One of the most prominent features of specialised communication is undoubtedly the terminology used. However, a problem may arise if a specialist needs to provide specific information to a person who does not have expertise in the field and is not familiar with the terminology. Understanding such a message can be easier when images are used. How visual elements are employed in specialised communication is shown here on the example of communication on board of an aircraft. Different images are used by airlines to increase the passengers’ understanding of e.g. safety instructions, which can be crucial in emergency situations. Visual elements such as fastened seat belts, oxygen masks, emergency exits or life vests are depicted i.a. on the safety card. These images are less abstract and more universal than the corresponding written or spoken message and should, therefore, be understood by more people (regardless of their mother tongue and cultural background). The aim of this article is to draw attention to the role of safety cards, the main source of visual information on board, as an element of the communication process between the airline and the passenger. The results are presented to find out whether the images used in safety cards, really make the information provided easier to understand. Or is the statement that “one picture is worth more than a thousand words” not at all applicable on board of an aircraft?
The article is dedicated to the question of increasing use of pictograms in official communication on the Internet. The tendency towards the secondary pictorialisation of language began with the ‘invention’ of the first emoticon ‘:-)’ in 1982. However, a relatively new phenomenon is the use of pictographic elements on official websites. Although these are usually not depictions of faces, but other pictograms that are basically used as navigation elements (such as an envelope for an e-mail or a telephone receiver for a telephone number), also here a linguistic element is replaced by a pictorial one. This phenomenon is discussed in the article based on selected Polish and German websites.
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Der Beitrag widmet sich der Frage des zunehmenden Gebrauchs von Piktogrammen in der offiziellen Kommunikation im Internet. Die Tendenz zur sekundaren Piktorialitat der Sprache begann zwar bereits mit der „Erfindung“ des ersten Emoticons „:-)“ im Jahr 1982. Eine relativ neue Erscheinung ist dennoch die Verwendung piktographischer Elemente auf offiziellen Internetseiten. Zwar sind dies in der Regel keine Gesichtsdarstellungen, sondern andere Piktogramme, die grundsatzlich als Navigationselemente gelten (wie Briefumschlag fur E-Mail oder Telefonhorer fur eine Telefonnummer), aber auch hier kommt es zum Ersetzen eines sprachlichen Elements durch ein piktoriales. Dieses Phanomen wird in dem Beitrag anhand von ausgewahlten polnischen und deutschen Internetseiten diskutiert.
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