Cover not available
Part of
Diachronic Corpus Pragmatics
Edited by Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas H. Jucker and Jukka Tuominen
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 243] 2014
► pp. 157–188

“Strong churlish purging Pills”

Multi-adjectival premodification in early modern medical writing in English

ORCID logo | University of Helsinki

This article looks at the frequency and use of sequences of two or more attributive adjectives in early modern medical writing in English. Taking as a starting point the observation that long sequences of premodifiers are one of the many linguistic features that add complexity to present-day academic writing, I examine the situation diachronically and pragmatically during the period when the scholastic style of thought gave way to empiricism. The study will argue that while a modest increase in multi-adjectival premodifiers can be observed over the timeline, the observation can be largely attributed to pragmatic contexts which arose from the practice of early modern medicine and which, by and large, cannot be considered a predictor of present-day scientific style.

Published online: 11 March 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.243.11tyr
References
Ädel, Annelie, and Britt Erman
2012 “Recurrent Word Combinations in Academic Writing by Native and Non-native Speakers of English: A Lexical Bundles Approach.” English for Specific Purposes 31 (2): 81–92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, Dwight
1999  Scientific Discourse in Sociohistorical Context: The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London , 1675–1975. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bache, Carl
1978  The Order of Premodifying Adjectives in Present-day English . Odense: Odense University Press.Google Scholar
Bauer, Laurie
1998 “When Is a Sequence of Two Nouns a Compound in English?” English Language and Linguistics 2 (1): 65–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bhatia, Vijay K
1993  Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings . London: Longman.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas
1988  Variation across Speech and Writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006  University Language: A Corpus-based Study of Spoken and Written Registers . Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 “Register as a Predictor of Linguistic Variation.” Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 8 (1): 9–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Ulla Connor, and Thomas A. Upton
2007  Discourse on the Move: Using Corpus Analysis to Describe Discourse Structure . Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, and Edward Finegan
1989 “Styles of Stance in English: Lexical and Grammatical Marking of Evidentiality and Affect.” Text 9 (1): 93–124.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, and Bethany Gray
2010 “Challenging Stereotypes about Academic Writing: Complexity, Elaboration, Explicitness.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9 (1): 2–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 “Grammatical Change in the Noun Phrase: The Influence of Written Language Use.” English Language and Linguistics 15 (2): 223–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad, and Edward Finegan
1999  Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English . New York: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
BNC
= The British National Corpus (version 3, BNC XML Edition) 2007 Distributed by Oxford University Computing Services on behalf of the BNC Consortium. Online: [URL] .
Cabredo Hofherr, Patricia
2010 “Adjectives: An Introduction.” In Adjectives: Formal Analyses in Syntax and Semantics , ed. by Patricia Cabredo Hofherr, and Ora Matushansky, 1–26. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chalmers, Alexander
1814  The General Biographical Dictionary , vol. 17. London: J. Nichols and Son et al.Google Scholar
Chen, Yu-Hua, and Paul Baker
2010 “Lexical Bundles in L1 and L2 Academic Writing.” Language Learning and Technology 14 (2): 30–49.Google Scholar
Dixon, Robert M.W
1982 “Where Have All the Adjectives Gone?” In Where Have All the Adjectives Gone? and Other Essays in Semantics and Syntax , ed. by Robert W.M. Dixon, 1–62. Berlin/NewYork/Amsterdam: Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2004 “Adjective Classes in Typological Perspective.” In Adjective Classes: A Cross-linguistic Typology , ed. by Robert M.W. Dixon, and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, 1–49. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
EMEMT
= Early Modern English Medical Texts 2010 Compiled by Irma Taavitsainen, Päivi Pahta, Martti Mäkinen, Ville Marttila, Maura Ratia, Carla Suhr, and Jukka Tyrkkö, with the assistance of Alpo Honkapohja, Anu Lehto, and Raisa Oinonen. Published on CD-ROM in Early Modern English Medical Texts: Corpus Description and Studies , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Fang, Alex Chengyu, and Jing Cao
2009 “Adjective Density as a Text Formality Characteristic for Automatic Text Classification: A Study Based on the British National Corpus.” In PACLIC 23: Proceedings of the 23rd Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation , vol. 1, ed. by Olivia Kwong, 130–139. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Feist, Jim
2011  Premodifiers in English: Their Structure and Significance . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
French, Roger
2003  Medicine before Science: The Rational and Learned Doctor from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gil-Salom, Luz, and Carmen Soler
-Monreal 2010 “Appraisal Resources in Academic Research Article Discussions.” In Linguistic and Translation Studies in Scientific Communication , ed. by Maria-Lluisa Gea-Valor, Isabel García-Izquierdo, and Maria-José Esteve, 69–91. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Gray, Bethany, Douglas Biber, and Turo Hiltunen
2011 “The Expression of Stance in Early (1665–1712) Publications of the Philosophical Transactions and Other Contemporary Medical Prose: Innovations in a Pioneering Discourse.” In Medical Writing in Early Modern English , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 221–247. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hiltunen, Turo, and Jukka Tyrkkö
2011 “Verbs of Knowing: Discursive Practices in Early Modern Vernacular Medicine.” In Medical Writing in Early Modern English , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 44–73. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum
2002  The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hundt, Marianne, and Christian Mair
1999 “‘Agile’ and ‘Uptight’ Genres: The Corpus-based Approach to Language Change in Progress.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 4 (2): 221–242. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyland, Ken
1994 “Hedging in Academic Writing and EAP Textbooks.” English for Specific Purposes 13 (3): 239–256. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1998  Hedging in Scientific Research Articles . Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006  English for Academic Purposes . New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Christopher
2008  Adjectives and Adverbs: Syntax, Semantics, and Discourse . Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kopaczyk, Joanna
2012 “Applications of the Lexical Bundles Method in Historical Corpus Research.” In Corpus Data across Languages and Disciplines , ed. by Piotr Pezik, 83–96. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Lakoff, George
1972 “Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts.” In Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society , ed. by Paul M. Peranteau, Judith N. Levi, and Gloria C. Phares, 183–228. Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Moskowich, Isabel
2009 “‘Of Medicine? Sedatyue?’: Some Notes on Adjective Position and Oral Register in Middle English Medical Texts.” Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 45 (1): 57–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 “Patterns of English Scientific Writing in the 18th Century: Adjectives and Other Building-blocks.” In Astronomy ‘playne and simple’: The Writing of Science between 1700 and 1900 , ed. by Isabel Moskowich, and Begoña Crespo, 79–92. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moskowich, Isabel, and Begoña Crespo García
2002 “Adjectival Forms in Middle English: Syntactic and Semantic Implications.” Studia Neophilologica 74 (2): 161–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pahta, Päivi
2006 “Ful Holsum and Profetable for the Bodi: A Corpus Study of Amplifiers in Medieval English Medical Texts.” In Diachronic Perspectives on Domain-specific English , ed. by Marina Dossena, and Irma Taavitsainen, 207–228. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Pahta, Päivi, and Irma Taavitsainen
2010 “Scientific Discourse.” In Historical Pragmatics , ed. by Andreas H. Jucker, and Irma Taavitsainen, 549–586. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik
1985  A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language . London: Longman.Google Scholar
Radden, Günter, and René Dirven
2007  Cognitive English Grammar . Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rush, Susan
1998 “The Noun Phrase in Advertising English.” Journal of Pragmatics 29 (2): 155–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soler, Viviana
2002 “Analysing Adjectives in Scientific Discourse: An Exploratory Study with Educational Applications for Spanish Speakers at Advanced University Level.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2): 145–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Suhr, Carla
2010 “Category 4: Regimens and Health Guides.” In Early Modern English Medical Texts: Corpus Description and Studies , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 111–118. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swales, John M., and Amy Burke
2003 “‘It’s really fascinating work’: Differences in Evaluative Adjectives across Academic Registers.” In Corpus Analysis: Language Structure and Language Use , ed. by Pepi Leistyna, and Charles F. Meyer, 1–18. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Taavitsainen, Irma
1994 “On the Evolution of Scientific Writings from 1375 to 1675: Repertoire of Emotive Features.” In English Historical Linguistics 1992: Papers from the 7th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics , Valencia, 22–26 September 1992, ed. by Francisco Fernández, Miguel Fuster, and Juan José Calvo, 329–342. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
2010 “Discourse and Genre Dynamics in Early Modern English Medical Writing.” In Early Modern English Medical Texts: Corpus Description and Studies , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 29–54. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 “Dissemination and Appropriation of Medical Knowledge: Humoral Theory in Early Modern English Medical Writing and Lay Texts.” In Medical Writing in Early Modern English , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 94–114. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taavitsainen, Irma, Peter Murray Jones, Päivi Pahta, Turo Hiltunen, Ville Marttila, Maura Ratia, Carla Suhr, and Jukka Tyrkkö
2011 “Medical Texts in 1500–1700 and the Corpus of Early Modern English Medical Texts.” In Medical Writing in Early Modern English , ed. by Irma Taavitsainen, and Päivi Pahta, 9–29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tyrkkö, Jukka
2013 “‘My intent is onelie to further those that be willing to learne’: The Lexicon of Mid-sixteenth Century Surgical Books in Context.” In Selected Proceedings of New Approaches in English Historical Lexis 3 (HEL-LEX 3) , ed. by R.W. McConchie, Teo Juvonen, Mark Kaunisto, Minna Nevala, and Jukka Tyrkkö, 177–188. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Tyrkkö, Jukka, and Turo Hiltunen
2009 “Frequency of Nominalization in Early Modern English Medical Writing.” In Corpora: Pragmatics and Discourse: Papers from the 29th International Conference on English Language Research on Computerized Corpora (ICAME 29) , Ascona, 14–18 May 2008, ed. by Andreas H. Jucker, Daniel Schreier, and Marianne Hundt, 297–320. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Wear, Andrew
2000  Knowledge and Practice in English Medicine, 1550–1680 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

González-Díaz, Victorina
2018. Chapter 3. Adjective stacking in Early Modern English. In The Noun Phrase in English [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 246], ► pp. 47 ff. DOI logo
Sylwanowicz, Marta
2017. Noun Phrase Modification in Early Modern English Recipes. Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies :26/2 ► pp. 37 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.