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5 - Elastic Language Used in English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2022

Grace Qiao Zhang  and
Ming-Yu Tseng
Grace Qiao Zhang
Affiliation:
Curtin University, Perth
Ming-Yu Tseng
Affiliation:
National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan
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Summary

The English data show that the most prevalent elastic expression is may, which occurs 10 times more than the least frequent, sometimes. The second highest, some, occurs four times more than sometimes. This indicates that may is far more a favoured choice of word than the other nine words on the top-10 words list, underlined by the fact that medical information is a matter of probability rather than being categorical.

Keywords

elastic language useEnglishpragmatic formspragmatic functionhealth communication
Type
Chapter
Information
Elasticity in Healthcare Communication
A Cross-Cultural Perspective
 , pp. 87 - 108
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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