Several studies on English and Italian specialized discourse have demonstrated that in scientific, legal and technical language there is a general tendency towards complex noun phrases (Altieri Biagi 1974; Cortelazzo 1990; Gotti 1991, 2003, 2005; Williams 2004; Garzone 2008; Mattiello 2010). However, due to the increasing popularization of some forms of scientific discourse (Mattiello forthcoming b), there seems to be also an opposite tendency to use abbreviations such as initialisms (e.g. MRI ← Magnetic Resonance Imaging, SSI ← Stazione Spaziale Internazionale ‘International Space Station’), acronyms (e.g. CAT ← Computerized Axial/Computer-Assisted Tomography, GAVI ← Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, TAC ← Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata), clippings (e.g. chimp ← chimpanzee, psi ← parapsicologia ‘parapsychology’), and related items to condense information into smaller units, especially when they are highly accessible to the whole community, or even lexicalized (AIDS, DNA, HIV, lab, NASA, UFO) (Brinton & Traugott 2005). Although these formations are generally neglected by morphologists (Aronoff 1976; Scalise 1984; Spencer 1991; Haspelmath 2002), or marginalized to expressive (Zwicky & Pullum 1987) or extra-grammatical morphology (Dressler & Merlini Barbaresi 1994; Dressler 2000; Conti & Mattiello 2008; Mattiello forthcoming a), they are widely exploited in specialized discourse because of their (a) naming function, i.e. they assign concepts, phenomena and processes specific labels which can circulate internationally, and (b) economy (Zipf 1949; Martinet 1955), i.e. they avoid redundancy and favour textual efficiency. This study investigates the terminology used in two scientific journals written in English – Nature and Science – and in two Italian translated versions of English journals – the American magazine National Geographic and the Australian magazine Nexus New Times – to show that scientific language often makes use of abbreviatory operations for various reasons. First, they help create social closeness, especially among in-group experts. Second, they help maintain textual cohesion, anaphorically referring to previously introduced concepts and ideas. Third, they catch the reader’s attention, especially when they are used cataphorically in news headlines. Cross-linguistically, this study will show that, in texts translated from English, Italian often leaves English abbreviations untranslated, because they refer to worldwide concepts, are amply recognized at an international level, and have acquired a status as words (Bat-El 2000; Kreidler 2000; Fradin 2003).

Abbreviations in English and Italian scientific discourse

MATTIELLO, ELISA
2012-01-01

Abstract

Several studies on English and Italian specialized discourse have demonstrated that in scientific, legal and technical language there is a general tendency towards complex noun phrases (Altieri Biagi 1974; Cortelazzo 1990; Gotti 1991, 2003, 2005; Williams 2004; Garzone 2008; Mattiello 2010). However, due to the increasing popularization of some forms of scientific discourse (Mattiello forthcoming b), there seems to be also an opposite tendency to use abbreviations such as initialisms (e.g. MRI ← Magnetic Resonance Imaging, SSI ← Stazione Spaziale Internazionale ‘International Space Station’), acronyms (e.g. CAT ← Computerized Axial/Computer-Assisted Tomography, GAVI ← Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, TAC ← Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata), clippings (e.g. chimp ← chimpanzee, psi ← parapsicologia ‘parapsychology’), and related items to condense information into smaller units, especially when they are highly accessible to the whole community, or even lexicalized (AIDS, DNA, HIV, lab, NASA, UFO) (Brinton & Traugott 2005). Although these formations are generally neglected by morphologists (Aronoff 1976; Scalise 1984; Spencer 1991; Haspelmath 2002), or marginalized to expressive (Zwicky & Pullum 1987) or extra-grammatical morphology (Dressler & Merlini Barbaresi 1994; Dressler 2000; Conti & Mattiello 2008; Mattiello forthcoming a), they are widely exploited in specialized discourse because of their (a) naming function, i.e. they assign concepts, phenomena and processes specific labels which can circulate internationally, and (b) economy (Zipf 1949; Martinet 1955), i.e. they avoid redundancy and favour textual efficiency. This study investigates the terminology used in two scientific journals written in English – Nature and Science – and in two Italian translated versions of English journals – the American magazine National Geographic and the Australian magazine Nexus New Times – to show that scientific language often makes use of abbreviatory operations for various reasons. First, they help create social closeness, especially among in-group experts. Second, they help maintain textual cohesion, anaphorically referring to previously introduced concepts and ideas. Third, they catch the reader’s attention, especially when they are used cataphorically in news headlines. Cross-linguistically, this study will show that, in texts translated from English, Italian often leaves English abbreviations untranslated, because they refer to worldwide concepts, are amply recognized at an international level, and have acquired a status as words (Bat-El 2000; Kreidler 2000; Fradin 2003).
2012
Mattiello, Elisa
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/764082
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