This study explores word-based nominalizations between 1535 and 2021 in legal decisions. Nominalizations and the passive are usually proscribed in contemporary legal drafting manuals. Recent research has shown that there has been a notable reduction in the use of the passive, probably aided by… read more
This paper tracks stylistic variation in the use of two roughly synonymous suffixes, the Romance -ity and the native -ness, during the Early Modern English period. We seek to verify from a statistical viewpoint the claims of Rodríguez-Puente (2020), who reports on a decrease of -ness in favour… read more
This chapter explores word-based nominalizations in Early Modern English, a crucial period in the expansion of the English vocabulary. Nine Romance and native suffixes are traced in eighteen registers, thus covering a wide variety of registers along the formal-informal and speech-written continua. read more
This chapter offers a diachronic analysis of the use of personal pronouns in English law reports. Results show that law reports are narrative texts with high frequencies of third person pronouns. However, markers of subjectivity, involvement and interpersonality, such as first and second person… read more
Given that phrasal verbs are generally related to colloquial styles in Present-day English, the increase of these structures in a particular text type can be interpreted as a sign of colloquialization. Conversely, a decrease in their use may imply the development of more formal, literate features… read more