The many faces of <Emphasis Type="Italic">nano</Emphasis> in newspaper reporting |
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Authors: | Max Boholm Åsa Boholm |
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Institution: | (1) School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 700, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden |
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Abstract: | The morpheme nano in languages such as Swedish and English is a constituent of many words. This article linguistically analyses the meaning
potential of nano by focusing on word use in a Swedish newspaper corpus comprising 2,564 articles (1.6 million words) covering a 22-year period
(1988–2010). Close to 400 word forms having nano as a constituent have been identified and analyzed. The results suggest that nano covers a broad and heterogeneous conceptual field: (i) as a prefix of the SI system; (ii) in relation to the scientific activities
of nanoscience and nanotechnology, including their sub-processes and actors; and (iii) in relation to objects. The identified
meanings of nano, besides the standard definition (i.e. ‘billionth part’ in relation to SI units), are ‘operating at the nanometre level’
in relation to activities and their actors and ‘nanometre sized’ and ‘nanotechnological’ in relation to objects; in addition,
the less precise and non-technical meaning ‘very small’ is identified. We discuss the implications of the findings for a hypothesis
about media influence on public understanding of technology, suggesting that repeated findings in Europe and the USA of little
self-reported understanding and knowledge of nanotechnology or nanoscience among the public make sense in light of the polysemy
of nano reflected in its broad variety of verbal forms and usages. |
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