Linguistic and extralinguistic features of the texts of official documents

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Private Educational Institution of Higher Education "International Market Institute"

Faculty of Linguistics

Department of Theory and Practice of Translation

Direction of training - "linguistics"

Profile "translation and translation studies"

Bachelor level

COURSE WORK

Linguistic features genre "instructions"

Introduction

The relevance of the chosen research topic is due to the fact that in the modern world a lot of new technology appears every day.

New technical instruments, new devices are being invented, new improved standards are being drawn up in various areas of human life.

It can be difficult to understand all this diversity on your own. Therefore, the person is given instructions that give clear information about the necessary actions to be taken to get the desired result.

An important factor in the instructions for any device is ease of understanding.

The objects of study are the instructions for the washing machine "IndesitIWB 5113."

The subject of the study is the linguistic characteristics of the text of the “instruction” genre.

The material for the study was the instructions for this machine itself.

The purpose of the work is to determine the characteristic linguistic features of the selected speech genre. The set goal determines the solution of the following tasks:

1. Determine the place of the official business style in the general system of styles.

2. Identify the main linguistic features of the speech genre “instruction”.

The practical value of the research is that its material can be used to create various technical devices.

The research material can also be used in lecture courses and practical classes on the stylistics of the English language.

The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, and a bibliography.

The introduction formulates the purpose and objectives of the study and substantiates the relevance of the chosen topic.

The first chapter examines the concept of “style”, gives a general description of the official business style and defines the genre features of the instructions. The second chapter is devoted to a description of the characteristic linguistic-stylistic features of texts in the instruction genre at the level of phonetics, morphology, vocabulary and syntax.

In conclusion, general conclusions on the work and a brief description of the conclusions of each part of the work are given.

Chapter 1. Abstract part

1.1 Style classification problem

Currently, the issue of classifying functional language styles is very popular; it is widely discussed by linguists, as well as students and people who are to one degree or another interested in this problem.

The functional style of a language is a subsystem of the language, which is characterized by individual features in lexical means, syntactic structures and phonetics.

Styles can vary in the situations in which they are used and in the frequency of use of the various elements listed above.

Classifying styles is a very difficult task. As already mentioned, different scientists may have their own special vision of this problem. Halperin, for example, considers functional styles as properties of written language, thereby excluding the spoken style.

According to Galperin: “a functional style of language is a system of interconnected linguistic means that serves a specific purpose in human communication. Functional style should be considered as a product of a specific task set by the author of the message" [Galperin, 1999, p. 69].

The development of each style is determined by changes in the norms of standard English, as well as constantly changing social conditions, development cultural life and scientific progress.

The formation of style is influenced directly by the social attribute, and not by the individual himself.

Style-forming factors related to the subjects of communication are: communicating individuals, group subjects, mass audience, social institutions, institutions, organizations.

The basis for all styles can serve, as I.V. believes. Arnold and V.P. Murot, the so-called neutral style, possible in any communicative situation [Arnold, 1999, p.24], [Murot, 1957, p.21]. I.V. Arnold

Thus, we can conclude that at present there are no clear concepts of style and criteria by which they can be distinguished from each other, but many linguistic scientists offer approximately the same options for classifying styles.

1.2

In the modern world, this genre is very popular and often used, however, despite this, it is still little explored.

An instruction is a text of official business functional style and technical content, it has a standardized form. This genre is aimed at the general public, since a large number of instruction manuals are often used in the field of everyday communication.

It is worth noting: despite the fact that instructions are a genre business communication, they do not have the status of an official document.

I. B. Lobanov divides texts of this genre into “instructions” and “non-instructions”.

1. Instructions for various devices, containing in the text instructions, rules of conduct, an algorithm for action in a given situation (for example, safety instructions).

2. Based on the intended addressee, the instructions are divided into manuals for specialists in a particular field of activity and a wide range of consumers of various goods and services.

3. Depending on the area of ​​use, instructions can be medical, household, official, industrial, military, etc.

5. On a formal basis, the instructions are divided into detailed, detailed brochures designed to accompany the user throughout the operation of the product, and quick guides to action, containing the minimum necessary information (instructions-spreads). [Lobanov, 2007, p. 22].

1.3 Features of the speech genre of instructions

Among the wide variety of genres of official business style texts, there is some unevenness in the number of studies on the topic of a particular genre.

The instruction genre belongs to the second group of the above-mentioned genres. In the modern world, this genre is very popular and often used, however, despite this, it is still little explored.

Instruction (via German from Latin instructio - instruction) is an imperative speech genre, the purpose of which is to inform the addressee of the order, methods, rules for carrying out any action in order to cause his corresponding behavior [Karaban, 2009, p. 214].

An instruction is a text of official business functional style and technical content, it has a standardized form.

This genre is aimed at the general public, since a large number of instruction manuals are often used in the field of everyday communication.

This feature - the presence of both formality and informality - allows authors working with this genre to construct a text more freely than in cases with other genres of the same functional style.

The speech genre of instructions includes two types of information - descriptive and instructive [Karaban, 2009, p. 156].

At the beginning of the text there is information describing the product (characteristics, purpose, special functions) is the descriptive part. Next comes the instructional part. It usually contains information about acceptable and unacceptable actions that apply to the product.

The genre of “instructions” is characterized by various types of speech prompting.

I. B. Lobanov divides texts of this genre into “instructions” and “non-instructions”. He refers to the first ones as instructions in the literal sense of the word. “Non-instructions” are genres that have other nominations, but in their characteristics are instructive (recipes, useful tips, algorithms and educational texts of a practical nature, etc.) [Lobanov, 2007, p. 194].

Summarizing the above, we can highlight the main functions of instructional texts - informative and regulatory: to familiarize the client with the features of the product and the rules for its safe use.

Chapter2. Lexico-grammaticalpeculiaritiestextsgenre of instructions

2.1 Structural features of texts in the instruction genre

Each speech genre has its own characteristics, by which one or another genre can be distinguished from others. The structural qualities of the text of the “instructions” genre include:

1) logic

2) coherence and integrity

3) accuracy

4) clarity, understandability, accessibility

Texts of the speech genre “instructions” have a general structure, but unlike other genres of official business style, when composing texts of the “instructions” genre, some “freedom” in the construction of the text can be allowed, and it is also possible to add your own sections.

Based on the analysis of the selected instructions (Panasonic-ne-17521 and CasioCTK-4000), the most general structure of the studied genre of text is given below:

1. Introductory part

The first part of the text highlights an appeal to the buyer with gratitude for purchasing this product.

2. Main part. Preparing for work

3. Final part: Maintenance, Storage rules, Possible malfunctions and methods for eliminating them, Warranty , Warranty card

Typically, instructions contain content right after the customer is contacted. It allows the reader to work with the text faster, helping to quickly find the required section.

Instructions often contain highlighted words (signposts) that draw the reader's attention to important points, for example:

WARNING - This notice describes procedures or conditions that pose a hazard to humans if appropriate precautions are not taken.

CAUTION - Identification of procedures or conditions that present a risk of equipment damage if proper precautions are not taken.

IMPORTANT - an indication of procedures or conditions that are very important for the correct operation of the equipment.

NOTE (NOTICE, NB) - additional information of no small importance.

Texts of the “instructions” genre are often accompanied by drawings and diagrams that make it easier to understand the operation of the device.

Thus, having analyzed the texts of the “instructions” genre, we can conclude that the features of texts of this genre are: a clear separation of information blocks, visual highlights and notes, as well as brevity and compressibility.

2.2 Lexical features genre of instructions

The official business style, which includes texts of the speech genre of instructions, is characterized by some features, such as accuracy of information, unambiguousness, non-personal nature of the statement, adherence to standards and certain patterns when constructing the text, obligatory prescriptive nature, neutral background vocabulary.

A distinctive feature of texts in the instruction genre at the lexical level is the use of components of different sign systems, such as pictures, graphs, tables, numbers, formulas and text.

This speech genre is an information system of functional-stylistic relations, which includes two main functions: the social (pragmatic) function of obligation and the formal (stylistic) function of officiality.

At the vocabulary level:

· Use of full names, exact dates, numbers, use of abbreviations.

· Book vocabulary

· use of words in direct meanings

· lack of expressive and evaluative vocabulary

Frequent use of verbal nouns

At the morphological level:

· absence of personal pronouns, especially 1st and 2nd persons, instead of which proper names, proper names or special designations are used: supplier, customer, client, user. This is done in order to avoid personal character, and therefore emotionality.

At the syntactic level:

· clear division of the text into semantic blocks, usually using subheadings and digital design of paragraphs: Turningon Powerand Playing, using Headphones, Controlling the Keyboard Sounds. In the instructions important role Headings play a role, as they make it easy to navigate the text.

· Headings are usually in bold type and may be written in capital letters or with a small label (picture) indicating a new section or other important information.

2.3 Grammatical features of instructional texts

Each speech genre is characterized by some of its own grammatical features that distinguish it from others. Thanks to them, information is transmitted with greater accuracy and the desired goal of the message is achieved faster and with better quality. Texts of the instruction genre have their own grammatical features that encourage the reader to act or inform him in such a way that the reader is confident in the correctness and indisputability of the instructions written in the text.

Texts of the instruction genre can be composed in different ways, depending, first of all, on the degree of “officiality” of the text, as well as on the desire of the author. But there are several features that are necessarily inherent in this genre. The predominant group of tenses in terms of frequency of use (about 70% of the text) in texts of the instruction genre is the Present group.

Press and hold down the Stop/Reset pad for 2 seconds. The use of this kind of construction provides the reader with the necessary information without unnecessary descriptions, which is important for quickly becoming familiar with the device and the principles of working with it.

It is important for the instructions to clearly define certain aspects, such as acceptable ingredients to be used in certain conditions, or some warnings associated with them: “liquids may cause short-circuiting of batteries.”

Circumstances are used to explain a certain situation more clearly and clearly and to convey information as accurately and easily as possible. Typically, this type of complication is used when different options are offered for what the user can do or products (or others, depending on the type of instructions), functions, parts of the device are listed for a more accurate description and delivery of information.

Another grammatical feature of texts of the instruction genre is that in various tables The linking verb is often omitted: No Shotof Streamor No Vertica Shotof Stream. This is done in order to concentrate the reader’s attention immediately on the main semantic fragment of the phrase, reduce the time spent reading the instructions, and also structure the understanding of the device’s operation (many people find it easier to understand information when it is presented in the form of a table with corresponding abbreviations and other features) .

Also in the texts of instructions there are often participial phrases with conjunctions “when (before, after, while, if) + Participle I”:Before using the food processor for the first time, wash all parts of accessories in warm, soap water.

Implementation instructions various actions in texts of the genre, instructions are expressed by the infinitive or imperative mood: Place on platean dcover.

Use br (10-key) [-] and [+] keys to select the rhythm number you want to save.

In addition, the obligation in the instructions is expressed using modal verbs must or should. It is worth noting that the verb characteristic of expressing obligation shall texts of official business style are not used in instructions, unlike texts of other speech genres of the same style.

The use of verbs in the passive voice expressing cognitive information of the text is used quite often: The Oven Can Not Be Programmed When Program Lock Is Activated.

From the above, we can state the following: texts of the speech genre of instructions are characterized by grammatical features that help to clearly construct the text without confusing the reader, as well as the absence of personal semantics and the desire to make the text as compact as possible, but without loss of meaning.

Since the genre of instructions is the most “free” among other genres of official business style, there is the possibility of departing from some rules, which does not interfere with distinguishing instructions from texts of other speech genres. Most of the highlighted grammatical features are found in all instructions.

Conclusion

In the age of rapid technological progress, the emergence of new conditions that require unusual patterns of behavior, as well as many other things that require accompanying explanations and a detailed description of how to work with them, instructions play a very important role.

Many people have encountered situations where they want to simplify and decorate their lives with the help of modern technologies, but get the opposite result. This happens due to the inability to use certain devices.

Instructions were invented specifically to prevent such cases. They make it easier to work with a new device and help solve possible problems with its operation and contain answers to the most frequently asked questions about working with the device.

There is a huge variety of instructions for all occasions. They may or may not differ greatly in their content and structure, but they have the same goal - to teach the user how to operate the device.

In the first chapter of this course work, the ideas of various scientists about the functional styles of language, their formation and features were examined.

At the moment there is no specific official classification.

It was revealed that the formation of style is influenced by a social attribute, communicating individuals, group subjects, a mass audience, social institutions, institutions, organizations, the presence of a special goal, a special motive for the author.

The subject matter and subject positions of the subjects also carry a style-forming motif. And the situation and conditions influence the presence of such factors as formality/informality of communication, presence/absence of subjects of communication, simultaneous interaction/delayed interaction of subjects of communication.

I.V. Arnold and V.P. Murot believe that the basis of all styles is a neutral style.

To the book style of I.V. Arnold classified scientific, business, poetic, oratorical, journalistic; and to the colloquial group - literary-colloquial, familiar-colloquial, vernacular.

Linguistic scientists unanimously recognize the existence of a scientific style. Not all linguists recognize the existence of a style of fiction.

Not all linguists recognize the colloquial style. However, many still highlight it.

The official business style of the text is distinguished by imperativeness, accuracy, and lack of emotional coloring and figurative means, the impersonal nature of statements, the widespread use of abbreviations, compound words, abbreviations, specific phraseology and terminology.

The speech genre of instructions is the most “free” among other genres of official business style. Texts of this style have main functions: informative and regulatory.

In the second chapter of the course work, the characteristic linguistic-stylistic features of texts in the instruction genre texts were described at the level of phonetics, morphology, vocabulary and syntax.

Having analyzed the texts under study at the level of the structural features of the genre, we can conclude that the instructions are characterized by a clear separation of information blocks, visual highlights and comments, as well as brevity and compressibility.

The vocabulary of instruction texts is used in its literal meaning, as it is characterized by accuracy of expression, clarity of presentation, lack of emotionality, avoidance of focusing on the buyer’s personality, a certain stereotype, as well as great information content, compressed into the most compact text. All these features allow you to quickly perceive text information and more easily understand the operation and features of the device.

At the grammatical level, based on the results of the analysis of the texts under study, the following features were identified: the predominance of the use of tenses Present Simple(about 70% of the entire text), Future Simple (about 20% of the entire text), desire to simplify sentences and constructions, omission of linking verbs, frequent use of verbs in the passive voice, expression of obligation using modal verbs must or should, complication of sentences homogeneous members, the use of constructions with conjunctions when, before, after, while, if + ParticipleI, which help to clearly construct the text without confusing the reader, the use, as well as the absence of personal semantics and the desire to make the text as compact as possible, but without loss of meaning.

The overwhelming majority of sentences (about 70%) in the analyzed texts are simple. This is due to the desire to facilitate the perception of the text against the backdrop of a massive informative part.

The remaining sentences are complex and complex. The instructions completely lack emotional assessment, which allows the reader to accept only the most necessary information. text instruction style linguistic

In this course work Having analyzed the texts under study, all the main features of the texts of the official business style of the speech genre of instructions were identified at the lexical and grammatical levels.

When compiling instructions, it is very important to adhere to these features so that the text is informative and easy to understand, and undoubtedly fulfills its purpose - to explain the most important principles of working with the device, inform about the features of the device and facilitate subsequent work with it.

Thanks to the special way of compiling instructions, each person, after reading it, can learn to use any technical device as quickly and easily as possible.

Bibliography

1. Alekseeva I.S. Introduction to translation studies / I.S. Alekseeva. - Tutorial. - St. Petersburg; M. : M.: Publishing center "Academy", 2011. - 368 p.

2. Arnold I.V. Stylistics. Modern English. - M.: Flinta, 2012. - 384 p.

3. Babenko, L.G. Philological analysis of the text. Fundamentals of theory, principles and aspects of analysis / L.G. Babenko. - M.: Academic project; Ekaterinburg: Business book, 2004. - 464 p.

4. Shmeleva T.V. Model of speech genre // Genres of speech. - Vol. 1. - Saratov: College, 1997. - P. 88 - 98.

5. Bhatia VK. Worlds of Written Discourse - a Genre-based View. London and New York: Continuum; 2004

6. Swales JM. Genre Analysis.English in Academic and Research Settings.Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress; 1999.

7. Slyusareva, N.A. Linguistics of speech and linguistics of text // Aspects of general and particular linguistic theory of text / N.A. Slyusareva. - M.: Nauka, 1982. - 278 p.

8. Owl L.Z. Analytical linguistics and typology. Publishing house: Direct-Media, 2013. - 377 from EBS “University Library Online” http://www.biblioclub.ru/.

9. Fedosyuk M.Yu. Research of means of speech influence and the theory of speech genres / Genres of speech. Saratov, 1997(a).

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1. Each of the functional styles has its own set of characteristic words and expressions.

The bulk of words in each style are neutral or inter-style words and vocabulary.

2. Each functional style uses grammatical forms and structures in its own way.

3. The possibilities and degree of imagery and emotionality in different functional styles are not the same.

4. Each functional style is characterized by a different degree of individualization of speech.

5. Each function style has its own set of genres.

6. Each style exists in both written and oral form

Functional style- the main content of stylistics in general.

The problem of style is solved by researchers in different ways. Subjects of disagreement:

2) principles of classification (=> number of distinguished styles),

3) the question of the place of literary and artistic style (“language” of fiction) in the system of literary language styles.

various style classification systems.

The style of fiction cannot be distinguished (as a special functional style) because there are no common linguistic features that would be inherent in the language of fiction as a whole.

There is an interpenetration of linguistic styles; stylistic varieties of a language cannot be understood as closed, isolated systems; individual elements of a language can be repeated in several styles, most often even in all styles of a given language; the intense interaction of styles and the influence of one on the other is especially characteristic of the Soviet era.

Language norm– rules of language use. 1. legitimized by literature 2. recognized by society as mandatory 3. supported by society and the state. Connection with usage - ‘custom’, tradition of using language, codification, presentation, formulation of things connected together mandatory rules use of Russian language (normative dictionaries, reference books, grammars). AG 52, 80 The view of the norm is changing. Arises from usage + specialists. State, language policy.

Pronunciation norms of oral speech are studied by orthoepy (Greek Orthos - correct and epos - speech). She explores the patterns of literary pronunciation.

Reasons for allocation:

Sphere of human activity (science, law, politics, art, everyday life);

The specific role of the text addressee (student, institution, newspaper or magazine reader, adult, child, etc.);

The purpose of the style (training, establishing legal relations, influencing, etc.);

Predominant use of a certain type of speech (narration, description, reasoning);

Predominant use of one or another form of speech (written, oral);

Type of speech (monologue, dialogue, polylogue);

Type of communication (public or private)

A set of genres (for a scientific style - an abstract, a textbook, etc., for an official business style - a law, a certificate, etc.);

Characteristic features of the style. Typical language means for the medium.

Documented information must be presented as clearly, clearly and unambiguously as possible - this is the basic requirement of written business communication. Consequently, special requirements are imposed on the language means and style of presentation of information in the document:

unambiguousness of the words and terms used;

neutral tone of presentation;

compliance with lexical, grammatical, stylistic norms that ensure accuracy and clarity of presentation;

semantic sufficiency and conciseness of the text.

Failure to comply with these requirements, on the one hand, makes it difficult to work with documents, and on the other, deprives or reduces their legal and practical significance.

The semantic accuracy of a written statement is largely determined by the accuracy of word usage, that is, the use of words according to their meanings. A word in the text of a document should be used only in one meaning, accepted in official business writing. In this regard, difficulties in use can be caused by paronymous words (words that are similar in sound, related, words of the same root, but differ in meaning).

It is highly undesirable to use professionalisms in business documentation texts. Professionalisms arise in two cases: when a special field of activity does not have its own terminology (for example, hunting, fishing, crafts, etc.) and when the word becomes an unofficial substitute for the term (for example, transplantation instead of transplantation; gimbal instead of gimbal device, etc.). The scope of application of professionalisms is, as a rule, oral speech, their use in written business communication is a stylistic mistake.

When using terms in business documentation, it is necessary to ensure that the term is understandable to both the author and the addressee.

When using ambiguous terms, it should be taken into account that in each specific case they are used only in one of their meanings. If the same concept is denoted by several terms, synonymy of terms arises.

Synonymous terms have different sounds, but the same meaning (for example, the terms “questionnaire” and “questionnaire”).

There is also such a phenomenon as homonymy of terms, when two or more terms coincide in sound, but differ in meaning, that is, they denote different concepts. Among outdated vocabulary, two categories of words stand out: archaisms and historicisms.

The use of neologisms is not allowed - words denoting new concepts and objects are divided into two groups: neologisms that have become terms and neologisms-professionalism or words of professional jargon. The use of new words in the text of a document should be based on an assessment of whether this word is a term or names a concept that already has a stable designation in the language.


Borrowed words are words that came into the Russian language from other languages ​​of the world. Words are often borrowed along with new concepts and objects. The use of borrowed vocabulary in many cases causes difficulties.

A feature of business style is the use of so-called Universal words - words with an erased, uncertain meaning.

Long words and phrases make them difficult to use, so in oral and written speech, in order to compress speech, abbreviations are used to denote concepts.

There are two main types of abbreviated words: lexical abbreviations (abbreviations) - complex abbreviated words formed by removing part of their constituent letters or from parts of words: CIS, Moskapremont, deputy, special forces, etc.; graphic abbreviations - abbreviated designations of words used in writing: Mr., point, zh.-d., sq.m., l, ex. etc.

One of the features of business speech is the widespread use of language formulas - stable (template, standard) language expressions used unchanged. Their presence in business speech is a consequence of the regulation of official relations, the repetition of managerial situations and the thematic limitations of business speech:

“We inform you that in the period from... to...” “It has been established that in the period from... to...” “We inform you that as of...”

In official business writing, rules for the arrangement of definitions have developed. Thus, agreed definitions (expressed by adjectives) are placed before the word being defined, and inconsistent ones (expressed by a phrase) are placed after it. For example: current issue, wholesale market; a matter of paramount importance, the wholesale market.

When constructing phrases, it should be taken into account that most words in written business speech are used with only one word or with a limited group of words. For example: order - issued; control is assigned.

The main requirement for the information saturation of a document is an appropriate amount of information included, necessary and sufficient to implement the communicative task - to convince, motivate, attract attention, express disagreement, etc. Redundancy and heterogeneity of information included in a document makes it difficult to perceive, and therefore reduces its effectiveness and persuasiveness.


7. Extralinguistic features of the document

1. Precision and clarity. The main requirement for the content of a document is its maximum accuracy and understandability (clarity). Accuracy of presentation presupposes an unambiguous understanding of the content set out in the document. The adequacy of the perception of the text by both the author of the document and its addressee is extremely important in business communication at all stages of management activity.

2. Collegiality, It is generally accepted that the determining factor in explaining the stylistic features of the text of a document is the status of the author. Regardless of who is the direct (technical) author of the document or its official author who signs the document, the addressee (sender) becomes a “collective subject” who also sends his official message to the “collective addressee” ( recipient). The author-compiler of the document must bear personal responsibility for the information presented in it.

Most official documents are endorsed and signed by several specific responsible persons. This also emphasizes both the collegial nature of the document and the personal responsibility for the content of the document of each of those who signed it.

3. Addressability. Another important characteristic of documentary communication, as experts note, is the precise targeting of the document. The document is not written to everyone or anyone at all, but to a specific organization or a specific circle of organizations, specific officials or employees. There are no addressless documents. This general feature official business style of speech, distinguishing it from other styles.

4. Thematic limitation. A significant factor in documentary communication that influences the nature of management information is the repetition and thematic limitation of management situations, which leads to the use of the same types of documents, the same linguistic means to make a specific decision.

5. Timeliness and relevance. The effectiveness of management activities in the system of public power is only high when timely and relevant information is used to make decisions. Therefore, the document must contain in its content the latest, most important and relevant information for the organization. The author of the document must reflect information that has legal force at present.

6. Reliability and objectivity. This requirement means that a business message must reflect the actual state of affairs and give an unbiased, dispassionate assessment of events.

7. Persuasiveness. Reasonedness and persuasiveness of information are associated with the task of inducing the addressee to perform or not perform certain actions. The effectiveness of a document depends on how substantiated it is

8. Completeness. This requirement implies that the document must contain all the information necessary to make an informed decision.

9. Conciseness and conciseness. It would seem that this requirement contradicts the previous one. In fact, these are interconnected extralinguistic requirements. Conciseness and conciseness of presentation of the text of the document provides for the brevity of the presentation of the content, without unnecessary words and repetitions. But for the sake of brevity it is not permissible to exclude from the document important facts, numbers, information that allows you to make an adequate decision.

10. Neutrality. A neutral tone in document presentation is the norm for official business communication. Management information is official in nature, which indicates the business basis of the relationship between the sender and the addressee, emphasizes their non-personal nature, the presence of a certain distance between them.

The concepts of “language” and “speech” are closely related, which makes it difficult to distinguish between them; at the same time, linguistics has long established their non-identity, believing that language is a system of specially organized means that are in certain relationships with each other, and the nature of these relationships is such that it makes it possible to set this system in motion, using it in the interests of communication. We can consider that the language system is a static state of the phenomenon. In its dynamic state it turns into a process that should be considered as speech. Speech is the process of communication through language; without the latter, communication would be impossible. However, it cannot be said that speech is completely reducible to linguistic means of expressing thoughts; other, extralinguistic (extralinguistic) factors also participate in its flow. These include psychological - mental content seeking its expression (although its formation is based on the material of language); feelings and emotions that require expression; plans, motives and intentions that contribute to the implementation of speech acts. It is also necessary to point out the communicative factor of speech - the purposefulness of speech utterances, their focus on achieving a certain extra-linguistic effect. Finally, situational factors also play a role - a complex of interpersonal relationships, real and imaginary circumstances, within the framework of which each statement and message acquires specific content, subject relevance and communicative orientation. Thanks to the situational nature, the reliance on non-linguistic signs - gestures, facial expressions, body movements - expands. Speech, therefore, differs from language in two cardinal features: firstly, in its dynamism and processuality; secondly, the ability to harmoniously combine mental content with linguistic and non-linguistic means of its expression in the interests of the formation and implementation of speech acts. L. V. Shcherba distinguished between the speech process - acts of speaking and understanding, the result of this process - texts, which he called raw language experience, and processed language experience, obtained through systematization of the material contained in the texts with the help of grammars and dictionaries. Similar views were expressed by F. de Saussure, who distinguished three aspects of linguistic phenomena - lange, language and parole.

The disadvantage of the traditional method has always been that it does not see significant differences between language and speech and believes that a student who has mastered a language thereby masters speech. Hence the naive tendency of grammar-translation and lexical-translation methods to teach speech activity by studying grammar and vocabulary, i.e. processed language experience. The latter remained an immovable ballast in the student’s memory, since no methods of activating the material in speech were used, there was no intensive training and speech practice. In an effort to overcome this drawback, methodologists later began to turn to training, which actually moved learning off the ground and contributed to a fairly intensive development of automatisms, mainly grammatical skills (reform period, G. Palmer), but did not yet ensure the formation and improvement speech activity in general. Only the subsequent stages of development of the methodology (Soviet methodology last period, audiolingual and audiovisual methods abroad and the so-called intensive methods) have opened up prospects for improving students’ speech skills on the basis of communicatively oriented, situationally determined, personally motivated and emotionally rich speech training and practice. Recently, the belief has begun to mature that mastering speech in a foreign language as a means of practical communication is inextricably linked with the formation and launch of a speech mechanism that operates on foreign language material. As a negative “by-product” of the communicative approach to teaching foreign languages, there was an unjustifiably nihilistic attitude towards processed language experience in the educational process, which led to an underestimation of knowledge and even lexical and grammatical skills in favor of spontaneous speech practice. This drawback, apparently, can be overcome with the help of the method currently emerging in the methodology of the USSR and the GDR, which could conditionally be called conscious-communicative (I.V. Rakhmanov, A.A. Mirolyubov, V.D. Arakin, V. S. Tsetlin, Z. M. Tsvetkova, I. M. Buhbinder, K. Günter, G. Utess, Z. Danders, G. Boehme, L. Pohl, W. Strauss, etc.) .

Regarding the linguistic characteristics of speech, we should mention such properties as its clichéd character; idiomaticity created through the widespread use of phraseology and other expressive means characteristic of a given language; elliptical method of linguistic design; stylistic differentiation, focused on the goals and conditions for the implementation of speech acts. The combination of these properties gives speech such qualities as economy and efficiency, created through the rational distribution of speech efforts and means of communication. A speech chain is not just a linear sequence of words and phrases, but an internally organized, structured, designed, communicatively significant and situationally related work of speech, acting as a product of a person’s verbal and mental activity, carried out on the basis of the work of a special, uniquely human, socially conditioned mental device – a speech mechanism, the formation and launch of which is the main practical task of the teaching and educational process in a foreign language in secondary school.

/From: V.A. Buchbinder, W. Strauss. Fundamentals of methods of teaching foreign languages ​​/Ed. - Kyiv, 1986. – P. 82-84; 96-100/.

Topic 3

LANGUAGES IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

L.V.Shcherba

Practical, general educational and educational significance of learning foreign languages

To build a methodology for teaching foreign languages, it is important to recognize the practical tasks that life can pose to us in the field of knowledge of these languages, and the different types of this knowledge. Here are the most important of them:

1. The ability to correctly read, and, if necessary, understand with the help of a dictionary, book titles, addresses on envelopes, parcels, the text of invoices, inscriptions on devices, including simple prospectuses for these latter, etc. This is necessary for the lower categories of library employees , for communications workers, transport workers, for skilled workers in various industries.

2. The ability to express one’s desires and ask the simplest questions, albeit in a very incorrect, but understandable (by the way, in terms of pronunciation) language, as well as understand the answers to such questions. Such a skill could be called “tourist language” if the scope of its application were not actually much wider: here we mean basic communication with foreigners in general, and moreover, in any conditions (with guests, prisoners, when traveling abroad etc.). When traveling abroad, this skill should be combined with the ability to read and navigate all kinds of inscriptions, and also, if possible, newspaper headlines.

3. The ability to accurately understand any non-fiction text of any difficulty, leaving only unimportant words ununderstood and only occasionally resorting to the help of a dictionary, and this skill should imply the ability, through independent reading of literature in the specialty, to develop the reading speed needed in life (from 6 to 12 pages per hour with a sheet of 40,000 printed characters). Everyone should have this skill educated person, but it is especially necessary for scientists, engineers, students, as well as all those who must follow foreign literature in one area or another.

Russians must have such skill, generally speaking, in three languages ​​- French, German and English - and at least in two of them.

From a pedagogical point of view, these two languages ​​should be French and German, since good skill in these languages ​​opens an easy path to mastering the same skill in any Western European language. Modern life, however, often makes English preferable to French or German for practical reasons. The choice depends on the specialty. Thus, physicists and chemists can apparently study French only as a second priority; the same seems to be true of representatives of a number of technical disciplines.

However, mathematicians, mechanics, doctors, agronomists and some others should almost start with French; specialists in linguistics and, in particular, Slavic languages ​​can at first do without English and should first of all study German; writers, literary critics can rather do without German and, in any case, should base their education on the French language, etc. For some professionals, either Italian or Swedish could usefully be a third language.

Conversational skills with this type are completely optional, but maximum consciousness is needed, which would help one independently acquire a similar skill in the field of the third, fourth, etc. language.

4. The ability to maintain a conversation on any topic, while speaking, although with errors, is quite understandable both from the point of view of pronunciation and from the point of view of vocabulary and grammar. This skill is necessary for people who are forced to conduct more or less responsible conversations with foreigners. In practice, scientists, engineers, staff officers, various trade and industrial agents, etc. may find themselves in this position. This skill, however, is sufficient only if these individuals are not required to speak publicly.

5. The ability to competently write scientific and technical articles, business papers and letters may be necessary for the previous category of persons, as well as for employees of all institutions that have relations with foreign countries.

6. The ability to freely and subtly understand the most difficult texts, by the way, fiction, newspapers and all sorts of others. It is necessary for writers, critics, literary critics, publicists, politicians and, above all, foreign language teachers and translators.

7. Ability to write responsible documents, literary articles, etc. well. Necessary for diplomatic agents and for all speakers in the foreign press.

8. The ability to speak freely and absolutely correctly, in terms of pronunciation, in public. Necessary for diplomatic workers and all public speakers.

There is no doubt that in life many of these skills often have to be combined: for example, skill No. 3 can be combined with skills No. 4 and No. 5, skill No. 7 with skill No. 6, etc.

It goes without saying that each skill or their various combinations should have its own methodology and that they should be taught in different educational institutions. It should be emphasized here that skill No. 3, combined with a slightly expanded skill No. 2, should be fully taught in high school, and the foundations of this skill, practically applicable in life, must be laid in junior high school: students who do not go further should be able and through a little independent work to develop the ability to read books fluently, at least in their specialty. The methodology for teaching foreign languages ​​in secondary schools must take this circumstance into account. Skills #1 and #2 should be given in different short courses; skills No. 4 and No. 5 - special courses based on secondary school skills; skills No. 6, 7 and 8 - on the basis of good secondary school skills - philological faculties or various special educational institutions with a philological basis. The center of teaching should, of course, be skill No. 6. In addition, skill No. 4 should not be overlooked, the requirements for which in terms of correct language and pronunciation can be strengthened for future teachers and some other categories of specialists. Skills No. 7 and No. 8 can hardly be made compulsory even in language universities, but should be taught in special seminars at them for those who wish and have the appropriate abilities.

Finally, there may be specialized, although not higher, educational institutions, something analogous to commercial schools, where the focus would be skill No. 4 with increased requirements for correct language and pronunciation.

We have to think about all this, because in the old days in secondary school they taught only something in the field of knowledge of languages, the rest was left to private initiative, and a good knowledge of foreign languages ​​was obtained mainly from the governess. Therefore, we, in essence, have no experience at all in training people who speak foreign languages ​​on a state scale. It may even be necessary to create special linguistic secondary schools to train contingents of people who can higher school master skills No. 6, No. 7 and I No. 8. The fact is that learning languages ​​must begin early - about ten years old, or even earlier. At the age of 18-20, when a person has already formed, it is difficult, if not impossible, to force him to learn the very boring rudiments of any language that provide little food for the mind. This should be done in secondary school, starting from childhood.

However, even in secondary school, where the initial difficulties of at least two foreign languages ​​must be passed, and where the foundations of philological education in general must be laid, this is not so simple if the study of languages ​​has only practical significance. In fact, every person can only with difficulty force himself to do something whose immediate usefulness he does not feel; This is especially true in relation to adolescents who do not yet have enough willpower to work towards achieving a very distant goal, but who are already beginning to be conscious of their surroundings. Meanwhile, it is precisely the environment and the philistine environment that teach a teenager that languages ​​can be dispensed with, that one can make a “wonderful career” without knowing languages, and even if only a few realize that languages ​​may still be useful in the future, then this turns out to be still not a sufficient incentive to overcome the boredom of primary language learning, which is only intensified by the efforts of some of our methodologists, who allegedly strive to facilitate this process, but in fact only reduce and slow it down.

However, that the sentiments of our teenagers are not as unfounded as some may think, is clear from the following statement by one of the very popular foreign methodologists, F. Aronstein, who cannot in any way be suspected of wanting to weaken the position of new languages ​​as a school subject. This is what he writes: “When a school includes certain subjects in its syllabus cannot, in view of the rivalry of peoples, ignore considerations of the usefulness and applicability of these objects in life; However, this practical purposefulness can only be attributed to secondary importance and precisely for practical reasons, since complete mastery of the language can hardly be achieved with a few hours a week of not individual, but school teaching, and if achieved, it can only be useful to very few (1926, p. 33).”

Be that as it may, but as a result of the traditional exclusively factual purposefulness of new foreign languages ​​as academic subject, which, however, does not reach the consciousness of the average schoolchild, and the general understanding of the general educational importance of studying foreign languages, this subject is extremely unpopular at school. Starting from many school principals and ending with parents and students, everyone considers it an unnecessary and, in any case, unimportant subject, which is reflected in everything from the relative weight of grades in foreign languages ​​to the details of the schedule.

The same was the situation with new foreign languages ​​in our old school, with the only difference being that they were then considered unnecessary in general, but unnecessary in school, since with the help of governesses one can achieve much greater success in terms of practical knowledge of the language (cf. similar responsible statements at a meeting on secondary school reform in 1916).

From all that has been said, a few things should be done conclusions:

1. Teachers of foreign languages ​​should think carefully about the practical usefulness of their subject in general and the language they teach in particular, and take every opportunity to explain this whole issue to students. It's not that easy, and in order not to get reverse effect, you must be a widely educated and very tactful person.

2. It is necessary to ensure the teaching of foreign languages ​​by persons with higher education in the true, and not in the formal sense of the word, who would impress students with their education.

3. And, finally, the most important thing is that you need to understand that foreign languages ​​have the general educational value that Latin used to have in practice (how this value is expressed will be discussed below).

New foreign languages, from the moment they entered the family of school subjects, were not assigned general educational significance until very recently.

Such significance, according to tradition, was attributed only to Latin, which at one time was more than natural, since Latin was the organ of all education, the entire culture of old Western Europe. While this was the objective state of affairs and as long as there was no doubt about the necessity of Latin for the education of the younger generations, no one delved into an analysis of the educational significance of Latin. But when in the 19th century. Latin finally became practically unnecessary, they began to look for reasons for its preservation at the head of the entire school system and invented a legend about the “formal-logical” general educational power of studying languages ​​in general and Latin in particular.<…>

Thus, we can say that children, studying their native language, which they practically already speak, are engaged in awareness of their thinking, which is not done - and this must be emphasized in every possible way - in none of the subjects taught at school. However, experience shows that, without a term for comparison, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of words and categories of the native language. Very simply and naturally a similar term for comparison is given by the second one, i.e. foreign language. Here lay, first of all, the general educational significance of Latin, at a time when it had already lost its significance as an organ of the entire culture. This, however, far from exhausts, as will be shown later, the general educational significance of any conscious “bilingualism” (a special article in this collection is devoted to the concept of bilingualism).<…>

The picture changes completely with proper (I emphasize this word in every possible way) teaching of foreign languages. By learning them, we soon become convinced that reality is presented differently in different languages; each new foreign word forces us to think about what lies behind it and behind the corresponding Russian word, forces us to think about the very essence of human thought. Of course, this occurs at higher levels of education, when reading literary texts, and when translating, especially difficult ones. But even the simplest facts force students, even at the elementary level, to gradually free themselves from the captivity of their native language. In fact, the discrepancy between, for example, the grammatical gender in the native and the target language is a kind of discovery (I witnessed how an adult learner got angry and wondered how table could be feminine when table in Russian – masculine). An even greater discovery - and a healing discovery - is to state that in English (also in most non-Indo-European languages) there is no difference in grammatical genders at all and that, therefore, the absurd fact that table we classify men as bench- to the category of women, there is a linguistic mirage (a historical relic with a very complicated history), not at all substantiated in the things themselves, at least in their modern understanding. More subtle cases, also of a grammatical order, are encountered at every step. For example, studying foreign languages ​​leads to the fact that we cease to consider the grammatical category of aspect as a mandatory attribute of the action of the verb, as is instilled in the Russian language. In general, the relationship between tenses and types in different languages ​​is a subtle and complex matter that requires great thoughtfulness, but plays a very important practical role in the process of accurately understanding texts, and sometimes even simply to capture their general meaning. The significance of studying such things lies, of course, not in their philosophical illumination (this is not the job of high school), but in the fact that students gradually, throughout the course of their studies, learn not to skim through the phenomena of their native language that are familiar to them, but to notice different shades of thought, until now they did not notice in their native language. This can be called overcoming the native language, leaving its magic circle. There is nothing to notice in the native language - everything in it is simple and self-explanatory, and nothing raises any doubts. In speech development lessons, one has to show great virtuosity in order to stop children’s attention on some of the simplest linguistic phenomena. Lessons in translation from a foreign language and without the final literary design of the translation, in essence, force the student to delve into the most subtle shades of meaning of the native language. I would say, without considering this a paradox at all, that it is completely possible to master one’s native language (I, of course, mean the literary language here), i.e. To appreciate all its richness, all its means of expression, to understand all its possibilities, is possible only by studying any foreign language. As has already been said, nothing can be known without a term for comparison, and the “unity of language and thinking” does not give us this term in our native language, does not give us the opportunity to separate thought from the ways of its expression. A foreign language gives us this term, expressing the same thought by other means, and helps to reveal various means of expression in our native language, and teaches us not to confuse methods of expression with the essence of things; turn off the lights, turn off the electricity, turn on the switch - can express the same thought in a different only internal form.<…>

As a result of properly organized teaching of foreign languages, with a sufficient number of hours and with a large amount of consciously read literary material, the following will be achieved:

1) Students learn to carefully read books in general, reading from them everything that is contained in the text - a precious skill, because reading only in their native language often creates the habit of intuitively grasping only the general meaning. The skill of attentive reading is absolutely necessary for all persons dealing with books and even just newspapers, and its presence is a sign cultured person and must be an absolute condition of admission to a higher education institution.

2) Based on this skill, students will understand the mechanism of competent (stylistically) writing, understand its importance and necessity in practical life, in institutional correspondence, in the texts of orders, orders, and even more so laws, etc., and once they understand all this, then they will strive to consciously master the style.

3) Freed from the captivity of their native language, students get used to seeing things as they really are, and in any case receive a thorough charge of a critical attitude towards the environment and what they read. From a philosophical point of view, they will receive a practical school of dialectics, since the idea of ​​​​the inviolability of concepts, which is instilled in the native language, will be destroyed, and completely destroyed, if it is not compared in detail with some foreign language, i.e. practically, if you do not translate a large number of difficult texts.

4) You will gain the skill to independently study foreign languages ​​in general, at least to master their book form. We see how difficult it is for our university youth to master foreign languages ​​without receiving real linguistic training in high school. Old Latin and its serious study opened doors to all languages.

5) Finally, students will acquire the ability to independently read text of any difficulty in the target language.

General education in the strict sense of the word is, of course, point 3; but the 1st and 2nd points, although they talk about practically useful things, can, however, also be considered general educational, especially since what is practically useful is not in this case the direct content of foreign language lessons.

The general educational importance of second language learning, briefly outlined, was the reason why Latin persisted and still persists in school systems. And this result is obtained completely independently of different theories and even methods. It is enough that a significant number of difficult texts are read and translated, and everything else follows by itself.

As a result of all of the above, I think it becomes quite obvious that in another way, i.e. Without the correct study of foreign languages ​​- be it Latin, be it new languages ​​- it is impossible to prepare people who can master the pen (in the broadest sense of the word), no matter what special field they work in. No writers, journalists, critics, reporters, literary critics, lawyers, authors of projects, memos, etc. etc. unthinkable outside of such a school. Finally, there is no other way to prepare just a good reader: otherwise his field of vision will be limited to modern literature in his native language. Any developed literature is connected with the past, one’s own and someone else’s, and is essentially inaccessible to understanding without knowledge of this past. Therefore, for a person who has not gone through a thorough language school and has not read all the major works in at least one foreign language, literature in general will be a book with seven seals (it goes without saying, this does not apply to individual, more or less gifted individuals who , however, they themselves usually come to study foreign languages). Any aesthetics unfamiliar to us is completely inaccessible without reading, and close reading (under good guidance), of outstanding foreign writers in the originals.

It may seem strange why no one has yet expressed all these essentially very simple truths. The reason, it seems to me, is clear: for people who have gone through a classical school, all its benefits are invisible, since they are familiar to them, since they have become second nature, but they do not carry a term for comparison.<…>.

Moving on to the educational significance of foreign languages, we must first of all condemn the desire to saturate elementary texts with an excessive amount of political material. Foreign language textbooks, of course, cannot be politically neutral: they must be Soviet, i.e. Students should feel their Soviet person in the compiler. But this does not mean that texts addressed to beginners, and therefore necessarily poor in thought and form, must necessarily be filled with material that is important from an ideological point of view. In practice, this leads him to degradation and profanation: he will either seem naive, since he will always be below the intellectual level of the students, or will be boring, since he will repeat what has already been known to them for a long time. Both are undesirable. But a rich selection of literary material for advanced students makes it possible to implement the principles of communist education in foreign language lessons in high school in exactly the same way as is the case in Russian literature lessons. Therefore, referring readers to the corresponding chapters of the methods of teaching Russian literature, I will dwell here only on the specifics of a foreign language.

Indeed, nothing fosters a spirit of international solidarity like learning foreign languages. Reading literature in a particular foreign language, visiting the country of this language and observing the morals and customs of its inhabitants, we are first of all surprised and even amazed at the differences of this language. foreign culture from ours - and this is the general educational value of studying a foreign language and foreign culture, which was mentioned above, but gradually we are convinced that foreigners are the same people like us, have the same joys and sorrows as us, and feelings of human solidarity take possession of us. And further, with the slightest guidance from the teacher, students can begin to notice that in other countries the poor suffer just as much, and the rich exploit the poor just as much, as it was in our country before the revolution. From here a concrete understanding of the international solidarity of the proletariat easily arises. All this arises especially easily, of course, in direct communication with people, but a smart teacher will find enough material for this in the literature students read.

Now we just have to compare the significance that ancient languages, on the one hand, and new ones, on the other, can have in school. There can be no doubt that only new languages ​​are of practical importance and that ancient languages, including Latin, are practically useless. The question can only be about comparing the general educational and educational significance of both languages. We have seen that the general educational meaning discussed in this article was always characteristic of Latin, completely regardless of whether it was recognized or not.<…>

However, here we need to pay attention to one circumstance that has not yet been discussed. We saw the educational significance of foreign languages ​​primarily in observing the differences in the internal form of perception of reality, the differences in the scope and content of the corresponding concepts of different languages, which have found one or another expression in the language. These linguistic differences are partly related to quite current differences in the culture of the speakers of these languages, and partly are remnants of past differences in it. They are smoothed out as the respective cultures interpenetrate and assimilate, and sometimes it comes to the point that two languages ​​can be simply two sound variants of the same thing in the internal forms of the language. This state of affairs (in its extreme form) is observed in cases where two languages ​​coexist in the same community, i.e. in cases of so-called bilingualism. The unity of modern European culture is beyond doubt, and it is reflected in numerous ways in the language. Not to mention such specially technical terms as Latin case, German Fall, Russian case(where all three words not only denote the same grammatical phenomenon, but denote it in the same way - by means of a noun derived from a verb fall), European languages ​​are full of so-called cripples, which multiply almost daily: individual pieces of paper are always called sheets(cf. French feuille and Latin folio, German Blatt); writing instruments are always called pen(cf. French plume German feder); train in European languages ​​is called a noun from a verb pull(cf. Italian treno, German Zug, Czech vlak); Russian – railway answers French chemin de fer, German Eisenbahn, Italian ferrovia; Russian – understand(from have) answers French com-prendre, German begreifen; Russian – conscience answers Latin con-scientia, German Gewissen; Russian – seriously ill answers French grave malade(cf. Latin gravis - heavy german schwerkrank); Russian – frivolous answers in German leichtsinnig, French leger etc.

From what has been said, it follows that European languages ​​should provide comparatively less material for observing differences in internal form than, for example, various “exotic” languages, which are based on a completely different culture. From this point of view, both Greek and Latin perhaps provide there is more material for comparison than modern European languages, since the ancient Greek and Roman cultures are, of course, very different from our modern one, although they are its source. However, modern European languages ​​are still not so assimilated to each other that they do not provide enough material for the comparison with each other that we have already discussed in this article. Therefore, from this point of view, it is still difficult to talk about serious advantages of ancient languages ​​as a school subject over new ones.

The only thing that can be said in this regard in defense of dead languages ​​is that at present no one would think of teaching how to speak and write in Latin or Ancient Greek in school, and therefore there is nothing to fear from the direct method, which tends to it was found out To unconscious knowledge of a foreign language, and therefore depriving the study of foreign languages ​​of their educational value. Meanwhile, when applied to new languages, the direct method has a well-deserved reputation and, in certain cases and with certain limitations, can be used today in the Soviet methodology, as was already clarified in the second article. It goes without saying that such an advantage of dead languages, since it is not fundamental, cannot in any way have a decisive significance when choosing languages ​​as one of the foundations of general education.<…>

/From:L.V. Shcherba General questions of methodology: textbook. allowance. – SPb.-M., 2002.- P.34-50/.

Nikolenko G.A., Gulakova I.A.

ANDWAYS TO TRANSLATE THEM

The world is changing rapidly, relationships in society are changing. Changes also affect the business sector. Advertising, as an integral attribute of any business activity, also changes its form and content. From a means of putting pressure on the consumer, advertising texts are gradually turning into a means of marketing communication, effectively serving as a language of communication between the manufacturer and the consumer. The importance of correct translation is also growing advertising texts, especially now, when Western goods previously unknown to a wide range of consumers have poured into our market. Each of these products already has a rich history, an established image and a clearly defined philosophy in their respective countries. An analysis of existing literature on this issue allows us to assert that when translating advertising texts, specific linguistic characteristics, and most importantly, the special communicative orientation of advertising messages, are not fully taken into account. The works of such recognized translation theorists as L.K. Latyshev, A.A. Weise, S. Florin, give an idea of ​​the adequacy of translation in general, but do not reveal the specifics of translation of advertising language. The authors of the article strive to come closer to understanding the place of the sublanguage of advertising in the system of various types of speech activity and try to develop principles for adequate translation of modern advertising texts. Analysis of advertising language, important factor economic development seems relevant at this stage. The main goal of the article is to identify specific linguistic characteristics of the advertising language and ways of translating advertising texts into other languages. Several tasks follow from this goal: - analyze the language of advertising and identify it specific characteristics at the level of semantics, vocabulary and syntax; - analyze the parameters affecting the adequacy of the translation. The advertising language is characterized by a number of specific features , distinguishing it from other sublanguages ​​(sublanguage of culture, sublanguage of literature, etc.). The language of advertising has linguistic features, the identification of which is the focus of this work. As a result of analyzing a sample of thousands of advertising texts, which is statistically sufficient to extrapolate conclusions to the entire sublanguage of advertising, we can conclude that these features are: - a specific selection of vocabulary, characterized by a rich connotative trail, an abundance of meanings; - words are often stylistically colored, which attracts the attention of those who perceive the text; - the use of vocabulary in a non-literal sense to enhance imagery; - numerous use of idioms to create imagery. Idioms help create an image, which is a central means of influencing the recipient. When perceiving an advertising text, the main thing is the reaction to the image, which will remain in the memory of the person perceiving the advertisement. It is important to create this image by making maximum use of language tools - idiomatic expressions, low-frequency vocabulary and vocabulary with emotional and evaluative overtones that create connotation. The main purpose of advertising language is the ability to make an impression and leave a strong emotional trace about the text. It is imagery and impressiveness that are the basis of advertising, and ways of creating these characteristics of advertising texts. One of the means of impression is the use of low-frequency words. The use of low-frequency vocabulary entails the introduction of extensive lexical material of low-frequency words. Imagery is also created due to the semantics of words, from what emotions they are associated with. The strongest feeling is fear, and due to the amplifiers - awfully, terribly, a strong impressiveness of the phrase is created. As for the grammatical organization of advertising texts, it represents an amazing originality against the backdrop of endless homogeneity. Regarding word order, the use of inversion and passive constructions should be emphasized - Detroit Edison is pleased to be ...; If you are interested. Negative forms are rarely used, as they create a negative impression about the product or service, which the advertising text should avoid, creating a positive image - Looks good Tastes good Does you good; It is an ideal choice... . The semantic and communicative task of the advertising text is a call to action, which determines the preferential use of the verb compared to other parts of speech. The verb is the only part of speech that has the form of an imperative - Drink Cola, Buy popcorn. Verbs make up about 50% of the words in advertising text. The construction of an invitation to joint action is also used - let - Let's make things better (a well-known advertising slogan of Philips). It is important to semantically correctly use the verb with the most accurate meaning in order to leave a vivid impression of what was said. While mums and dads will enjoy the chance to unwind and soak up the sun. To unwind - to begin to relax after a period of work or tension To soak up - to absorb something into the senses or the mind The use of these very verbs creates the image of rest after hard work and relaxation under sun rays symbolizing joy and positive emotions. The use of verbs with adverbs of frequency - always, already enhances the positive dynamics of the image - Always dream of having your own swimming pool? . As for syntax, the most pronounced features are the brevity and telegraphic style of advertising texts - Drink Coca Cola Delicious and Refreshing, Solar Energy from BP Amoco. Another noted syntactic feature is the use of elliptical constructions, where the topic - an already known part of the sentence - is trimmed and the rheme - new information that attracts attention with its imagery - is brought to the fore. This abbreviation of the sentence in no way interferes with understanding the meaning of the text, but on the contrary makes a clear impression with its concentration - Ideal for families = It is ideal for families; Got your attention, didn't it? = What you have read got your attention, didn't it? The main criterion for understanding the characteristic features of an advertising sublanguage, in our opinion, is the ability to correctly perceive and adequately translate advertising texts and brand names. As is known, there are several main approaches to understanding translation equivalence. Firstly, the concept of formal correspondence, when everything that is transferable is transmitted, right down to the structure of the source text. This principle only applies to transcribing or transliterating brand names, but not to translating slogans. Secondly, the concept of normative-content compliance, when equivalence appears as a balance of accurate transmission of the elements of the content of the source text and compliance with the norms of the target language. For advertising texts, the normativity of linguistic means is, of course, desirable, but is not a priority. Therefore, the more fully the translation conveys the emotional message embedded in the text by the creator of the advertisement, the higher quality it can be considered. This task will most effectively be accomplished by translating the advertising message in accordance with the concept of dynamic (or functional) equivalence. The concept of dynamic equivalence was introduced into linguistics by the American scientist Yu. Naida, who proposed to establish the usefulness of a translation not by comparing the source text with the target text, but by comparing the reaction of the recipient of the translated text and the recipient of the text in the source language. Advertising in modern business is one of the most effective means communications. Consequently, when translating, any advertising text should be considered primarily from the point of view of its communicative value. The strength of influence, expression, the ability to cause a strictly defined response in the recipient will be signs correct transmission text in the target language. An advertising translator should consider any text of this kind not as a goal, but as a means of communication between the manufacturer and potential consumer. Isolating the characteristic features of the advertising language, understanding their impact on the rational and emotional spheres of the recipient’s consciousness and then eliminating the linguistic and cultural-ethnic barrier between communicants - these are the stages of the process of equivalent translation of advertising texts. In this case, the specialist is faced with a difficult task - predicting the linguistic-ethnic reaction of the average advertising consumer to the text of the message in the target language. This forecast is based on the translator’s knowledge of the peculiarities of national psychology, differences in cultural and historical traditions, knowledge of realities, knowledge of the source language and the target language. Here we face difficulties at every step. Translating a brand name may at first glance seem like the least problematic task. There are generally accepted methods of transcription and transliteration of foreign words (although the second method is used quite rarely at the present stage). However, we must not forget about such an important phenomenon as foreign language homonymy. The famous Bulgarian translator S. Florin in his book “Translation Torments” describes this phenomenon this way: “What to do, for example, when correct transcription will a foreign name turn out to be a homonym of a vulgar, indecent or simply comical word in the target language? The point here is not “euphemism” or fear of pornography, but the fact that this can give a parodic, caricatured character to a serious or deeply lyrical character of the translated work." This warning is especially important for advertising texts. You cannot hope for the success of an advertising campaign if the name of a brand or an individual product will evoke responses from speakers of a particular language that the manufacturer did not expect. Perhaps the consumer will have some positive associations with the product that the manufacturer did not expect. However, much more often we encounter directly opposite situations. The world-famous automobile company Ford can boast of extensive experience in this matter. Thus, the Fierra, an inexpensive truck designed for developing countries, sold poorly in Latin America. The fact is that the Spanish fierra means “old woman.” was in demand in Mexico, where it was introduced to the market under the name Caliente. The reason again was not due to design, construction or poor positioning. In Mexican slang, caliente means “prostitute.” The Coca-Cola company, unlike Ford, approaches advertising in other countries with particular care, including from a linguistic point of view. Firstly, the logo itself does not always retain its familiar appearance. For example, in Arab countries and China, among the famous white letters on a red background, you will not find a single symbol of the Latin alphabet. Translators preferred transliteration in order to bring the advertising image closer to the average consumer in these regions, where the Latin alphabet is not as widespread as in Europe and in the homeland of the brand - America. Secondly, the main core of the advertising slogan is the verb enjoy. When translated into different languages, it undergoes quite strong metamorphoses. Suffice it to recall the Russian version of “drink.” The company's marketers explain these changes by the desire to avoid unwanted sensory connotations of the direct translation - "enjoy." This brand carried out such work in every country, trying to convey the philosophy of its products as adequately as possible. The translator, in addition to understanding the spirit of a particular brand and, naturally, good command of the source text language, must have the ability to foresee the communicative effect of an advertising message in the target language. L.K. Latyshev writes about it this way: “By subtracting from his individual reaction to the original message the moments determined by personal beliefs, views, tastes, personal life experience, the translator receives a linguo-ethnic reaction, which, due to his high linguistic competence, is largely close to average reaction of the linguistic community". The Mars company, when introducing its famous M&M's trademark to the French market, faced the following difficulties. Neither the sign & (= and) nor the plural ending `s are present in the French language. Any student of English, not to mention a translator, is familiar with with these phenomena and will react adequately to such a trademark. However, this is exactly the case when the translator must “subtract” from his reaction the fact of knowing the original language. Therefore, it was decided to launch a massive advertising campaign with the aim of “teaching” the French consumer to pronounce the name of the product. , that is, to convey the sound of M&M's in English using the sounds of your native language. And Whirlpool found itself in an even more difficult situation. There is no punctuation in its name, but pronouncing it seems to be an almost impossible task for Spanish-speaking consumers. Hence the problems with sales on the Spanish market. The Dow Chemical company did not shy away from difficulties and began to introduce a new word “zipar” into the Portuguese language, meaning “to fasten with a zipper.” This euphemism appeared in advertisements for Ziploc food storage bags. The name of the company's product is directly related to the meaning English verb“to zip”, and advertisers in this case did not adapt the product to a specific culture and language, but went by creating a new lexical unit that did not previously exist in the language. Speaking about the peculiarities of the sublanguage of advertising, we mentioned the frequent use of idioms as one of the ways to create a vivid emotional image. As you know, literal translation of idiomatic expressions is unacceptable. We can only select equivalents in the target language that are more or less close to the original. Based on the above theory of dynamic equivalence, an advertising translator must not only find the most accurate equivalent of a phraseological unit, but also anticipate the linguistic-ethnic reaction of the recipient of the advertising text. Eternal rival Coca-Cola company Pepsi carried out another advertising campaign in Germany. The motto of the action was the English phrase Come alive with Pepsi, a rather capacious semantic phrase - here is liveliness, vigor, health, and a call to move, not to sit still. Unfortunately, all this connotative richness eluded German consumers, who were presented with this slogan as “Rise from the grave with Pepsi.” A characteristic feature of advertising, as mentioned above, is the use of low-frequency words, which are always more emotionally charged and have a more complex semantic structure. The less frequent a word is, the more effort will be required to convey it in the target language. It is necessary to preserve the trail of meaning that helps the manufacturer reveal the essence of the image of its product. The least helpful thing here is transliteration. To illustrate, we can use the example of Sunbeam. Introducing hair curling irons with a steam function to the German market, managers did not change the name of the device and left the English Mist-Stick. Those who know English know perfectly well the difference between the English “vapour” and “mist”. The first is more often found in technical and popular science texts in the meaning of “steam”. The second pulls behind it a whole string of far from emotionally neutral concepts - “haze, haze, fog, drizzle.” A product clearly aimed at a female target group only benefits from such imagery. But in reality a comic situation emerged. The fact is that “mist” in German means “fertilizer, manure”. It turns out that it would have been better to stop at “vapour”, which is more or less characteristic of all European languages. Based on the analysis of the sample, the following conclusions can be drawn: - the sublanguage of advertising is part of the structure of the language, having a number of characteristic linguistic features that create the impressiveness and imagery of advertising texts. The central means of influencing the recipient is the image. Imagery is the goal of advertising text; everything is used to create it. possible means language - idioms, word connotations, low-frequency vocabulary, elliptical constructions, etc.; - semantic task of the advertising text - a call to action, best conveyed through a verb - the most dynamic part of speech; - effective translation of advertising is associated with predicting the linguistic-ethnic reaction of the recipient of the text in the target language; it is important to rely on knowledge of the characteristics of national psychology, differences in cultural and historical traditions, knowledge of the source and target languages. The problem of studying the language of advertising and the specifics of translating advertising texts has become of interest to linguists and people not associated with philology. But right now it is becoming especially relevant. Manufacturers are entering the markets of the CIS countries with rich history and the established image of brands, advertising slogans of which can already be considered as cultural realities of a particular country. At the same time, domestic manufacturers are increasingly trying to find a place for their products in the already established consumer markets of non-CIS countries. Advertising, being one of the main means of marketing communication, must thus effectively fulfill its role as the language of communication between the manufacturer and its target audience. The verbal component of advertising most often predominates or, at least, is an integral part of the complex of means of influencing the consumer.
Thus, attention to issues of language in general and advertising language in particular will help increase the communicative value of advertising. It is the dynamism and the need to constantly improve the language of advertising that makes it necessary to continue in-depth research into this part of speech activity. The prospects for further analysis of this aspect are not limited and constitute the scope of further scientific work. Sources and literature: 1. Erogova A.M. Theory and practice of translating economic texts from English into Russian. - M.: International relations, 1974. - 192 p. 2. Veise A.A., Kireev N.B., Mironchikov I.K. Translation of technical literature from English into Russian. - Mn.: N.B.Kireev, 1997. - 112 p. 3. Latyshev L.K. Translation course. - M.: International relations, 1981. - 248 p. 4. Lilova A. Introduction to general theory translation. - M.: Higher School, 1995. - 256 s. 5. Florin S. Translation torment. - M.: Higher School, 1983. - 184 p. 6. Abbs Brian, Freedbairn Ingrid Blueprint two - Pearson Education Limited, 2000. - 142 rub. 7. Evans David Powerhouse.- Pearson Education Limited, 2001.-160 p. 8. Harding Keith, Henderson Paul High Season. - Oxford University Press, 1997. - 176 rub. 9. Hawkins Del I., Best Roger J., Coney Kenneth A. Consumer behavior. - Richard Irwin Inc, 1995. - 650 rub. 10. Hollett Vicki Business Opportunities. - Oxford University Press, 1997. - 192 rub. 11. Tullis Graham, Trappe Toney New Insights Into Business. Student's Book. - Pearson Education Limited, 2000. - 176 rub. 12. Tullis Graham, Trappe Toney New Insights Into Business. Work Book. - Pearson Education Limited, 2000. - 84 rub. 13. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. - Oxford University Press, 1995. - 1428 rub. 14. The Oxford Dictionary For The Business World. - Oxford University Press, 1993. - 998 rub.