Documentality as Typological Characteristic of Software Interface Texts (Based on the Notepad++ Text Processor Linguistic Analysis)

The article addresses the typological identification of interface texts as an under-researched, yet ubiquitous, text form. The aim of this study is to substantiate the hypothesis concerning the "documentality" of interface texts, specifically their resemblance to documental texts of an instructive nature. This, in turn, will allow for the application of document analysis methodologies and technical writing principles. The research material comprises the English-language content of the Notepad++ text editor interface (version 7.9.4), encompassing 1277 textual elements (button labels, messages, etc.) ranging from 1 to 48 words in length, totaling 4163 words. The study employs fundamental scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, the comparative method, as well as methods of pragmalinguistic and stylostatistical analysis. In order to identify characteristics of documental texts relevant to "documentality" criteria, the research draws upon the works of scholars within the Russian school of documental linguistics. Particular emphasis is placed on instructive genres. A comparative analysis is conducted examining the manifestation of "documentality" criteria (structurality, systematicity, functionality, informativity, and stylistic affiliation) in both documental and interface texts. The analysis reveals that interface texts exhibit "documentality" across all five criteria and demonstrate typological structural-semiotic, informational, functional, and communicative features characteristic of documental texts. However, this is qualified by a more complex, dynamic organization and a more explicitly dialogic nature. From a structural perspective, both text types are characterized by external regulatory constraints on form and content, a pragmatically driven segmentation, creolization, uniformity, and algorithmic nature. Both also incorporate obligatory elements that serve to identify the pragmalinguistic context. The property of systematicity manifests in the grouping into functional sets of texts and intertextuality. Interface texts and documental texts share common functions: modeling a fragment of everyday reality, informing, and regulating the actions of a mass addressee. The informativity of these texts is characterized by a balance of completeness and compression of information, as well as informational density and informative redundancy. Although documental and interface texts employ different styles, these styles are connected by pragmatic orientations toward objectivity, precision, clarity, avoidance of extraneous and emotionally charged words, and the limited use of pronouns. The findings of this study confirm the hypothesis regarding the "documentality" of interface texts and the possibility of integrating them into the paradigm of instructive documental texts. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References