Semiotic and communicative ways of compressing information in the text

Information compression is the compression of the plan of the signifier while maintaining the plan of the signified. To determine the compression limit, there is the concept of the textual norm. It will be different in different texts, but there is also a general indicator for this norm: a speech unit should not lose its communicative meaning.

The question of the textual norm is particularly tough in the business and reference books, in the secondary scientific literature (abstract, abstract, abstracts).

There are a number of motives that cause the compression of information, in particular the following:

1) the requirements of language pragmatics;

2) aesthetic requirements and requirements of the genre;

3) stylistic requirements.

In the first case, for example, the use of terms giving the maximum coagulation of information is indicative. In the second case, the compression of information is dictated by genre settings of the text, for example, in aphoristics. The third case involves the use of special stylistic techniques, such as intentional silence, reticence.

There are semiotic and communicative methods of information compression.

Semiotic (sign, linguistic) are: lexical compression, syntactic compression and the formation of speech stereotypes.

Communicative (actually textual) are: the folding of information and the use of re-nomination.

An ideal example of lexical compression is the use of the term without its definition, since the term nominates a concept in a maximally collapsed form.

Syntactic compression provides for compression of the sign structure by ellipting, grammatical incompleteness, lack of union, syntactic asymmetry (skipping logical utterances).

Speech stereotype is born due to frequent use in a particular situation. For example, in the business text the valency of management may not be realized: The subject of the contract is the right of entry ( access to what?). Or: Telegram with the number, date and amount of the bank note (instead of: telegram indicating the number, date ... ). Such abbreviations are sometimes allowed when using large terms, when conditionally some parts of it are omitted or the term-phrase is replaced with a single term, for example: exchange operation - exchange; bringing a protest - protest; convicted person - convicted person ; the text of the whole work is the whole text; means of expression of meaning - means of expression.

Examples of syntactic compression: - Yes, Scriabin’s musical talent was discovered very early, but musical talent is generally manifested early (A. Rekhemchuk). This sentence omits a logical-semantic link at the level of the signifier, compare: Yes, Scriabin’s musical talent was revealed very early, but [this is not surprising because] musical talent is manifested early in general.

In one of Andersen’s fairy tales, a dried-up rose bush became covered with white fragrant flowers in the midst of a brutal winter (K. Paustovsky). - In one of Andersen's fairy tales [it is told how] the dried-up pink bush became covered ...

Gogol was a strange creature, but a genius is always strange: only a healthy mediocrity seems to a noble reader to be a wise, old friend who enriches him, the reader, about life. Great literature goes on the edge of the irrational (V. Nabokov. Nikolai Gogol). - Gogol was a strange creature, but [this is not surprising, since] genius is always strange ...

Communicative methods of information compression are associated with the folding of information, for example, in the abstract, a system of evidence and argumentation is omitted, which is fully and widely submitted in the original source. This type also includes the use of re-nomination tools - concise, replacing lengthy pieces of text, often only indicative words or combinations like “this question”, “in such cases”, “given information”, etc. [1]

In any case, both with semiotic compression methods and with communicative methods, there is a reduction in the text space due to the prevalence of the volume of the signifier over the volume.

But the conditions of speech pragmatics often limit the compression possibilities. For example, in a popular science text, the use of terms as a semiotic means of compression is often impossible, since it adversely affects the perception of the text. The incomprehensible must be explained and quite extensively. Only terms known to the reader are not explained, for example: terms-concepts included in the school curriculum ( radio waves, chain reaction ); terms commonly used in the press in everyday life ( myocardial infarction, AIDS, ARD ), for example, the following passage does not require definitions, since the terms used are accessible to the moderately educated person: The connection between the psyche and the body occurs through the autonomic nervous system and manifests itself in various vegetative-vascular reactions (Family doctor). In other cases, the introduction of the term is focused on the nearest well-known concept, for example: Deformation of the femoral neck is manifested by “duck gait”, lumbar lordosis (bulging), limitation of lead and rotation (rotation) in the hip joint (Home Doctor). Definitions and replacements can be combined in one text: Psychosomatic diseases are diseases of impaired adaptation (adaptation, protection) of an organism. A person constantly exists under stress, as he is not isolated from the influence of the environment (Home Doctor). In this example, there is a definition of the term, a reference to a well-known concept, and the introduction of the term ( stress ) without explanation. Explanation and terms, the meanings of which diverged from the general literature (for example, “ozone hole” - reduction of the stratospheric ozone layer), require it.

In general, information compression leads to laconization of the text, the degree of which depends on the communicative situation. Laconization in this case is not a reduction of the text due to the removal of a part of information, but a reduction with the preservation of the full amount of information. Consequently, information compression is one of the ways to increase the information content of verbal means of expression (speech units). And this way in general terms comes down to the following: to achieve the construction of such a text in which the necessary meaning would be maximally expressed with minimal expenditure of speech means.