Linguistic Organization of the Official Sport Discourse Text (Based on 2017–2020 Rhythmic Gymnastics Code of Points)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify compositional, lexical and grammat- ical features of the texts related to the official sports discourse. The research is based on 2017–2020 Rhythmic Gymnastics Code of Points in English and Russian versions. The relevance of the study is due to the insufficient coverage of the linguistic peculiarities of documents related to sports in linguists’ publications and the importance of describing this segment of sports discourse from the point of view of its goal, sub- ject, communicants and linguistic means used in official texts. The text of Code of Points implements professional sports discourse, as it is created and read by specialists. Linguistic analysis of the official sports text makes it possible to identify the features of the compositional structure of the text, grammatical features, as well as lexemes that have meaning-forming functions. The research involves methods of structural, semantic, contextual and discourse analysis. The peculiarities of the composition lie in the clear structuredness of the material, which contributes to its logical presentation. The authors of the article present terms as key units that are significant for the content of the text and characterized by unambiguity, a tendency to fre- quent use in one text. Abbreviations and non-verbal signs promote concise com- munication of information. The syntax features include simple extended sen- tences, compound and complex sentences, conditionals, and passive clauses. The prescriptive nature of the text is also achieved by the functioning of modal verbs. The revealed features of the linguistic organization regulate such characteristics of the official text as informativeness, prescriptiveness, descriptiveness, concrete- ness and impersonality.