ЯЗЫКОВЫЕ СРЕДСТВА ЯЗЫКА ПРЕССЫ

The text of printed newspapers and electronic versions of newspapers and magazines consist of different rubrics, types of text, for example, interviews, reports, commentaries etc. The periodical press or information messages in the Internet specialize in various topics such as politics, fashion, sport, computer, cars etc. Therefore such notion as the language of the press is not simple and homogeneous. E.O. Mendzheritskaya remarked that the language of the press as a kind of discourse is not restricted with the limits of mere public announcements but presents thinking by means of a concrete language taking into consideration verbal and cogitative reality. [7, P. 78]. Apart from the fact that journalistic genre influences the audience it also shapes public opinion and political consciousness.

All publishing material is divided into the following groups: informative, analytical and publicistic. The given above division is very relative. Recently journalistic genres have interconnected and mixed. Along with an active statement of new information the language of the press conveys comprehension, generalization, evaluation and typification of the given facts of reality.

It is possible to manipulate social consciousness by means of putting special emphases. This makes it possible to assert that the language of the press, for example, German press is fraught with ideology. Concepts are updated in the ideologically determined language of the press: “something determines some principally important for people’s existence and communication (including speech) phenomena in the shape of an image; it has both universal and nationally determined importance and temporal stability” [8, P. 9].

The characteristic feature of the language of the press is piling up of nominative constructions with complex attributive groups. The usage of such constructions aims at containing in a text message as much information as possible. There is a tendency to use incomplete sentences instead of compound ones. In the opinion of H. Elsen [3, P. 102], the question is not in the compression of information to save time and place but “in giving the appearance of a concise range of news” to avoid a critical approach to the content of the given material.

The headlines in particular consist of the parts of sentences and elliptical constructions to attract reader’s attention. The choice of linguistic means and lexical units depends on the subject matter which demands the knowledge of specific technical and special terms, for example, economics, weather forecast, etc.

One of the peculiarities of the language of the press or journalistic genre is its nominative character. This style, in V. Sanders’ view, is such kind of expression when nominative phrases are both large in number and the basic bearer of the meaning of a sentence [5]. It is shown in the qualitative majority of nouns, in the presence of genitive chains, in the usage of nouns, adjectives and participles in the function of an attribute. Along with it the role of a verb is lessen.

Extended nominal groups are used here instead of subordinate clauses to obtain the saving of place and lessen the usage of verbs. The style of concise lexical expression allows to make the given information more compact and to raise the abstractedness of the expression which may cause some confusion in the meaning. One more drawback of a nominative style consists in the difficulty of the perception of its constructions.

Kurz vor dem Berlin-Besuch des ukrainischen Staatschefs hat Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel mit dem russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin über einen möglichen UN-Blauhelmeinsatz in der Ostukraine gesprochen. Beide hätten in ihrem Telefongespräch betont, dass zur Beilegung des Ostukraine-Konflikts der Minsker Friedensplan alternativlos sei, teilte der Kreml am Montag mit [9]. – Not long before the visit of the head of Ukraine to Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin the possibility of the preventive deployment of UN “Blue-Helmet" forces in eastern Ukraine. As reported by the Kremlin on Monday, in a telephone conversation they both emphasised that the package of measures of the Minsk Protocol is a single-source for the resolving of eastern Ukraine’s conflict.

In the example given above there are some extended substantive groups the meaning of which might be expressed in another way with complete sentences (кurz vor dem Berlin-Besuch des ukrainischen Staatschefs; über einen möglichen UN-Blauhelmeinsatz; zur Beilegung des Ostukraine-Konflikts der Minsker Friedensplan). A comprehensive sense is achieved with the help of verbal nouns which keeping their verbal valency transfer it into a nominal sphere. The following verbal nouns (Besuch, UN-Blauhelmeinsatz, Beilegung) are the basic components of attributive groups with genitive and prepositional attributes.

In the following example the meaning of the article is also expressed nominatively: the preference is given to the nouns and only one verb is used in the sentence. Such way of conveying a message is stylistically appropriate as the events and facts are represented formally.

Ösrerreichs Bundeskanzler sprach vom internationalen Protest gegen die mutmaßliche russische Beteiligung an dem Anschlag auf Ex-Spion Sergej Skripal und seine Tochter Julija am 4. März in der britischen Stadt Salisbury. [10]. – The Austrian Federal Chancellor officially protested against accusations of Russia’s involvement in attempted murder of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March, 4 in a British town Salisbury.

Nominative style is brightly represented in the headings of articles. The reporters create commemorative naming using new words to attract readers’ attention to this or that publication.

As a number of scholars pointed out there is a tendency towards the usage of extended nominations [1; 4]. Such tendency is realised, firstly, due to the constant enlarging of the stock of nouns that are used in extended nominative groups, secondly, due to the fact that the process of composition as a type of word-building in the German language is highly productive.

A great number of occasional composites in newspapers shape public opinion. The word composite is used to define the elements known by the majority of representatives of linguocultural community as the elements are generally-known facts in a concrete speech culture. The source of these elements may be different spheres of knowledge: literature, history, religion, technical progress etc.

The article from electronic version of a newspaper Welt touching upon V.V. Putin’s statement two weeks before the elections contains many compound nouns.

Er präsentiert der staunenden Welt neue atomare Wunderwaffen. Die Botschaft richtet sich an das eigene Wahlvolk  und die USA. Die bizarre Show mit bunten Clips- und Computeranimationen von um die Erde fliegenden Geschossen brachte manchen Würdenträger unter den mehr als 1000 Zuhörern zum Staunen. Die nuklearen Muskelspiele kamen bei Moskaus Politprominenz gut an. Putins Atom-Coup richtet sich nicht nur an den Westen [11]. – He introduced a new wonder-weapon to the amused world. He addressed the message to his electors and the USA. A bizarre show of colour clips and computer animation demonstrating some shells flying around the Earth astonished some high-ranking officials at the meeting with more than 1000 listeners. Such nuclear muscle-flexing was accepted positively by Moscow authorities. Putin’s atom-coup is directed not only to the West.

In the extract there are many compound nouns (Wunderwaffen, Wahlvolk, Clips- und Computeranimation, Politprominenz, Würdenträger). Besides Muskelspiele, Atom-Coup are neologisms because they are not registered in Duden online dictionary. Duden online dictionary contains actual word stock of the German language which is constantly enriching with neologisms. That is why these lexical units may be referred to occasionalisms. Occasionalisms have connotative potentiality that promotes a definite view point on current events. As a rule, the meaning of occasional words may be understood either of context or constituent parts of a compound word.

The language of the press often uses randomly formed words to support the tendency to the violation of cognitive and speech stereotypes. While everyday occasionalisms usually appear spontaneously in oral speech and are not registered anywhere, individual and stylistic ones in journalistic genre are the results of a deliberate creative process. They are met in media reports and fulfill a certain stylistic function. In terms of their artistic value they resemble metaphors. The essence of their creation consists in the revealing of new meanings in a word, in the creating of an expressive image with the help of a minimal number of linguistic means. Individual stylistic neologisms are original and peculiar and the author does not aim to bring the invented words into usage. These nonce-words serve as expressive means within a certain context of an article.

Occasionalisms are often used in the headings and subheading of articles for attention compelling function. The subheading of the article performs informative function and summarizes the content of an article. Therefore compound nouns are used in these parts of an article to compress or condense information and thus attract reader’s attention and awake an interest to read the article. Occasional words in headings and subheadings are in strong position of a text. The heading introduces the text, awakes readers interest and desire to read it, gives preliminary information about it.

Attacke auf Auswärtiges Amt. Die Geschichte eines Cyber-Angriffs. Im Februar kam es zu einem der schwersten Hackerangriffe auf das Netz der Bundesregierung, den es je gab [12]. – Attack on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Story about a Cyber-Attack. In February there was one of the most serious hackers’ attacks on the Federal Government network, the hackers’ attack never known before.

Lexical units Cyber-Angriff and Hackerangriff are absent in electronic dictionary duden.de. The newness and expressiveness of new or occasional words increase the chances of reading of the given article.

The formation of such bright, uncommon nominations is proved by A.A. Zalevskaya who affirms that for a man the meaning of a word does not exist by itself but it is a means of going out to reach personally experienced individual view of the world in the richness of its essence, qualities, contacts, relationships, emotional and evaluative nuances. [6, P. 134].

Massenhaft werfen Länder derzeit russische Diplomaten raus, als Reaktion auf den Fall Skripal. Österreich dagegen macht nicht mit - und begründet das mit seiner Neutralität und "Brückenschlagfunktion" [10]. – The countries are kicking out Russian diplomats en masse now, this is the response to Skripal case. Austria, on the contrary, does not join the process and justifies such actions by a neutral position and assumes a function of future bridging that is the function of a conciliator in the solution to a crisis between Russia and the West.

To avoid the distortion of the meaning of a lexical unit (Brückenschlagfunktion), the commentary was given with the help of descriptive translation or semantic extension. In the result of such translation the original word and the translated word are different in volume. The difference in volume is explained by the fact that the main type of word-building in the German language is composition while in the Russian language composition is not a characteristic type of word-building. Brückenschlagfunktion is referred to attributive compound nouns where the first and the second roots serve to explain, make the meaning precise with regard to the last (basic) one. The given nomination demonstrates not only the tendency to linguistic economy but tends to give a complete and memorable definition.

Occasional words perform two tasks in a language of the press: firstly, to increase emotional impact of the text upon the audience, secondly, to denote laconically those complex meanings that may be conveyed only with the help of description.

Depending on the publishing house or a subject matter of the publication, the number of humorous, facetious, poetic and even familiar, intended for externalities occasional words.

Interview mit einem Beziehungscoach. Beziehungscoach Emanuel Albert erklärt, wie man sich in sozialen Netzwerken verhalten soll, wenn Schluss ist [13]. – Interview with a relationship coach (a marriage counselor). The specialist in this sphere, Emmanuel Albert, explains how to behave in social media if the relationship is over.

Beziehungscoach is not registered in German electronic dictionaries but the given lexical unit is met on the Internet pages to denote a specialist dealing with solving family or partners’ problems. The last root is of English origin and means ‘trainer’.

From the point of view of a lexical content, the messages in the press are becoming appellative and bear subjective nature. It is possible to distinguish among the messages which are aimed at presenting of new information, shaping of a reader’s opinion or addressee’s amusement. None of the texts performs only one function or is monofunctional. The messages of the press which have objective character and first of all serve to inform a reader about current events are seldom without evaluation.