A Comparative Study of English and Persian Advertising Slogans: Linguistic Means through the Sands of Time

This study was a contrastive analysis of the evolution of English and Persian advertising slogans to investigate their similarities/differences in using rhetorical figures, and the evolution in the use of these figures in the slogans of each language. Thus, 800 Persian and English slogans from the last four decades were collected. Lapsanka's framework (2006) including different aspects with some sub-variables was adopted. The frequencies of sub-variables were calculated and compared via Chi-square to determine the significance of the differences between the use of these figures in the slogans of each language and the two languages in the successive decades. Results revealed that Persian slogans changed phonologically, and lexically, but not syntactically and semantically. Also, English slogans changed phonologically, but not lexically or semantically. This study can have implications for teaching translation, journalistic English and Persian, and enhancing learners' cultural awareness.