Written Communication Apr 1998

Relative Clauses in Spectroscopic Articles in the Physical Review, Beginnings and 1980

WILLIAM J. VANDE KOPPLE

Abstract

This study examines the numbers of relative clauses and the percentages of subordinate clauses they comprise in two sets of research reports from the Physical Review, one from the earliest years (1893-1901) and one from 1980. It finds only a slight decrease in percentages of relative clauses from the first set of articles to the second, but it also finds some striking differences in patterns of what the relative clauses modify, particularly in references to experimental instruments and materials, experimental results or products, and equations. This study also shows evidence of a stylistic shift between the two sets of articles, from what Halliday (1987a) calls the dynamic style (that reflects processes, happenings, and actions) to the synoptic style (that reflects structures, categories, and hierarchies). It speculates that this shift would have been motivated by later physicists' wish to use tenseless expressions and to communicate effectively in an increasingly built-up web of information.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
1998-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088398015002002
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multilingual writers voice and style

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Faber (2003)
    Creating Rhetorical Stability in Corporate University Discourse
    Written Communication
  2. Gross (2003)
    Accounting for Rhetorical Change: The Case of the Founding of the Austrian Acad…
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Kopple (2002)
    From the Dynamic Style to the Synoptic Style in Spectroscopic Articles in the P…
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (1)

  1. MacDonald (1996)
    Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 11 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1177/030631284014002001
     ↗
  2. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.1216
     ↗
  3. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.200
     ↗
  4. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.241
     ↗
  5. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.148
     ↗
  6. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.1225
     ↗
  7. 10.1056/NEJM198810133191502
     ↗
  8. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.132
     ↗
  9. 10.1103/PhysRevA.21.248
     ↗
  10. Swales, J.
    Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings
     ↗
  11. 10.1103/PhysRevA.22.188
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 16 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2026
    Increasing Literacy on the Scams Targeting Latines: Generative Artificial Intelligence, Digital Technologies, and the Latine Community ↗
    Gabriel Lorenzo Aguilar
    artificial intelligence technical communication multilingual writers voice and style
  2. Research in the Teaching of English Nov 2025
    “No Todo Lo Que Pintan Es Real”: Feminista Pláticas toward Speculative Civic Literacies in the Borderlands ↗
    Rita Kamani-Renedo
    translingualism multilingual writers voice and style
  3. Research in the Teaching of English Nov 2025
    Dreaming beyond the Classroom: Exploring Youth Imagination, Civic Praxis, and Relational Pedagogy in Schools ↗
    Lauren Leigh Kelly; Semaj Eric Skillings; Abigail Osorio
    multilingual writers voice and style
  4. Composition Forum Oct 2025
    “The New Illiteracy”: “Why Johnny Can’t Write” at 50 ↗
    multilingual writers voice and style
  5. Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025
    The Interdisciplinary Uncanny: On Not Recognizing Richard McKeon ↗
    Elizabeth S. Goodstein
    race and writing multilingual writers voice and style