浅谈科技英语的语言特点

-精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 1 浅谈科技英语的语言特点 【Abstract】As a function-related variety of English， English for science and technology（EST） has formed its own peculiar linguistic features. This paper mainly analyzes the linguistic features of EST from the aspect of lexis， grammar and discourse， aiming to help readers to get a better understanding of EST. 中国论文网 /5/view-5349551.htm 【Key Words】EST， linguistic features 1. Introduction For practical purposes， varieties -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 2 of English can be classified into five major types： user-related varieties， medium- related varieties， attitude-related varieties， function-related varieties and literature-related varieties. English for science and technology（EST） belongs to the function-related varieties which occupies a very important position due to the vital role played by science and technology. EST is the language people use in scientific and technological activities. Being one of the varieties of English， EST shares the English common core， which means it shares the same basic vocabulary， basic grammar， common pronunciation and spelling. But at the same time it definitely has its own distinctive characteristics. The general features of EST are logical， objective， coherent and accurate. It is these general features that require EST to be objectivity， clarity -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 3 and accuracy in expression and formality in style. In the following part， based on the passage Light-emitting diode （LED） and liquid crystal display （LCD） ， I will give a detailed analysis of linguistic feature of EST from different perspectives， namely from the aspect of lexical features， grammatical features and discoursal features. Light-emitting diode （LED ） and liquid crystal display （LCD） A light-emitting diode （LED） is a semiconductor device that emits incoherent narrow-spectrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction. This effect is a form of electroluminescence. The color of the emitted light depends on the chemical composition of the semi-conducting -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 4 material used， and can be near- ultraviolet or visible。 A liquid crystal display （LCD） is a thin， fat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It is prized by engineers because it uses very small amounts of electric power， and is therefore suitable for use in battery- powered electronic devices. Each pixel （picture element） consists of a column of liquid crystal molecules suspended between two transparent electrodes， and two polarizing filters， the axes of polarity of which are perpendicular to each other. When the electrical charge is applied to the electrodes， the molecules of the liquid crystal align themselves parallel to the electric fields， -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 5 thus limiting the rotation of entering light. If the liquid crystals are completely untwisted， light passing through them will be polarized perpendicular to the second filter， and thus be completely blocked. The pixel will appear unlit. By controlling the twist of the liquid crystals in each pixel， light can be allowed to pass through in varying amounts， correspondingly illuminating the pixel. 2. Lexical Features （1）. Specialized Vocabulary EST are found difficult to read， and this is because they are written in a jargon which has the effect of making people feel excluded 1and alienated from the subject-matter. The specialized vocabulary of EST may be roughly classified into three broad types： highly specialized technical terms， semi- technical terms and formal non-technical -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 6 words. And many of the specialized vocabulary are made up from Latin and Greek roots either with prefixation and suffixation. In our passage， there are a few of highly specialized words， such as spec- in spectrum which formed from Latin root spectum； mol-， mole- in molecule which formed from Greek root molekul； electro- in electrode， electronic and electroluminescence， which formed from Greek root electron； chem.- ，chemic- in chemical and chemistry which formed from Latin root chemista. These words are highly specialized and restricted in meaning， comprehensive only to those who are specialized in the related field. （2）. Use of Acronyms and Blending Considering the fact that too many technical terms are made up of many -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 7 words， in EST there is a tendency for the use of acronyms and blending. Acronyms fall into two kinds： standardized ones and temporary ones. In our passage， the author used the temporary acronyms， which means it is used by the writer for the sake of convenience and brevity. For example LED for light-emitting diode and LCD for liquid crystal display. The writer writes the term in full when it first appears and gives its abbreviation form in the bracket. As for blending， first we should know its definition. Blending means forming a word by combining parts of other words， such as： smog= smoke + fog； transistor= transfer + resistor. And in our passage， the typical example is： pixel= picture + element. （3）. Avoidance of Emotional Words EST is devoid of any coloring -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 8 words or evaluative due to the impersonal objective attitude adopted by scientists and technologists. Their objective attitude is naturally reflected in the language they use. And from our passage we can see that except the sentence ，which used two emotional coloring words “prized” and “suitable”， the whole passage is written in impersonal structures. 3. Grammatical Features In addition to lexical features， grammatical features can also help the writer to achieve objectivity in presentation， clarity and brevity of expression and formality of style. （1）. Use of Simple Present Tense The simple present tense is the most commonly used tense in EST. The statement made by the scientists and technologists are called universal -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 9 statement which should be true at all times and in all places. Besides for making the universal statement， the simple present tense can also be used for regular processes， regular actions and description of experiments. In our passage， most of the verbs are used in simple present tense. （2）. Tendency of Nominalization In EST， there is a tendency of nominalization. Scientific writers tend to nominalize adjectives， verbs， predicates and even clauses. Nominalization is an effective way to make the sentences compact， impersonal and formal. In our passage， there are also a few examples to illustrate this point， such as： the chemical composition of and the rotation of. These nominalizations produce a formal impersonal tone through eliminating the -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 10 agent or the logical subject. （3）. Preferred Sentence Types （A）. X is Y which/that does Z Definitions occur frequently in EST because it is often necessary for scientist to define concepts， natures and certain operation. Although there are several ways to give definitions in EST， there are some common definition formulas， such as： X is Y which does Z （e.g. A tape-recorder is a machine which records sound.） X is Y + Verb-ed （e.g. Square is a result obtained by multiplying a number by itself.） X is Y +for+ Verb-ing （e.g. A knife is an instrument for cutting.） （X is the new item that should be defined； Y is the item more inclusive in meaning than X） Generally speaking， the things to -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 11 be defined X has usually been a single noun unaccompanied by other nouns or adjectives specifying it. And the first part of a definition should be general； the details should be left until later. That is to say， the things to be defined should be first described in general term， then in terms of its particular properties， qualities or uses. And in our passage， when defining LED and LCD， （sentenceand the writer used the first two structures. Sentence A light-emitting diode （LED） is a semiconductor device that X is Y that emits incoherent narrow-spectrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction. does Z Sentence A liquid crystal display （LCD） is a thin， fat display device -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 12 made up of any number X is Y + Verb-ed of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. （B ）. Temporal and causal- condition clauses Temporal and casual-condition causes which are formed with “when”， “if” and “thus” are used particularly in explaining why something should be done. In our passage， the sentence structure of are ： when A， B； if A， B； by A， correspondingly B. （C ）. Nominal Group + Verbal Group + Nominal Group In our passage， although the sentences are very long， they have simple structures. For example： sentence and sentence . -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 13 sentence： The color of the emitted light depends on the chemical composition of the semi-conducting material used， and can be near- ultraviolet， visible or infrared. （For this sentence， the structure is： A depends on B） sentence： Each pixel （picture element） consists of a column of liquid crystal molecules suspended between two transparent electrodes， and two polarizing filters， the axes of polarity of which are perpendicular to each other. （For this sentence， the structure is： A consists of B） The verbal groups set up a particular logical relation between the two nominal expressions. In sentence the finite verbal groups “depend on” reflect -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 14 the interdependent relations between the two nominal groups； while in sentence the finite verbal groups “consist of” express the relation of the whole and parts between the two nominal groups. 4. Discoursal Features Being one of the function-related varieties， the primary referential function of EST is to pass information. In order to fulfill this specific function， the meaning relationships in EST should be expressed in a clear， logical and cohesive way. A