Il linguaggio delle medicine non convenzionali tra scienza, divulgazione e mistificazione.

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of the language of unconventional medicine (MNC, medicine non convenzionali) in particular, homeopathy, acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and phytotherapy (the most popular unconventional therapies in Italy). The first section gives an overview of previous studies on special languages and medical discourse in the Italian context. This part offers the theoretical framework upon which is based my linguistic analysis. The lexicon analysis has shown how vague and prescientific terms are commonly and frequently used in the promotional discourse of unconventional medicine. The text structure is that of typical web-designed text, with a total lack of the peculiar features of scientific texts. The main feature of these texts is a poor scientific reliability wich may involve social issues linked to health literacy. Scientific and linguistic education are crucial to help individuals defend themselves from the unreliable medical information on the web.