Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The present study aims at investigating the morphological and syntactic features that constitute the “block language” in journalistic discourse through the comparison of Arabic and English texts. The research used a hybrid approach, qualitative-quantitative. The data collection consisted of 100 documents: 50 Arabic articles taken from Al-Quds Al-Arabi and 50 English articles taken from The Guardian. The results indicate that nominal structures are dominant, accounting for 88% in Arabic texts and 82% in English texts. The grammatical ellipsis is 76% in Arabic writings and 70% in English writings. Arabic composition uses the passive voice 58% of the time while English composition uses it 72% of the time. “Research has shown that Arabic writings tend to have more ellipsis and syntactic compression, while the passive voice is more common in English. Block language is shown to be more than a mere stylistic preference: it is a functional tactic of conciseness, an illusion of impartiality, an articulation of ideological stances and an occasional obscuring of agent and accountability. The research suggests further study of the ideological characteristics of block language in different media formats, emphasising the necessity to include the study of morphological and syntactic features in the study of journalism and translation programs, thus enhancing critical consciousness and analytical reading skills of media texts.
Author: Omar Hazim Yaseen
Institution: Ministry of Education
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413859863