Ing. Mgr. Jiří
Rambousek
Katedra
anglistiky a amerikanistiky
K veřejným vývěskám v
angličtině
Key words: informative
text, little text, language in public space, signboard, public announcement.
Annotation: The article deals with the analysis
of public signboards and notices in English. These texts represent a specific
short-text type whose special feature is the fact that they stand alone: unlike
most other short texts, they only rely on extra-linguistic (situational)
context..
The article is based on
a corpus of 283 signboards compiled by the author in the
The signs are first
analyzed from the point of view of their semantic structure. They consist of
the following sections: (1) attention caller, (2) address, (3) core, (4) source
of authority, (5) additional information, (6) thanks, and (7) technical
information. Section 7 is not included in further analysis as it is not an
intentional part of the message. Not all sections are present in all signs; the
article gives the frequency of occurrence of the individual sections, together
with the most common wordings.
The next section
discusses standard formulations and grammatical constructions used in the cores
of the messages. This analysis is based on 380 messages (some signboards
included more than one message, e.g. several bans). The most prominent
constructions in this text type are imperative constructions (both positive and
negative; they represent 26 % of the total number of clauses) and the formula
„No“ + noun/–ing (15.8 %). The frequencies of other
types of constructions (non-finite clauses with elipted
finite verb and nominal clauses) are then compared with those established in
newspaper headlines (which are the most commonly analyzed type of little
texts).
Anotace: Článek pojednává o
vývěskách, sděleních a jiných veřejných nápisech v angličtině. Tyto texty lze
považovat za samostatný útvar, zajímavý mj. proto, že na rozdíl od jiných krátkých
textů (např. novinových titulků) plní svůj účel samostatně, bez doplnění delším
textem – jejich kontext je pouze situační.
Článek je založen na korpusu 283 vývěsek, shromážděném autorem článku v
USA v roce 2001. Všechny tyto texty byly dokumentovány fotograficky, tedy
včetně mimojazykového kontextu. Kromě toho článek informuje o rozsáhlejším
korpusu (celkem 878 nápisů z USA a Velké Británie) sestaveném ve spolupráci
s doc. A. Klégrem a jeho studenty z FF UK v
Praze.
Nápisy jsou analyzovány nejprve z hlediska sémantické struktury. Skládají
se z (1) upoutání pozornosti (attention caller), (2) oslovení, (3) jádra sdělení, (4) údajů o
zdroji autority, (5) doplňujících informací, (6) poděkování a (7) technických
informací (ty jsou však z další analýzy vynechány, protože netvoří
intencionální součást sdělení). Jednotlivé části nejsou u všech vývěsek
realizovány; článek uvádí pro každou z nich frekvenci výskytu a nejpoužívanější
formulace.
Další část je věnována ustáleným formulacím a gramatickým konstrukcím používaným
v jádru sdělení. Zde je analýza založena na 380 sděleních, protože některé
vývěsky obsahují více než jedno jádro (např. více zákazů). Mezi nimi jako
specifické vynikají imperativní konstrukce pozitivní i negativní a zakazovací formule s „No“ + subst.
nebo –ing, které se na celkovém počtu podílejí 26 %,
resp. 15,8 %. Frekvence ostatních konstrukcí (neúplných vět s vynechaným
určitým slovesem a jmenných vět) jsou porovnány s novinovými titulky jakožto
nejčastěji analyzovaným typem krátkých textů.
Závěrečné části jsou věnovány závislosti na mimojazykovém kontextu,
použití grafických prvků místo psaného textu a interpunkci. Interpunkce je z
veřejných sdělení často zcela vypouštěna; její funkci pak mnohdy přebírá
typografická úprava (např. v nápisu NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THIS ROOM STRICTLY ENFORCED).
Little texts—as Halliday
calls them in An Introduction to
Functional Grammar—have become the focus of a number of linguistic studies.
Halliday (392) lists the following types of little texts:
headlines, telegrams, titles, product labels, short instructions (e.g.
recipes), signboards, and lecture notes. Further items could be added to the
list, e.g. slogans, commercial and personal advertisements,[1]
noticeboard announcements, and inscriptions on walls
and school desks. Among the various types of little texts, newspaper headlines
are by far the most frequently analyzed. This has many reasons—they are visible
and attractive, they invite explanations by being difficult to understand for
non-native or untrained readers, and—last but not least—the research material
is relatively easy to collect.
The present article deals with another type of
little texts that is governed by relatively fixed rules: public signs, i.e.
announcements, regulations, information signs on signboards etc. The idea to
study these signs is not new—Vinay and Darbelnet mentioned in the preface to their Comparative Stylistics of French and English
back in 1959 that it was the comparison of French and English signs along a
Canadian highway that inspired them to writing the fundamental book (Vinay 1-5). But they did not deal with them in great detail
in the book. Surprisingly few references to this type of texts can be found in
linguistic studies, and there are no practically oriented handbooks dealing
with signs. The absence of such handbooks is particularly striking. Admittedly,
signs are—unlike newspaper headlines—relatively easily understood by non-native
speakers of English.[2]
But they are, on the other hand, created by
non-native English speakers all over the world, and their quality can make life
easier to tourists in foreign countries and influence their appreciation of the
particular country.[3]
Sometimes authorities do realize the problem, as
is clear from the decision of
Compared to the more popular topic of newspaper
headlines, signs and notices prove to be different in many respects. An obvious
difference is that they represent complete texts rather than sum up an article
that the reader can read in full. Halliday (392)
claims that “since they [little texts] have to achieve quite a lot in that
limited space, they tend to have their own grammar for doing so, which differs
in certain respects from the grammar of other registers of English not constrained
by such limitations.” He then lists the basic features of this grammar of
little texts. Many of these features can be found in signs as well. This paper
will focus on those features of signs that distinguish them from the other
types of little texts.
Examined
database
I started collecting signs and notices in the
In collecting material for the database, the
following rules have been applied:[6]
1. The signboard must be
placed in a public space and intended for wide public.
2. It must be
non-commercial, i.e. follow “public interest” rather then that of a certain
economic subject.
3. The message must be, directly or indirectly, of
illocutionary nature: either it explicitly expresses an order or a restriction,
or it informs the readers of circumstances that can influence their action
(e.g., “The operator is required under federal law to make stop
announcements”). As a result, signs necessary for basic orientation in the
public space (RESTROOMS) are included, while signs offering additional
information (concerning historical facts, tourist orientation, news items,
etc.) are not.
4. The message must be “official”, i.e. based on
the presumption on the author’s part that he/she possesses the faculty to post
it.[7]
5. The signboard must stand alone and be intended
for immediate reception; this rule excludes texts from notice boards and other
information points, as well as leaflets or other texts intended to be taken
away for later reading.
6. The message may include
written language material as well as other signs (icons, symbols and
pictograms).
7. A signboard that meets
all the formal requirements but is intended as a joke, souvenir etc. (and is
therefore of meta-lingual nature) can be included but the fact has to be
marked; for many analyses, the sign cannot be taken into consideration.
Example: PARKING FOR CZECHS ONLY / ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOWED [200; a souvenir
sign sold in
The collection includes 878 English signboards
from the
Information on the frequency of occurrence of
the individual signs would be very useful; however, collecting such information
is hardly possible. Frequency is easy to establish in a linear context, whereas
the context of public signs is extra-linguistic, “three-dimensional.” Frequency
information is therefore not included in the database.
Analysis
This article presents the results of the
analysis of a subset of the mentioned collection, consisting of 295 signboards.
The number of actual messages that occur on these signboards is, however,
higher (see below). The article is divided into five sections, each paying
attention to one particular feature, distinguishing signboard texts from other
types of little texts:
1.
Structure of a sign
2.
Use of standardized patterns and formulations
3.
Dependence on extra-lingual context
4.
High proportion of non-text elements
5.
Typography and punctuation
1. Structure of a sign
Some signs
are very simple, others are longer and structured. Listed below are sections
that appear repeatedly in the signs. Of these, only one is obligatory: the core
that carries the message proper.
Attention caller
The attention
caller—always a one-word expression—opens the message and serves mainly to
attract the attention of the reader. Of the 285 boards examined, 37 open with
an attention caller. They are:
Attention caller No. of occurrences
CAUTION 9
DANGER 9
NOTICE 7
WARNING 7
POSTED 2
ATTENTION 2
HAZARD 1
With 16
occurrences, the word PLEASE is even more frequent in the opening position of a
signboard. However, it cannot be considered a real attention caller: it is
often used inside the messages (8), and even when placed in the initial
position, it forms a part of the main message (as in PLEASE DO NOT THROW /
CIGARETTE BUTTS / INTO THE COURTYARD [29]). Its function is not to attract the
attention of the reader but rather to adjust the tenor of the message. An
attention caller is invariably the first word of the signboard; the only
exception to this rule reads: [128]
No Fires / No Alcohol
No Glass Containers
Pick-up Dog Litter
DANGER-HAZARDOUS SURF
But even here, the attention caller DANGER is the
first word of one of the individual signs on the signboard; this sign was
emphasized on the actual signboard by capitalization.
A direct address of the
reader is used mainly to delimit the target group. As most signboards target
the public as a whole, addresses are surprisingly rare; there were 4 instances
found in the 285 signboards:
STUDENTS / NO FOOD / OR DRINK / IN FIELDHOUSE [96]
ATTENTION / YMCA / MEMBERS / THE LARGE GYMNASIUM...
[69]
ATTENTION / TRUCK DRIVERS: / STATE REGULATION... [268]
BICYCLE RIDERS / STOP AND DISMOUNT / WALK BIKE [295]
It seems that addresses
collocate with the attention caller ATTENTION: the whole database (878
signboards) contains 6 examples of ATTENTION + address, and only 3 examples of
ATTENTION without an address.
Core
This section could be
also named “message proper”. It includes the main part of the message. The
forms it takes are analyzed in 2. Use of
standardized patterns and formulations below. There are often more core
sections—i.e., messages—on one signboard. In such case, they usually share the
attention caller (with the exception of [128] stated above) and some of the
additional information.
Source of authority
This section is usually
only found in signs that restrict or give orders; it is rare in informational
ones. It appears in different positions on the signboards, and takes various
forms (sometimes, two of these forms are combined in one sign):
(1) stating the
authorizing institution—13 occurrences.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
POLICE [236, 240, 241, 277]
(2) vague threat—6
occurrences
FAILURE TO DO SO COULD
RESULT IN INJURY AND/OR PROSECUTION [74]
VIOLATORS WILL BE
PROSECUTED [97]
STRICTLY ENFORCED [124]
POLICE TAKE NOTICE [266]
etc.
(3) vague reference to
law (a variation of vague threat)—10 occurrences
UNDER PENALTY OF THE LAW
[3];
Federal Law prohibits…
[109];
STATE LAW AND COMMON
COURTESY REQUIRES… [134]
(4) Exact citation of
law—6 occurrences
Under Penalty of Law /
Chapter LX Section IV [26];
Section 14-1.43(e) Part
14—NYS Sanitary Code [71];
PURSUANT TO SECTION
375.1(i) OF THE NYSPOPRHP RULES & REGULATIONS…
[74])
(5) Exact statement of
penalty (a variation of the exact citation of law)
GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 272
SEC. 43a, PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 10 DAYS OR BY A FINE OF
NOT MORE THAN $50. OR BOTH [105];
PURSUANT TO
Some signs
open with the name of the location in which the sign is placed: the name of the
city, county, park, or region (
Out of 285
signboards, 33 (11.6 %) included an authority statement. This proportion is
relatively high, compared to the frequency ascertained in the limited Czech and
German material that has been collected so far.
Additional information
Additional information
is not vital for conveying the message. It may include explanations (WARNING /
DO NOT FEED, ATTRACT, OR HARASS / RACCOONS OR ANY WILDLIFE / FEEDING CAN BE HARMFUL TO WILDLIFE / AND
CONTACT WITH DISEASED ANIMALS / CAN THREATEN YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY. ...
[287, my emphasis]), ask for the understanding of the readers (WARNING / FOR YOUR SAFETY / NO STANDING / ON
BENCHES [10, my emphasis]), or provide any other supplementary information the
author feels necessary to add.
Additional information appears in various positions on the
signboard, often there are two or more such sections on one board. Of the 285
signboards, 44 included some kind of additional information.
Thanks
Four of the 285 signs
end with “THANK YOU”, on one the thanks are used as part of the core: THANK YOU
FOR NOT SMOKING [54].
Technical information
This is the information
on the maker/producer of the signboard, usually in very small print. The mere
presence of producer’s name could be considered as increasing the “official
tone” of the message, and the name could therefore be seen as authority
statement. This technical information is, however, never intended as part of the
message; this fact is indicated
by the size and placement of the text. Readers therefore usually do not read it
at all.[10]
Accordingly, technical information is not included in the database.
The tendency to use
standardized formulations in public signs can be expected in all languages: it
is desirable for the sake of efficiency that the signs are standardized to a
high degree so that they convey a ready-made meaning which can be understood by
the reader without too much effort.[11]
Unlike newspaper headlines, they are not written to surprise or amuse.
Formulations such as NO SMOKING and DO NOT ENTER have almost become icons in
themselves and can hardly be seen as original texts created by a specific author.[12]
But even texts that are not so highly standardized conform to a very limited
number of grammatical patterns. These patterns are listed in Table 1, together
with their frequency. The analysis is based on 283 signboards; however, as
stated above, many signs comprise multiple messages, so that the total number
of analyzed messages amounts to 380. Only core sections of the messages were
analyzed.
|
Type |
Example |
No of occur- rances |
% |
|
imperative construction |
|
99 |
26.0 |
|
– positive imperative |
LEASH DOGS IN RAMBLE AT ALL TIMES
[17] |
(67) |
(17.6) |
|
– negative imperative |
Do not leave personal property
unattended [7] |
(32) |
(8.4) |
|
prohibitive “No” + noun phrase or
-ing * |
NO OPEN FIRES / LITTERING /
BARBECUING [15] |
60 |
15.8 |
|
noun phrase |
ELEVATORS DOWN ONLY & BACK TO
STREET LEVEL [5] WHEELCHAIR ACCESS [49] |
114 |
30.0 |
|
indicative clause with an ellipted finite verb |
SKATEBOARDS STRICTLY PROHIBITED
[58] PLAY BY PERMIT ONLY [8] |
44 |
11.6 |
|
indicative clause with an ellipted nominal sentence element |
NOT MAINTAINED DURING WINTER
[133] |
13 |
3.4 |
|
complete sentence |
THE OPERATOR IS REQUIRED UNDER
FEDERAL LAW TO MAKE STOP ANNOUNCEMENTS [108]; WHEN CYCLE IS FINISHED, LAUNDRY
LEFT UNATTENDED IN WASHERS OR DRYERS MAY BE REMOVED BY NEXT WAITING CUSTOMER.
[263] |
50 |
13.2 |
|
Total |
|
380 |
100.0 |
* In the category prohibitive “no” + noun phrase or -ing, informative signs like NO SHOULDER [36] or NO
VEHICULAR ACCESS TO COIT TOWER [87] are not included. They are ranked with the
noun phrase category. In one instance, a combination of these two formally
identical messages appeared on the same signboard:
NO
LIFEGUARD
ON DUTY
NO GLASS
IN POOL
AREA
This sign might be used
to support the argument that English speakers, in comparison to speakers of
Czech, are less conscious of the formal aspects of language, and rely more on a
pragmatic capacity of the readers.
The percentage of noun phrases is much higher in
public signs than it is in other types of little texts. Jan Chovanec
(91) examined non-finite main clauses in newspaper headlines and found that
they included 61.2 % of ellipted clauses (which
correspond to “ellipted finite verb” in the above
table) and 38.8 % of nominal clauses (which correspond to the “noun phrase”
type). In signs, the ratio of the two sentence types is reversed: 44 clauses
with ellipted finite verb and 114 noun phrases
represent 27.8 % and 72.2 %, respectively. Imperatives and “no + noun phrase”
constructions were left out as they are specific to signs and do not appear in
significant numbers in other text types.
In public signs, we could expect a high degree
of correspondence between formal structure and meaning, since this
correspondence increases the clarity of a message: e.g. we would expect the
imperative to be used for instructions/commands, negative imperative for prohibiting,
noun phrase for orientation information, etc. Finding out whether this
correspondence is higher in public signs than in other texts would require an
analysis using a comparable corpus of texts other than signs. The high number
of imperatives found in the database of signs seems to suggest that the above
expectation is correct: in other types of discourse, imperative forms are often
replaced by other structures and the orders/instructions are expressed
indirectly.
3.
Dependence on extra-linguistic context
A sign can only fulfill
its function if set in the correct location. It is hard to think of another
type of text that would so strongly depend on extra-lingual context: most texts
have to be taken to a completely different culture to lose their function
completely. Many signs therefore rely on the extra-lingual context to such a
degree that objects surrounding them take over the
role of (parts of)
sentence elements. In DO NOT PLAY / ON OR AROUND [212], the full sentence would
be “around the container” as the sign was placed on a garbage container. Even
more often, the substituting object takes over the role of the subject:
To Call / POLICE [251, on a special phone in a park]
RESERVED FOR BELLMAN [184, on a parking place]
RESERVED / BIG JOHN'S ONLY / OTHERS WILL BE TOWED [284, on a parking
place]
SLIPPERY / WHEN WET / DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION [294, on a road]
NO DUMPING! / DRAINS TO
BAY [139, on a sewage sink]
NOT
MAINTAINED /
DURING WINTER / NOV / TO / MAY [133, on a road]
4. Use of
non-text elements
While pictures, icons,
schemes, and other graphic devices are commonly used to accompany all sorts of
texts, they usually remain isolated: either they support a parallel message
that is expressed in words, or they are the only means to convey a message
(e.g., a map). On signboards, graphic signs are sometimes used inside a text as
logograms, i.e. they replace words or collocations. The sign used most often in
such a way is the wheelchair pictogram, standing for “disabled persons”:
MEMORIAL HALL / [pictogram:
wheelchair] / ACCESSIBLE ENTRANCE... [47];
[pictogram: wheelchair]
PARKING ONLY [140];
BOUNDARY [pictogram:
camping] [130].
In most cases, however,
pictograms are used to accompany a complete message written in alphabetical
characters, or to replace the entire text of the message.
In public notices,
punctuation is often omitted. Below are examples of an omitted comma. Out of
the 295 notices examined, only 15 [13, 19, 52, 53, 69, 74, 105, 109, 209, 252,
253, 263, 274, 286, 287] included a comma.
Interestingly, this number includes the following
inscription:
NO Shirt,
NO Shoes,
NO Problem!
[53]
This is not a proper public notice (and was,
accordingly, hand-written, not printed) but rather a humorous paraphrase of the
commonly used
NO SHIRT
NO SHOES
NO SERVICE
[66]
This difference in the use of comma can be seen as
characteristic: while left out in official notices, punctuation is seen as a
natural element of written language in all other usage, and was therefore, probably
unconsciously, added to the paraphrased text.
Two more of the notices with commas were not
official either and had a humorous touch to them, although they were meant
seriously:
No / Skates! / (In-line, Out-of-line, or other wise!) [209]
Please, / Let Us Grow [52; on an alley tree in
Missing punctuation can be found in other little texts as
well. However, there is one feature that distinguishes signboards from all
other types of little texts, with the possible exception of advertisements:
punctuation is often replaced by means of typography:
NO
FOOD OR DRINK
IN THIS ROOM
STRICTLY
ENFORCED
[124]
While the context as well as readers’ cooperation usually
guarantee that the text would be understood correctly even without punctuation,
the typographic distinctions suggest that the authors feel the need to support
the correct reading (although not in all cases, as is clear from the last
example):[13]
DANGER / KEEP OUT [101]
NO TRESPASSING / UNDER PENALTY / OF THE LAW [3]
WOMEN / FOR STAFF ONLY
[123]
SNOW PLAY / PARKING / PROHIBITED
[131]
SLOW / PEDESTRIAN / CROSSING [282]
BUCKLE UP / STATE LAW [168]
Public signs and signboards in English show some
differences from other types of little texts. The most prominent syntactic
feature of signs is the use of a very limited number of sentence structures.
The two most frequent of them—noun phrases (29.7 %) and imperatives (26.1 %)—are
used in 55.8 % of all messages. Complete sentences are rare (13.8 %), and
in incomplete constructions, noun phrases are much more frequent than
indicative clauses with an ellipted finite verb. The
weak syntactic variation in signs suggests a strong tendency towards
standardization.
The
structure of the signs includes some specific sections that are not found in
other types of little texts, the most prominent being the “attention caller”.
Attention callers display a very weak lexical variation (only 7 different
lexical items), which is in correspondence with the above mentioned
standardization in syntax.
Another specific feature of signboards is the use of
graphic elements that either accompany, become part of, or completely replace
written messages. Typographic differentiation is sometimes used to compensate
for missing punctuation.
Being
straightforward in meaning and limited in the use of grammatical means, signs,
notices and public announcements represent an interesting segment in language
usage. Further investigation into this field is necessary.
WORKS CITED
Halliday Halliday, M. A. K. An Introduction to Functional Grammar.
Vinay Vinay, Jean-Paul and Jean Darbelnet. Comparative
Stylistics of French and English.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995.
Vlčková Vlčková, Jitka. “Do they mean
what they say? Nationalism and Racial Coding
in Australian Personal Advertisement.” Australian Nationalism Reconsidered. Maintaining
a Monocultural Tradition in
a Multicultural Society. Tübingen: Stauffenburg
Verlag: 139-147, 1999.
Chovanec Chovanec, Jan. “The Uses of the Present Tense in
Headlines.” Theory and Practice of English Studies.
[1] The language of personal advertisements is
analyzed by Vlčková.
[2] There are, however, exceptions: signs like METER FEEDING IS ILLEGAL, WILL CALL PARKING may pose a problem. Even a sign as frequent as PED XING is difficult for foreigners because none of the two words is found in common dictionaries.
[3] That people do reflect the quality of notices
is evident from the number of humorous collections of notices including bad
English usage that circulate on the Internet
and occasionally occur in newspapers; they are almost invariably collections
made by English speaking tourists abroad.
[4] Xiong Yumei, vice-director of the
Beijing Tourism Bureau, quoted in “Campaign to wipe out Chinglish,”
in: China Daily (North American ed.).New York, N.Y.: Dec
6, 2002, pg. 3
[5] Ibid.
[6] The complete collection of notices may include
some texts that do not meet some of the criteria; these were excluded from the
analyzed material, or, if they are mentioned, this fact is noted in the text.
[7] The rule is listed separately though
it could be seen as implicitly expressed in (3) since an illocutionary act
involves the authority of the speaker.
[8] Square brackets are used throughout
the text to indicate the serial number of the
signboard in the database.
[9] The term “message” is used to refer to a semantic unit comprising one instruction, command, prohibition, piece of information. For example, the signboard No Dogs / (NOT EVEN ON A LEASH) [75] was dealt with as one message; the signboard DANGEROUS DROP / KEEP OFF [76] was counted as two messages.
[10] The technical information is often not even readable from the same distance as the other parts of the signboard.
[11] Even in newspaper headlines, we can
find fixed formulations, mainly the titles of regular columns; however, they
are fewer and not typical.
[12] Moreover, authorship is hardly ever an issue in these texts: even if the “author” is occasionally stated explicitly, it is always a corporate author (an institution) and is stated in order to increase the authoritativeness of the text rather than to identify the actual author.
[13] In these examples, bold print is
used to replace typographic distinctions that are sometimes achieved by means
of size or typeface.