Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses

Interpersonal Grammar In Women’s Instructive Writing

2026-04-30T14:38:21+01:00

Nominalization in Women’s Instructive Texts, 1700-1899. Diachronic Shifts in Form and Function

2026-04-30T14:48:12+01:00

This article examines the diachronic development of nominalization in women’s instructive texts between 1700 and 1899, using evidence from the Corpus of Women’s Instructive Texts in English (CoWITE). The study compares the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century subcorpora (CoWITE18, CoWITE19) to trace both quantitative changes in frequency and qualitative shifts in function. Findings show a steady increase in nominalization rates, from 11.1 to 15.2 per 10,000 words, accompanied by a morphological shift: while eighteenth-century texts relied heavily on native formations in -ness and -ity, nineteenth-century prose displays a marked preference for Latinate suffixes such as -tion and -ment. Functionally, nominalizations are used for procedural labelling, measurement and evaluation, impersonal expression, and abstraction. Their growing use supports a move toward higher lexical density and a more authoritative, impersonal style. In Hallidayan terms, this represents an increase in grammatical metaphor, aligning women’s instructive prose with broader developments in Late Modern English toward informational density and professionalised writing.

Pronominal Functions in Female Scientific Discourse: CoWITE and the Coruña Corpus

2026-04-30T14:57:24+01:00

The study of stance gained popularity from the early 2000s with the many works by Hyland and has been applied to different pragmatic phenomena such as authorial voice. Stemming from the idea that specialised registers are not completely objective, this paper aims at analysing
some nineteenth-century texts by women. In particular, it aims at studying first-person pronouns (both singular and plural subject forms) and the functions they perform beyond the merely referential one according to a classification previously proposed in an earlier paper (Moskowich, 2020). To this end, some texts from two corpora (The Corpus of English Chemistry Texts, CECheT (Moskowich et al., 2022) and the Corpus of Women’s Instructive Texts, COWITE (Alonso-Almeida et al., 2025) will be scrutinised by close reading to provide a qualitative analysis of the voice of the authors in them and the functions they perform.

Constructing the Scientific Self: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Metadiscourse and Authorial Presence in 19th-Century Texts

2026-04-30T15:06:35+01:00

This study examines how nineteenth-century English scientific and instructional texts construct persuasion and authorial identity using interactional metadiscourse features, namely boosters, self-mentions, and modal verbs. Drawing on two historical corpora, the Corpus of English Texts on Physics (CETePh) and the Corpus of Women’s Instructive Texts in English (CoWITE19), comprising over 726,000 words, the analysis identifies significant contrasts in the frequency, distribution, and rhetorical function of these features. Physics texts exhibit a higher density and lexical diversity of these features, reflecting the persuasive, competitive, and epistemologically assertive nature of scientific discourse. Conversely, instructional texts employ more restrained linguistic choices, privileging impersonality, clarity, and procedural authority. These differences reveal how genre and disciplinary conventions mediate the negotiation between objectivity and individuality in nineteenth-century prose.

Perception, Communication, Desire, and Aspectual Verbs in 18th And 19th Century History Writing: A Diachronic Analysis of Male and Female Writers in the Coruña Corpus of History English Texts

2026-04-30T15:10:52+01:00

The understanding of history began to shift decisively in the eighteenth century and reached full institutional consolidation as an academic discipline in the nineteenth. Against this backdrop, this article explores how four semantic classes of verbs –communication, perception, desire, and aspectual verbs– are distributed and used in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historiographical texts drawn from the History English Texts subcorpus of the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing. The study pursues two main aims. First, it examines the frequency of these verb classes within historical discourse of the period. Second, it analyses their use from a gender perspective, asking whether male and female authors display comparable or divergent patterns. The findings point to clear asymmetries: male authors employ these verbs more frequently and with greater semantic range, while the patterns observed in women’s writing shed light on their discursive positioning within historiography across
the two centuries.

Modal Verbs as Interpersonal Cues in an Early Nineteenth-Century Domestic Manuscript

2026-04-30T15:19:14+01:00

This article examines the interpersonal and pragmatic functions of modal verbs in an early nineteenth-century domestic manuscript by Arabella Philippa Maule. The analysis shows a predominance of epistemic modals, with will as the most frequent form and unusually low use of shall. The higher-than-average presence of should and may produces an advisory tone, while directive, predictive, and advisory uses coexist with strategies of flexibility and care. Overall, Maule’s modal profile balances authority and accommodation within Late Modern English domestic writing.

Form and Function of Downtoners in Women’s Instructive Writing in Late Modern English

2026-04-30T16:54:12+01:00

This study explores the use of downtoners, degree modifiers that scale meaning downward, in four landmark instructive texts authored by women in Late Modern English (Glasse 1747; Rundell 1806; Leslie 1854; Beeton 1875). Combining normalised corpus counts with close pragmatic analysis, it shows that downtoners are both pervasive and remarkably stable across the period. Approximators (almost, nearly) and diminishers (slightly, a little) dominate recipe steps where judgement is required, especially with time, quantity, and heat, while compromisers such as rather gain visibility in nineteenth-century prose. Minimisers (hardly, scarcely) remain infrequent and cluster in evaluative or admonitory contexts. Functionally, downtoners soften directives and temper assertions, balancing clarity with courtesy. Authorial contrasts point to shared genre norms alongside individual stylistic preferences, revealing how small adverbs perform substantial interpersonal work within polite, carefully calibrated instruction.

Multidimensional Analysis: A Look at Involvement in Male and Female Nineteenth-Century History and Life Sciences Texts in the Coruña Corpus

2026-04-30T15:35:10+01:00

Female discourse has often been described as more personal, tentative, and narrative than male discourse, a view that has supported broader generalisations about women’s tendency to privilege cooperation and community through language. At the same time, research on scientific writing complicates this picture: studies of Late Modern women scientists show a markedly detached register and a preference for objectivity and impersonality, setting them apart from non-scientific female writers. Against this backdrop, the present study investigates variation in Late Modern English scientific discourse authored by men and women using Biber’s Multidimensional Analysis. Focusing on nineteenth-century history and life sciences texts from the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing, the analysis examines involvement as captured by Dimension 1 (“Involved/persuasive vs. informational style”), with particular attention to the role of author sex, discipline, and genre in shaping subregister differences.

Authority and Direction in Late Modern English Instructive Writing: The Case of According to and Directive See

2026-04-30T15:38:58+01:00

This article examines how Late Modern English women writers calibrate authority and guide readers through two compact resources: the prepositional phrase according to and the directive verb see. Using CoWITE18 (1700-1799) and CoWITE19 (1800-1899), this study combines function-first coding with distributional profiling. According to overwhelmingly realises parameterisation and norm-alignment rather than named attribution; directive see shows a nineteenth-century rise of navigational and supervisory frames. We interpret these patterns within historical pragmatics (function in context and diachrony), Systemic Functional Linguistics SFL (interpersonal and textual metafunctions), evidentiality and stance, and metadiscourse/engagement. Findings suggest a stable ethos of calibrated guidance, anchoring procedures in situational variables, accompanied by stronger textual scaffolding and reader management in the nineteenth century.

“If They Are Not, This Is Unnecessary”: Examining the Avoidance of “Then” after “If ” in Women-Authored Texts

2026-04-30T15:45:28+01:00

This study examines the uses of “then” in “if... then...” structures, with a particular focus in their use (of lack thereof) by women authors, the evolution in their use over time and whether these uses are linguistically prompted or not. To do so, CHET, CECheT and COWITE, three corpora of eighteenth and nineteenth-century texts including texts on history, chemistry and mostly recipes, will be examined, and cases will be manually disambiguated and analysed. The results will show how the distribution of the use “if... then...” structures depends on both socio-historical and linguistic constraints, with a first stage in which its use is freer, reflecting its widespread use in the scholastic tradition, and a later phase in which the use is mostly reserved to linguistically and contextually prompted cases, mostly to avoid ambiguity and after long or complex conditional clauses. The apparent preference of women authors to avoid “if... then...” structures is confirmed, with the cause hypothesized as a reflection of
their experiencing a lighter scholastic influence.

“Herbs and Other Ingredients.” Specific and General Extenders in the Corpus of Women’s Instructive Texts in English (CoWITE18)

2026-04-30T15:52:37+01:00

Extenders frequently appear at the end of enumerations, often taking forms such as or things like that or and so on, and their primary function is to broaden the semantic range of a list of elements. This study aims to examine the distribution and usage patterns of extenders by female authors in the eighteenth century in a corpus of recipes called Corpus of Women’s Instructive Texts in English (CoWITE18) comprising a total of 541,973 words. From a methodological perspective, the compilation of a list of likely general and specific extenders will represent a preliminary step. The subsequent analysis will be conducted using a computerised corpus-based approach, with the aim of identifying which forms are most frequently
employed in instructional discourse produced by women in that century.

From Customary to Metric: On Late Modern English Measurements

2026-04-30T15:58:30+01:00

The paper aims to analyse Late Modern English instructional texts with respect to the use of measure terminology. It will focus on the changes in the use of measurement terms in light of the amendment of the Weights and Measures Act, which took place at the beginning of the 19th century. Two major categories of measure terms will be discussed: (i) specific terms, such as pound and ounce; and (ii) non-specific ones, which contain imprecise terminology, such as a bit, a good deal of, as well as container-related terms, such as pot, kettle, cupful and glassful. The research will answer whether the unification of the metric system affected the degree of precision among cookbook writers. The study is based on two parts of the Corpus of Women’s Instructional Texts in English covering the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively.

Lady Fanshawe’s Spanish Imaginary

2026-04-30T16:04:32+01:00

This article examines Lady Ann Fanshawe’s cultural experiences and interactions during her residence in Spain, where she lived with her husband. It focuses on her adaptation to local customs and her insertion of Spanish recipes in her recipe book, Wellcome MS 7113, a collection that highlights her role in preserving both family heritage and cross-cultural knowledge. Her Memoirs, written a decade after her husband’s death, further enrich this analysis by offering insights into her extensive travels, cultural observations, and encounters with Spanish traditions, cuisine, and the high classes in seventeenth-century Spain. Together, these writings document not only the hardships of exile, diplomatic challenges, and personal losses, but also the creatively transformative impact of her Spanish experience on her manuscript production.

Mapping Interpersonal Meaning in Hannah Woolley’s Recipes and Manuals (1670-1672)

2026-04-30T16:10:57+01:00

This article analyses interpersonal markers in Hannah Woolley’s The Queen-like Closet (1670) and The Ladies Directory (1672), two of the earliest domestic manuals authored by an Englishwoman. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics and Appraisal theory, it examines mood, modality, polarity, pronouns, conditionals, and graduation, combining quantitative frequencies with close exemplification. Results show that both works are grounded in imperatives, though Woolley tempers categorical directives with let-frames, permission modals, and hedges. Strong obligation markers (must, shall) dominate in 1670, while the later text shifts toward advisory forms (you may) and politeness hedges (if you please). Predictive will often functions as a promissory device, assuring readers of efficacy. The pervasive you casts the reader as active agent, while authorial I surfaces chiefly in evidential claims. These strategies reveal Woolley’s negotiation of female authority in print, where interpersonal resources both assert expertise and foster solidarity.

Advisory Suggestions in Lady Catherine Fitzgerald’s Recipe Book (1703)

2026-04-30T17:10:04+01:00

This study examines Lady Catherine Fitzgerald’s eighteenth-century recipe book to explore the linguistic and pragmatic features of advisory suggestions in women’s culinary writing. In line with Alonso-Almeida’s (2025) work on stance and politeness in historical directives, the analysis shows that recipe books function not only as instructional guides but also as spaces where authority, expertise, and social decorum are negotiated. Advisory suggestions appear selectively rather than systematically, signalling deliberate communicative choices. When present, they typically offer optional guidance that balances directive force with politeness. Linguistic forms such as if you please and you may reveal how female authors strategically combine deference with epistemic authority. Functionally, advisory suggestions enhance the writer’s expertise, invite reader agency, and reinforce contemporary norms of politeness. These findings confirm that eighteenth-century women’s recipe books are culturally meaningful artefacts in which subtle forms of linguistic authority are exercised.

Hedging as Interpersonal Design in Women’s Instructive Writing: The Case of Mrs Johnston’s Receipts (1740)

2026-04-30T16:25:20+01:00

Drawing on a diplomatic transcription of Mrs Johnston’s Receipts (1740), this article examines explicit hedging as interpersonal design in women’s instructive writing. I operationalise Hyland’s model (1996, 1998, 2005) through an SFL/Appraisal lens and confine analysis to overt markers, epistemic modals, if-frames, approximators, and reader-judgement phrases. A rule-based regex inventory yields normalised counts and micro-examples. Results point to an accuracy-plus-engagement profile: approximators (e.g., a little, about) dominate to encode tolerances of measure, time and doneness, while if-frames and permission/optative modals (may, would) license options and manage contingency. Tokens of can mostly express ability/ availability rather than epistemic caution. Writer-protective and attributional hedges are scarce; credibility is enacted through procedural plausibility paired with courteous flexibility. Methodologically, the study offers a replicable baseline for diachronic and cross-domain
comparison. Substantively, it reframes hedging in domestic-technical prose as a pragmatic technology for trustworthy guidance under material variability, rather than evasiveness.

“Useful, Substantial, and Splendid”: Frugality, Health, and Advice in Elizabeth Moxon’s English Housewifry (1749)

2026-04-30T16:32:50+01:00

This article approaches English Housewifry (Moxon 1749) as a carefully calibrated system for giving advice rather than a mere collection of recipes. Drawing on a copy-text-based analysis of the title programme, Bills of Fare, index, and running prose, it shows how clauselevel resources, imperatives, agentless passives, let-constructions, prohibitives, and permissive you may, create a graded directive logic sensitive to task and risk. Ethical concerns with frugality and health emerge through purpose clauses and evaluative lexis, turning procedure into reasoned counsel. Beyond the clause, layout and scheduling in the Bills of Fare encode seasonality and service order. Framed in Systemic Functional Linguistics, the study reveals a voice of experienced domestic governance: firm where safety matters, flexible where taste and expense allow.

Conditional Practice in Haslehurst’s The Family Friend (1814)

2026-04-30T16:58:49+01:00

This article examines if-sentences in Priscilla Haslehurst’s The Family Friend (1814) as a case study of women’s recipe writing within instructive prose. Combining Sweetser’s functional domains with Martin and White’s Appraisal framework, it analyses both what conditionals do and how forcefully they are expressed. Using targeted CasualConc searches and manual checking, 109 conditionals were identified: 88 content and 21 speech-act tokens, with no epistemic uses, an absence that fits the procedural logic of the genre. Content if-clauses mainly realise Engagement as entertain, shifting to disclaim or proclaim in categorical contexts, while Graduation operates through modals, thresholds, and quantification. Overall, the analysis shows a clear functional division: content clauses organise action and outcome, whereas speech-act clauses manage interpersonal stance, offering a replicable model for comparison across women’s instructive texts.

Margaret Atwood in Spanish Academia: Themes, Approaches, and Critical Evolution

2026-04-30T17:05:17+01:00

This article provides a comprehensive review of Margaret Atwood’s academic reception in Spain over the past four decades, tracing thematic trends and evolving critical approaches. Since Canadian literary studies emerged in Spain in the 1980s, Atwood has been a key figure, with over two hundred scholarly studies investigating her and her works. Initially, research focused on postmodernism, feminism and Canadian identity led by a group of young female researchers. Over time, interest has expanded to include her dystopian narratives, intertextuality and the representation of power structures. Notably, interest in Atwood’s work has intensified, stimulated by the TV series adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Transmedia and audiovisual analyses have been conducted amidst a deeper engagement with contemporary socio-political issues such as ecocriticism, posthumanism, and feminist debate.