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POLITICAL TERMINOLOGY AND NOMENCLATURE UNITS IN NON-PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE
ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ ТЕРМИНОЛОГИЯ И НОМЕНКЛАТУРА В РАМКАХ НЕПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ДИСКУРСА
А.А. КОСАРИНА, филологический факультет МГУ им. М.В. Ломоносова,
А.Е. ФЕДОТОВА, филологический факультет МГУ им. М.В. Ломоносова
ФГБОУ ВО МГУ им. М.В. Ломоносова, филологический факультет 119991, Москва, Ленинские горы, ГСП-1, 1-й корпус гуманитарных факультетов
В условиях современного мира, при активном процессе глобализации и развитии информационных технологий, политика играет все большую и большую роль в жизни общества. Принимая это во внимание, можно заметить, что медиа попадают под все большее влияние политики, и как следствие, политическая терминология все чаще встречается в непрофессиональном дискурсе - газетах, журналах, сериалах, на телевидении, радио и т.д. Предметом особого интереса является анализ функционирования политических терминов в непрофессиональном дискурсе с целью выявить особые черты употребления терминов. Сравнивая непрофессиональный дискурс с профессиональным, можно заметить, что он гораздо менее официален, поэтому в нем нет строгих регламентированных правил использования терминологии. Непрофессиональный дискурс отличается экспрессивностью, поскольку ориентирован на целевую аудиторию, поэтому даже термины попадают под влияние экспрессии. Следовательно, можно утверждать, что термины в непрофессиональном дискурсе имеют ряд характеристик, которые не встречаются в профессиональном дискурсе. Материалом для изучения особенных черт политических терминов в непрофессиональном дискурсе в этой статье послужит первый сезон американского сериала «Карточный домик» (House of cards) 2013. Поскольку сериалы, как и газеты, журналы, телевидение и радио относятся к сфере непрофессионального дискурса, они могут послужить наглядным примером для анализа функционирования и выявления особых черт политических терминов в данном типе дискурса.
Ключевые слова: политическая терминология, непрофессиональный дискурс, терминологизация, политическая лексика, номенклатура.
Nowadays politics is gaining great importance for people and, thus, political terminology is frequently observed practically in all the spheres of our lives. The best example to illustrate it is to analyze its use in non-professional discourse, represented by mass media - television, radio, newspapers and films.
The material to study political terminology in this article is the first season of an American political drama television series - House of Cards (2013) and a number of newspapers from 1836 to 2015.
The research has shown that the series comprises a great variety of political terms used in unusual contexts and combinations, while the newspapers perfectly illustrate the process of terminologization, determinologization and other processes within the frameworks of political studies. The following groups of specific features of the use of political terms in this type of non-professional discourse can be singled out:
1) specific features which can be observed in the form of the terms;
2) specific features which can be observed in the content of the terms;
3) stylistic specific features.
Each of these groups comprises more concrete devices and features. The first group includes the following: coinage of new terms which do not exist in the language, inaccuracy and mistakes in the writing of terms and an attempt at copying the intonation of oral speech in the written text, which also results in the wrong terminological form.
In non-professional discourse new terms can be easily coined. There are different ways to coin new terms, at least two of them can be observed. The first one is to coin a new term using the form of another term, to make them sound similar and to show that the newly-coined term has the same qualities as the existing one. Thus, in the phrase: “I’d like to coin the phrase “trickle-down diplomacy” this method is used. According to terminological dictionaries the term trickle-down diplomacy [Season 1; series 1] does not exist, but there is a term trickle-down economics - “a term used to describe the belief that if high income earners gain an increase in salary, then everyone in the economy will benefit as their increased income and wealth filter
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through to all sections in society.” (http://www. economicshelp.org/blog/174/economics/trickle-down-economics/).
Another example is the word Balkanization:
Balkanization - the deliberate fragmentation of a region into a number of independent or quasi-independent, mutually hostile centres of power; the purpose being the prevention of a unified, concentrated threat to the imposer.
The term appeared in 1918, when Dr. Emil Rathenau, head of the German General Electrical Company, used the term for the first time:
‘If the indemnities are high we shall have nothing with which to expand our industries and there will be a great tide of emigration, probably to South America, the Far East and certainly to Russia. The result will be the Balkani7.ation of Europe’.
By the end of the 20th century, the process of terminologization has already finished, the unit is fixed in dictionaries [13, p. 45] and is seen as a proper term to such an extent that new terms are coined on the basis of this one:
‘The U.S. has a vital stake in an orderly Soviet evolution that does not lead to the Balkanization, let alone the Lebanonization of this world heartland’. (The U. S. Legion, March 1991).
Terms can be coined from other terms, general lexis and nomenclature units. The issue of the distinction between terminology and nomenclature is highly important and has been studied by a number of scientists [1; 5-9].
Another way of coining new terms is to coin them using a term and a noun of the general lexis. Such combinations are not likely to be seen in professional discourse, however, in nonprofessional discourse they are quite often used. For example in the phrase “I’m working with my staff-Republicans” staff-Republicans [Season 1; series 2] is a term, meaning colleagues from the Republican party. In terminological dictionaries such term is not registered.
Another way of coining terms is to use a slang word instead of it. Thus, in non-professional discourse a slang word can function as a term. For example, in the following phrase:
“I count votes. Yeas, nays, neutrals, abstaining” yes, nays and neutrals [Season1; series 8] gain terminological meaning, defining electors who voted “for”, who voted “against” and who refrained from voting. Such terms are not registered in terminological dictionaries, however they function as terms.
A conclusion can be made that replacing terms with slang words is done for the purpose of expressivity. Non-professional discourse is informal and audience-oriented, thus, it should be attractive and expressive, in order to attract people. Slang words, which replace terms, turn out to be a good means to do it.
In non-professional discourse, terms can be written inaccurately, with mistakes. The fist reason for it is that in written non-professional discourse an attempt at reproducing emotions is made. Thus, for example the phrase “Why? Im-immigration is too controversial” [Season 1; series 1] shows a kind of emotional trembling resulting in the form of the term immigration -“the movement into a new country of a person who is not a citizen of that country, to live there permanently”[10] , which in this context is written with an extra - im prefix.
Another example of the kind is the phrase “It’s a communist “agua-larchy. ” Oligar “Oliguarchy” [Season 1; series 1]. Here the term oligarchy - “a political system that is controlled by a small group of individuals, who govern in their own interests” [10] is misspelled two times. The situation is that the Congressman, who pronounces it, is drunk and is not able to say it in the right way. So, once again, the informal discourse makes use of the wrong way of the form of the term.
Non-professional discourse is also characterized by variants of spelling. For example, The spelling of the term J-curve has not yet been standardized; the variants used in the dictionaries and texts of institutional and non-institutional discourse include J curve, J-curve, j-curve.
As far as the content plane of the terms in non-professional discourse is concerned, it includes: a wide use of metaphors, a wide use of expressive and stylistically-marked terms, wordplay with terminological meanings and the ambiguity of terminological meanings.
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The style of non-professional political discourse can be characterized as expressive, emotional, dynamic. Political metaphor-based terms turn out to be one of the most popular means of expression used in it. Their function is to give more momentum to the conversation in the series and to make it more attractive to the target audience. For example, in the phrase “Leave ideology to the armchair generals ” [Season 1; series 1] a metaphor-based term armchair general can be observed. This term has recently appeared and is not fixed in many terminological dictionaries, however it has a synonym - an armchair strategist. Its meaning in the political dictionary is defined as “one who pontificates about world events; a sofa sophist. The armchair is a place of comfort from which to make discomfiting remarks; it can also be used as a symbol of laziness” [2, p. 25]. The term armchair generals appeared in 1967 in the newspaper “The New York Times” when a correspondent Max Frankel wrote: “In most wars, the armchairs are full of generals refighting every battle”.
There are not only metaphor-based terms in non-professional discourse, but also terms used with metaphors. The example is “When we all voted for you, I didn’t think that every one of those votes was another nail in our coffin” [Season 1; series 8]. Here votes is a derivative of the term voting - “an expedient for reaching a consensus in order to either avoid an extensive analysis of the issue of hand, lacking the ability or the willingness to undertake such analysis or cutting analysis short by shifting the responsibility for the outcome to the voters. Voting is most often used to legitimize (or to reject) public policy when consensus cannot be easily reached through political interaction (or market interaction), particularly in a democracy where to achieve crystallized opinion is difficult” [3, p. 548] is compared to the nail in a coffin, meaning that it was a great problem to the voters.
Apart from metaphors non-professional discourse makes use metonymy through terminological personification. The example is the following phrase “Congress will survive without you.” [Season 1; series 2] Congress is a term, the meaning of which is fixed in the terminological dictionary “a representative assembly,
such as the U.S. Congress. In the U.S., Congress consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress also refers to the two-year period which starts on January 3 each odd-numbered year, in which each particular Congress holds its meetings and debates” [10]. The verb survive in the dictionary of the general lexis is described as follows: “to continue to live or exist, especially after coming close to dying or being destroyed or after being in a difficult or threatening situation” [11]. Thus, it can be concluded that in this particular context, congress is viewed as a kind of a living being, thus, it is personification.
In non-professional discourse wordplay with the form and meaning of the term can be observed. An example is part of a dialogue which sounds as follows:
- Kern is a boy scout.
- Nobody’s a boy scout. Not even boy scouts. [Season 1; series 1]
The first phrase includes a political metaphor. In politics Boy Scout is “a nanve politician; one with a-head-in-the-clouds approach to government. Boy Scout is a derisive comment, made by cynical reporters or politicians, about those who do not bear the scars of compromise” [2, p. 77]. However, the metaphorical meaning of the term is played upon, since the response is “Nobody is a boy scout, not even boy scouts”. The interlocutor downplays the metaphorical meaning of the term and understands it as the general one.
Another example is the term Leben-
sraum:
Lebenstraum - german geopolitical term meaning ‘living space’. The term can be credited to General Haushofer (1869-1946) and his team at the Institute of Geopolitics in Munich, but was popularized by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf. <.. .> Hitler used it as a part of his thesis that it was Germany’s destiny to control the East and therefore other states must accede to her request for lebenstraum.
Mr. Adolf Hitler, of Germany, has come out with the astounding statement that his people are sadly in need of Lebensraum. In order to relieve this crying need, this column suggests that all humanitarians send Mr. Hitler at least one recording of Lebensraum, by Liszt, which is Liszted under Victor records. (Daily Illini, 7 March 1942)
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Specific stylistic features mean that two types of terminological combinations are used in non-professional discourse. First of all, there are terms used together with adjectives and nouns of official discourse. For example, the phrase “Oh, Jim Matthews, his right honorable vice-president” [Season 1; series 1] sounds official if not a little pompous, though the character who pronounces it says it ironically. Another example of the kind is the phrase “We are no longer bound by allegiances” [Season 1; series 1], which can be easily used in professional discourse but is too elaborated for everyday communication.
The second group includes terms used with expressive or stylistically-marked adjectives and nouns which can be considered to be slang words. This group is also quite large as non-professional discourse includes informal communication between people. This tendency of use of slang is not typical of professional discourse, however in mass media, series etc. it makes the style more dynamic and informal.
For example such expression as “Tax reform isn’t sexy enough” [Season 1; series 1] includes an official term tax reform and expressive adjective sexy which is defined as: 1) attractive in a physical way; 2) interesting and exciting [11]. Tax reform can be neither attractive in a physical way, nor exciting. Thus, it can be said that this epithet is not typical and very informal.
Another feature of non-professional political discourse is a wide use of contracted terminological forms. The examples of such expressions are as follows:
“Walker ran as a moderate” [Season 1; series 1]. The adjective moderate has the following definition in the political dictionary: “not extreme. Moderate political policies are those that occupy the middle ground, between the right and the left, and that do not try to effect fundamental societal change. As such, moderate is the opposite of radical.” Here moderate means a moderate candidate, used in a contracted form, which is unacceptable for professional discourse but quite acceptable in non-professional one, especially in conversation.
Thus, it can be concluded, that terms in non-professional discourse have certain functional specific features which are not typical of them
in professional discourse. Terms used in non-professional discourse are often metaphor-based and expressive. They can be used with slang words or stylistically marked adjectives and nouns. Terms can be personified. More often than not, a wordplay with terms or their meaning can be found in this kind of discourse. Concerning the expression plane, the following observations can be made:
1) terms can be written with mistakes;
2) new terms can be easily coined either according to the model of an existing term or without it.
As far as the specific features of style of non-professional discourse is concerned, it should be stated that its style includes the elements of professional discourse, such as term, attributes typical of official documents. However, in general, the style is not formal, as wordplay upon the meanings of the terms, personifications and use of slang words instead of terms is frequent. Another specific feature is a wide use of contracted terminological forms typical of informal discourse.
Библиографический список
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POLITICAL TERMINOLOGY AND NOMENCLATURE UNITS IN NON-PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE
Kosarina A.A., Faculty ofPhilology, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Fedotov A.Ye., Faculty ofPhilology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
[email protected] Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Philology Russia, 119991, Moscow, 1-51 Leninskiye Gory, GSP-1, 1st Corps Humanitarian faculties
In the modern world, the epoch of globalization and information technologies, politics occupies a great part in people s lives. Taking this fact into account, in can be observed that mass media is becoming gradually influenced by politics, and, thus, political terminology is frequently observed in non-professional discourse - newspapers and magazines, TV series and films, television, radio, etc. The issue of a special interest is to analyze the functioning of political terminology in nonprofessional discourse in order to single out specific features ofits use. Non-professional discourse compared to the professional one is not official, thus, there are no strict or registered rules of terminology use. It is also highly expressive and audience-oriented, thus, terms are inevitably facing this expressivity. So, it can be stated that terms in non-professional discourse have certain specific features which are not typical of them in professional discourse. The material to study specific features of terms in non-professional discourse in this article is the first season ofan American political drama television series - House of Cards (2013). TV series as newspapers, radio programs, magazines, etc. belong to non-professional type of discourse and thus, they can serve as a good example to study and analyze specific features and functioning of terminological units.
Keywords: political terminology, non-professional discourse, terminologization, political lexis, nomenclature.
References
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2. William Safire “Safire’s Political Dictionary”. - Oxford University Press; Revised edition (March 31, 2008)
3. Walter John Raymond “Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms”. Brunswick Publishing Corporation; 7th edition,
4. Cambridge Dictionary Online (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru)
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6. Mel’nikov G. P. Osnovy terminovedeniya [Fundamentals of terminology]. Moscow: Moscow, Publishing House of the Univ of Peoples’ Friendship, 1991.
7. Olga Akhmanova, Galina Agapova ‘Terminology: theory and method’, Moscow, MSU, 1974
8. Kondrashov V V. O kharaktere i sistemnosti edinits voennoy nomenklatury v stranakh angliyskogo yazyka [The nature of military units and systematic nomenclature in English-speaking countries]. Aktual’nye voprosy leksikologii [Actual questions of lexicology]. Novosibirsk, 1971.
9. Cuperanskaya A.V., Podol’skaya N.V., Vasil’eva N.V Obshchaya terminologiya: Voprosy teorii [Common Terminology: Theory]. Moscow: Book House “LIBROKOM”, 2012.
10. American Spirit Political Dictionary (http://www.iamericanspirit.com/).
11. Cambridge Dictionary of British English Online (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/survive).
12. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/174/economics/trickle-down-economics/.
13. Graham Evans, Jeffrey Newham, Dictionary of International Relations, London: Penguin Books, 1998.
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