AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF WISHES IN ENGLISH GREETING CARDS

Abstract

This thesis attempts to investigate the syntactic and pragmatic aspects of wishes in English greeting cards in analysis different events/contexts, the ways of formalizing the wishes and structures of giving wishes. The data of the study were collected from greeting cards of two famous card companies: Hallmark and American Greeting. The data were then described on the syntax and pragmatics and showed that there are distinguishing features in the wishes in English greeting cards. Through wishes, senders give different illocutionary forces in different greeting cards in terms of contexts. Beside that, wishes in greeting cards are formalized in different tones such as: formal tone, funny tone, heartfelt tone, lighthearted tone, religious tone, simply stated tone, sweet tone. In each tone, the wishes become more colorful and diversifying. The last but not least, wishes are recognized in modal verb structures, phrases or sentences. The results have provided practical implications in language teaching and learning of giving wishes for English and Vietnamese users and learners.