Riassunto esame Inglese monografico 2, prof. Taylor, libro consigliato: Business Vocabulary in Use, Mascull

LEXICAL DIMENSION: ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations are commonly used in science, technology, armed forces, and media. They are used for the sake of communication speed and to convey a sense of social identity. Examples of abbreviations include ROM, RAM, BBC, NATO, USA, etc.

There are various types of abbreviations:

• Initialisms: These are items spoken as individual letters, often with capital letters. Examples include BBC and EU. Some initialisms use only the first letter of each word, such as PhD and TV (television).
• Acronyms: These are initialisms that are pronounced as single words. Examples include NATO, UNESCO, and AIDS. Acronyms do not have punctuation between the letters, unlike initialisms which sometimes use periods to separate letters.
• Clipping: This involves using a part of a word to represent the whole. There are different types of clipping:
  1. The first part of the word is kept, such as "AD" for "advertising".
  2. The second part of the word is kept, such as "PHONE" for "telephone".
  3. The middle part of the word is kept, such as "FRIDGE" for "refrigerator".
• 'Adaptations' with clipped words: This refers to words that have been clipped to create new words, such as "FRIES" for "French fried potatoes".
• Blending: This involves combining two words to create a new word, using parts of each word.

is kepto so that the elements are recognizable. The second part is the one which controls the meaning of the whole (BRUCH is a kind of lunch, not breakfast). Popular in commercial and advertising contexts + scientific terms. Ex. Motor + hotel = motel.

CONVERSION – words change their word class without the addition of an ‘affix’. Not all the senses of the word are usually carried through into the derived form. It mainly produces nouns, adjectives and verbs.

COMPUNDING – unit of vocabulary which consists of more than one lexical item but without the parts functioning as a single item (which has its own meaning and grammar). Two types: Vernacular compounds = formed on the principles of the Germanic languages – written in solid or open forms or with hyphens. Ex. teapot, blackbird. Classical compounds = based on compounding patterns of Greek and Latin – written in solid form. Ex. biography, agriculture.

In speech, most two-word compounds have a falling

Intonation and stress are important in distinguishing compounds from expressions. In compounds, the first word is stressed, such as in "TEApot," while expressions typically have equal stress on both elements. When a compound is formed by more than two words, such as "car factory strike committee," it becomes more complex because two words are stressed.

Compound families are sets of compounds based on the same word, with the second element being generic. However, the relationship between the second element and each member of the set is likely to be different. Examples include "gunboat," "riverboat," and "steamboat."

Anglo-compound-o-matics are forms usually of classical origin and are linked to the other element of the compound by a linking vowel (o, a, i). They are commonly used in science, technology, commerce, and advertising. Examples include "bio+data," "micro+chip," and "work+aholic." These forms may be analyzed as affixes, but their meaning is more similar to that of an element in a compound.

Collocation refers to two or more words that often go together and sound natural, such as "right."

fast train, fast food, quick shower, quick meal). Some cases are predictable: bluesky, customer care, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty. The patterns of collocationin one language are not often mirrored in another.

NEOLOGISM – most neologisms in English belong to the following categories:

• Compounding (couch potato)
• Abbreviation (GIGO)
• Blending (orature)
• Borrowing (nouvelle cuisine)
• Derivation (yuppie)
• Shifting-meaning (spin)

New words are often the subject of disdain but are part of the normal change in language. With frequent use and the passing of time, they enter everyday English.

JARGON – ‘the technical vocabulary or idiom of a special activity or group’. We all use it.

All jobs present an element of jargon, which workers learn as they develop their expertise. All hobbies, sports and games have their jargon. It shows professional awareness and social togetherness. Jargon can also be used to exclude as well as include.

LANGUAGE NETSPEAK FEATURES –

A method of creating Internet neologisms is to combine 2 separate words to make a compound. For example, mouse -> mousepad or mouseover (phrasal verb); click -> cost per click, double click; web -> webcam, webcast; net-> netnews. There are also blends: infonet, internaut.

To draw a line under = to finish something.

The bottom line = the most important thing.

ENGLISH IN ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Purpose of advertising: to convince customer that a company’s services and products are the best; to improve the image of the company; to create a need for products and services, to draw new customers and to maintain existing ones.

Main objectives of advertising: gain attention; create interest in the product/service; achieve credibility; heighten desire for the product/service; stimulate action to buy the product/service; satisfaction. Do all of that with original and exceptional message and language, unusual and stylish words, short sentences (easy to repeat and remember). Brand names (every

company has a particular brand, or more than one), slogans, catch phrases, rhythm and rhyme + music and sounds to catch the attention, alliteration and repetition (rule of three), onomatopoeia, clipping, morphological combination.

Copywriters write the body copy (the main text) + bottom line summary (the signature line).-> playing with words, manipulating or distorting their meaning, using words out of context, making up new words.

When we choose a word, we also convey feelings about what we are describing -> communicate feelings, associations and attitudes.

Used of figurative language to highlight comparisons between products, to create surprise or humour, to create a mental image. The choice of wording is also very important: language varieties or words borrowed from other languages can convey different meanings to different audiences; formal vs. informal. Words must be vivid (new), concrete (soft), positive (safe) and unreserved (best, perfect); conversational and idiomatic + figurative

expressions and deviantgraphology. Simple colloquial and familiar language to suggest a friendly attitude. So, to make an ad effective you need to:

1. Attract the target customer's attention;
2. Arouse interest in the product or service;
3. Create a desire for the product;
4. Induce action (to buy the product/service).

BRAND NAMES - the manufacturer has to give a product a distinctive name in a mass market. The name should do more than just label or identify the product, it should suggest associations which will help sell it. Ex. the names given to cosmetics frequently recall images of beauty. A speaker's voice attracts attention too.
SLOGANS - catchy statement/sentence which will convince people to buy a certain product or service. Frequent use of alliteration and rhyme. An advertisement and its slogan underline what is called the company's UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION/POINT (USP): the features and benefits which make a company, product or service different from its.competitors. Use of a lot of adverbs and adjectives in advertisements -> ‘trigger words’ = words that can stimulate envy, dreams and desires by evoking looks, taste, smell and sounds without actually misrepresenting the product (ex. good/better/best, new, fresh). There are also words that are coined for the occasion and have little value in ordinary English (‘flavoursome’). Wordplay is one of the main elements in advertising, for example adjectival compounds (ex. ‘stay-put’). Some words are made up with the product name incorporated. Advertising language is often standard and it attracts attention by being imaginative. Rhetorical language, especially metaphors + imagination and creativity. Advertising also has variations in sentence structure, it uses associative meanings and language varieties. To understand the language of advertising is also important to know about the connections of language to social structures and culture. Advertising and promotion are

A part of MARKETING (= the action of promoting and selling products or services, including marketing research and advertising). Marketing collocations market research, market leader, market forces, market share.

Information technology has given the marketeer new channels of communications as well as improved means of analysing marketing data.

Since the Internet, companies have been exploiting its potential in order to reach new markets and make alliances. There are many online marketing agencies whose activities include:

• Search Engine Marketing – a mixture of technical and creative work. You often have to change the content and code of a site in order to make it more visible to other search engines.
• Email Marketing – it’s like direct mailing without the postage costs and it’s quicker and more efficient.
• Content Development – writing for the web (different from writing for print).
• Real (Buzz) Marketing (or Word of Mouth Marketing; or Word of Mouth)

advertising) – getting clients to create a ‘buzz’ about your site. Viral marketing: the strategy that encourages people to pass on a marketing message.

Marketing Mix (the four P’s): Product, Price, Promotion and Place.

Marketing Operation (the four O’s): Objects, Objectives, Organisation and Operations.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE -> advertisers tend not to make specific comparisons between their products and others by naming and referring to their rivals. So, they use comparative reference, but the lack of specific reference doesn’t stop advertisers from using comparison. They leave out the comparative item while keeping in the basis for comparison (‘X washer whiter’), which means we are not told ‘then what’, but as readers we tend to supply in brackets (then all its other rivals).

4 HOOKS (from adverts) -> the questions and statements play on the insecurities of the reader.

Business Vocabulary in Use Intermediate – Bill

b (temporary work) -> finishes after a fixed periodSteady job (steady work) -> secure and reliable jobFreelance job (freelance work) -> self-employed and not committed to a particular employerDream job -> ideal job that one desires and enjoysDoing a job -> performing the tasks and responsibilities of a jobJob satisfaction -> feeling fulfilled and content with one's jobCareer -> a series of jobs that a person has over their lifetimeOccupation -> a person's job or professionEmployment -> the state of being employed or having a jobUnemployment -> the state of being without a job or workJob market -> the availability of jobs and the demand for workersJob interview -> a meeting between a job applicant and a potential employer to assess suitability for a jobJob application -> a formal request for employmentCV (Curriculum Vitae) -> a document that outlines a person's educational and professional backgroundCover letter -> a letter that accompanies a job application, highlighting the applicant's qualifications and interest in the positionSalary -> the amount of money paid to an employee for their workWages -> the payment received by an employee for the hours workedIncome -> the money earned from employment or other sourcesPromotion -> advancement to a higher position or rank within a job or organizationCareer development -> the process of acquiring new skills and experiences to advance in one's careerRetirement -> the act of leaving one's job or ceasing employment due to age or other factors