods and service （Halliday， 1994）. The meaning of command is usually expressed by imperatives， according to Eggins （1994：184）. Simply put， the imperative mood in PSA consists of two basic categories： negative imperative （demanding people not to do something） and positive imperative （demanding people to do something）.

Example 3

If you drink， dont drive.

Example 4

Remember to stay clean and develop a healthy lifestyle. Support the Governments preventive measures to ensure vigilance against new emerging communicable diseases. Remember to practise good personal and environmental hygiene. Be vigilant and prepared.

Take Example 4 to illustrate， the function of the four imperatives seems to indicate what the audience needs to do in an effort to maintain personal hygiene. The imperative also transfer persuasion to the audience and urge them to do so.

Unlike commercial advertisements （Zhao， 2011）， the author finds that the imperative clause account for a high percentage in PSA. Positive imperatives are usually found at the end of advertisements with the goal of intensifying the theme and uplift its audience； while negative imperatives express the advertisers strong persuasion of not doing something. To sum up， imperatives in PSA are a more direct and effective way of persuasion as well as realization of the goal of the advertisement.

2.4 Interrogatives

As the collected data show， interrogative mood is less frequently used in PSAs. Every question expects an answer or a response. When raising different kinds of questions， the advertiser attempts to render the audience self-examined and offer an answer to the question. In this way， the audience interacts with the advertiser unconsciously. In other words， the use of interrogative mood can involve the audience into the advertisement， encouraging the dialogue between the advertiser and the audience， so the audience can pay special attention to the new information and remember its content more easily.

2.4.1 Polar interrogatives

Example 5

Do you remember？

Polar interrogatives expect a rejection or confirmation. In terms of polar interrogatives in the data collected， there is only one among all the clauses. At the beginning， the advertiser maximizes the audiences curiosity by polar interrogatives. Thus， the audience is more likely to concentrate on the following content about personal hygiene and remember the tips the advertiser offers.

2.4.2 Wh-interrogatives

Example 6

They have always loved you. What about you？

The declarative is followed by a wh-interrogative that makes the audience rethink about their behavior. The question “what about you？” succeeds in awakening the audience to tend and caring for their parents before it is too late. In this way， the advertiser builds an intimate relationship with the audience and the audience could be more likely to take positive action. Compared with declaratives and imperatives， interrogatives are more interactive in nature.

Conclusion

This study finds that the advertiser employs different mood patterns to realize the interpersonal meaning in PSA discourse. Among the three mood choices， declaratives account for an overwhelming majority， followed by imperatives and interrogatives. Declaratives are mainly used to give information to the audience while imperatives are a more direct and effective way of persuasion. Interrogatives make the texts more interactive by involving the audiences and engaging their attention. More wh-interrogatives are used， demanding information on a specific matter. There exist more positive imperatives than negative imperatives， which probably means when giving persuasion， the advertiser tends to specify what are expected to do. This study is based on a comparatively small corpus， which makes it prone to certain limitations， such as， firstly， the number and the scope of the data collected are not large enough. All six advertisements are short TV clips. Secondly， the present data merely discusses the realization of interpersonal meaning through different mood patterns. Other perspectives of advertising， such as modality， grammatical metaphor， etc.， have not been explored. In the future research， a multi-modal discourse analysis can be applied to analyze the texts.

References：

[1]Cook，G.（1992）.The discourse of advertising.Psychology Press.

[2]Eggins，S.（1994）.An Introduction to Systematic Functional Linguistics.London：Printer.

[3]Halliday，M.A.K.（1994）.An Introduction to Functional Grammar.London：Edward Arnold.

[4]Huang，G.W.（2011）Theory and Practice of Discourse Analysis：Study in Advertising Discourse.Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

[5]Leech，G.N.（1966）.English in advertising：A linguistic study of advertising in Great Britain.London：Longman Group Ltd.

[6]Wang，S.L.（2007）.An Analysis of Mood and Attitude Systems in English Advertising discourse.MA Thesis.Harbin Engineering University.

[7]Zhao，W.H.（2011）.An Analysis of Interpersonal Meaning in Commercial Advertising English.MA Thesis.Ocean University of China.

作者簡介：裴磊（1988-），男，碩士，廣東青年職業學院，助教，研究方向：語言學，研究話語分析。