Resumen

RODRIGUEZ, María Alejandra  y  CARVAJAL, Rubén R. Peculiarities of Corporate Language. Case Study: Pfizer Venezuela, S.A. Núcleo [online]. 2010, vol.22, n.27, pp.71-92. ISSN 0798-9784.

The main goal of this research was to analyze the peculiarities of Pfizer Venezuela’s corporate language, by analyzing internal and external oral and written communications, from March 4th to June 15th 2009. We found 496 highly specific and time-dependent corporate terms, from both functional and linguistic points of view, classified by frequency and function. The frequency of use of English as the main language at Pfizer Venezuela’s meetings, teleconferences, presentations and emails was estimated in more than 90%, through a random selection of events. Out of the total, 461 terms were in English, and 35 terms were in Spanish. According to their corporate function, the corporate terms were classified as Business (67%), Medical (18%), and General (16%), since they showed a highly specific departmental usage, as follows: General Management 29%; Marketing 19%; Medical18%; Finance 8%; Technology 7%; Human Resources 2%. A peculiarity of Pfizer’s corporate language is its tendency to shortness and simplicity, as 44% of the terms were acronyms in English. By retrospective analysis we found a high rate of turnover in corporate terminology, when comparing with a previous study. Constant additions of new terms in Pfizer Venezuela were checked in situ by prospective analysis.

Palabras clave : corporate language; acronyms; linguistic turnover; Pfizer Venezuela.

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