科技英语文体特征

• First, let us compare the following two paragraphs about “man ”: • What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties（天 赋）! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action, how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a God! The beauty of the word! The paragon(典范) of animals. • ………William Shakespeare: Hamlet
• 语相特征：包括标点，图表，大小写，段 落的划分，空格等。
• As far as punctuation（标点） is concerned, the most frequently used marks are the full stop（句号）, the comma（逗号）, and the parentheses（括号）. This is due to the nature of EST writing.
科技英语文体特征
Stylistic Features of EST
What is EST?
• The English of science and technology (EST) is actually a big variety. • It includes the English of chemistry, the English of physics, the English of mathematics, the English of biology, the English of medicine, etc.
• While in the second passage, all the words are used in their conceptual meanings. The tone is factual, and impersonal. As a result, the information of how man came into being is clearly revealed.
2.Lexical Features
• Of all the scientific fields, we usually subdivide them into two main varieties: • the English of specialized science and technology (ESST), 专门用途科技英语 • and the English of common science and technology (ECST) 科普英语
• Syntactically, in the first passage, we can find the frequent use of exclamatory sentences （感叹句） as well as two short sentence fragments（片语） in order to express feelings; • While in the second passage, both sentences are complete declarative sentences(陈述句) with the purpose of giving information.
科技英语文体特征分析模版 Model of Stylistic Analysis of EST
• 1、Graphological Features 语相特征 • 2、Lexical Features 词汇特征 • 3、Syntactic∕Grammatical Features 句法∕语法特征 4、 Semantic Features语篇特征
• Semantically, in the first passage, figurative language is used in order to show a strong feeling, especially the use of the metaphor (piece of work), hyperbole and metaphor (the beauty of the world; the paragon of animals), and similes (like an angel; like a God).As a result, man is greatly praised.
• This kind of writing is usually formal in style and serious in tone . • It does not take artistic beauty of language as its goal, instead, it tries to achieve clarity in logic and accuracy in meaning. • It ties to avoid subjective opinions or evaluations, ambiguous word or expressions.
• EST is used in scientific works, academic thesis, research papers, experimental reports, the description or explanation of natural phenomena. • In one word it is a variety of English, dealing with the theories and applications of science and technology.
• Graphologically, in the first passage the typical feature is the frequent use of exclamation marks (which show feelings); while in the second paBaidu Nhomakorabeasage, the frequent use of commas (which offer information).
• As the basic function of EST is to inform, therefore objective statements are the most preferred sentence type, thus the full stop. • And the sentences are usually long; therefore, commas are used to set off some elements of the sentence from what proceeds, and what follows. • Parentheses are used to enclose supplementary details.
• While in the second one , we find technical terms of biology predominate the whole text, • such as metazoan, triploblastic, choral, vertebrate, pentadactyl, mammalian, eutheran, primate, etc.
General stylistic features of EST
• It tends to employ words with the development of science and technology. • The sentences are usually long and complete and subordinate appositive(同位语从句) and parenthetical clauses（插入语从句） are often used. • Logical connectors, such as hence, in summary, as a result, appear in EST more frequently than in other types of writing.
• Lexically, in the first passage, we can see the frequent use of favorable adjectives and nouns, • such as, noble, infinite, express, admirable, angel, God, beauty, paragon.
1.Graphological Features
• Generally speaking, EST makes full use of graphological devices. • First, scientists tend to use visual aids more than other people, such as pictures, tables, charts, formulae, etc. in order to explain matters clearly.
• Man is metazoan [metә`zәuәn] （后生动物, 多 细胞动物）, triploblastic [triplә’blæ stik] （三胚 层的） , vertebrate *‘vә:tibrit] （脊椎动物） pentadactyl [pentәdæ ktil]（ adj.有五指的）, mammalian [mæ‘meiljәn] （哺乳动物）, eutherian [ju:θiәriәn] （真哺乳亚纲的(动物), primate *‘praimit] （灵长目动物）.... The main outline of each of his principal system of organs may be traced back, like those of other mammals, to the fishes. • From a textbook of biology
• But, generally speaking, the English of all scientific fields have something in common and on which we base our studies.
• The common elements in various EST articles, papers and thesis can be analyzed in terms of their similarities in linguistic features.
• Of the two passages, the first one is a piece of literary work, and the second, EST. • By comparison, we can see the sharp differences between the styles of these two passages although they are dealing with the same subject matter---human being.