Advertisement has been defined as “a public notice […] promoting the sales of marketable goods and services” (Vestergaard & Schrøder, 1985:2), it entered the field of linguistics and thus it is recognized as a genre by itself. By incorporating linguistic phenomena like code-mixing, foreign language features etc, advertising becomes an interesting field of study. This paper aims at investigating (a) Greek Cypriots’ attitudes towards the ‘exploitation’ of the Greek Cypriot Dialect, Standard Modern Greek and English in local advertising; (b) the influence of the medium (oral vs. written) presenting the advertisement; (c) the subsequent effects of the stereotype reflected in the product per se (local vs. foreign). The results support earlier studies that showed preference towards the standard variety rather than the dialect (Papapavlou, 1998; Papapavlou & Sophocleous, 2009). Also, the findings bring forth evidence that linguistic varieties without a standardized writing system are mainly accepted in the oral media. On the other hand, the results do not support advertisers’ firm insistence on associating different types of products with different language codes (Pavlou, 1992, 2004). The last findings may be the consequence of former language policies that did not encourage dialect literacy (Cluver, 2000).
Adegbija, E. (1994). Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Sociolinguistic Overview. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Arvaniti, A. (2006). “Linguistic practices in Cyprus and the emergence of Cypriot Standard Greek”. San Diego Linguistic Papers, 2, 1-24.
Atkinson, D., & Kelly-Holmes, H. (2006). “Linguistic normalisation and the market: Advertising and linguistic choice in El Periódico de Catalunya”. Language Problems and Language Planning, 30(3), 239-260.
Wassink, B. A. (1999). “Historic low prestige and seeds of change: Attitudes toward
Jamaican Creole”. Language in Society, 28, 57-92.
Bettoni, C., & Gibbons, J. (1988). “Linguistic purism and language shift; a guise-voice study of the Italian community in Sydney”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 72. 15-35.
Broermann, M. (2007). “Language attitudes among minority youth in Finland and Germany”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 187/188. 129-160.
Bruthiaux, P. (1996). The Discourse of Classified Advertising. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cook, G. (2006). The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge.
Cluver, V. A. D. (2000). “Changing language attitudes: The stigmatisation of Khoekhoegowap in Namibia”. Language Problems & Language Planning 24: 1. 77-100.
Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as Communication. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.
Fasold, R. (1984). The Sociolinguistics of Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
Goutsos, D. (2005). “A discourse-analytic approach to the use of English in Cypriot Greek conversations”. Contemporary Sociolinguistic Issues in Cyprus ed. by A. Papapavlou, 181-212. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.
Harris, R. J., Sturn, R. E., Klassen, M. L., & Bechtold, J. I. (2002). “Language in advertising: a psycholinguistic approach”. Original Research and Theoretical Contributions. 1-26.
Hornikx, J., Meurs, F. Van., & Boer, A. De. (2010). “English or a local language in advertising? The appreciation of easy and difficult English slogans in the Netherlands”. Journal of Business Communication, 47(2). 169-188.
Ioannidou, E. (2007). “This ain’t my real language, miss: The use of the Cypriot Dialect and Standard Modern Greek in a typical classroom interaction”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education ed. by A. Papapavlou & P. Pavlou, 165-191. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Kalmar, I., Yong, I., & Hong, X. (1987). “Language attitudes in Guangzhou, China”. Language in Society, 16, 499)-508.
Karoulla-Vrikki, D. (2007. “Education, language policy and identity in Cyprus: a diachronic perspective (1960-1997)”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in
Karyolemou, M. (1994). “Linguistic attitudes and metalinguistic discourse: An investigation in the Cypriot press”. Themes in Greek Linguistics ed. by I. Philippaki-Warburton, K.
Karyolemou, M. (2001). “From linguistic liberalism to legal regulation: The Greek language in Cyprus”. Language Problems and Language Planning, 25, 1. 25-51.
Kelly-Holmes, H. (2005). Advertising as Multilingual Communication. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Krishnasamy, K. (2007). “English in Tamil: The language of advertising”. English Today 23: 3/4. 40-49.
Luhman, R. (1990). “Appalachian English stereotypes: Language attitudes in Kentucky”. Language in Society, 19, 331-348.
Martin, E. (2006). Marketing Identities through Language: English and Global Imagery in French Advertising. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
McEntee-Atalianis, L., & Pouloukas, S. (2001). “Issues of identity and power in a Greek-Cypriot community”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 22: 1. 19-38.
Moschonas, S. (1996). “Diglossia in Cyprus” [in Greek]. Politis, 27, 42-44.
Mutonya, M. (2008). “Swahili advertising in Nairobi: Innovation and language shift”. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 20(1), 3-14.
Papapavlou, A. (1994). Language Contact & Lexical Borrowing in the Greek Cypriot Dialect: Sociolinguistic & Cultural Implications. Athens: N. C. Grivas Publications.
Papapavlou, A. (1997). “The influence of English and its dominance in Cyprus: Reality or unfounded fears?” Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 7, 1-32.
Papapavlou, A. (1998). “Attitudes towards the Greek Cypriot dialect: Sociocultural implications”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 134, 15-28.
Papapavlou, A. (2001). “Mind your speech: Language attitudes in Cyprus”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22(6), 491-500.
Papapavlou, A. (2007). “Language policy and planning: The role of language attitudes in decision making”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education ed. by A. Papapavlou & P. Pavlou, 194-215. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Papapavlou, A., & Kouridou, T. (2007). “Bidialectism and metalinguistic awareness”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education ed. by A. Papapavlou & P. Pavlou, 216-235. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Papapavlou, A., & Pavlou, P. (1998). “A review of the sociolinguistic aspects of the Greek Cypriot Dialect”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,19(3), 212-220.
Papapavlou, A., & Pavlou, P. (2004). “Issues of dialect use in education from the Greek Cypriot perspective”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 243-259.
Papapavlou, A., & Pavlou, P. (2007). “The interplay of bidialectalism, literacy and educational policy”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education ed. by A. Papapavlou & P. Pavlou, 101-121. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Papapavlou, A., & Sophocleous, A. (2009). “Relational social deixis and the linguistic construction of identity”. International Journal of Multilingualism. 1-16.
Pavlou, P. (1992). “The use of the Cypriot-Greek Dialect in the commercials of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation”, Paper presented at the 37th Conference on the International Linguistics Association, Washington DC.
Pavlou, P. (2001). “The use of dialectal and foreign language elements in radio commercials and their function in the construction of contemporary Cypriot identity”, Paper given at the international conference Mèditerrannée: Ruptures et Continuités, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Pavlou, P. (2004). “Greek dialect use in the mass media in Cyprus”. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 168. 101-118.
Pavlou, P. (2007). “The use of dialect in the primary classroom with particular emphasis on the influence of school subjects on dialect use”. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education ed. by A. Papapavlou & P. Pavlou, 265-280. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Piller, I. (2001). “Identity constructions in multilingual advertising”. Language in Society, 30, 153-185.
Piller, I. (2003). “Advertising as a site of language contact”. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 23. 170-183.
Planken, B., Meurs, F. Van., & Radlinska, A. (2010). “The effects of the use of English in Polish product advertisements: Implications for English for business purposes”. English for Specific Purposes, 29, 225-242.
Rash, F. (1996). “Attitudes to the use of English in Swiss German advertising language”. The Web Journal of Modern Language Linguistics 1.
Romaine, S. (2003). “Variation in language and gender”. The Handbook of Language and Gender. 98-118.
Sophocleous, A. (2004). The History of Advertising in Cyprus. Nicosia: Laiki Group Cultural Centre.
Tanaka, K. (1994). Advertising Language: A Pragmatic Approach to Advertisements in Britain and Japan. London, New York: Routledge.
Themistocleous, C. (2007). “Written Cypriot Greek in online chat: Usage and attitudes”. Proceedings of the 17th International Postgraduate Linguistics Conference. 473-488.
Trugill, P. (1972). “Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change in the urban British English of Norwich”. Language in Society 1. 179-195.
Trudgill, P. (1983). On Dialect. Oxford: Blackwell.
Tsiplakou, S. (2003). “Attitudes towards language and language change: A two-way relationship?” [in Greek]. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Greek Linguistics.
Tsiplakou, S., Papapavlou, A., Pavlou, P., & Katsoyannou, M. (2005). “Levelling, koineization and their implications for bidialectism”. Language Variation—European Perspectives: Selected Papers from the 3rd International Conference on Language Variation in Europe. 265-276.
Varella, S. (2006). Language Contact and the Lexicon in the History of Cypriot Greek. Bern: Peter Lang.
Vestergaard, T., & Schrøder, K. (1985). The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wardhaugh, R. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Wei-Yu Chen, C. (2006). “The mixing of English in magazine advertisements in Taiwan”. World Englishes, 25, 3/4. 467-478.
Wyer, Robert, S. Jr. (2002). “Language and advertising effectiveness: mediating influences of comprehension and cognitive elaboration”. Psychology and Marketing, 19, 7-8. 693-712.
Yiakoumetti, A. (2007). “Choice of classroom language in bidialectal communities: To include or to exclude the dialect?”. Cambridge Journal of Education, 37, 1. 51-66.
Yiakoumetti, A., Evans, M., & Esch, E. (2006). “Language awareness in a bidialectal setting: The oral performance and language attitudes of urban and rural students in Cyprus”. Language Awareness, 14, 4. 254-260.
In-Text Citation: (Papapavlou & Satraki, 2013)
To Cite this Article: Papapavlou, A., & Satraki, M. (2013). Language of advertising in bidialectal settings: Does the code matter? Multilingual Academic Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 1(2), 13–39.
