Abstract

This article presents evidence that, from selected spectroscopic articles in the earliest volumes of the Physical Review to other selected spectroscopic articles from the same journal in 1980, a shift in sentence style takes place. This shift is from what M.A.K. Halliday calls the dynamic style (which reflects happenings, processes, and actions) to the synoptic style (which reflects things, structures, and categories). The article proposes that the early writers used the dynamic style primarily to set information in a distinct time and thus to avoid giving the impression that the information should be regarded as widely generalizable. It also proposes that the later writers used the synoptic style because it allowed them to represent processes as things, to delineate many fine shades of meaning, and to extend their arguments economically. The article concludes by suggesting areas of future research for students of scientific style and for composition scholars.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2002-04-01
DOI
10.1177/074108830201900201
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Written Communication

Cites in this index (4)

  1. Written Communication
  2. Written Communication
  3. Written Communication
  4. Written Communication
Also cites 15 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1177/030631284014002001
  2. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.1216
  3. 10.1103/PhysRevA.62.032714
  4. 10.1086/353797
  5. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.200
  6. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.241
  7. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.148
  8. Comprehending oral and written language
  9. 10.2190/SGC
  10. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.1225
  11. 10.1075/tsl.18.09leh
  12. 10.1103/PhysRevA.62.032712
  13. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.132
  14. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.248
  15. 10.1103/PhysRevA.22.188
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