English linguistics department

1.2 Functions and features of scientific style texts
The main purpose of the scientific style is the communication of objective information, proof of the truth of scientific knowledge. It is generally accepted that the only function of the scientific style is the function of intellectual and communicative. The scientific style, therefore, is characteristic of texts intended to communicate accurate information from any special area and to consolidate the process of cognition.
The scientific style is characterized by such characteristics as a logical, consistent and connected presentation of the material with an indication of cause-and-effect relationships, abstractness, nominality, accuracy, an objective attitude of the author to the facts, information richness of the material presented using complicated syntactic constructions, but in a concise form. These characteristics are achieved using a variety of techniques of the English language, in particular through lexical, morphological and syntactic features. Consider all these features of the scientific style separately. All examples here and below are from Fast and robust track initiation using multiple trees (see appendix).
Logic.
To achieve a logical presentation of the material, the scientific style uses such syntactic techniques as simple sentences with complicating constructions, introductory words and phrases (however, further, on the one hand, according to) and common definitions:
Further, these surveys have the potential to allow us to detect and track fainter objects.−In addition, these instruments have the potential to detect and track less bright objects.
However, these improvements greatly increase the combinatorics of the problem reinforcing the need for tractable algorithms.−However, such improvements significantly increase the number of possible options and pose the problem of finding simple algorithms.
Subsequence.
Any scientific text should have a good structure with signs of transition from one part to another, observe the principle of a consistent presentation of arguments. Each sentence must be logically connected to the preceding and following.
Connectedness.
Connectivity is lexical and grammatical connections both within the whole text and in a separate sentence. In English, there are several types of links between parts of a scientific text:
• reference, that is, the use of the pronouns it, he, him, this, that, here, there, which replace or point to other words or parts of the text:
This is an important problem in such fields as target tracking and computer vision.−This problem is important in areas such as target tracking and image processing.
Here we wish to determine which observed objects correspond to the same true underlying object from a series of visual observations of the night sky.−In this case, it is necessary to determine which objects of observation correspond to the same verified main object from a series of observations of the night sky.
• ellipsis - omission of a word or phrase that is clear from the context:
The points are shown in Figure 8.A and their corresponding lines in parameter space in Figure 8.B.−The points are shown in Figure 8.A, and their corresponding lines in the parametric space−in Figure 8.B.
• replacement of a word or a whole phrase with another one, similar in meaning, using the following words: one, ones, do, so, not, etc.:
Below we briefly discuss some of the more common ones.−Below we briefly describe some of the most common approaches.
• connection with the help of unions, which serve not only to connect the subordinate clause with the main one, but also indicate the type of connection (causal, attributive, conditional, etc.):
When a tentative track matches multiple observations ata given time step, multiple hypothesizes (tentative tracks) are formed and the decision is delayed to a later time step.−When a trial trace matches the multivariate observations at a given point in time, multivariate hypotheses (trial traces) are generated and the decision is deferred to a later time period.
The fundamental task in tracking is to determine which observations at different time steps correspond to the same underlying object.−The primary task of tracking targets is to determine which of the observations taken at different points in time correspond to the same main object.
• lexical coherence, which means that the same idea or object can be expressed in different words (this includes synonyms, words that are close in meaning, generalizations and concretization:
track initiation / linkage−trail tying.
Abstraction.
This characteristic is especially clearly manifested at the lexical level - the scientific style of written speech is distinguished by the frequency of using abstract nouns (flexibility, transform, combinatorics, etc).
This is explained by the fact that when considering a problem, a scientist first studies general concepts and only then proceeds to concretization. This feature reflects a high level of generalization, and therefore−objectivity.
Accuracy.
Accuracy as a characteristic of the scientific style lies in the wide use of special vocabulary and terminology, especially that which is similar in many languages ​​and is international (problem, system, algorithm, function). When referring to statistics, exact numbers and facts are often used (the 95% confidence interval−confidence interval with a probability of 0.95) .
Objectivity.
The modern scientific style is not characterized by subjective value judgments, which can only be used to express a purely personal point of view of the author (in that opinion, to that mind, etc). On the contrary, this style is characterized by an impersonal manner of presenting the material, because the focus of the work is not on the personality of the author and his opinion, but on the information and arguments that the author presents to the reader. Impersonal sentences are common in scholarly prose (It is known that ... It can be said that ... There is an opinion that): contrast to the flexibility for noise models, it should be noted that the above criteria does not allow for a concept known as process noise.−It should be noted that, in contrast to the adaptability of the measurement error noise model, the criteria discussed above are not applicable to the concept known as the noise process.
It is customary to avoid the use of personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person singular (I, that, myself, you). However, if necessary, you can use the personal pronouns of the 1st person plural (we, our), thus showing the author's modesty and belonging to the scientific community. In the article Fast and robust track initiation using multiple trees, the authors widely use the personal pronouns of the 1st person plural:
We introduce a new methodology for track initiation that exhaustively considers all possible links.−A new approach is proposed to the procedure for linking routes, which allows a detailed analysis of all potential routes.
Below we introduce a new methodology for track initiation.−Below is a new method of tying traces.
To form impersonal sentences, passive constructions (passive voice) are often used, where the producer of the action is not important and is not indicated:
Formally the linkage problem can be phrased as a filtering problem.−Formally, the trace binding problem can be called the filtering problem.
Formality.
In a scientific style, unlike colloquial or artistic, the use of the following units is avoided:
• colloquial, informal words and expressions (the States, stuff, a lot of, thing, sort of» etc);
• abbreviated forms (isn't, can't, shouldn't, info, ad, etc);
• phrasal verbs (look into, put up with, get off, etc);
• idiom (I am not going to pay a penny);
• personal pronouns (I, you);
• direct questions to the reader.
The following features of formality are inherent in the scientific style:
• use of neutral or more formal vocabulary (discuss instead of talk about, instead of examine have a look at):
In this paper we examine a fundamental problem in many tracking tasks.−This article deals with one of the main problems of target tracking.
This is briefly discussed in Section 8.−This is briefly discussed in Section 8.
• using more formal grammar, such as the impersonal there/it as the subject:
A tuple of observations (xI1 , ··· , xIK) is valid only if there exists a track g such that…−A series of observations (xI1 , ··· , xIK) is valid only if there exists a trace g for which the condition…
• use of the passive voice as impersonal constructions:
It is possible for a single track to exist that passes within given thresholds of each observation.−There may be a single trace passing within the given thresholds for each observation.
Rating.
This means that in modern written language of the scientific style, a tendency has developed towards a clear predominance of nouns and the expression of action mainly not through a verb, but through a verbal noun with a desemantized verb. This raises the status of the objectivity of the presentation, as it increases the level of abstraction:
First, maintaining and querying the parameter space representation can be expensive in terms of both computation and memory.−First, the storage and use of a parametric representation may require large computational costs and overload the computer memory.
Information richness.
From a functional point of view, written speech is unusually informative in terms of the purpose of the statement, because it is usually created in controlled situations when there is time for reflection and it is possible to rewrite something differently. Any scientific text is distinguished by a rich arsenal of auxiliary sign systems (including diagrams and drawings in a technical text).
Conciseness.
With all the information richness, a text written in a scientific style is characterized by a concise presentation of the material, the so-called compression. It can be achieved through certain syntactic constructions:
noun phrases, for example:
• parameter space−parametric space;
• track initiation−tying trails;
noun phrases with attributive adjectives, for example:
• an exact algorithm−exact algorithm;
• a simple form−simple form;
replacing subordinate clauses with participial or infinitive constructions, for example:
• a high branching factor causing a significant computational load−high branching factor causing significant computational load.
• intersections to spread out over several bins and be missed−intersections that span multiple cells and cause errors.
phrases with prepositions, for example: linear track model cannot account for changes in velocity−the linear model of the track cannot take into account the change in speed.

The main sources of scientific information are numerous periodicals published in English-speaking countries in almost all branches of science and scientific areas, as well as publications summarizing the experience of specialists from various scientific societies. Such periodicals primarily include scientific journals, reports of research institutions, review articles, bulletins, etc.

There are several varieties of scientific style. 1. Actually scientific (monograph, dissertation, scientific article, report).
. Popular science (lecture, article, essay). This substyle of scientific style implements an additional function - "translation" of special scientific information into the language of non-specialized knowledge, thereby popularizing scientific knowledge for a wide audience [Kozhina 2006: 236].
. Educational and scientific (textbook, methodological manual, lecture, abstract).
. Scientific and business (technical documentation, test reports, instructions for the enterprise).
. Scientific and informative (patent description, abstract, abstract, theses).
. Scientific reference (dictionary, encyclopedia, reference book, catalogue).
The scientific style is realized in large and small genres. The former include: monograph (individual and collective), dissertation, encyclopedia, dictionary, reference book, textbook, study guide. To the second - an article in a periodical or non-periodical publication, an abstract, theses, annotation, etc. Small genres are distinguished not only by quantitative criteria. Usually they do not have separateness: articles, abstracts, abstracts are placed in journals and collections. In large genres, for example, in a textbook, neighboring parts are subordinate to the whole, even with different authorship, i.e. connected both by logical-semantic and external linear connection.
Various classifications of scientific style genres are known. Depending on the degree of generalization of scientific information, primary and secondary scientific works are distinguished. The purpose of the primary genres of the scientific style is to present the primary scientific information obtained in the process of research. In contrast, secondary scientific works inform only about the final results of research obtained in the process of analytical and synthetic processing of primary scientific texts.
The following primary genres of scientific prose can be distinguished: monograph, reference book, journal article, review, textbook, lecture, report, dissertation, scientific report. Secondary texts, that is, texts compiled on the basis of existing ones, include: abstract, author's abstract, synopsis, theses, abstract. When preparing secondary texts, information is reduced in order to reduce the volume of the text [Kozhina 2006: 57-58].
It is necessary to characterize some of the named genres of the scientific style.
A monograph is a scientific work devoted to the multidimensional consideration and solution of one actual problem, which has a novel theoretical or empirical content, a unity of the scientific approach, semantic completeness, and a complex compositional structure.
Article - a scientific essay of a relatively small size, placed in a collection, journal, non-periodical publication. The article usually raises more specific questions than monographs.
A scientific review performs the functions of representing a scientific work, its evaluation and comprehension in the general space of scientific knowledge. Review is a genre with a high degree of standardization at all levels of text construction. It is distinguished by a special vocabulary (primarily evaluative vocabulary) and typical grammatical structures, through which the dialogic nature of this genre is updated.
Abstracts - a brief record of the content of scientific research in the form of basic, concisely formulated provisions.
A textbook (textbook) is an educational and scientific essay that sets out the foundations of a particular science and is intended for didactic purposes.
An abstract is a semantically adequate, limited to a small volume and, at the same time, a fairly complete presentation of the main content of the primary scientific text, characterized by a constant structure and intended to perform various information functions when used by readers of different categories. A specific type of abstract is the dissertation abstract, which fixes the main content of the dissertation, performs the function of informing about the results of the study and introducing them into the field of scientific communication.
The belonging of the text to one or another type of scientific style only to some extent depends on the genre of the scientific work. The type of scientific publication can impose only minor restrictions on the construction and selection of language means in a scientific work.
Thus, in this chapter, the features of the texts of the scientific style of the English language were described. At the same time, the features of the scientific style that distinguish it from other styles of the English language were analyzed in detail. These traits have been demonstrated in some examples taken from the translated article.
The goals of scientific style have been described, which form the only function of the style of scientific prose.−intellectual and communicative.
The varieties and genres of the scientific style were considered in detail and characteristics were given to some of them.

In contrast to word formation, word stems are mainly used as a building material in word addition. As a result of word formation and word attachment, new compound words are formed. They are formed by adding affixes to a whole compound word. (blue-eyed, dress-maker). But, nevertheless, the process of making such words is done, first of all, by adding cores. (blue + eye = blue-eyed, dress + make = dressmaker). So here the core becomes the main word-forming element of the compound word.

In some cases, it is more difficult to determine the nature of the construction of compound words. (compare, for example, first nighter – coming to the theater premiere, out-of-towner – living out of town, to weekend – spending the weekend). These help to conduct word formation analysis. Regardless of their morphological structure, such new structures fall into the category of compound words.
Thus, compounds like first nighter, out-of-towner are derivative words (first-night + land, out-oftown + land): 1) core + base; 2) core + core + base; 3) stem + stem, i.e. a compound verb from a compound noun is made by conversion².
Hence, in terms of morphological structure, not all compound words are formed by word addition. The most common models of compound words in modern English word formation are as follows: adj. + n + ed. (loud -voiced – loud + voice + ed; long-legged – long + legg + ed); n + v + ing (hand clapping – hand + clap + ing); n + v + er (party-giver – party + give + er).³
In the formation of a compound word, the process of distinguishing the properties of an object or event is taken into account, while the compound word determines whether words such as artificial words belong to a specific semantic group. The second component is determining the meaning of the word covered. Compare: for example, stone-covered (street), mist-covered (town), napkin-covered (table).
In these given examples, the first component of compound words clarifies the property of the whole word in the transformation into a compound adjective, along with the identification of the word covered by the noun.
In compound word formation, the definition of its meanings may be specific not only to the second component but also to the first component, for example, in some compound nouns of the n + n type, the first component may define the second. For example: compare the sequence of compound words with the word flower