Features of language use in scientific articles in emergency medicine

Hernández Hernández H, Bustabad Reyes S

The fact that linguists have begun to take an interest in aspects of language that were

traditionally considered outside the scope of their discipline has opened up a novel line

of enquiry, possibly as a result of interest on the part of members of specialist discourse

communities themselves (the writers whose messages give rise to the texts that make up

so-called special or field-specific varieties of language). Among the special languages

receiving the most attention, for a variety of reasons, is that of medicine. The excellent

results obtained are the fruit of collaboration between linguists and health-care

professionals. It has become apparent that English continues to affect the language used

in Spanish scientific articles in emergency medicine. Such English influence acts to the

detriment of Spanish, not because of risk that foreign words or phrases will enter general

usage (an event that poses no danger), but rather because such incursions unjustifiably

impoverish our lexicon and syntactic structures. This, clearly, is prejudicial to proper

communication. In the present paper we call attention to the word patología being used

almost exclusively in place of the alternative words enfermedad, dolencia, afección, lesión,

or trastorno. We also find the verb visitar in use rather than atender, consultar, tratar, or

diagnosticar, along with the noun visita in place of consulta, tratamiento, or asistencia. We

uncover new foreign influences and note the continued presence of departures from

normal grammatical patterns, above all in the use of the passive voice and the gerund

form, which have been noted on other occasions.

Bustabad Reyes S, Hernández Hernández H