Englishisation in Greek Ads:
The Rise of a Novel Metaphor
Effie Tsaroucha
PhD Student in Cognitive Linguistics
Aristotle University
eftsar@enl.auth.gr
TCLR
http://www.enl.auth.gr/tclr/index.htm
Objectives
 The impact of English on Greek ads (TV commercials)
 English phrases in Greek language license for new
metaphors
 Such metaphors encompass social characteristics of
Greek youth culture
 Metaphors with the verb “to hit” [htipo (χτυπώ)]
 HIT Metaphors: Orientational metaphors due to
semantic extension
Englishisation in Greek Media
 Continuous influx of English phrases in Greek
language
 Global Language Network (GLN) (Ronen 2013)
 English becomes the bridge between the original
community and the new community
 English is ranked first by the share of the information
its speakers produce of the total information
produced world-wide (Lobachev 2008)
 Social networking services, blogs and other platforms
for user-generated content: bridge figures connecting
language communities (Zuckerman 2008)
Englishisation in Greek Media Discourse:
English as a lingua franca
English as a language used for communication
between people whose first languages differ
English as a language of trade or commerce,
used with a restricted vocabulary.
Hypothesis: Englishisation in Greek TV commercials is
subject to the degree of exposure to English.
Given that Greek youth culture is constantly exposed to
English, it is possible that more and more English-driven
phrases appear in media discourse.
The Greek Youth Culture in Media
 Media language (mainly TV commercials) is subject to
the concept of public space and/or public sphere.
 Commercials introduce the advertised product by
promoting certain ideologies and idiosyncrasies, which
reflect consumers’ social stance (Tsaroucha 2012).
 Hence, consumers constitute a set of dispositions that
generates practices, perceptions, habits and attitudes
(Thompson 1991) .
 According to the National Consumers’ Service (NCS) the
Greek youth culture is the main target audience of
gadgets (smartphones, tablets, etc.,) (2013-January 2014).
 Greek Youth Culture (GYC) in its vast majority is a
competent learner of English (65% B1 level, 15 % B2
level in approximately 9 years of learning) (Annual Report of
the Ministry of Education 2013)
 (GYC) is continuously exposed to English especially
through social media and other user-generated
platforms like youtube, wikipedia and blogs.
 74 % GYC makes use of the web in English (especially,
twitter and facebook).
 Hence, language use constitutes a means of
understanding: what it means to be is seen in terms of
socially constructed realities (Birch 1989: 43).
The Case of HIT
 Greek TV commercials whose main trading product is smart-phones
and gadgets make use of the verb “to hit” when appealing to their
target audience (mainly, GYC).
 The verb “to hit” is translated in Greek language as /htipo/(χτυπώ)
but its semantics carries the cultural aspects of the English
language.
 The metaphorical interpretation of the verb “to hit” has to due with
the concepts of physical contact and orientation.
 The novelty of the generated metaphors lies to the direct
incorporation of the semantics of the verb “to hit” from English to
Greek.
The Novelty of HIT in Greek TV Commercials
1.
English  Greek (Direct Influx)
2.
English to English (Meaning Extension)  Greek
Direct Influx (Target Language)
+
Meaning Extension (Within the Source Language)
The semantics of “hit”
Verb
Noun
To come into contact with forcefully
An impact/ collision
To affect (a person, place, or thing) suddenly
or adversely
To become suddenly apparent to (a person
A shot, blow, etc, that reaches its object
an apt, witty, or telling remark
To strike
A person or thing that gains wide appeal
To accord or suit
A stroke of luck
To guess correctly or find out by accident
To make a favourable impression on
To experience or encounter
To arrive or appear in
To achieve or reach
(Source: Macmillan Dictionary)
HIT Metaphors in Greek TV Commercials
The main metaphorical context is:
“Hit a smart-phone/gadget”
 I.e.) Don’t be late! Hit this phone
 I.e.) The fastest you hit it (a tablet), the better joy you get!
 I.e.) Are you staying still home? I hit first!
Semantic Shift:
“to touch something with force”, “have a bad
effect”, “have a problem and/or difficulty” 
“to start to affect”, “to reach a state” and “to
achieve something”
(Macmillan Dictionary)
 Metaphorical interpretation due to semantic extension:
(Radden & Dirven 2007)
 ADVERTISED PRODUCTS ARE HITTING GOALS
 SMART-PHONES/TABLETS/GADJETS ARE HITTING GOALS
 TO HIT A SMART-PHONE IS TO REACH A GOAL/TARGET
 TO HIT A SMART-PHONE IS TO ACHIEVE A GOAL
HIT Metaphors as Orientational Metaphors
(Lakoff & Johnson 1980)
 Consumers orient themselves towards a particular
spatial location (the physical space of buying the
advertised product).
 Hence, the reaching of a destination means the
reaching of a goal as well.
 It seems that the advertised product is positioned in a
verticality axis
 The reaching of the UP part indicates the state of
hitting (purchasing) this product.
Concluding Remarks
 The gross exposure of GYC to English explains the continuous influx
of English phrases in Greek media discourse.
 2 steps in incorporating HIT metaphors in Greek TV commercials
 Direct influx+ Semantic Extension
 By means of semantic extension and orientational use of metaphor
the target audience (GYC) changes its perspective on the referent
(advertised product).
 The target audience looks at the trading product from the domain of
achieving and/or reaching a goal.
References
 Birch, D. 1989. Language, Literature and Critical Practice: Ways of
Analyzing Text. London, New York: Routledge.
 Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago:
Chicago UP.
 Macmillan Dictionary.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/hit (last
accessed April 2014).
 Lobachev, S. 2008. Top languages in global information production.
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice
and Research, 3(2). Retrrieved from
https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/826/1358
(last accessed 25 April 2014).
 Radden, G. & Dirven, R. 2007. Cognitive English Grammar. Volume II.
 Ronen, S. 2013. The Structure and Implications of the Global
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