Control Questions

1. What lexical stylistic devices are used in broadcast news media discourse?

2. Recollect some grammatical stylistic means typical of broadcast news media discourse.

3. What broadcast news media genres are devoid of expressiveness?

4. Why are euphemisms used in television and radio discourse?

An outline of broadcast news media syntactical features

Psychological features of perceiving spoken discourse determine the structure of the sentences used in broadcast news media texts as well as their word order. A sentence usually opens up with the subject (or the subject group), then goes the predicate to be followed by the object, the attribute and the adverbial modifiers of place, time and manner.

Officials showed smuggled video footage matched against earlier aerial photos set to show that Serb forces had killed over a hundred Kosovar villagers (EuroNews).

But there was a more cautious response from business leaders who said more had to be done to encourage growth, and from the Labour Party which said public spending cuts would put the recovery in jeopardy (BBC Radio 4 LW).

Simple, compound and complex sentences are typical of broadcast media texts, with sentences being connected:

- by coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, else, etc.), e.g. syndetically:

... Burton-on-the-Waters is a typical Cotswold collection of pubs, cottages and a church. And it`s up for sale at what face value looks like an extremely reasonable price (Sky News).

They haven’t been around in Britain for a while but now the beaver is back (Sky News);

- by conjunctives, including conjunctive adverbs (otherwise, how, however, nevertheless, yet, still, since, that, therefore, until, unless what, whether, which, who, where, etc.):

But on the streets of Northern Ireland an overwhelming majority of the population do not want to see a return to the bloody sectarian conflict that has caused some 3,500 lives (EuroNews).

In a referendum 21 of the 22 Welsh counties backed the change which will allow the Assembly to make laws in devolved areas without seeking permission from Westminster (BBC News).

Introductory attributive clauses are quite spread in broadcast media texts and they can be foundeither at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence:

Once again, like yesterday thundery showers will be bubbling up mainly through the eastern part of England (Sky News).

Now forced to depend on social welfare the couple are bracing themselves for the next round of cuts (Sky News).

The West Midlands, long seen as a heartland of British manufacturing, is now going through a bit of an identity crisis (Sky News).

Voeslav Koshtunitsa, the man who has led the wave of protests against Miloshevich and now looks set to become the president himself, has risen rapidly to international prominence (EuroNews).

Complex sentences could also be linked in broadcast media discourse asyndetically (e.g. without conjunctions or connectives).

Well, we’ve yet to feel the worst of the cuts, it puts the fear of a double-dip recessionon on a backburner for now (Sky News).

Take note that complex sentences in broadcast media discourse cannot exceed three clauses, as the sentence depth is defined by the psychological peculiarities of perceiving spoken broadcast texts.

As Dermott and his colleagues leave their home to the sea gulls and the wind, they say it’s these brief moments of tranquillity that they will miss the most (Sky News).

The softly spoken 56-year-old law professor lacks the charisma and popular appeal of other opposition leaders but he’s the only major opposition figure of his generation who has never joined the communist party (EuroNews).

Nominative sentences are also quite common in broadcast media texts.

Swapping boxing gloves for handcuffs again (EuroNews).

Protests and discontent over the train carrying nuclear waste (Sky News).

Behind the lines. When you range up to 30 miles into enemy territory … (Sky News).

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14