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LINGUISTIC AND SYNTACTIC FEATURES IN THE LANGUAGE OF TOURISM PREMODIFICATION Premodification is a left-dislocation of terms with an adjectival function which modifies the qualities of the properties of the head-noun. This may create complex nominal groups whose modifiers are nouns which have acquired an adjectival role EXAMPLE 2 CHECKED BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE The baggage allowance rules stated herein (the baggage allowance rules which are stated herein – Air Canada Ticket) Example 3 Visit the best-preserved theatre (Visit the theatre which is preserved in the best possible way – Greek Itineraries) Example 4 An EU recommended tourism policy (a policy which is recommended by the EU – Ryanair) EXAMPLES OF PREMODIFICATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF TOURISM 1. Check-in time 2. Escorted all-inclusive tour 3. Fly-cruise package 4. Hub and spoke tour 5. Destination marketing organization Ex. “Located in a carefully restored 200-year-old traditional stone house” (Greek Itineraries) Nominalization involves a high level of lexical density, which derives from the eleaboration of a complex syntax. Elementary surface structures and very simple sintax are sometimes changed through the use of complex and premodified noun-phrases, which leads to a far longer sentence length than in general language EXAMPLE: If you wish to board the aircraft as part of the first boarding group you can purchase a Priority Boarding voucher for GBP 2.00/EUR 3.00 per passenger / per one way flight through a Ryanair Call Centre (subject to call centre opening hours) or at your departure airport up to a 40 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. (Ryanair Ticket) SYNTACTICAL FEATURES / VERB TENSES The pragmatic function of verbs makes their choice essential in specialized discourse. Due to the communicative purposes of specialized discourse texts, the present indicative tense seems the most widely used, especially in scientific texts, whereas imperatives appear to be typical of technical handbooks. In the LANGUAGE OF TOURISM, the present simple is the most frequently exploited tense, especially in tourist guides, brochures and itineraries because it gives the stay in the city (or other tourist place) a more permanent and lenghty time spam The IMPERATIVE is another typical feature of Tourism Discourse in the holiday industry, and is mainly employed in guides and brochures. The pragmatic purpose of the imperative is not that of giving orders but rather to urge tourists to avail themselves of the chances they are offered EX. Enjoy a pleasant stay at our special Airport Lounge (Easyjet) MODALS Modal verbs occupy a special position within specialized discourse. Modality is realized using expressions which indicate how the world might be (truth about the world) or how the world should be (judgement about the world). This includes expressions of necessity, permissibility, probability, and negations of these. In Tourism, modality is expressed in two main different ways 1) When the text is an expression of a contract (“terms and conditions”) or legislation, modality performs the same deontic modality (how the world ought to be according to certain norms, rules, laws) of LEGAL DISCOURSE, i.e revealing deontic certainties and necessities 2) When the text directly targets tourists, it does not express deontic or epistemic meaning, but rather a way of behaving, a mode of action to be undertaken by the tourist. MODALITY PROMPTS AN ACTION: EX. Alongside Italy’s treasures, you’ll find plenty to keep you busy in the countryside. You can ski in the alps, hike the Dolomites, or dive off Sardinia golden coast. Adrenalin junkies can catch fireworks on Sicily’s volatile volcanoes (Lonely Planet.com/Italy) The verbs WILL and CAN convey ideas of possibility and certainty MUST Also employed, though less extensively than will and can, the verb does not express a modal but rather a NOMINALIZED FORM in such expression as “a must-see”, “a must-do”, or simply and even more colloquially “ a must”. The shortened and concise nominalized form expresses an “implicit necessity”: It acquires a colloquial status and indicates a necessity, something the tourist absolutely cannot miss if he/she wishes to have an authentic experience. MUST The use of the nominalized form of MUST is another linguistic strategy to create the illusion of a friendly relationship with the writer of the tourist text, thus lowering any defensive (financial or practical) walls the potential consumer may have built. Agreement, obtained through empathy, is thus created and is the first step towards cooperation (while performing a highly persuasive function) VERBS / PASSIVE FORMS /DEPERSONALIZATION Use of passive in specialized discourse is not very common although it appears when a higher degree of DEPERSONALIZATION is required for specific pragmatic purposes. It allows the foregrounding of facts, events, results and so diminishes the importance of the role, opinions and feelings of the author (subjectivity vs objectivity) Such a feature often occurs in tourism discourse, whenever the emphasis must be in the object rather than on the agent of the action: PURPOSE: TO CONVEY A SENSE OF (IMMUTABLE) TRUTH. EXAMPLE – PASSIVE “Upon your arrival you will be met by our host and transferred to your hotel” Here, the pragmatic purpose of the passive is to emphasize both the tourist as person being taken care of and the Tour Operator who takes care of the Tourist, so that the tourist/reader feels reassured and protected by a sense of loyalty. 1) When tourism discourse is specialized passives are used to depersonalize discourse and emphasize the facts (effects, outcomes) rather than its cause or originator (Gotti, 2003) ( Tickets are non-transferable and name changes are not permitted – Air Canada Ticket) 2) When tourism discourse targets the reader/tourist directly and so the discourse is PROMOTIONAL, the agent is also expressed in order to convey the idea that the tourist will not be left to his / her own devices AND to clarify organizational purposes (it makes all details of the organization clear and understandable, so as to confer a strong idea of professionality ) PERSONAL PRONOUNS – EMPATHY Personal pronouns, such as we and you, are often employed to achieve the goal of EGO-TARGETING (highly and subtly persuasive): London is our main course but we also serve up wonderful side dishes in the shape of Explorer days to Stonehenge, Oxford, Bath, Hampton ecc. If you know the score and just want to know what’s on when – just click here for a table, laid out in chronological order, of all the out-of-town trips we’ll be running in the Summer 2009 London Walks programme (London Walks, Tourist Guides) By using we and you, the author establishes a direct relationship with the reader. By creating a personal relationship with the reader the text becomes highly persuasive: the recipient is drawn into the text and EMPATHY is established, generating identification, loyalty and, especially, desire to buy the product. Destination Guide: London, England London is a city where you’ll find a whole world of history and culture in each of its colorful streets. As in other cities in Europe, London has an incredible ethnic mix, which gives a certain edge to this area of the United Kingdom. On travelling through this fascinating city, you’ll find a large number of tourist attractions, among which are Westminster Abbey (a church where the remains of the Royal Family are buried and where important marriages are usually held), the Tower of London, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, the Greenwich National Maritime Museum and the British Museum, as well as the numerous parks scattered throughout London. London From its Roman core to its Olympic edges, its ancient abbeys to its iconic skyscrapers, London is an extraordinary time capsule of human history and a cross-section of all human life. London now confidently assumes the mantle of Europe’s cultural capital and that of one of the world’s great cities, crowning itself Emperor-style by hosting its third Olympic Games in 2012. London has been called a ‘world in one city’ and that’s not just empty rhetoric. The brilliant feat carried off here is that while immigrants, the city’s lifeblood, continue to flow in and contribute their energy and cultures to the capital’s already-spicy melting pot, London nevertheless feels quintessentially British, whether it’s those boxy black cabs, the red double-deckers or those grand symbols of Britain – the mother of all parliaments at Westminster, the silhouette of Tower Bridge above the muddy Thames or the now world-famous London Eye, barely a decade old. Don’t miss these essential sights of course, but equally ensure you partake in what really makes London great: a pint and a plate of fish ’n’ chips by the river, a day in the park or a night out in Soho or Shoreditch. Take a deep breath and prepare to fall in love with the British capital.