Top FL Features

Question 1

Top Features

Answer 1

• Jargon
• Honourifics
• Nominalisations
• Euphemisms
• Passive construction
• Doublespeak
• Syntactic complexity (subordination and hypotaxis)
• Archaisms
• Greco-Latinate Diction
• Proper nouns (except names)
• Abstract Nouns
• Non-Discriminatory language

Question 2

General stylistic effects of FL

Answer 2

1. Lend an objective, impartial tone
2. Depersonalise text
3. Increase lexical density
4. Emphasise social distance
5. Absolve responsibility

Question 3

Stylistic effects of jargon

Answer 3

• Efficiency: complex ideas can be communicated more precisely and much faster than if they had to be explained in full each time
• Linguistic shorthand for communicating a message
• Obfuscation: the obscuring of intended meaning in communication
• Acts as a marker of in-group solidarity and group membership, promoting the authority and expertise of its members while excluding those who do not belong to the group
• Excessive use of jargon and euphemism can add prestige or gravitas to everyday concepts

Question 4

Stylistic effects of nominalisations

Answer 4

• Creates a more abstract prose where it is not necessary or desirable to know who the actor is- in bureaucratese
• Combination of passivization and nominalisation brings an absence of animate agency, thereby heightening the seeming objectivity of how a conduct is represented
• Concealing personal responsibility in the matter
• Present significant processing difficulties for readers
• Increases formality, enhances cohesion and avoids ambiguity
• Lends a more formal, authoritative tone as concepts, rather than actions, are highlighted.

Question 5

Stylistic effects of euphemisms

Answer 5

• Allows speakers and writers to avoid causing embarrassment or giving offence when referring to taboo topics, such as bodily functions, sexual acts or death.
• Allow speakers and writers to avoid direct conversations about confronting truths, particularly in areas of public language such as politics and business.
• Enhances the prestige afforded to something or someone; serves a manipulative function

Question 6

Stylistic effects of Agentless passive voice

Answer 6

• The dismissal of the agent disguises the truth and appear ambiguous/ evasive/ elusive/ convoluted
• Deliberately manipulates an audience
• Serves as a political rhetoric to obfuscate, mislead and confuse, or to remove personal responsibility that would incite public censure

Question 7

Stylistic effects of doublespeak

Answer 7

• Mislead, confuse, obscure and obfuscate meaning
• Make unpleasant or unpalatable truths sound more acceptable than they are, either by making meaning incomprehensible or by using intentional ambiguity
• Serves as a method of acknowledging the positive face needs of the intended audience

Question 8

Stylistic effects of ND language

Answer 8

• Prevent bullying and offensive behaviour by using impartial language in place of words or expressions loaded with offensive undertones
• Language should be tempered with the understanding that words can cause hurt and distress
• Serves as a unifying language style as it attempts to meet the needs of all participants by reducing the likelihood of causing offence
• Allows the saving of face in relation to politeness, where neither positive nor negative face needs are threatened