Conditionals as interpersonal devices in Late Modern English women’s scientific writing
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Abstract
It is widely recognised that attaining best possible reception of one’s writing within the scientific community is among the main factors that contribute to the rhetorical profile of scientific prose. Authors not only have to negotiate meaning but also to persuade their peers (Allen, Qin & Lancaster, 1994; Atkinson 1996, 1999; Bazerman, 1988; Hyland, 1998, 2000). This is perhaps most remarkable when the position within the scientific community is disadvantageous, as in the case of female scientists during the Late Modern English period. (Crespo, 2012; Schiebinger, 1989, 2003).
Conditionals present an array of functions of an interpersonal nature, these used to negotiate meaning or to achieve a better reader response. Whether they are used to state shared assumptions, to narrow the scope or mitigate the force of a claim, to show humility by rhetorically doubting one’s own wording or underlining one’s uncertainty, or to directly express politeness, conditionals can be characterised as “rhetorical device[s] for gaining acceptance for one’s claims” (Warchal, 2010, p. 141).
The aim of this article is to analyse the use of conditionals as interpersonal, negotiating devices in the work of female scientists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To this end, texts written by women included in the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing (Moskowich, 2011) will be searched for conditional markers, and the results will be analysed from a functional point of view, highlighting the particular ways in which female scientists used these devices across disciplines and through the period.
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Puente-Castelo, L. (2023). Conditionals as interpersonal devices in Late Modern English women’s scientific writing. Language Value, 16(1), 68–92. https://doi.org/10.6035/languagev.7229
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References
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Athanasiadou, Angeliki & Dirven, René. (1997). Conditionality, hypotheticality, counterfactuality. In Angeliki Athanasiadou & René Dirven (Eds.) On Conditionals Again. (pp. 61-96). John Benjamins.
Atkinson, Dwight. (1996). The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1675-1975: A sociohistorical discourse analysis. Language in Society, 25, 333–371.
Atkinson, Dwight. (1999). Scientific discourse in sociohistorical context: The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1675-1975. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Barsaglini-Castro, Anabella & Valcarce, Daniel. (2020). The Coruña Corpus Tool: Ten Years On. Revista de Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural, 64, 13-19.
Bazerman, Charles. (1988). Shaping Written Knowledge: The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science. University of Wisconsin Press.
Biber, Douglas & Finegan, Edward. (1988). Adverbial stance types in English. Discourse Processes, 11, 1-34
Carter-Thomas, Shirley & Rowley-Jolivet, Elizabeth. (2008). If-conditionals in medical discourse: from theory to disciplinary practice. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7, 191-205
Comrie, Bernard. (1986). Conditionals: A typology. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Alice ter Meulen, Judy Snitzer Reilly, & Charles A. Ferguson (Eds.) On Conditionals. (pp. 353-372). Cambridge University Press.
Crespo, Begoña. (2012). Astronomy as scientific knowledge in Modern England. In Isabel Moskowich & Begoña Crespo (Eds.) Astronomy “playne and simple”. The Writing of Science between 1700 and 1900. (pp. 15-34). John Benjamins.
Crespo, Begoña & Moskowich, Isabel. (2015). Persuasion in English Philosophy Texts (CEPhiT). Journal of Humanistic and Social Sciences, 6/2, 87-101.
Dancygier, Barbara. (1998). Conditionals and Prediction: Time, knowledge and causation in conditional constructions. Cambridge University Press.
Dancygier, Barbara & Mioduszewska, Ewa. (1984). Semantico-Pragmatic classification of conditionals. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 17, 121-133.
Declerck, Renaat & Reed, Susan. (2001). Conditionals: A comprehensive empirical analysis. Mouton de Gruyter.
Fauconnier, Gilles. (1994). Mental Spaces. Cambridge University Press.
Ferguson, Gibson. (2001). If you pop over there: a corpus-based study of conditionals in medical discourse. English for Specific Purposes, 20, 61-82.
Ford, Cecilia E. (1997). Speaking conditionally: some contexts for if-clauses in conversation. In Angeliki Athanasiadou & René Dirven (Eds.) On Conditionals Again. (pp. 386-413). John Benjamins.
Ford, Cecilia, E. & Thompson, Sandra A. (1986). Conditions in discourse: A text-based study from English. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Alice ter Meulen, Judy Snitzer Reilly, & Charles A. Ferguson (Eds.) On Conditionals. (pp. 353-372). Cambridge University Press.
Gabrielatos, Costas. (2010). A corpus-based examination of English if-conditionals through the lens of modality: Nature and types. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Lancaster University.
Herrero, Concepción. (2007). Las mujeres en la investigación científica. Criterios, 8, 73–96.
Horsella, Maria & Sindermann, Gerda. (1992). Aspects of scientific discourse: Conditional argumentation. English for Specific Purposes, 11, 129-139.
Huddleston, Rodney & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press.
Hyland, Ken. (1994). Hedging in academic writing and EAP textbooks. English for Specific Purposes, 13(3), 239-256.
Hyland, Ken. (1996). Writing without conviction? Hedging in science research articles. Applied Linguistics, 17/4, 433–454.
Hyland, Ken. (1998). Hedging in Scientific Research Articles. John Benjamins.
Hyland, Ken. (1998b). Persuasion and context: the pragmatics of academic metadiscourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 30, 437-455.
Hyland, Ken. (2000). Disciplinary Discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. Pearson Education.
Lareo, Inés, Monaco, Leida Maria, Esteve-Ramos, María-José & Moskowich, Isabel (Comps.) (2020). Corpus of English Life Sciences Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497848
Latour, Bruno. (1987). Science in action. Harvard University Press.
Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. (1975). A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman
Moskowich, Isabel. (2011). “The golden rule of divine philosophy” exemplified in the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 17, 167-198.
Moskowich, Isabel, Lareo, Inés, Camiña-Rioboó, Gonzalo & Crespo, Begoña (Comps.) (2012). Corpus of English Texts on Astronomy. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497084
Moskowich, Isabel, Camiña-Rioboó, Gonzalo, Lareo, Inés & Crespo, Begoña (Comps.) (2016). Corpus of English Philosophy Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497077
Moskowich, Isabel, Lareo, Inés, Lojo Sandino, Paula & Sánchez-Barreiro, Estefanía (Comps.) (2019). Corpus of History English Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497091
Mourón, Cristina. (2011). Mujeres en profesiones médicas y su reputación en la Inglaterra medieval: el caso de Un Mundo sin Fin de Ken Follet. In Begoña Crespo, Isabel Moskowich & Inés Lareo (Eds.) La Mujer en la ciencia: historia de una desigualdad. (pp. 3-23). Lincom Europa.
Myers, Greg. (1989). The pragmatics of politeness in scientific articles. Applied Linguistics, 10/1, 1–35.
Parapar, Javier & Moskowich, Isabel. (2007). The Coruña Corpus Tool. Revista del Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural, 39, 289-290.
Puente-Castelo, Luis. (2017). On conditionality: a corpus-based study of conditional structures in late modern English scientific texts. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Universidade da Coruña
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sydney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
Schiebinger, Londa. (1989). The mind has no sex? Women in the origins of modern science. Harvard University Press.
Schiebinger, Londa. (2003). The philosopher’s beard: Women and gender in science. In Roy Porter (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 4, Eighteenth-Century Science. (pp. 184-210). Cambridge University Press.
Solsona i Pairó, Nuria. (1997). Mujeres científicas de todos los tiempos. Talsa Ediciones.
Swales, John. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Sweetser, Eve. (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press.
Taavitsainen, Irma. (2000). Science. In Peter Brown (Ed.) The Chaucer Companion. (pp. 378-396). Blackwells.
Taavitsainen, Irma & Pahta, Päivi. (1998). Vernacularisation of medical writing in English: A corpus-based study of Scholasticism. Early Science and Medicine, 3 (2), 157-185.
Warchal, Krystyna. (2010). Moulding interpersonal relations through conditional clauses: Consensus-building strategies in written academic discourse. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 140–150.
Athanasiadou, Angeliki & Dirven, René. (1997). Conditionality, hypotheticality, counterfactuality. In Angeliki Athanasiadou & René Dirven (Eds.) On Conditionals Again. (pp. 61-96). John Benjamins.
Atkinson, Dwight. (1996). The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1675-1975: A sociohistorical discourse analysis. Language in Society, 25, 333–371.
Atkinson, Dwight. (1999). Scientific discourse in sociohistorical context: The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1675-1975. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Barsaglini-Castro, Anabella & Valcarce, Daniel. (2020). The Coruña Corpus Tool: Ten Years On. Revista de Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural, 64, 13-19.
Bazerman, Charles. (1988). Shaping Written Knowledge: The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science. University of Wisconsin Press.
Biber, Douglas & Finegan, Edward. (1988). Adverbial stance types in English. Discourse Processes, 11, 1-34
Carter-Thomas, Shirley & Rowley-Jolivet, Elizabeth. (2008). If-conditionals in medical discourse: from theory to disciplinary practice. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7, 191-205
Comrie, Bernard. (1986). Conditionals: A typology. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Alice ter Meulen, Judy Snitzer Reilly, & Charles A. Ferguson (Eds.) On Conditionals. (pp. 353-372). Cambridge University Press.
Crespo, Begoña. (2012). Astronomy as scientific knowledge in Modern England. In Isabel Moskowich & Begoña Crespo (Eds.) Astronomy “playne and simple”. The Writing of Science between 1700 and 1900. (pp. 15-34). John Benjamins.
Crespo, Begoña & Moskowich, Isabel. (2015). Persuasion in English Philosophy Texts (CEPhiT). Journal of Humanistic and Social Sciences, 6/2, 87-101.
Dancygier, Barbara. (1998). Conditionals and Prediction: Time, knowledge and causation in conditional constructions. Cambridge University Press.
Dancygier, Barbara & Mioduszewska, Ewa. (1984). Semantico-Pragmatic classification of conditionals. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, 17, 121-133.
Declerck, Renaat & Reed, Susan. (2001). Conditionals: A comprehensive empirical analysis. Mouton de Gruyter.
Fauconnier, Gilles. (1994). Mental Spaces. Cambridge University Press.
Ferguson, Gibson. (2001). If you pop over there: a corpus-based study of conditionals in medical discourse. English for Specific Purposes, 20, 61-82.
Ford, Cecilia E. (1997). Speaking conditionally: some contexts for if-clauses in conversation. In Angeliki Athanasiadou & René Dirven (Eds.) On Conditionals Again. (pp. 386-413). John Benjamins.
Ford, Cecilia, E. & Thompson, Sandra A. (1986). Conditions in discourse: A text-based study from English. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Alice ter Meulen, Judy Snitzer Reilly, & Charles A. Ferguson (Eds.) On Conditionals. (pp. 353-372). Cambridge University Press.
Gabrielatos, Costas. (2010). A corpus-based examination of English if-conditionals through the lens of modality: Nature and types. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Lancaster University.
Herrero, Concepción. (2007). Las mujeres en la investigación científica. Criterios, 8, 73–96.
Horsella, Maria & Sindermann, Gerda. (1992). Aspects of scientific discourse: Conditional argumentation. English for Specific Purposes, 11, 129-139.
Huddleston, Rodney & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press.
Hyland, Ken. (1994). Hedging in academic writing and EAP textbooks. English for Specific Purposes, 13(3), 239-256.
Hyland, Ken. (1996). Writing without conviction? Hedging in science research articles. Applied Linguistics, 17/4, 433–454.
Hyland, Ken. (1998). Hedging in Scientific Research Articles. John Benjamins.
Hyland, Ken. (1998b). Persuasion and context: the pragmatics of academic metadiscourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 30, 437-455.
Hyland, Ken. (2000). Disciplinary Discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. Pearson Education.
Lareo, Inés, Monaco, Leida Maria, Esteve-Ramos, María-José & Moskowich, Isabel (Comps.) (2020). Corpus of English Life Sciences Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497848
Latour, Bruno. (1987). Science in action. Harvard University Press.
Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. (1975). A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman
Moskowich, Isabel. (2011). “The golden rule of divine philosophy” exemplified in the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 17, 167-198.
Moskowich, Isabel, Lareo, Inés, Camiña-Rioboó, Gonzalo & Crespo, Begoña (Comps.) (2012). Corpus of English Texts on Astronomy. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497084
Moskowich, Isabel, Camiña-Rioboó, Gonzalo, Lareo, Inés & Crespo, Begoña (Comps.) (2016). Corpus of English Philosophy Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497077
Moskowich, Isabel, Lareo, Inés, Lojo Sandino, Paula & Sánchez-Barreiro, Estefanía (Comps.) (2019). Corpus of History English Texts. Universidade da Coruña. https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.9788497497091
Mourón, Cristina. (2011). Mujeres en profesiones médicas y su reputación en la Inglaterra medieval: el caso de Un Mundo sin Fin de Ken Follet. In Begoña Crespo, Isabel Moskowich & Inés Lareo (Eds.) La Mujer en la ciencia: historia de una desigualdad. (pp. 3-23). Lincom Europa.
Myers, Greg. (1989). The pragmatics of politeness in scientific articles. Applied Linguistics, 10/1, 1–35.
Parapar, Javier & Moskowich, Isabel. (2007). The Coruña Corpus Tool. Revista del Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural, 39, 289-290.
Puente-Castelo, Luis. (2017). On conditionality: a corpus-based study of conditional structures in late modern English scientific texts. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Universidade da Coruña
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sydney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
Schiebinger, Londa. (1989). The mind has no sex? Women in the origins of modern science. Harvard University Press.
Schiebinger, Londa. (2003). The philosopher’s beard: Women and gender in science. In Roy Porter (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 4, Eighteenth-Century Science. (pp. 184-210). Cambridge University Press.
Solsona i Pairó, Nuria. (1997). Mujeres científicas de todos los tiempos. Talsa Ediciones.
Swales, John. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Sweetser, Eve. (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press.
Taavitsainen, Irma. (2000). Science. In Peter Brown (Ed.) The Chaucer Companion. (pp. 378-396). Blackwells.
Taavitsainen, Irma & Pahta, Päivi. (1998). Vernacularisation of medical writing in English: A corpus-based study of Scholasticism. Early Science and Medicine, 3 (2), 157-185.
Warchal, Krystyna. (2010). Moulding interpersonal relations through conditional clauses: Consensus-building strategies in written academic discourse. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 140–150.