Castilian Scientific Texts and Verb Phrases: An In-Depth Analysis

Posted on Dec 15, 2024 in Language

Castilian Scientific Texts

Scientific and Humanistic Disciplines

There are two primary types of speech:

• The experimental sciences (physics, biology, etc.) and art (architecture, computer science, etc.).
• The humanities or social sciences (philosophy, history, philology, etc.).

Characteristics of Scientific and Humanistic Texts

Language of Scientific and Technical Texts

Intended to convey information on research conducted and conclusions or discoveries made, scientific and technical texts have some essential features:

• Universality: Science seeks to disseminate knowledge valid at all times and places, so discoveries in a particular country should be applicable everywhere in the world.
• Objectivity: Facts, details, and the circumstances in which they occur are presented, obviating the presence of the issuer and their evaluation of these facts. The dominant language function is referential.

Achieving these goals of universality and objectivity requires specific grammatical and lexical resources:

Grammatical Features

• Syntactic structures that eliminate or hide the subject:
  • Impersonal constructions
  • Passive sentences
  • Plural of modesty (e.g., “we consider…”)
  • Nominal constructions
• Careful textual cohesion and syntax to achieve clarity, unambiguity, and avoid presuppositions.
• Short and simple statements, manifested by:
  • Abundance of simple and coordinated sentences
  • Unsophisticated and easily understandable subordination
  • Verbs in the indicative mood

Lexical Features

• The terms used must be monosemic, each having a single signifier and signified, to achieve maximum accuracy and objectivity.
• Creation of technical terms, specialized words for a particular discipline.

Expository and Argumentative Scientific Texts

Scientific-technical writing often takes the form of expository or argumentative texts, although mixed examples (expository-argumentative) are not uncommon.

• Expository scientific texts are used to present facts, principles, and statements of a particular theory or research. Their intention is to report objectively and not to prove hypotheses or points of view.
• Argumentative scientific texts aim to verify a hypothesis or demonstrate a principle or theory.

Verb Phrases

The Verb: Verbal Morphemes

The verb is a word class that:

• Semantically expresses action, condition, or process.
• Syntactically plays the core role of the predicate.
• Morphologically consists of a lexeme or root and morphemes or inflections that indicate mood, tense, aspect, number, and person.

Morphemes of Person and Number

These are present in all personal forms of the verb and distinguish them from non-personal forms, which lack these morphemes.

Mood Morphemes

Expresses the speaker’s attitude to the action, state, or process set forth by the verb. There are three types:

• Indicative: The action is presented objectively, as something real.
• Subjunctive: Presents the action as unreal or virtual, a desire or fear.
• Imperative: Indicates a command or request.

Tense Morpheme

In relation to the time of issuance of the message, this morpheme indicates:

• Anteriority: Past
• Simultaneity: Present
• Posteriority: Future

Aspect Morpheme

Refers to the internal development of the action. There are two kinds of aspect:

• Perfect: Indicates completion of the action.
• Imperfect: Expresses that the verbal process is not finished. All forms except the present perfect simple are simple.

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Irregularities in the Lexeme

• Weakened vowel (pedir – pido – I ask) (e/i)
• Diphthongization (poder – puedo – I can) (o/ue)
• (Querer – quiero – I want) (e/ie)
• Change of consonant (hacer – hago – I do) (c/g)
• Adding a consonant (nacer – nazco – I am born) (c/zc)
• Change of vowel and consonant (decir – digo – I say) (e/i, c/g)

Pronominal, Defective, Unipersonal, and Impersonal Verbs

These verbs have the following formal characteristics:

• Pronominal verbs (e.g., avergonzarse – to be ashamed)
• Defective verbs (e.g., soler – to usually do, concernir – to concern) do not have all tenses or persons; they have incomplete conjugation.
• Unipersonal verbs (e.g., ocurrir – to occur, suceder – to happen) are only conjugated in the 3rd person singular or plural.
• Impersonal verbs (e.g., nevar – to snow, atardecer – to get dark) have no subject.

Verbal Periphrasis

This is the union of two or more verb forms in a single unit functioning as the predicate. Its structure is often:

auxiliary verb + (preposition/conjunction) + main verb (infinitive, gerund, or participle)

The auxiliary verb, which contains the morphemes of person, number, tense, and mood, is usually in a personal form and is characterized by a total or partial loss of its meaning.

The main verb, in a non-personal form, carries the lexical meaning and aspect.

Classification of Periphrasis

Main Modal Periphrasis

Main Aspectual Periphrasis

Verbal Locutions

These consist of a group of words that have a unitary meaning, different from that of each word separately.

Stylistic Uses of Verbal Forms

Each verb form has a grammatical meaning determined by its morphemes (mood, tense, aspect, etc.), which gives it a semantic value distinct from other forms of conjugation. The most common stylistic uses are:

• Present Indicative: Expresses present actions simultaneous with the moment of speaking. It has several stylistic possibilities:

  • Historical present: Used for past events (e.g., “Cervantes is born in 1547″).
  • Future value: For actions that are certain to occur, presented as immediate (e.g., “I give it to you right away”).
  • Habitual present: Expressing common actions (e.g., “I get up every day at seven”).
  • Timeless present: Used for universal truths or statements of continuing validity (e.g., “Two plus two equals four”).

• Past Imperfect Indicative: Expresses past actions without indicating completion. It can have other stylistic nuances:

  • Imperfect of courtesy: Used as an expression of respect (e.g., “I wanted to ask you a favor”).
  • Habitual imperfect: Shows regularly repeated actions (e.g., “I was passing by each day”).

• Simple Conditional: Refers to a future action in connection with a past event.

  • Conditional of courtesy: Used in questions and pleas (e.g., “Could you bring me some coffee?”).

Types of Sentences According to Predicate Nature

The predicate verb phrase, along with the subject noun phrase, is one of the basic constituents of the sentence.

The first classification of sentences is into two groups, the difference lying mainly in the semantic significance of the verb:

• Attributive sentences or copular predicate, consisting of a copula and an attribute (e.g., “The mountains are capped”).
• Predicative sentences or verbal predicate, whose core is a predicative verb that can take complements (e.g., “You are right“).

Attributive Sentences

These have the structure: subject + copula + attribute (e.g., “This spot is huge”).

Also called predicate nominal, since the verb acts as a link or union between the subject and the predicate. The latter is the main element of the predicate nominal in terms of meaning, while the verb, the syntactic core, expresses tense, mood, and aspect.

The most typical linking verbs are ser and estar. Other verbs can appear with enough semantic content to be specified as identical in type to the complement of ser and estar.

The attribute is the complement that necessarily accompanies linking verbs. It agrees in gender and number with the subject and can have various structures:

• Noun (with or without complements)
• Pronoun
• Infinitive
• Adjective (or participle)
• Adverb
• Prepositional phrase
• Subordinate clause

Semi-attributive Sentences

In addition to ser, estar, and parecer, some linguists add other verbs with similar characteristics (e.g., resultar, imitar, quedarse, permanecer). These coincide with linking verbs in that they take a complement, usually an adjective, that expresses qualities of the subject and agrees with it in gender and number.

Predicative Sentences

These respond to the structure: subject + predicative verb or subject + verb + complement.

They are called verbal predicate or predicate sentences because the verb is the syntactic and semantic core of the predicate.

Predicative sentences are classified according to the voice of the verb, taking into account the type of relationship established between the subject and the action or verbal process, into active and passive.

Active Sentences

The subject performs the action expressed by the verb, which is in the active voice. They have no specific mark and are the most commonly used. They are subdivided into:

• Intransitive: These have no direct object (CD), either because the verb does not allow it or does not require it in that context, given its complete meaning (e.g., “Roberto sleeps“). However, some need a circumstantial complement or a regime complement (e.g., “I’ll go to your home“).
• Transitive: These carry a CD because the verb, often with incomplete meaning, requires it to specify its meaning (e.g., “Tell the truth“). Some verbs have a complete meaning even with a CD (e.g., “Roberto naps“).
• Reflexive: A variant of transitive sentences in which the subject performs and receives the action expressed by the verb. They include a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os). They can have a CD (e.g., “Caesar combs himself“) or an indirect object (CI) (e.g., “Sonia brushes her teeth“).
• Reciprocal: This type of sentence expresses an action that is exchanged between two individuals. The pronoun (nos, os, se) indicates who directly or indirectly receives the verbal action, functioning as a CD (e.g., “The two of them hate each other“) or CI (e.g., “We exchanged stamps“).

Passive Sentences

These are sentences whose subject does not perform the verbal action but receives it, thus being called the patient subject. The passive subject corresponds to the phrase that acts as a CD in the active voice.

The subject of the active sentence functions as the agent complement in the passive: it does not agree with the verb and is preceded by the preposition por (e.g., “A poem is written by Blanca“).

The verb in the passive voice is formed with the auxiliary ser in the same tense and mood as the active verb, plus the participle of the conjugated verb.

Only transitive sentences, which have a CD, can be transformed into passive.

There are two varieties:

• Passive with the auxiliary ser or proper passive: Follows the model above, but the agent complement is sometimes omitted (e.g., “The fire was extinguished quickly”).
• Reflexive passive: Constructed with the verb in the active voice and the pronoun se. Common today, it is only used when it is not necessary to mention the agent of the action (e.g., “The story was published“).

They have a grammatical subject that agrees with the verb and corresponds to the direct object of the active sentence.

The verb in the active tense is conjugated only in the 3rd person singular or plural.

The pronoun se performs no syntactic function and does not inflect, so it can be said to have lost its pronominal value. However, it is essential as the only mark of the passive; if it were deleted, the sentence would be active.

Journalism

Journalism: The Reported Paper

Journalism is the most widely used mass media in today’s world. We can classify its tasks according to two criteria:

• By the channel used:

  • Written journalism or press: Characterized by a greater capacity to provoke reflection in the reader.
    • General newspapers
    • Specialized newspapers
    • Magazines or journals
  • Radio journalism

• By intentionality:

  • Informative journalism: Events are reported objectively.
  • Opinion journalism: Subjective criteria and personal vision are included.
  • Mixed journalism: Information and comments are combined in an eclectic style.

Information: Journalistic Language

Three stylistic criteria: clarity, brevity, and objectivity. The information or message must be accurate and timely. It must capture the reader’s attention through its effectiveness, formal arrangement, and capacity for synthesis. It is characterized by:

• Syntactic clarity, simple sentences
• Precise and accurate lexicon
• Objective and synthetic headlines that seek to draw the recipient’s attention
• Literary resources (irony, paradox, etc.)
• Euphemisms intended to soften concepts
• Neologisms (new words)
• Slang expressions (e.g., “in fits and starts”)
• Recent words in speech but not yet academically approved (e.g., “e-mail”)

Information Journalism

The main feature is objectivity. Characteristics:

• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Attractive
• Graphic accessories

In an informative newspaper article, one can find: antetítulo (line above reinforcing the headline), headline, entradilla (summary of content), and summary (if the text is long). They are classified as:

• Extensive (e.g., political)
• Concentrated: synthesis of the topic (e.g., sports)
• Explicit
• Implicit: incomplete
• Objective: fair
• Committed: personal view

Subgenres of Newspaper Reports

• News: Recounts major, unusual, or extraordinary events at a universal level. Concrete structure.
  • Pyramidal decreasing order: Starts with the most relevant content and progresses to nuances.
  • Pyramidal growing: Starts with a list of details and concludes with the main point.
  • Mixed: Fair from beginning to end.
• Report: An extended, in-depth news story.
• Interview: Questioning a character with the intention of gathering their opinions, biographical information, and information about their work.

Verb Phrase: Verbal Predicate Complements

The predicate verb, the nucleus of a verbal predicate, can be accompanied by various complements.

Direct Object (CD)

Transitive verbs take a direct object to clarify their meaning. It refers to the being or object that directly receives the verbal action. It is an NP without a preposition, or preceded by the preposition a in the following cases:

• When referring to people
• When referring to personified beings
• Noun, with or without complements
• Pronoun
• Infinitive
• Substantive subordinate clause
• Any word or expression used as a noun

It can be identified by:

• Transforming, if possible, the transitive clause into a passive sentence
• Replacing it with a pronoun (lo, la, los, las)

Indirect Object (CI)

Both transitive and intransitive verbs can take an indirect object, which refers to the receiver of the effects of the verbal action.

Formally, it is a prepositional phrase with the preposition a or para.

It is recognized by substituting it with the pronouns le, les, which do not vary according to the gender of the replaced noun.

However, when both the CD and CI are pronominalized, the CI adopts the pronominal form se.

The recognition of the CD and CI can be affected by the following phenomena:

Predicative Complement

This is a verbal complement that also depends on a noun (the subject or CD) with which it agrees in gender and number.

Formally, it is usually an adjective or a noun phrase.

(It is the same as the attributive complement but without the copula).

Regime Complement (CRV)

From a semantic point of view, it has a strong affinity with the CD, since some verbs need it to supplement their meaning.

Formally, it is a prepositional phrase, as required by the semantic characteristics of the verb. The following can take this complement:

• Intransitive verbs that require it in virtually any context
• Verbs that can be used with a CD (transitive) or without a CD (intransitive) and with a CRV
• Pronominal verbs and transitive verbs that, when used as pronominal, require a regime complement

Circumstantial Complement

Modifies the meaning of the verb by adding nuances that do not essentially alter the structure or meaning of the sentence (mode, place, time, instrument, etc.). Its structures include:

• Noun phrase
• Prepositional phrase
• Adverb or adverbial phrase
• Gerund

The circumstantial complement is usually optional: if omitted, the sentence retains its meaning, although some significant nuances may be lost.

The Adverb

This is a type of word that semantically expresses circumstances or qualities; syntactically functions as a complement to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb; and formally is characterized by being invariable (with no inflection). Some morphological peculiarities should be considered:

• Certain adverbs allow suffixes, diminutives, and especially superlatives.
• Many adverbs are formed by adding the ending -mente to an adjective; if the adjective has gender inflection, it must be in the feminine form.

Adverbs can be classified according to several criteria:

• By their formal structure, they are divided into:

  • Simple: Mostly come from Latin adverbs (e.g., aquí – here, cerca – near).
  • Derivative: Formed from adjectives with the adverbializing suffix -mente (e.g., fácilmente – easily).
  • Adverbial phrase: Groups of words with adverbial value (e.g., de nuevo – again).

• By their meaning, they are classified as:

  • Manner: bien – well, mal – badly, así – thus, etc.
  • Time: ahora – now, hoy – today, mañana – tomorrow, etc.
  • Place: aquí – here, allí – there, arriba – up, etc.
  • Affirmation: sí – yes, ciertamente – certainly, etc.
  • Negation: no – no, nunca – never, jamás – never, etc.
  • Doubt: quizá(s) – maybe, tal vez – perhaps, acaso – perhaps, etc.
  • Quantity: mucho – much, muy – very, poco – little, bastante – enough, etc.

Adverbs can perform the following functions:

• Adverbial
• Complement of an adjective
• Complement of another adverb
• Sentential modifier
• Attribute