This paper deals with the use of relative clauses in nineteenth-century scientific writing. For this purpose, a 30,000-word corpus was compiled, gathering texts from the fields of mechanics and electricity. This input was automatically analysed using Wordsmith Tools, and thus accurate information about their frequency and concordances was drawn. Therefore, the present paper offers some statistical data about a) the occurrence of relativisers; b) their arrangement according to the syntactic function (e.g. the accessibility hierarchy); and c) the position of relative clauses with respect to the main clause (e.g. the principle of end-weight). Finally, these data were also compared with a twentieth-century scientific corpus so that their similarities and differences could be highlighted.
Questo contributo discute l’uso delle subordinate relative nella prosa scientifica del 19° secolo, sulla base di un corpus di 30.000 parole compilato all’uopo e tratto da testi relativi alla meccanica e all’elettricità. Attraverso l’impiego di Wordsmith Tools, sono state tratte precise informazioni in merito a distribuzione e frequenza delle occorrenze registrate. L’articolo presenta dunque dati statistici concernenti a) le occorrenze dei pronomi relativi; b) la loro funzione sintattica (cioè la loro gerarchia di accessibilità); e c) la posizione delle subordinate relative in relazione alle proposizioni principali (ovvero il principio del peso finale). Da ultimo, questi dati sono confrontati con quelli tratti da un corpus di prosa scientifica del 20° secolo, così da mettere in evidenza differenze e analogie.
(2003). Some notes on the use of relatives in nineteenth-century scientific prose: a quantitative study [journal article - articolo]. In LINGUISTICA E FILOLOGIA. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10446/239
Some notes on the use of relatives in nineteenth-century scientific prose: a quantitative study
2003-01-01
Abstract
This paper deals with the use of relative clauses in nineteenth-century scientific writing. For this purpose, a 30,000-word corpus was compiled, gathering texts from the fields of mechanics and electricity. This input was automatically analysed using Wordsmith Tools, and thus accurate information about their frequency and concordances was drawn. Therefore, the present paper offers some statistical data about a) the occurrence of relativisers; b) their arrangement according to the syntactic function (e.g. the accessibility hierarchy); and c) the position of relative clauses with respect to the main clause (e.g. the principle of end-weight). Finally, these data were also compared with a twentieth-century scientific corpus so that their similarities and differences could be highlighted.File | Dimensione del file | Formato | |
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