Vocabulary and syntax

Text 2

(from “What is the English We Use?”)

This part of the book is devoted to an analysis of the English we aspire to in terms of its vocabulary and syntax.

The vocabulary of our kind of English has been studied in detail by a special seminar under the supervision of Helen Mindeli. The overall analysis of all the running words in some of our books was bas­ed on the following principle: it had already been es­tablished by previous research in the field that the vocabulary of an "unvarnished medium", that is, that prose which "...conveys ideas, which states facts and gives commentary upon them, which expresses critical opinion" consists of three unequal parts (unequal not only in size or frequency of occurrence of units, but also in the importance, in the role the vocabulary plays in keeping this particular register or kind of English distinct from other kinds or registers)³.

The three strata or kinds of units which comprise the vocabulary are the following: general words, that is words most widely used, most frequently occurring, words which constitute the core of the language, on the one hand, and special terms and terminological word-combinations, on the other. These are the two extremes. The third and the most important and inte­resting stratum consists of words which are neither words of the general language nor special terms. They have been described as "general scientific vocabulary" - words most natural­ly used to impart intellective information, irrespective of whether the information is strictly scientific and pertains to exact or natural sciences, or whether the infor­mation is connected with findings, observations and generalizations in the broader field of the Humanities.

It should be noted from the very outset that it is difficult to draw a distinct line between these groups, for, when used within this register, a word may ac­quire a new meaning and thus enter a different stra­tum. Thus none of the three groups is a self-contained system completely isolated from the other two-interac­tion and interchange are always in progress.

When we "perform" within the register of scientific discourse, the words of the general language function­ing, as they do, within a specific style of speech, are made to serve a special purpose. In other words, the difference between the scientific style and any other usually consists in the fact that here a "piece" of eve­ryday language is connected with a specific kind of human a c t i v i t y - scientific research. It follows that the scientific vocabulary is affected by the pecu­liarities of this particular register. Its style depends on the purport of scientific discourse, on its main function - the communicative one.

It is usually assumed that the main function of scientific prose is to prove certain points or assump­tions; define and explain this or that phenomenon; pass on and sum up information; arrive at certain con­clusions. Otherwise stated, the process of scientific work finds its reflection in the general scientific vocabulary.

If we think of acquiring and using knowledge as a process then the following main conceptual fields can be singled out: 1) prospect, outlook; 2) acquiring knowledge; 3) organization and systematization of the material; 4) checking up; 5) making conclusions; 6) passing on the knowledge. It goes without saying that there is a close interaction and interdependence among these conceptual fields-they cannot be discussed separately; only their sum total represents what we call "knowledge".

Before turning to classification according to these conceptual fields, one more important point must be made: if is necessary to emphasize that the classification is not the aim, but the method of our research, for all classification can do is help generalize on the basis of the infinite variety of particular cases actually oc­curring in the language.

If this classification is accepted, then the words of our kind of English can be arranged systematically in the following way.

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