a functional analysis of two newspaper genres

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID

FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA

Comparing thematic features in English and Spanish:

A functional analysis of two newspaper genres

Submitted to

Departmento de Filología Inglesa I (Lengua y Lingüística Inglesas)

in fulfillment of the requirements for

the Master’s Degree:

“Lingüística Inglesa: Nuevas Aplicaciones y Comunicación Internacional”

by

Lara Moratón Gutiérrez

(June 2009)

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Julia Lavid López

A functional analysis of two paper genres

Lara Moratón Gutiérrez 2

Table of Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Keywords ...................................................................................................................................... 4

List of figures ................................................................................................................................. 5

List of tables .................................................................................................................................. 6

I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7

1. 1. Background ....................................................................................................................... 7

1.2. Research questions ............................................................................................................ 8

1. 3. Organization of the thesis ................................................................................................. 8

2. Theoretical foundation ........................................................................................................... 10

2. 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10

2. 2. Text types, register and genre ........................................................................................ 11

2.2.1 Text types ................................................................................................................... 11

2.2.2 Register ...................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.3 Genre ......................................................................................................................... 13

2. 3. Thematic organization of the clause .............................................................................. 15

3. Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................... 20

3.1. Materials .......................................................................................................................... 20

3.2. Methods ........................................................................................................................... 21

4. Results ..................................................................................................................................... 23

4.1 Experiential elements as Heads and PreHeads in English and Spanish ............................. 23

4.1.1 English Editorials and News articles ........................................................................... 23

4.1.2 Spanish Editorials and News articles .......................................................................... 29

4.1.3 Contrastive analysis of experiential roles as Thematic Heads ................................... 34

4.2 Textual and Interpersonal Themes ................................................................................... 41

4.2.1 Textual and Interpersonal Themes in the English texts ............................................. 41



4.2.2 Textual and interpersonal Themes in Spanish ........................................................... 44

4.2.3 Contrastive thematic interpersonal and textual choices in Editorials and News articles ................................................................................................................................. 46

4.3 Syntactic features .............................................................................................................. 49

4.3.1 Syntactic features in English Editorials and News articles ......................................... 49

4.3.2 Syntactic features in Spanish editorials and news articles ......................................... 53

4.3.3 Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-‐Heads in English and Spanish ........... 56

5. Discussion and concluding remarks ........................................................................................ 58

6. References .............................................................................................................................. 62

Appendix



Abstract

This study is a contrastive description of the clausal thematic features which

characterize two newspaper genres -news articles and editorials- in English and Spanish

with the aim to determine whether the choices are due to language-specific or to genre-

specific constraints. The sample used for the study consists of a comparable sample of

thirty two texts, sixteen in English and sixteen in Spanish, collected along a number of

external and internal criteria to ensure generic, registerial and text type comparability in

both languages. The contrastive analysis focuses on three main thematic features: (1)

the experiential elements selected as Thematic Heads, (2) the textual and interpersonal

thematic choices; (3) the syntactic features of the Thematic Heads and Pre-heads. The

results of the analysis indicate that, though there are some language-specific tendencies,

genre-specific constrains seem to be the determining factor in the selection and syntactic

realization of the thematic features of the two newspaper genres investigated in this

study.

Keywords: newspaper genres, experiential roles, thematisation, textual theme, interpersonal theme, thematic head, pre-head, thematic syntactic realizations, functional analysis.



List of figures

Figure 1. Experiential roles in English Editorials and News Articles ........................................ 24

Figure 2. Experiential roles in Spanish Editorials and News articles ......................................... 30

Figure 3 Experiential roles in Spanish and English Editorials ................................................... 35

Figure 4. Experiential roles in Spanish and English News articles ............................................ 35

Figure 5. Experiential roles in English and Spanish Editorials and News articles ..................... 41

Figure 6. Textual Themes in English and Spanish Editorials .................................................... 46

Figure 7. Textual Themes in Spanish and English News articles .............................................. 48

Figure 8. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and PreHeads in English ............................ ...49

Figure 9. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-heads in Spanish .............................. 53

Figure 10. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-heads in English and Spanish ......... 56



List of tables

Table 1. Participants and Process types in English Editorials and News articles .................... 24

Table 2. Participants and process types in Spanish Editorials and News articles .................... 30

Table 3 Textual themes in English Editorials and News articles ............................................. 41

Table 4. Textual Themes in Spanish editorials and news articles ............................................ 44

Table 5. Noun Phrases as Thematic Heads in English and Spanish ......................................... 57

Table 6. Np+App in Spanish and English Editorials and News articles .................................. 57



I. Introduction

1. 1. Background

The study of thematisation has been recognized as a fundamental phenomenon in the

construction of messages and texts by different linguistic schools, in spite of the lack of

consensus on the terminology used (see Lavid 2000a). Thematising a linguistic unit by

placing it in first-initial position in the clause, paragraph or text confers upon it a special

status as a signal of the organizational strategy which characterises different text types

(Lavid 2000b), and, therefore, plays a role as a variable in the distinction of registers,

text types and genres. One productive line of research has focused on the relationship

between thematic selection and registers and genres (see Ghadessy 1995), focusing

almost exclusively on English. There are also contrastive studies comparing

thematisation in English with other languages, such as Norwegian (Hasselgaard 2004),

or German (Ventola), but these have focused on one single text type, with the exception

of Lavid (2000c) who focused on thematic selection as a signal of specific chaining

strategies characterizing different text types in English, Spanish and German.

This study attempts to advance knowledge in this area by focusing on two newspaper

genres -news articles and editorials- in English and Spanish whose thematic features

have not been studied contrastively before as indicative of their generic

characterization.1 The study analyses the experiential roles that are selected as Thematic

Head and PreHead as well as the kinds of textual and interpersonal elements that may

occur as part of a multiple Theme. It also analyses the syntactic features which

characterise Thematic Heads and PreHeads.

1 See Lavid et al. (submitted) for an initial step in this direction.



It is thus primarily a study of the lexicogrammatical properties of Themes in the two

languages, not of Theme as part of a pattern of thematic progression. The analysis has

been carried out as an initial exploratory step in a more extensive investigation of the

thematic features of different newspaper genres in English and Spanish, as part of a

larger project where the author collaborates as pre-doctoral researcher.

1.2. Research questions

The research questions investigated in this thesis are the following:

1. What are the experiential elements selected as Thematic Head in news articles and

editorials in English and in Spanish? Are the differences in this selection language-

specific or genre-specific?

2. What are the textual and interpersonal Themes selected in news reports and in

editorials in both languages? Are there any language or genre-specific preferences?

3. What are the syntactic features which characterize Thematic Heads and PreHeads in

news reports and editorials in both languages? Are there any language or genre-specific

preferences?

1. 3. Organization of the thesis

The thesis is organized as follows. Section 2 offers a general view of the theoretical

models and categories used in the current investigation. It includes references to the

systemic functional frame and the notions of text type, register and genre, along with an

overview of the model used for the contrastive analysis of the thematic features



investigated in this study. Section 3 presents the materials and methods used in the

analysis, including the sample selection criteria and the methodological steps for the

contrastive analysis. Section 4 presents the results of the analysis, divided into three

subparts corresponding to the research questions posed at the beginning of the study.

Section 5 discusses the results of the analysis and provides some concluding remarks.

As an appendix, a CD-ROM is attached containing all the texts analyzed in terms of

their thematic features.



2. Theoretical foundation

2. 1. Introduction

This section provides some theoretical background based on which this study has been

designed and conducted. Although the overall approach used in this study is functional,

I have not confined myself to one single theory, but I have used a number of theoretical

models to address the different phases of the proposed investigation. For the first phase

of the study –the establishment of the comparability status of the contrastive sample

selected for analysis- I have adopted a synthesized version of Halliday and Hassan

analytical framework (1989) that includes contextual and textual analyses, as will be

shown in section 3.1 below. For the second phase of the study –the investigation of the

contrastive thematic features in the proposed genres- I have used the model proposed in

Lavid et al. (in press), which extends and operationalises the original systemic-

functional notion of Theme, as applied to the English language (Halliday and

Matthiessen 2004, Matthiessen 1992), to provide a more accurate treatment of the

message structure of the clause in Spanish.

Given the variety of issues involved in this study, the following sections will briefly

overview the main theoretical categories and models used in the present study.



2. 2. Text types, register and genre

2.2.1 Text types

Traditionally, text types refer to rhetorical categories, like narration, description,

exposition and argumentation. The identification of text types is deeply rooted in our

culture (Faigley and Meyer 1983), but the number and the labels of these rhetorical

categories vary according to the linguist’s orientation and preferences. For example,

Werlich (1976) analyses five text types (narration, description, exposition,

argumentation and instruction), Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) propose seven text

types (descriptive, narrative, argumentative, scientific, didactic, literary and poetic),

Adam (1992) analyses five text types (récit, description, argumentation, explication and

dialogue). Some scholars use the label “text types” to indicate instrumental or practical

genres, as opposed to literary genres (see Görlach 2004). Others use “text types” and

“genres” interchangeably, as synonyms (i. e. Stubbs 1996; Karlgren 2000). Finally,

others (e.g. Kilgarriff and Grefenstette 2003) use the term “text types” without any

further indication on how this label should be interpreted in the context in which they

use it.

Since the publication of Biber’s work on linguistic variation across speech and writing

(Biber 1988), the term “text types” has entered corpus linguistics. His work is by now a

classic of statistical corpus-based approach, and has influenced also European standards

for large language resources, such as the EAGLES guidelines on text typology

(EAGLES 1996).



Biber (1988) makes a distinction between genre – which later becomes register (Biber

1995: 9) – and text types. In his view, genre is influenced by cultural and external

criteria, whereas text types can be derived from the texts themselves, irrespective of

their genre. In other words, while external criteria follow distinctions and classifications

already available in the culture, Biber establishes a typology of texts based on internal

linguistic criteria only, which are interpreted with reference to external functions. Biber

(1988: 102–103) suggests the following textual dimensions:

1. Involved versus informational production

2. Narrative versus nonnarrative concerns

3. Explicit versus situation-dependent reference

4. Overt expression of persuasion

5. Abstract versus nonabstract style

According to these five variations Biber establishes eight text types, although

(…) texts do not divide sharply into distinct types – instead there is a continuous range of variation in linguistic form and use. The notion of text types developed here is based on frequent and therefore typical clustering of texts (…)

Biber (1989:16-17)

The eight types are “Intimate personal interaction”, “Informational interaction”,

“Scientific exposition”, “Learned exposition”, “Imaginative narrative”, “General

narrative exposition”, “Situated reportage” and “Involved persuasion”.



2.2.2 Register

Halliday's approach takes into consideration the “context of situation” is “the total

environment in which a text unfolds” (Halliday and Hasan 1989:5), that is, who is

participating, what is taking place and what role language is playing. Thus, analysis of

context is broken down into field, tenor, and mode, which collectively constitute the

"register" of a text and makes possible for the speaker/writer to orient themself in the

context of situation (Halliday, 1985:12)

• The field of discourse: Refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social

action that is taking place.

• The tenor of discourse: Refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the

participants, their statuses and roles.

• The mode of discourse: the symbolic organization of the text (text type in

Biber’s words), the channel of communication, such as spoken/written,

monologic/dialogic, +/- visual contact, computer-mediated

communication/telephone/F2F, etc.

2.2.3 Genre

According to Swales genre

(…) comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. Theses purposes are recognised by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre….in addition to purpose, exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience

Swales (1990:58)



Following Swales definition we may find several categories under the label of

newspaper genre, this categorization is given by the Boston University:

• News articles generally follow an "inverted pyramid" structure for conveying

information about a current event, incident, or issue of public interest. The first

sentence of the article, or lead, gives the most important facts (who, what, when,

where), and the following paragraphs present, in descending order of

importance, the details of the event, incident, or issue (how, why). A news

article should strive to remain objective and should use neutral language while

presenting a diversity of opinions, voices, and perspectives of the event,

incident, or issue under discussion.

• Feature articles are less time-sensitive than news articles, and may describe

people, places, or events of general interest to the public. They also tend to be

longer than news articles. Feature articles often begin with a "hook" that is

meant to catch the reader's attention, and go on to describe interesting aspects of

the topic under consideration without necessarily following the "inverted

pyramid" structure.

• Columns give the opinion of the writer on a topic of his or her interest and may

range from stories about private or public individuals to statements of the

writer's position on an issue of public concern. The writer, or columnist, writes

these articles as a regular feature of his/her newspaper, and they appear in the

same place in every issue of the newspaper, usually filling one entire column of

text (hence the name).

• Editorials (or leading articles in the UK) are written for newspaper publication

and present the writer's opinion on an issue of current public interest.



This study focuses on editorials and news articles following the definitions given above.

2. 3. Thematic organization of the clause

In this study I have adopted the model proposed by Lavid et al. (in press), which

extends and operationalises the original systemic-functional notion of Theme, as applied

to the English language (Halliday and Matthiessen 2004, Matthiessen 1992), to provide

a more accurate treatment of the message structure of the clause in Spanish.2 In this

model the message structure of the clause consists of two main functionally-distinct

zones or fields: the Thematic field and the Rhematic field. The Thematic field is a

complex functional zone in clause-initial position serving a variety of clausal and

discourse functions, and consists of two main components: the Inner Thematic field and

the Outer Thematic field.

The Inner Thematic field consists of elements selected from the experiential structure of

the clause, and can include two components:

(a) The Thematic Head

(b) The Pre-head

The Thematic Head is the nuclear part of the Inner Thematic Field with both discourse

and clausal functions. In Lavid et al (in press) the Thematic Head is defined as the first

element with a function in the experiential configuration of the clause which is more

central to the unfolding of the text by allowing the tracking of the discourse participants.

It is also the element most closely aligned with the spatial, temporal or metaphorical

location of the speaker/writer, from whose perspective or point of view the message is 2 Although the model has been developed for the characterization of the Spanish clause, it is sufficiently general to account for English as well, so I have adopted it for the current contrastive study. The examples used in this section have been adopted from the ones in Lavid et al (in press) or directly quoted with permission from the authors.



presented to the addressee (clausal function). Thus, in (1a) the Thematic Head is

‘Luisa’, while in (1b) it is ‘Juan’ (in all the examples below the Thematic Head is

underlined):

(1a) Luisa recibió una carta de Pablo ‘Luisa received a letter from Pablo’

(1b) Juan envió una carta a María

‘Juan sent a letter to María’ Juan envió una carta a María Thematic Head Rhematic field

In (1a) the scene is described from the Recipient's perspective, whereas in (1b) it is

presented from that of the Agent. In the former, the speaker aligns himself with the

Recipient, so to speak, while in the latter he sides with the Agent.3

In the Spanish clause, the Thematic Head may be explicit or implicit, depending on

factors such as the informational status of its referent, its definiteness, etc...An explicit

Thematic Head is encoded through independent lexical and grammatical forms, such as

Nominal Groups or nominal clauses. An implicit Thematic Head is encoded through

verbal prefixes or suffixes, depending on the function of the Head in the interpersonal

structure of the clause.

If the implicit Thematic Head functions as Subject, the realisation is a verbal suffix

indicating the person and number of the participant. If it functions as Complement, it is

3 For a more detailed account of the notion of ‘conceptual distance’ in the context of Natural Language Generation, see Hovy and Lavid (2007).

Luisa recibió una carta de Pablo Thematic Head Rhematic field



realised through clitics. This is illustrated in (3) below, where the clitic ‘la’ refers to a

discourse participant previously mentioned in the text:

(3) La engañaron ... el sello y el sobre

Her deceived the stamp and the envelope

‘She was deceived by the stamp and the envelope’

If the Thematic Head is explicit and functions as a Complement, the realization is

typically done through lexical means followed by a clitic copy, as in (4), where the

reference to the participant ‘la chica’ is made first through lexical means (‘a la chica’)

followed by a clitic copy ‘la’.

(4) A la chica la llamaron Juana

To the girl, her called Juana

‘They called the girl Juana’

The Pre-Head is the non-nuclear part of the Inner Thematic Field. This is typically

realised by Circumstantial elements which do not exhaust the thematic potential of the

clause, as illustrated in example (5) below. The Circumstantial elements can be encoded

as groups, but also as adverbial clauses, as illustrated by the first and the second

Circumstantial elements in example (5) below, from Lavid et al (in press):

(5) Junto a estos convenios, y con el propósito de fomentar el intercambio

científico, la Fundación ha consolidado una amplísima red de relaciones dentro

y fuera de España que la convierten en una de las instituciones más dinámicas

del país.



Junto a estos convenios

y con el propósito de fomentar el intercambio científico

la Fundación

ha consolidado una amplísima red de relaciones dentro y fuera de España que la convierten en una de lasinstituciones más dinámicas del país.

Circumstantial Circumstantial Participant PreHead Head Inner Thematic Field

Rhematic Field

Circumstantial elements in thematic position may perform a variety of functions,

depending on their semantic nature. Temporal or Location Circumstantials often

function as scene-setting frameworks (see Downing 1991).

The Pre-Head may also include other elements such as the ‘se’ marker (when

pronominal or passive), and the non-inflectional part of the verbal form whenever the

Subject is implicit, as shown in (6) below:

(6) se halla ahora ante un proceso de expansión internacional

‘it is in a process of international expansion’

se hall- -a ahora ante un proceso de expansión

internacional Pron. ‘se’

FIND 3psg. Pres. Ind.

Pre-head Head

Thematic field

Rhematic field

The Outer Thematic field is configured by elements which surround and complete the

Inner Thematic field. The range of elements which can be selected for the Outer

Thematic field is varied, and may consist of the following types:



a) Textual themes: these are elements which are instrumental in the creation of the

logical connections in the text, such as linkers, binders, and other textual markers.

b) Interpersonal themes: these are elements which express the attitude and the

evaluation of the speaker with respect to his/her message, including those expressing

modality and polarity.

c) Absolute thematic constructions: these are constructions which are not integrated in

the main predication and usually appear separated by a pause, or a comma, from the

main clause.



3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Materials

The first phase of the study consisted in compilation of a bilingual English-Spanish

corpus which could be considered as comparable along a number of criteria. The criteria

used for text compilation were of two types:

1. External criteria: this included the decade of publication and the type of publication.

With respect to the former, the year of publication was 2008 and 2009. The editorials

were selected from the Project Syndicate (http://www.project-‐syndicate.org) and El País

digital (http://www.elpais.com), while the news articles were selected from two high-

circulation newspapers available online, the Times online

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk) and El País digital (http://www.elpais.com).

2. Internal criteria: this included categories of ‘genre’, the systemic-functional category

of ‘register’ and the notion of ‘text type’ (Biber 1988), as briefly described in section

2.2. above. The sample collection procedure was as follows:

1. In order to ensure the genre comparability of our bilingual sample, we used the

classification provided by the CPCS Writing Portfolio of different newspaper genres.4

According to this classification, a news article “should strive to remain objective and

should use neutral language while presenting a diversity of opinions, voices, and

perspectives of the event, incident, or issue under discussion”. An editorial, also known

as op-ed, “presents the writer’s opinion on an issue of current public interest.”

4 This classification is available from the College of Public and Community Service of the University of Massachusets Boston. Their web page can be consulted at: http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/support/studentsupport/academic/genres_newspaper.htm



2. In order to ensure register comparability, a modest register analysis was carried out to

ensure the similarity of the English and the Spanish texts across the features of ‘field’,

‘tenor’ and ‘mode’. With respect to ‘field’, all the texts collected dealt with economic

matterns, each bilingual pair of texts sharing the same ‘topic’. The ‘tenor’ of the texts

involved similar participants with similar statuses and roles in the English and the

Spanish texts. In the case of editorials, the writer is, in most cases, a well-known

politician, journalist, or intellectual. The mode includes features like the channel of

communication which is written in both genres and monologic. In the case of news

articles it may include occasional dialogic interventions. It also includes the rhetorical

mode, or text type, according to the authors. The overall rhetorical mode is expository

in news articles, while it is usually persuasive or argumentative in editorials. As to the

textual dimensions according to which texts can be classified into types (Biber 1988),

news articles would be examples of informational production while editorials would be

examples of involved production.

The final contrastive sample collected consists of a total of 32 texts, distributed in two

groups: 16 news articles (8 English and 8 Spanish) and 16 editorials (8 English and 8

Spanish). The bilingual sample compiled is attached in a CD-ROM as an appendix at

the end of the study.

3.2. Methods

The unit of analysis used in this study is the complex clause. Therefore all clause

complexes occurring in the texts of the bilingual sample were numerated an inserted in

tables for the analysis of experiential roles, textual and interpersonal themes and

syntactic features of the Thematic Head and PreHead.



The classification of the Theme (Outer theme, Inner theme) upon which the whole

analysis is carried out, is done according to the methodology proposed by Lavid et al (in

press) that classifies in the outer theme: textual and interpersonal elements and in the

inner theme: head and prehead.

For the analysis of the experiential roles selected as Thematic Head and PreHead, a

transitivity analysis considering the possible experiential roles (Material, mental,

relational, verbal and behavioural) and their associated participants (Actor, Affected,

Beneficiary/Recipient, Senser, Carrier, Sayer, Token and Existant) was carried out. In

the case of Spanish, where Processes can appear as Preheads, these were tabulated as

the choices within the possible experiential roles.

For the analysis of the textual and interpersonal Themes, all the elements in the Outer

thematic field were inspected and annotated as textual or interpersonal.

For the analysis of the syntactic features which characterize Thematic Heads and

PreHeads, all the possible realizations were inspected and annotated.



4. Results

This section is divided into four different parts, each focused on the contrastive analysis

of the features of the two newspaper genres investigated in this study. Subsection 4.1.

presents the results of the contrastive analysis of the preferred experiential elements

selected as Thematic Heads and PreHeads in both genres. Subsection 4.2. presents the

results of contrastive analysis of the preferred textual and interpersonal thematic

elements; finally, subsection 4.3. focuses on the syntactic features which characterize

the Thematic Heads and PreHeads.

4.1 Experiential elements as Heads and PreHeads in English and Spanish

The analysis is divided into three different sections for the sake of clarity. The first one

is the related to the differences posed by editorials and news articles in English, the

second one explores the same features in Spanish, and, finally, the third is a contrastive

English-Spanish analysis.

4.1.1 English Editorials and News articles

This section presents the results of the analysis of the English editorials extracted from

The Project Syndicate and the English news articles from the Times online. Figure 1

below shows the selection of the experiential roles found in the analysis of Head and

Pre-heads of the thematic field in the texts.



Figure 1. Experiential roles in English Editorials and News Articles

Table 1 displays the same data as presented in figure 1 but in percentages and adding

information about the process types where participants are involved.

Process type Experiential Roles English Editorials

English News articles

Material

Actor 35,34% 38,05%

Affected 6,90% 0,00%

Receiver/Beneficiary 0,00% 0,88%

Verbal Sayer 4,31% 24,78%

Mental Senser 6,90% 8,85%

Relational Carrier 33,62% 16,81%

Token 0,86% 1,77%

Existential Existent 6,90% 0,00%

Process Process 2,59% 1,77%

Table 1. Participants and Process types in English Editorials and News articles



According to the definitions given in section 3, editorials present the writers opinion on

an issue, normally of current interest. On the other hand, news articles strive to remain

objective presenting a diversity of opinions, voices, and perspectives of the event,

incident, or issue under discussion. Both genres deal with current events, but seen under

different perspectives. Accordingly, and in spite of the different rhetorical purposes,

material processes are the most frequent types of experiential roles selected in both

genres, with no statistical differences between them.

Some examples of Actors in Editorial texts are presented below:

In The limits of energy innovation

(1) A century ago, the world used coal and a relatively small volume of oil at the rate of 0.7 TW, but in 2008 established commercial energies – fossil fuels and primary (water and nuclear) electricity – flow at the rate of nearly 15 TW. (line 10)

(2) Obviously, this scale limits the speed with which new prime movers can be introduced to replace any significant share of the old devices. (line 12)

And in Micro Europe

(3) Emerging-market countries have increased their share of the world economy, giving them a more important voice in international relations. (5)

(4) Indian, Middle Eastern, and other investors are buying up European steel mills and carmakers 13

And some examples of Actors in News articles

In the text “Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, escapes dismissal over affair”

(5) Dominique Strauss-Kam, the French head of the International Monetary Fund, escaped dismissal for a one-night stand with a subordinate today, but was denounced by board members for a "serious error of judgment." (1)

(6) But his reputation took a battering in the statement by the 1M F board, which said the relationship "was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director."



In “Dutch Government to inject €10bn of fresh captial into ING savings bank”

(7) The Government will buy €10 billion of subordinated bonds in ING using a €20 billion fund set aside for fighting the current crisis.

(8) The capital injection will boost ING’s core Tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, from 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent.

By contrast, the difference in the selection of Sayers is statistically significant in both

genres (p<0.05), with news articles presenting a much higher frequency than

editorials.This difference is clearly genre-specific, since news articles present a diversity

of opinions, voices, and perspectives of the event, incident, or issue under discussion.

The high number of quotations in this genre explains the high frequency of Sayers.

Examples (9) and (10) below illustrate this use

(9) Mr Bos said the deal was structured to ensure a state exit as soon as “this financial hurricane” receded. (8)

Dutch Government to inject €10bn of fresh captial into ING savings bank

(10) “This is a healthy company,” he said. “We wanted to be able to give it extra buffers to withstand market conditions in these extraordinary times.”(9)


(11) Mr Tilmant said the bank had the trust of its customers and had not seen a large outflow of funds. (11)


(12) The bank announced this morning that it will raise up to £2 billion pounds from Qatar Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), an existing shareholder, and its associated holdings. and £300 million from Challenger, an investment vehicle of a member of Qatar’s royal family (2)

Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu Dhabi



(13) When QIA took its first stake in Barclays in February, Mr Varley said: “The participation of players such as these is one of the most positive manifestations of globalisation. It’s highly positive that there are pools of money that can be put to work in this way. That’s very different to the world of five or ten years ago.” (17)

Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu Dhabi

Regarding the use of mental process, as table 1 and figure 1 shows, there are no

significant differences between news articles and editorials (6,90%, 8.85%

respectively). Although it might be expected the editorialists to use verbs of thought to

express their ideas, the data show that there is scarce use of these verbs in neither of the

texts.

In the editorial The Vanishing Bomb:

(14) We appreciate the proposals from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany as well, while Russia also signaled recently in Geneva its readiness to embark upon nuclear disarmament (18)

(15) We note with satisfaction that the new US administration has not turned a deaf ear to responsible statesmen and scientists who are calling for the abolition (16)

Also found in an editorial Micro-Europe

(16) Many citizens believe that European cooperation benefits only the privileged, and that workers and pensioners face higher taxes because cross-border integration has helped the rich find ways to avoid paying their fair share on interest and capital gains. (20)

The News articles present similar examples:

In the text “Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price”

(17) Opec hawks, such as Iran and Venezuela, want to shore up the price by turning off the taps, but neither country can afford to cut output and forgo revenues.6

And in G7 'preparing to drive down the yen'

(18) Members of the Group of Seven (G7) nations may be considering a joint market intervention to prevent a further surge in the yen as the Japanese currency’s sharp rise threatens the world’s second biggest economy and other Asian economies. (1)



The selection of Carriers and Tokens in relational processes is statistically significant in

editorials and news articles (p<0.05) , The almost double number of items that appear

in the editorials compared than those of the news articles maybe due to the nature of this

process, in particular the Carrier participant, which characterizes the entity in various

ways. This is highly coherent with the nature of the editorials, in which writers give

their opinion using relational structures which seem to provide a more objective account

of reality, as illustratedin (19)-(24) below:

In the editorial The Vanishing Bomb

(19) Today, the global picture is different. (6)

(20) This is especially urgent now, with the search for new energy sources and a “renaissance” of nuclear power. (27)

In the text The Limits of Energy Innovation, also an editorial

(21) The environmental, strategic, and economic benefits – including lower use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels, less reliance on politically volatile oil-and-gas exporters, and the creation of millions of well-paid jobs – are uncontroversial. (2)

(22) Economic globalization would have been impossible without the diesel engines that power enormous crude and liquefied natural gas tankers, bulk cargo vessels transporting iron ore and grain, and massive container ships: some of them now have unit capacities close to 100 MW, but their basic design was mastered within two decades of Diesel’s test of his final engine prototype in 1897. (18)

In the news article “Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price” the

following example is found.

(23) Together the cartel members have lost about a billion dollars of revenue a day since crude price peaked in July.(3)

And in the news article “Microsoft results offer hope to tech sector”

(24) Wall Street is scared about how much the US recession will erode American corporate profits over the next few years.(4)



The number of appearances of existential processes is very low, as it can be seen on

table 1. There are only 6.90% of Existent participants in editorials and none in news

articles. Examples (25) to (28) illustrate their use in editorials.

(25) There is only one kind of primary energy (energy embodied in natural resources) that was not known to the first high civilizations of the Middle East and East Asia and by all of their pre-industrial successors: isotopes of the heavy elements whose nuclear fission has been used since the late 1950’s to generate heat that, in turn, produces steam for modern electricity turbo-generators. (4)

The Limits of Energy Innovation

(26) There is only one more prime mover to add to this sequence. (15)

The Limits of Energy Innovation

(27) There is also the risk that nuclear weapons may fall into the hands of non-state actors, such as terrorist groups. (11)

The Vanishing Bomb

(28) There is also a real danger that this group may expand further to include states where governments will not always be guided by rational considerations. (12)

The Vanishing Bomb

To sum up, the most relevant differences found in the analysis of English news articles

and editorials lies in the selection of relational and verbal processes. Verbal processes

characterize news articles whereas relational processes predominate in editorials.

4.1.2 Spanish Editorials and News articles

This section focuses on the analysis of experiential roles in Spanish Editorials and News

articles. Figure 2 presents the chart of the experiential elements selected in Spanish

texts.



Figure 2. Experiential roles in Spanish Editorials and News articles

More detailed data is presented in Table 2 below. Here the data are presented in

percentages and grouped around the process type where participants are involved.

Process type Experiential Roles

Spanish Editorials

Spanish News articles

Material

Actor 34,86% 35,45%

Affected 3,67% 0,00%

Receiver/Beneficiary 0,00% 0,91%

Verbal Sayer 13,76% 15,45%

Mental Senser 6,42% 6,36%

Relational Carrier 22,94% 19,09%

Token 0,00% 2,73%

Existential Existent 0,00% 0,00%

Process Process 15,60% 15,45%

Table 2. Participants and process types in Spanish Editorials and News articles



As in the English texts, Actors in material processes are the most frequent type of

experiential element as Thematic Head in both genres Examples of this selection in the

Spanish texts are presented in (29)-(32) below:

(29) Porque, entretanto, Camps sigue sin presentar facturas que, desmintiendo la documentación que figura en el sumario, acreditasen su afirmación de que él se pagó los trajes que presuntamente le regaló el jefe de la trama corrupta en Valencia.(5)

Sigue imputado

(30) Por otra, no encuentra indicios suficientes para acreditar la integración en una trama al servicio de ETA o de formaciones ligadas a ella. (8)

Equilibrio de poderes

(31) El recorte se realizará con respecto a los niveles de oferta de los países productores del mes de septiembre y se hará efectiva a partir del 1 de noviembre.(2)

El recorte de producción de la OPEP hunde el petróleo

(32) Los precios del crudo han caído más del 50% desde el récord de 147 dólares registrado en julio. (11)


Sayers in verbal processes follow the pattern found in English texts, though the

difference between news articles and editorials is not statistically significant. The

examples that follow correspond to the appearances of verbal processes in editorials:

(33) Rajoy ha apuntado a los "Torquemada del siglo XXI" como causantes de los problemas de Camps con la justicia.(7)

Camps y Torquemada

(34) Las palabras del líder de la oposición descalifican gratuitamente la actuación de los jueces y, en concreto, del instructor del caso en el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Valencia (10)

Camps y Torquemada



Sayers in News articles

(35) Pese a ello, los letrados recomiendan que se establezcan mayores exigencias para su director gerente dada "su prominencia y las consecuencias para la reputación" de la institución que representa. (6)

Una noche sin consecuencias para Strauss-Kahn

(36) Los abogados de Morgan Lewis afirman que no hubo conductas reprobables más allá del "error personal" que el propio Strauss-Kahn, de 59 años, ha reconocido: no presionó a la mujer para obtener sexo ni intervino en su decisión de cambiar de trabajo ni favoreció una compensación mayor de la usual cuando abandonó el FMI en agosto.(7)


The verbs used in the editorial examples (apuntan, descalifican) have a strong

connotative meaning, whereas the verbs in the news articles (recomiendan, afirman) are

more neutral in what has to do with the connotative weight.

As in the English texts, the selection of Sensers in mental processes is scarce in both

newspaper genres. Some examples of their use in editorials is given in (37) and (38)

below, whereas (39) and (40) illustrate their use in news articles:

(37) Los dirigentes populares habían pretendido confundir a la opinión pública presentando la condición de imputado como un mero detalle procesal derivado de la forma en que había instruido el caso el juez Garzón.(5)

Sigue imputado

(38) Por una parte, no se conforma con los indicios obvios de voluntad defraudatoria de Batasuna, y constata que no existe en el auto confirmación de que esa voluntad se haya materializado en la candidatura señalada.


(39) El gobernante japonés desea estabilizar el mercado de valores y fortalecer el sistema financiero nipón, afectado por la crisis crediticia global (12)

El G7 reafirma su interés en que el sistema financiero sea "fuerte y estable"

(40) El pasado 4 de octubre Holanda decidía así adquirir por 16.800 millones de euros los activos de esta entidad en su territorio. (10)

Holanda inyectará 10.000 millones en el grupo ING



Table 1 shows the distribution of relational processes in editorials and news articles.

There is a slight higher use of Carriers in editorials (22.94%) than in news articles

(19.09%). The proportion observed in English was higher, being the use of these

elements almost double in editorials than in news articles.

Here are some examples to illustrate this use:

In editorials:

(41) La falsa identificación de 30 de los 62 militares españoles muertos en el accidente del avión Yak-42, el 26 de mayo de 2003, cuando se aprestaba a aterrizar en la base turca de Trabzon, procedente de Afganistán, no fue error, sino un acto intencionado, perpetrado a sabiendas (1)

Yak-42: justicia a medias

(42) En el caso del general Navarro, y a expensas de posibles recursos, la pena de tres años supone su ingreso en prisión.(5)


And some examples in news articles:

(43) El préstamo equivale al 800% de la cuota que Ucrania aporta al FMI. (6)

El FMI anuncia ayudas financieras para Ucrania y Hungría

(44) Aquellos resultados fueron más bajos de lo que cabía esperar debido al retraso en el lanzamiento de sus programas Windows Vista y Office 2007 -que tuvo un coste para la compañía de unos mil millones de dólares-, lo que hace que las cuentas anunciadas hoy hayan sido muy bien acogida por los inversores. (6)

Los resultados de Microsoft brillan gracias al Windows Vista

A characteristic feature of the Spanish texts is the selection of Processes as Thematic

PreHeads in both genres. In editorials the percentage of these items is of 15.60% and in



news articles of 15.45%, as it can be seen in table 2 above. Examples (45) and (46) were

found in editorials, whereas (47) and (48) were found in news articles:

(45) Agrava la conducta de los acusados haciéndola merecedora de penas de prisión: tres años para el principal acusado, el general de Sanidad Vicente Navarro, y año y medio para el comandante y el capitán médicos José Ramón Ramírez y Miguel Ángel Sanz. (4)


(46) Es poco probable que el escándalo de los gastos de los diputados británicos a costa del contribuyente afecte decisivamente a la intención de voto de los ciudadanos, pero es seguro que ha asestado un golpe formidable a la reputación de un Parlamento considerado modélico en el exterior y honorable más allá de toda duda en el interior.(1)

Sonrojo enWestminster

New articles examples.

(47) Se trata de la primera operación de rescate que Holanda emprende en solitario, ya que con anterioridad había acudido a rescatar el Fortis, pero en una acción conjunta con Luxemburgo y Bélgica.(9)

(48) Tiene más de 75 millones de clientes en Europa, EEUU, Canadá, Latinoamérica, Asia y Australia, de los que 1,7 millones habitan en España, con depósitos de 13.800 millones de euros, informa EFE.(12)


4.1.3 Contrastive analysis of experiential roles as Thematic Heads

This subsection studies the behavior of the selection of the different participants in a

contrastive comparison between English and Spanish. Figure 3 below graphically

illustrates the distribution of experiential roles as Thematic Heads in English and

Spanish Editorials.



Figure 3 Experiential roles in Spanish and English Editorials.

Figure 4 shows the distribution of experiential roles in English and Spanish News

articles:

Figure 4. Experiential roles in Spanish and English News articles

The selection of Actors as Thematic Heads is the most frequent choice in both

languages and genres, though slightly more frequent in English. The account of facts is

a characteristic of editorials and news articles, in spite of the different rhetorical



purposes of both genres. Examples the use of material process in both languages and

genres is illustrated in (49)-(52) below:

(49) Emerging-market countries have increased their share of the world economy, giving them a more important voice in international relations. (5)

Micro Europe

(50) El presidente de la Generalitat valenciana, Francisco Camps, compareció ayer como imputado ante el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana, del que salió, 45 minutos después, con la confirmación de que sigue imputado.(1)

Sigue imputado

(51) Dominique Strauss-Kam, the French head of the International Monetary Fund, escaped dismissal for a one-night stand with a subordinate today, but was denounced by board members for a "serious error of judgment." (1)

“Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, escapes dismissal over affair”



Verbal processes (figures 3 and 4) show the most striking differences in use between

languages in comparison to the rest of the experiential roles. The tendencies, according

to the types of text, as analyzed in previous sections, is the same for both languages,

being in news articles the use of Sayers (24.78% English, 15.45% Spanish) higher than

in editorials (English 4.31% , Spanish 13.76%).

What is important to point out is the gap between the usage of verbal processes in

English and Spanish editorials that stands from 4.31% appearances in English to

13.76% in Spanish (P=0.01 which indicates a value P<0.05 thus a significant

difference). In English editorials there is an increase of Relational processes that seem

to ‘substitute’ the role of Sayers in the news articles. But in the case of Spanish



editorials the use of verbal processes remains only a little lower than in news articles.

The slight difference in Sayers in Spanish editorials increases as in English, the use of

Carriers in Relational processes as well, but not as much as in English, because this

structure is not as frequently used in Spanish as in English. In Spanish the form that

tends to substitute that forms are the processes.

Mental processes are slightly used in both languages (English 6.90%, Spanish 6.42%)

due to the types of texts studied. As it has been previously pointed out it might be

expected to find a higher number of these items in editorials as an introducer for an

opinion but are substituted in English by relational processes and in Spanish by

processes.

Editorial examples:

(53) We appreciate the proposals from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany as well, while Russia also signaled recently in Geneva its readiness to embark upon nuclear disarmament (18)

The vanishing bomb

(54) Por una parte, no se conforma con los indicios obvios de voluntad defraudatoria de Batasuna, y constata que no existe en el auto confirmación de que esa voluntad se haya materializado en la candidatura señalada. (8)


Examples in News articles:

(55) Opec hawks, such as Iran and Venezuela, want to shore up the price by turning off the taps, but neither country can afford to cut output and forgo revenues.( 6)

Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price

(56) El pasado 4 de octubre Holanda decidía así adquirir por 16.800 millones de euros los activos de esta entidad en su territorio. (10)




Relational processes (table 1) show a higher variation than the elements analyzed

before. Although the tendency of both languages is the same according to the type of

text (Carriers in editorials are more frequent than in news articles) the use of this item

in Spanish is less frequent than in English. Spanish editorials use 22.94% and English

editorials use 33.62%. Yet, though in both languages the tendency in news articles is to

use this participant less, in English news articles the number decreases more than in

Spanish, where in English 16.81% (17 points less than in Editorials) in Spanish 19.09%

(only 3 points less than in Editorials). The explanation for this is directly related to the

one given for the use of Sayers above. These relational processes in editorials are used

to give opinions about the topic treated and tend to substitute the use of mental

processes (cogntion verbs). This is a genre-specific difference. But there is also a

language-specific difference in the case of Spanish: the use of relational processes

implies, generally, a copulative syntactic construction that is less used in Spanish than

in English. That is why the Process gains importance in Spanish taking the place that

Carriers occupy in English.

In the editorials:

(57) This is especially urgent now, with the search for new energy sources and a “renaissance” of nuclear power. (27)

The vanishing bomb

(58) La falsa identificación de 30 de los 62 militares españoles muertos en el accidente del avión Yak-42, el 26 de mayo de 2003, cuando se aprestaba a aterrizar en la base turca de Trabzon, procedente de Afganistán, no fue error, sino un acto intencionado, perpetrado a sabiendas (1)


And some examples of news articles:

(59) Wall Street is scared about how much the US recession will erode American corporate profits over the next few years.(4)



“Microsoft results offer hope to tech sector”

(60) El préstamo equivale al 800% de la cuota que Ucrania aporta al FMI. (6)

El FMI anuncia ayudas financieras para Ucrania y Hungría

Looking at the examples posed in both languages we can observe that editorials use

relational processes as epistemic signals, while news articles use it as a plain account of

facts.

Existential processes are used only in English Editorials and presents a significant

difference in the chi-square test P=0.005242, the percentages is of 6.90% (table 1) and

there are no other appearances of this item. It might be due to the type of text in the case

of English, the existent could be used as in examples 25 to 28 where, rather than a mere

existential form, presents an opinion of the writer. It is similar to the use of relational

processes in editorials.

Process refer to the cases in which the pre-head of the thematic field is a verb. As it is

seen in figure 1 the use of these items predominate in Spanish with almost no

appearances of this feature in English, being in both cases a significant difference

(Editorials P=0.00061007, News articles P= 0.00023192. Both P<0.05 which indicates a

relevant difference) In Editorials the proportion of process is of 2.59% in English and

15.60% in Spanish. In English News articles is of 1.77% and in Spanish of 15.45%.

This process is relevant from a linguistic point of view not as much as from a genre

specific perspective, as it has been explained above.

To sum up, the differences found in the analysis of the experiential roles in Head and

Pre-head of the thematic field can be grouped under two different perspectives. The first

one is related to a genre based difference that depends on the type of text. And the



second one is a language-specific difference that depends on the specific devices used

by a language to express a particular situation.

The genre-specific differences found are the following:

a) Editorials in both languages show a tendency to use a high number of Carriers and

Existents and a low number of Sensers (mental processes) as Thematic Heads.

b) News articles use a higher number of Sayers and a lower number of Carriers than

editorials.

c) In both types of texts the use of Actors is predominant followed by Carriers and

Sayers.

The language-specific differences are the following:

a) The most relevant is the use of Procesess in Spanish (absent in English)

b) The possibility to selecte a Process rather than a Carrier in a relational process as

Thematic Head.

Figure 5 shows an overall view of all data analyzed related to participants.



Figure 5. Experiential roles in English and Spanish Editorials and News articles

4.2 Textual and Interpersonal Themes

This section presents the results of the analysis of the elements selected as textual and

interpersonal themes in the two newspaper genres investigated in this study. We begin

with the results of the analysis of the English texts.

4.2.1 Textual and Interpersonal Themes in the English texts

Table 3 shows the percentages of textual themes in English editorials and news articles

TEXTUAL

THEMES

English

Editorials

English News

articles

And 1,72% 0,00%

But 3,45% 1,77%

Indeed 0,86% 0,00%



Moreover 0,00% 0,00%

As a result 0,00% 0,00%

Although 0,86% 0,88%

Then 0,86% 0,00%

First 1,72% 0,00%

Second 1,72% 0,00%

Third 0,86% 0,00%

Finally 0,86% 0,00%

Yet 2,59% 0,00%

Instead 1,72% 0,00%

However 0,86% 1,77%

In addition 0,00% 0,88%

In contrast 0,00% 0,88%

Table 3 Textual themes in English Editorials and News articles

Textual themes take up a 20% of the total number of complex clauses analyzed in

English. In news articles textual themes take up only a 6%. In spite of the low

frequencies, the difference between editorials and news articles is statistically

significant (P<0.05).

Some examples in editorials are:

(61) First, the EU still spends far more of its resources subsidizing

declining sectors than preparing for the future. (21)

(62) Second, Europe has failed to introduce an independent European

Research Council to ensure that funding is allocated on the basis of

scientific merit. (23)



(63) Third, European resources are fragmented, and this hampers

European competitiveness. (25)

Micro-Europe

The following examples are found in news articles:

(64) But Russian oil output is already falling because of weak

investment, as is Mexican production (16)

(65) In addtion, Qatar Holding will receive £66 million for having

helped arrange the capital raising. (8)


(66) In contrast to Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB,

which will receive £37 billion from the Government to prop

up their balance sheets, Barclays recently announced that it

would raise additional funding on its own.(11)

Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu

Contrary to what might be expected the occurrences of interpersonal themes in

editorials are only two: of course and too often.



4.2.2 Textual and interpersonal Themes in Spanish

TEXTUAL

THEMES

Spanish

Editorials

Spanish News

articles

Y 7,34% 2,73%

Pero 7,34% 1,82%

No obstante 1,83% 0,91%

Por una parte 0,92% 0,00%

Por otra 0,92% 0,00%

Pese a ello 0,00% 0,91%

Ademas 0,00% 2,73%

Asi 0,00% 1,82%

En cualquier caso 0,00% 0,91%

Por lo que respecta 0,00% 0,91%

De este modo 0,00% 0,91%

Con todo 0,00% 0,91%

Table 4. Textual Themes in Spanish editorials and news articles

Table 4 shows the selection of the textual Themes found in the Spanish texts. The

editorials represent a scarce 18% of the total data. News articles represent a 14% of the

total analyzed. There is no significant difference between the use of textual Themes in

Spanish editorials and news articles.

What is interesting is the distribution of the items in editorial, which is mainly

concentrated in Y and Pero (7.34% in each case), the rest being residual. In news



articles the appearances are spread over the rest of the cases, almost in equal amounts of

0.9% to 2% occurrences.

As to the features of the textual Themes, it should be pointed out that the items y and

pero are less formal than the more complex and formal used in news articles: de este

modo, por lo que respecta, and that some items are completely absent in editorials,

while present in news articles: Examples of editorials in Spanish:

(67) Pero ambas propuestas perdieron fuerza en la tramitación

parlamentaria, y en el caso de la medida estrella para reanimar el

mercado automovilístico, se está desperdiciando por una gestión

desafortunada con las comunidades autónomas. (3)

Proyectos divergentes

(68) Y pocas cosas se toleran peor en una democracia que la sensación de que hay unas reglas para los que mandan y otras para los demás.(5)

Sonrojo enWestminster

News articles:

(69) Por lo que respecta al segundo trimestre fiscal (octubre a diciembre), el beneficio neto de Microsoft ha ascendido a 4.707 millones de dólares, un 87 por ciento más que en el mismo período del año anterior, en el que ganó 2.626 millones de dólares.(8)

Los resultados de Microsoft brillan gracias al Windows Vista

(70) Con todo, el frenazo es menor de lo que preveían los analistas, y quizá por eso las Bolsas estadounidenses reaccionaron con subidas moderadas.(5)

La crisis financiera lleva a Estados Unidos al borde de la recession

As in English, there are only two interpersonal themes, one in the news articles (en

concreto) and the other in the editorials (quizás)



4.2.3 Contrastive thematic interpersonal and textual choices in Editorials and

News articles

In this section it should be pointed out that a translated comparison must be observed.

The correlation between terms will be approximate in use and meaning, obtaining the

following figure for Editorials:

Figure 6. Textual Themes in English and Spanish Editorials

This interesting figure shows the distribution in the use of textual elements in editorials

in Spanish and English. Though there is no significant differences in the number of

elements used by each language (18.97% English, 18.95% Spanish), Figure 6 shows the

great difference in distribution among them. In both languages the use of the

adversative conjunct but – pero is the most frequent (3.45% English, 7.34% Spanish) in

relation to the rest of the textual items. But the occurrence of these textual Themes is

almost twice as frequent in Spanish than in English. The use of the connector y in

Spanish equals the number of appearances of pero (7.34%) while in English the use of



and is only of 1.72%. In Spanish these two items (y and pero) carry the weight of the

textual items in the texts presenting a very low degree of variety and complexity. No

obstante a formal synonym of pero has also relative presence in the chart (1.83%). The

other two elements use in Spanish correspond to the English first and second as

information organizers, though in English they are more used than in Spanish (3.44%

English, Spanish 1.84%)

By contrast, English displays a wider variety of textual Themes: indeed (0.86%),

although (0.86%), then (0.86%), finally (0.86%), yet (2.59%), instead (1.72%) and

however (0.86%). It is important to point out the use of yet (2.59%) which indicates an

emphasis on the persistence of an action, something that may reveal certain subjectivity

on the part of the speaker.

Figure 7 shows the use of textual Themes in Spanish and in English news articles. The

percentage of textual elements found in English is of a 6.19% and in Spanish a 14.55%

which indicates that in English the use of textual elements is genre-specific but not in

Spanish. It also indicates that the differences in the use of textual Themes between

English and Spanish is language-specific.

As it can be seen in Figure 7, English uses 5 kinds of textual elements: but (1.77%),

although (0.88%), however(1.77%), in addition (0.88%), in contrast (0.88%). Spanish

keeps almost the same values that were present in editorials in total, but the distribution

of the elements varies: y(2.73%), pero(1.82%), con todo(0.91%), además(2.73%), pese

a (0.91%), de este modo (0.91%), no obstante(0.91%), and en cualquier caso (0.91%)



Figure 7. Textual Themes in Spanish and English News articles

As it can be observed, the elements become more formal in Spanish news articles than

in editorials as well as more varied. In English the textual Themes tend to be reduced in

number when talking about news articles. It could be said that there is a different way of

behaving of each language for each genre.

The interpersonal Themes observed in English editorials were only two: of course and

too often, but there were no appearances in news articles. In Spanish the element quizás

was found in editorials and en concreto in news articles. The difference lies in the

epistemic value of these items, quizás more subjective, is found in editorials and en

concreto, more explicative, is found in news articles.



4.3 Syntactic features

This section analyzes the syntactic features which realize the elements selected as

Thematic Heads in the two newspaper genres studied.

4.3.1 Syntactic features in English Editorials and News articles

Figure 8 below graphically illustrates the distribution of the different syntactic features

of the elements selected as Thematic Head and Pre-Head in the genres studied in

English.

Figure 8. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and PreHeads in English

The most frequent syntactic realisation used in both genres is NP (noun phrase)

(56.90% Editorials, 73.62% News articles).



(71) The urgency can hardly be exaggerated: nuclear weapons may come into the possession of states that might use them, as well as of stateless terrorists –creating new threats of unimaginable proportion.(2)

Editorial: The Vanishing Bomb

(72) The Saudis would not like to see the price falling below $60 per barrel, a level at which most economists reckon the kingdom can support its profligate princes, the social security bills and invest in the oil industry.(8)

News article: Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price

The nature of the texts requires the identification of the entity about which the

information or the opinion is going to be given, and the use of a NP clearly identifies in

a simple and clear way the discourse participant. In news articles NPs are followed by

appositions, which provide elaborative material on the main participant. The use of this

syntactic realization (Noun phrase + Apposition) is much higher in news articles than in

editorials. This can be explained by the clear need in news articles to identify and

provide extra information on the discourse participants, as shown in examples (73) and

(74) below:

(73) Dominique Strauss-Kam, the French head of the International Monetary Fund, escaped dismissal for a one-night stand with a subordinate today, but was denounced by board members for a "serious error of judgment."(1)

(74) Shakour Shaalan, the fund's executive director, said 1M F staff, and notably female staff, "are not at all happy" with Mr Strauss-Kahn, whose amorous adventures in France have earned him the epithet Ie grand seducteur.(3)

News article: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, escapes dismissal over affair

The form PP+Np (prepositional phrase+ noun phrase) is used 5.17% in editorials and

7.96% in news articles, which is quite evenly in both types of texts. Prepositional



Groups preceding Noun Groups are used to provide a setting or time frame for a

particular event.

(75) In February, the QIA, a sovereign wealth fund set up to invest profits from the world’s largest gas field, said it had $15 billion (£9.27 billion) to spend on overseas financial institutions over the next two years.

News article:Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu Dhabi

The second most frequently used syntactic form in editorials is Advb+np (Adverbial

phrase + noun phrase 7.76%), where the Adverb specifies a setting or a time. This

construction is not found in news articles, but it may be substituted by non-finites

formations as it will be seen below.

(76) Even today, there are few indications that steam turbines will not continue to generate the bulk of our electricity in the decades ahead, or that gas turbines will be replaced anytime soon. (20)

Editorial: The Limits of Energy Innovation

Clause+NP (finite clause+Noun Phrase) syntactic forms appear almost as frequently in

both genres. In news articles there are 5.31%occurrences and in editorials it appeared

4.31% times.

(77) In what one Macquarie economist described as “slow torture” for Japan’s big exporters, the yen worked its way towards a 13-year high against the US currency, and hit an all-time high against the Australian dollar. (2)

(78) Although the Bank of Japan has remained tight-lipped on the question of currency intervention, Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's Finance Minister, said today that he saw "excessive volatility" in the yen's exchange rate and that he was he “watching with grea interest.” (8)

News articles: G7 'preparing to drive down the yen'

This form makes the reader aware of a situation probably already known by him/her,

but helps remind some facts as an introduction to what is coming next. It is interesting

that the Non-finite forms, followed by a Noun Phrase in a case, appear only in news

articles and not in editorials. This is probably because there is a tendency to use these



forms instead of the adverbial phrases + noun phrase used in Editorials. The following

examples show this use:

(79) Mounting alarm over the dwindling rent from oil sales prompted Opec yesterday to bring forward an emergency meeting scheduled for mid-November to next Friday.(2)


(80) Unlike rescued UK banks, ING will be free to pay dividends while it owes money to the Dutch Government. However, the bank said it was scrapping its final dividend for 2008 and executive bonuses because of the “exceptional circumstances”.(5)


Other reason for the use of these forms in news articles may be due to its formality that

seems to be more needed in this type of texts than in editorials.



4.3.2 Syntactic features in Spanish editorials and news articles

Figure 9 presents the constructions found in the Spanish texts. Data presented in the

figure shows the most relevant forms extracted from the texts, the rest of the forms

found are scarcely and scatter used.

Figure 9. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-heads in Spanish

Noun phrases are widely used in both genres. There are 50.46% appearances in

editorials and 52.73% in news articles. The following examples of Noun phrases are

found in editorials:

(81) La Audiencia Nacional ni siquiera ha entrado a deliberar si se trató de una mera imprudencia: todas las pruebas le han llevado a considerar el hecho como un delito de falsedad en documento oficial realizado de modo consciente y con conocimiento de causa, es decir, con dolo. (1)

(82) El tribunal argumenta por qué: la falsa identificación de los 30 cadáveres responde "a una sola decisión delictiva, a una sola voluntad criminal".(2)

(83) Las consecuencias son importantes. (5)




These examples are taken from news articles:

(84) Byhet había colaborado en la fallida campaña del ex ministro para ser designado candidato socialista a la presidencia francesa en 2005 frente a Ségolène Royal. (9)

(85) La trinchera doméstica ya la había zanjado la esposa del ex ministro francés, Anne Sinclair: "Fue cosa de una noche, nos queremos como el primer día".(4)




In the next two most frequently used structures, there are big differences among the two

genres. In news articles there are 16.36% occurrences of PP+NP whereas in editorials

there are just 2.75% of these structures found. The difference is statistically significant

(P=0.003).

Let us take a look at these forms and see if there might be any difference according to

its use:

(87) Quizás para curarse en salud, el tribunal se cuida de delimitar el objeto de su veredicto, negando que pueda extenderse "a valoraciones ajenas al objeto procesal ni a la conducta de personas no acusadas y sobre las que, en consecuencia, no se ha practicado prueba ni se ha formado convicción alguna (9)

(88) En el caso del general Navarro, la pena de tres años supone su ingreso en prisión. (5)

Editorials: Yak-42: justicia a medias

(89) Para la OPEP, los precios del petróleo han sufrido un "dramático derrumbe sin precedente en velocidad y magnitud", por lo que se encuentra "preocupada", ya que los niveles actuales podrían "poner muchos proyectos en peligro de suspensión o retraso", lo que generaría "cortes en el suministro".(4)

News article: El recorte de producción de la OPEP hunde el petróleo

(90) A partir de esta inyección de capital, el Estado aportará dos consejeros a ING que tendrán derecho a veto en decisiones "fundamentales" que se refieran a inversiones que afecten a más del 25% del capital propio de la empresa.(7)

News article: Holanda inyectará 10.000 millones en el grupo ING



Spanish news articles seem to have a preference for the use of this structure

(Prepositional Phrase+Noun Phrase) than editorials. The reason for this preference may

lie in the way that news are structured where events must be chronologically displayed.

The second disparity found in these two types of texts lies in the use of Noun

Phrase + Apposition. In news articles there are a 6.36% of occurrences of this form

while in editorials only 2.75%. Though in neither of the texts the use of this structure is

very high, the difference in its use between both is remarkable. The reason for this

disparity is probably due to the need for clear, precise and accurate data that news

articles pursue. Examples (91)-(94) illustrate this use:

(91) El presidente de la Generalitat valenciana, Francisco Camps, compareció ayer como imputado ante el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana, del que salió, 45 minutos después, con la confirmación de que sigue imputado. (1)

Editorial Sigue imputado

(92) La dirección nacional de los populares, con Mariano Rajoy a la cabeza, ha decidido cerrar filas con el presidente de la Generalitat valenciana (7)

Editorial Camps y Torquemada

(93) La aventura amorosa de Dominique Strauss-Kahn, director gerente del Fondo Monetario Internacional, con una empleada recibió carpetazo el sábado (madrugada del domingo en España) con la sentencia absolutoria del comité ejecutivo de la institución financiera (2)

News article Una noche sin consecuencias para Strauss-Kahn

(94) El barril de crudo de Mar del Norte, de referencia en Europa, ha llegado a bajar hasta los 61,08 dólares a las 11.14, 4,84 dólares menos que al cierre del jueves y la cifra más baja desde el 15 de febrero de 2007, cuando cotizó a 61,07 dólares. (9)

News article El recorte de producción de la OPEP hunde el petróleo

This syntactic form clarifies the information adding more details that help in the

identification of the topic treated.



4.3.3 Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-Heads in English and Spanish

This section will present a contrastive analysis of the syntactic forms used as Thematic

Heads and Pre-Heads in English and Spanish. Figure 10 below illustrates this

contrastive analysis:

Figure 10. Syntactic features of Thematic Heads and Pre-heads in English and Spanish

Looking at the figure above it is easy to see that this part is the most difficult one in

order to make a straightforward comparison due to the great linguistic particularities of

each language. As shown in Figure 10, in both languages and genres the most frequent

realization of Thematic heads and Pre-heads is the Noun Phrase (NP) with a great

difference with respect to the rest of the syntactic realizations.



Noun Phrases English Spanish

Editorials 56.90% 50.00%

News articles 63.72% 52.73%

Table 5. Noun Phrases as Thematic Heads in English and Spanish

As shown in table 5 the difference in the use of NP as Thematic Heads is clearly genre-

specific, with a higher frequency in news articles than in editorials in both languages.As

it was pointed out in the precedent sections, this form is used with the aim of

transmitting information easily.

Another genre-specific difference is the use of Np+App as realization of

Thematic Heads. This form is more used in news articles than in editorials, probably

with the aim of clarifying information. As shown in table 6 below the number of this

structure is used in English more than in Spanish (in both types of texts).

NP+ App English Spanish

Editorials 4.31% 2.75%

News articles 13.27% 6.36%

Table 6. Np+App in Spanish and English Editorials and News articles

Clause + NP structure is a linguistic difference of a pattern that is not found in Spanish,

only in English. It is used in a 4.31% in Editorials and 5.31% in News articles.

Looking at all forms found in the analysis it could be observed that the structures found

in English texts are concentrated in several types mainly: np, np+np, pp+np, np+app,

clauses and clauses+np ; whether in Spanish the variety is wider while less numerous,

with realizations such as vp, advb+vp, pp+vp and clause+vp, among others.



5. Discussion and concluding remarks

The present study has revealed a number of interesting issues with respect to the initial

research questions investigated in this study. With respect to the experiential elements

selected as Thematic Head in the two newspaper genres studied -news articles and

editorials- the results of the contrastive analysis has revealed that some of the choices

are genre-specific while others are language-specific. Thus, for example, the selection

of the Process element in the Spanish texts in both genres is clearly a language-specific

choice, typical of a pro-drop language such as Spanish where a lexical realization of the

Subject is not obligatory, which causes the thematisation of the Process as the first

experiential element in clause-initial position in the clause. By contrast, the selection of

experiential elements like Sayers in the case of news articles (as the preferred thematic

choice after Actors) is clearly a genre-specific choice which characterizes this genre

where quotations abound. Interestingly, both in editorials and in news articles, the most

frequent experiential role as Thematic Head is the Actor, but this choice is the result of

different genre-specific purposes. In news articles the frequency of Actors in material

processes reveals the aim of a mere account of fact whereas in editorials facts and

events are subjectively presented by the writer. Editorials present a higher frequency of

affected experiential roles than news articles, probably pointing to the use of the passive

voice that helps the writer to hide him/herself avoiding being ‘present’ when giving an

opinion. In news articles there is a complete absence of affected experiential roles.

An interesting tendency has been observed in the frequent use of relational processes,

with Carriers as Thematic Heads, in editorials, rather than the expected use of cognition

processes, whose frequency is very low. In my view, the use of Carriers in relational



processes seems to be a strategy to give an impression of objective presentation of

information. Relational processes create a relationship of attribution or identification

without the ‘presence’ of a human being, a ‘thinker’, who pictures the idea in the text.

The high frequency of Carriers in editorials is, in my view, a genre-specific choice

which characterizes the presentation of opinions in this newspaper genre in both

languages. However, Carriers are less frequent in Spanish than in English. This is

probably due to a language-specific grammatical tendency, since in Spanish the type of

copulative syntactic construction required is less used than the corresponding one in

English.

With respect to the textual Themes, both languages present a common genre-specific

tendency in their frequency of occurrence, with editorials clearly outnumbering news

articles. This is due to the different rhetorical purposes which characterize these two

genres: editorials are characterized by a persuasive/argumentative rhetorical purpose

where arguments are signaled through the use of textual elements; news articles are

characterized by an informative/expository rhetorical purpose and rely more on implicit

relations between textual segments. However, some language-specific were observed in

distribution of the different textual Themes: thus, the adversative conjunct but – pero

was the most frequent in relation to the rest of the textual elements. The use of the

connector y in Spanish equals the number of appearances of pero (7.34%) while in

English the use of and is only of 1.72%. In Spanish these two items (y and pero) carry

the weight of the textual items in the texts (table 3 and 4). Both y and pero present a

very low degree and complexity and given the fact that they are the most used in

Spanish this language shows a lack of variety in this aspect. On the contrary English

presents: indeed (0.86%), although (0.86%), then (0.86%), finally (0.86%), yet (2.59%),



instead (1.72%) and however (0.86%) all of them with a similar presence in the texts,

which suggests the variety and complexity in the use of these elements in English.

In news articles the number of textual Themes decreases drastically in English and

slightly in Spanish, though the tendency is the same: Spanish does not behave as

English in this respect. From a linguistic point of view English has only a 6.19% of

textual Themes: but (1.77%), although (0.88), however (1.77%), in addition (0.88%), in

contrast (0.88%). These elements are formal and semantically neutral, and these are

characteristics shared by the Spanish textual elements. Spanish presents 14.55% of

textual Themes distributed as follows: y (2.73%), pero (1.82%), no obstante (0.91%),

pese a ello (0.91%), además (2.73%), así (1.82%), en cualquier caso (0.91%), por lo

que respecta (0.91%), de este modo (0.91%) and con todo (0.91%). Notice the use of y

and además as the most frequently used textual Themes.

Interpersonal elements are scarcely used and are not indicative of generic or language-

specific differences.

The selection of certain syntactic constructions realizing Thematic Heads and Pre-Heads

is determined both by genre-specific and by language-specific constraints. News articles

present a higher number of Noun phrases and Noun phrases + Appositions than

editorials in both languages. This is probably due to the need for clarity and easiness in

the exposition of the message in news articles. News articles seem to demand specific

syntactic forms in its construction while editorials seem to be less demanding and less

formal in what syntactic form is related. Editorials reveal a freer use of forms but

always trying to remain simple to be able to be quickly and easily understood by the

readers.



As a conclusion to the study it can be said that, in general, though there are some

language-specific tendencies, genre-specific constraints seem to be the determining

factor in the selection and syntactic realization of the thematic features of the two

newspaper genres investigated in this study.

Further corpus-based studies will confirm the results obtained in this initial study. It is

my intention to continue along this research line, extending the range of genres analysed

and analyzing the thematic features which characterize them to derive a functional and

corpus-based contrastive specification with a view towards the creation of an annotation

scheme for linguistic and computational purposes.



6. References

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University Press.

de Beaugrande, R., and Dressler W. U. . (1981) .Introduction to text linguistics.London:

Longman.

Ghadessy, M. (1995). “Thematic development and its relationship to register and

genres”, in M Ghadessy (ed), Thematic development in English texts. London:

Pinter.

Görlach, M. (2004). Text Types in the History of English. Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold

Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of

Language in a Social-semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional

Grammar (3rd ed). London: Arnold.

Hasselgaard, H. (2004). ‘Thematic choice in English and Norwegian’, Functions of

Language 11: 2, 187-212.

Kalgren, J. (2000). Stylistic Experiments for Information Retrieval. Sweden: Stockholm

University.

Kilgarriff, A. and Grefenstette G. (2003). Introduction to the Special Issue on Web as

Corpus. Computational Linguistics

Lavid, J. (2000a). ‘Linguistic and Computational Approaches to Information in

Discourse: Theme, Focus, Given and Other Dangerous Things’, Revista Canaria

de Estudios Ingleses, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de la Laguna,

pp. 355-369.



Lavid, J. (2000b). ‘Contextual Constraints on Thematization in Written Discourse: an

Empirical Study’, in P. Bonzon, M. Cavalcanti and R. Nossum (eds), Formal

Aspects of Context . Dordrecht /Boston / London: Kluwer Academic Publishers,

pp. 37-47.

Lavid, J. (2000c). ‘Text types, Chaining Strategies and Theme in a Multilingual Corpus:

a Cross-Linguistic Comparison for Text Generation’, in J. Bregazzi, A. Downing,

D. López, and J. Neff (eds), Estudios de Filología Inglesa: Homenaje a Jack

White. Madrid: Editorial Complutense, pp. 107-121.

Lavid, J., Arús, J. and L. Moratón (submitted). “Comparison and translation: towards a

combined methodology for contrastive corpus studies” Selected papers on Corpus

Linguistics. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Lavid, J., Arús, J., and J.R. Zamorano (in press). Systemic-Functional Grammar of

Spanish: A Contrastive Study with English. London: Continuum.

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J. R. Martin and L. Ravelli (eds), Advances in Systemic Linguistics: Recent

Theory and Practice. London: Pinter, pp. 37-81.

Stubbs, M.(1996). Text and Corpus Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell.

Werlich, E. (1976). A Text Grammar of English. Heidelberg, Quelle & Meyer

Appendix

Comparing thematic features in English and Spanish:

A functional analysis of two newspaper genres

by

Lara Moratón Gutiérrez

(June 2009)

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Julia Lavid López

A functional analysis of two newspaper genres. Appendix

Analysis of experiential roles, textual and interpersonal themes and syntactic features ............................................................................................................................ 4

1 Editorials ...................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 English ................................................................................................................ 4

The Bigger Issue in Sudan ..................................................................................... 4

The Vanishing Bomb ............................................................................................. 9

The Limits of Energy Innovation ........................................................................ 13

Micro-Europe ...................................................................................................... 17

Central Asia’s Waking Giant ............................................................................... 23

The Case for Fiscal Stimulus ............................................................................... 28

The Global Economy’s Dialogue of the Deaf ..................................................... 32

The New IMF ...................................................................................................... 36

1.2 Spanish ............................................................................................................. 40

Yak-42: justicia a medias .................................................................................... 40

Sonrojo enWestminster ....................................................................................... 43

Sigue imputado .................................................................................................... 45

Proyectos divergentes .......................................................................................... 47

Medidas improvisadas ......................................................................................... 50

Equilibrio de poderes ........................................................................................... 53

Al contradecir al Gobierno, el Constitucional refuerza la legitimidad de la Ley de Partidos ................................................................................................................ 53

El reto de Pyongyang ........................................................................................... 55

Camps y Torquemada .......................................................................................... 57




2 News articles ............................................................................................................... 59

2.1 English .............................................................................................................. 59

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, escapes dismissal over affair ......... 59

Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price .................................... 61

Microsoft results offer hope to tech sector .......................................................... 63

Dutch Government to inject €10bn of fresh capital into ING savings bank ....... 65

G7 'preparing to drive down the yen' ................................................................... 67

Ukraine agrees terms of $16.5bn rescue by IMF ................................................. 70

Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu Dhabi ............................................................................................................................. 71

US economy officially on brink of recession ...................................................... 74

2.2 Spanish ............................................................................................................. 76

Una noche sin consecuencias para Strauss-Kahn ................................................ 76

El recorte de producción de la OPEP hunde el petróleo. .................................... 79

Los resultados de Microsoft brillan gracias al Windows Vista .......................... 81

Holanda inyectará 10.000 millones en el grupo ING .......................................... 83

El G7 reafirma su interés en que el sistema financiero sea "fuerte y estable". ... 85

El FMI anuncia ayudas financieras para Ucrania y Hungría. ............................. 87

Barclays recibe 9.200 millones de fondos soberanos para evitar acudir al fondo de Brown ............................................................................................................. 90

La crisis financiera lleva a Estados Unidos al borde de la recesión .................... 91


Analysis of experiential roles, textual and interpersonal themes and syntactic features

1 Editorials

1.1 English

The Bigger Issue in Sudan Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 4, 2009)

# Outer Theme Inner theme Text

Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head Experiential

roles Syntactic Features

TEL AVIV –

1 The most immediate result (…)last month

Token Clause The most immediate result of the arrest warrant issued for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al‐Bashir by the International Criminal Court last month was the expulsion of most aid agencies from the country.

2 But this global focus on Sudan’s Darfur region, though justified

Actor NP+Non finite clause But this global focus on Sudan’s Darfur region, though justified, has overshadowed an even more vital issue: sustaining the quest for a broader peace in all of Sudan.

3 What is most needed now

Token Clause What is most needed now is to build an international consensus on a strategy to implement fully the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) for Sudan.

4 The CPA Actor NP The CPA ended Africa’s longest civil war, which had left behind over two million dead.

5 That agreement not only

Carrier NP+AdvbP That agreement not only contains benchmarks that should lead to self‐determination for Sudan’s South; it also spells out a democratization process in


http://www.project-syndicate.org/


Sudan itself.

6 After all the oppressive nature of the regime in Khartoum

Token AdvbP+NP After all, the oppressive nature of the regime in Khartoum is at the root of the many conflicts that have torn the country apart.

7 If the government in (…) in January 2011,

a return to full‐scale civil war, with calamitous consequences for the peoples of Sudan and the entire region

Carrier Clause+Clause+PP If the government in Khartoum persists in undermining the reform process and derailing the referendum on self‐determination promised for the South in January 2011, a return to full‐scale civil war, with calamitous consequences for the peoples of Sudan and the entire region, is a real possibility.

8 The commitment of Sudan’s government to the CPA

Carrier NP The commitment of Sudan’s government to the CPA has always been equivocal.

9 Indeed, since the civil war’s end in 2005

the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the South

Actor PP+NP+PP Indeed, since the civil war’s end in 2005, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the South has frequently had to confront militias that operate as government proxies.

10 Moreover Sudanese security forces

Actor NP Moreover, Sudanese security forces continue to arm Arab tribes straddling the North‐South border with the aim of destabilizing the mostly Christian South.

11 The arrest warrant for al‐Bashir

Actor NP The arrest warrant for al‐Bashir should not be allowed to spur further attempts by his government to sabotage the CPA and the fragile process leading to the 2011 referendum.

12 Nor should 3 p sing Actor AdvbP+vp Nor should the international neglect that has for too long allowed the Darfur genocide to go unpunished recur when it comes to sustaining the quest for peace in Sudan.

13 The South’s drive for independence

Actor NP The South’s drive for independence has gained momentum because of the North’s failure to make unity attractive through reform and elections, as stipulated by the CPA.



14 A second factor pushing secession forward is

Token Non finite clause A second factor pushing secession forward is the SPLA’s lack of commitment to the New Sudan ideology of its founder, John Garang, who had negotiated the CPA and died in a plane crash in 2005.

15 Garang Actor NP Garang fought for a united, secular, and democratic Sudan, a lofty dream that the Islamist regime in Khartoum admittedly has had no intention of implementing.

16 Self‐determination for the South

Token NP Self‐determination for the South has thus become the only practical way out of the country’s dilemma, and one fully consistent with the 2005 peace agreement.

17 Because the North possesses the capacity, (…)disengagement by the international community

Actor NP Because the North possesses the capacity, but not the political will, to implement the CPA, and the South has the will but not the capacity, continued disengagement by the international community might doom the prospects for peace.

18 The Government of Southern Sudan

Carrier NP The Government of Southern Sudan suffers from serious financial constraints, owing to unrealistic assumptions about its oil revenues.

19 As a result,

its ability to maintain services – (…) peace agreement

Carrier Non finite clause+Clause

As a result, its ability to maintain services – and the military capacity to respond to any maneuver by the Khartoum government aimed against the peace agreement – is seriously compromised.

20 Only the United States

Carrier NP Only the United States appears to be committed to creating the conditions needed to implement the CPA.

21 President George W. Bush, who twice received Southern Sudanese president Salva Kiir at the White House,

Actor NP+App President George W. Bush, who twice received Southern Sudanese president Salva Kiir at the White House, approved a program in 2006 to transform the SPLA into a professional army.



22 More recently leading American congressmen

Actor AdvbP+NP More recently, leading American congressmen have been impressing on President Barack Obama the need for a muscular effort to implement the CPA.

23 Recommendations presented recently to the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee,

Sayer Non‐finite Recommendations presented recently to the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that security guarantees for Southern Sudan be given in order to deter a renewal of the civil war.

24 Financial assistance

Carrier NP Financial assistance is of course vital, but the political commitment of the international community is just as important.

25 For example,

although the United Nations Mission in Sudan is supposed to monitor implementation of the CPA

Darfur Carrier Clause+NP For example, although the United Nations Mission in Sudan is supposed to monitor implementation of the CPA, Darfur has practically monopolized its attention.

26 Moreover whatever monitoring is taking place

Token Clause Moreover, whatever monitoring is taking place is rarely followed by action.

27 The secession of a Southern Sudanese Christian state from a Muslim country, a major member of the Arab League,

Carrier NP+NP The secession of a Southern Sudanese Christian state from a Muslim country, a major member of the Arab League, would have far‐reaching strategic implications.

28 China, a close ally of the government in Khartoum

Expereincer NP+App China, a close ally of the government in Khartoum, is now carefully weighing its oil interests and its strategic concerns in the South.



29 A high‐powered Russian delegation

Actor NP A high‐powered Russian delegation recently arrived in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, with the proclaimed aim of “playing a more active role on the African continent.”

30 And Japan, a major consumer of Middle East oil

Actor NP+App And Japan, a major consumer of Middle East oil, has recently invited President Kiir to Tokyo.

31 Sadly missing in this diplomatic action

Carrier Non finite clause Sadly missing in this diplomatic action is the European Union.

32 International law and the indictment of war criminals

Carrier NP International law and the indictment of war criminals are important for a civilized world order, but they are no substitute for active financial and political engagement to support an internationally legitimate, and urgently needed, peace accord such as the CPA in Sudan.



The Vanishing Bomb Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 11, 2009)


Textual

Interpersonal

Pre Head Head Experiential

Role Syntactic features Syntactic Features

WARSAW –

1 The agreement by the American and Russian presidents to renew strategic arms reductions

Actor

Clause The agreement by the American and Russian presidents to renew strategic arms reductions has revived hope for the global abolition of nuclear arms.

2 The urgency Actor NP The urgency can hardly be exaggerated: nuclear weapons may come into the possession of states that might use them, as well as of stateless terrorists –creating new threats of unimaginable proportion.

3 A noble dream just several years ago,

the elimination of nuclear arms

Token NP+NP A noble dream just several years ago, the elimination of nuclear arms is no longer the idea only of populists and pacifists; it has now been adopted by professionals – politicians known for their realism and academics known for their sense of responsibility.

4 The invention of nuclear weapons – which served the goal of deterrence during the Cold War, when the world was divided into two opposing blocs

Sayer NP+App The invention of nuclear weapons – which served the goal of deterrence during the Cold War, when the world was divided into two opposing blocs – answered the needs and risks of the time. Security rested on a balance of fear, as reflected in the concept of mutually assured destruction.

5 In that bipolar world,

nuclear weapons Value PP+NP In that bipolar world, nuclear weapons were held by only five global powers, all permanent members of the UN Security Council.

6 Today the global picture Carrie AdvbP+NP Today, the global picture is different.




7 Sparked by Poland’s Solidarity movement

the Warsaw Pact Existent Non‐finite+NP Sparked by Poland’s Solidarity movement, the Warsaw Pact dissolved, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and the bipolar world and its East‐West divide vanished.

8 An order based on the dangerous doctrine of mutual deterrence

carrier Clause An order based on the dangerous doctrine of mutual deterrence, was not, however, replaced with a system founded on cooperation and interdependence.

9 Destabilization and chaos Actor

NP+NP Destabilization and chaos followed, accompanied by a sense of uncertainty and unpredictability.

10 Nuclear weapons Carrier NP Nuclear weapons are now also held by three states engaged in conflicts: India, Pakistan, and Israel. Given the development of the nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran, they, too, may become nuclear‐weapon states.

11 There Existent NP There is also a real danger that this group may expand further to include states where governments will not always be guided by rational considerations.

12 There Existent NP There is also the risk that nuclear weapons may fall into the hands of non‐state actors, such as terrorist groups.

13 An effective non‐proliferation regime

Carrier NP An effective non‐proliferation regime will not be possible unless the major nuclear powers, especially the United States and Russia, take urgent steps toward nuclear disarmament.

14 Together they Carrier AdvbP+NP Together, they hold nearly 25,000 nuclear warheads – 96% of the global nuclear arsenal.

15 It Actor NP It gives us hope that US President Barack Obama recognizes these dangers.

16 We Senser NP We note with satisfaction that the new US administration has not turned a deaf ear to responsible statesmen and scientists who are calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

17 Indeed, the goal of a nuclear‐free world

Goal NP Indeed, the goal of a nuclear‐free world was incorporated in the US administration’s arms control and disarmament agenda.

18 We Experiencer

NP We appreciate the proposals from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany as well, while Russia also signaled recently in Geneva its readiness to embark upon nuclear disarmament.



19 Opponents of nuclear disarmament

Sayer NP Opponents of nuclear disarmament used to argue that this goal was unattainable in the absence of an effective system of control and verification.

20 But today appropriate means of control

Carrier AdvbP+NP But, today, appropriate means of control are available to the international community.

21 Of key importance Attribute NP Of key importance are the nuclear safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

22 The world Carrier NP The world must have guarantees that civilian nuclear reactors will not be used for military purposes – a condition for non‐nuclear‐weapon states’ unrestricted access to nuclear technologies, as proposed recently by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his initiative on a global nuclear bargain for our times.

23 This Carrier NP This is especially urgent now, with the search for new energy sources and a “renaissance” of nuclear power.

24 The 2010 Non‐Proliferation Treaty Review Conference

Sayer NP The 2010 Non‐Proliferation Treaty Review Conference calls for an urgent formulation of priorities.

25 The Preparatory Committee

Actor NP The Preparatory Committee will meet in New York this May, and this is where the necessary decisions should be made.

26 The main expectations Carrier NP The main expectations are for a reduction of nuclear armaments, a cutback in the number of launch‐ready warheads (de‐alerting), negotiations on a Fissile Materials Cut‐off Treaty, ratification of the Comprehensive Test‐Ban Treaty, and other means of strengthening practical implementation of the Non‐Proliferation Treaty, especially its universal adoption.

27 The time Actor NP The time has come for a fundamental change in the proceedings of the Geneva‐based Disarmament Conference, which for years has failed to meet the international community’s expectations.

28 We Carrier NP We share the view expressed by the academics, politicians, and experts of the international Warsaw Reflection Group that consideration should be given to the zero option as a basis for a future multilateral nuclear disarmament agreement.

29 The Group’s report, Arms Control (…) the British scholar Ian Anthony of SIPRI

Carrier NP+Non finite clause

The Group’s report, Arms Control Revisited: Non‐proliferation and Denuclearization , elaborated under the chairmanship of Adam D. Rotfeld of Poland and drafted by the British scholar Ian Anthony of SIPRI, was based on contributions by security analysts from nuclear powers and Poland, as well as from countries previously in possession of



nuclear weapons (South Africa) and post‐Soviet countries where they were once stored (Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine).

30 The fact that these states were denuclearized as part of the Safe and Secure Disarmament program

Actor Clause The fact that these states were denuclearized as part of the Safe and Secure Disarmament program provides a valuable lesson.

31 The process of gradual nuclear disarmament

Goal NP The process of gradual nuclear disarmament must be set in motion.

32 It Actor NP It will not produce results overnight, but it would give us a sense of direction, a chance to strengthen non‐proliferation mechanisms, and an opportunity to establish a global, cooperative non‐nuclear security system.

33 The deadliest threat to global security

Actor NP The deadliest threat to global security comes from a qualitatively new wave of nuclear proliferation.

34 The heaviest responsibility Goal NP The heaviest responsibility is shouldered by the powers that hold the largest arsenals.

35 We Experiencer

NP We trust that the US and Russian presidents, and leaders of all other nuclear powers, will show statesmanlike wisdom and courage and begin the process of freeing the world from the nuclear menace.

36 But as important as this goal is for international order and security

of equal importance Attribute PP+NP But as important as this goal is for international order and security, of equal importance is respect for human rights and the rights of minorities, as well as the establishment, on a global scale, of democracy and the rule of law.



The Limits of Energy Innovation Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 11, 2009)

Outer Theme Inner theme Text

# Textual

Interpersonal

Pre head Head Experiential role

Syntactic features

Winnipeg –

1. President Barack Obama

Sayer NP President Barack Obama has promised an energy revolution in the world’s largest economy, with renewable sources of power and “green” technologies breaking America’s – and ultimately the world’s – dependence on conventional fuels.

2. The environmental, (…) well‐paid jobs

Carrier NP+NP+Non finite+nominalization

The environmental, strategic, and economic benefits – including lower use of carbon‐emitting fossil fuels, less reliance on politically volatile oil‐and‐gas exporters, and the creation of millions of well‐paid jobs – are uncontroversial.

3. But But how realistic is this vision?

4. There Existent NP There is only one kind of primary energy (energy embodied in natural resources) that was not known to the first high civilizations of the Middle East and East Asia and by all of their pre‐industrial successors: isotopes of the heavy elements whose nuclear fission has been used since the late 1950’s to generate heat that, in turn, produces steam for modern electricity turbo‐generators.

5. Every other energy resource

Affected NP Every other energy resource has been known for millennia, and most of them were harnessed by pre‐modern societies.

6. The fundamental difference between traditional and modern uses of energy

Carrier NP The fundamental difference between traditional and modern uses of energy consists not in access to new or better energy resources, but in the invention and mass deployment of efficient, affordable, reliable, and convenient “prime movers,” devices that convert primary energies into mechanical power, electricity, or heat.




7. History Affected NP History could be profitably subdivided into eras defined by the prevailing prime movers.

8. The longest span (from the first hominids to the domestication of draft animals)

Affected Np+App The longest span (from the first hominids to the domestication of draft animals) is made up of the age when human muscles were the only prime mover.

9. Then Then came 3 p sing Process Adj+Vb Then came the addition of draft animals and gradual supplementation of animal prime movers by mechanical prime movers, such as sails and wheels, that capture natural energy flows.

10. A fundamental break with this millennia‐long pattern

Actor NP+App A fundamental break with this millennia‐long pattern came only with widespread adoption of the first practical mechanical prime mover able to convert the heat of fuel combustion – James Watt’s improved steam engine, designed in the 1780’s.

11. More efficient versions of this prime mover

Actor NP More efficient versions of this prime mover dominated the modernization of the Western world until the first decade of the twentieth century.

12. During the 1830’s

the first water turbines

Actor PP+Np During the 1830’s, the first water turbines marked the beginning of the end of the waterwheel era.

13. The next two key milestones

Actor NP The next two key milestones came during the 1880’s, with the invention by Benz, Daimler, and Maybach of the gasoline‐fuelled Otto‐cycle internal combustion engine and the patenting of Charles Parsons’ steam turbine.

14. The 1890’s Expereincer

NP The 1890’s witnessed the arrival of Rudolf Diesel’s inherently more efficient version of the liquid fueled internal combustion engine.

15. There Existent NP There is only one more prime mover to add to this sequence.

16. The gas turbine Actor NP The gas turbine was conceived at the beginning of the twentieth century, but its first working prototypes (both stationary and for flight) came only during the 1930’s, and began to be rapidly diffused in the 1950’s.

17. Today’s most ubiquitous (…) machines and tools

Carrier PP+Non finite clause

Today’s most ubiquitous mechanical prime mover – installed in nearly a billion road and off‐road vehicles, water vessels, airplanes, and countless machines and tools – is the gasoline‐fueled internal combustion engine, fundamentally unchanged since the 1880’s.



18. Economic globalization

Carrier NP Economic globalization would have been impossible without the diesel engines that power enormous crude and liquefied natural gas tankers, bulk cargo vessels transporting iron ore and grain, and massive container ships: some of them now have unit capacities close to 100 MW, but their basic design was mastered within two decades of Diesel’s test of his final engine prototype in 1897.

19. Most of the world’s electricity

Affected NP Most of the world’s electricity is generated by steam turbines in fossil‐fuel‐burning and nuclear power plants, and, except for much larger capacities and higher efficiencies, Parsons would recognize in them every key feature of his invention, now more than 120 years old.

20. And intercontinental flights

Carrier NP And intercontinental flights would be an even greater trial without the gas turbines invented in the 1930’s by Frank Whittle (who thought about turbofans, now the dominant commercial design, even before he built the first turbojet) and Joachim Pabst von Ohain.

21. These realities Actor NP These realities offer three obvious but under‐appreciated conclusions about the mechanical prime movers that are the foundations of our economic progress.

22. First because of their large numbers and their associated (and often expensive and extensive) infrastructures,

prime movers Carrier NP+AdvbP+NP

First, because of their large numbers and their associated (and often expensive and extensive) infrastructures, prime movers are remarkably inert.

23. There Existent NP There has been little real innovation ever since these prime movers were first commercialized more than a century ago (water turbines, steam turbines, internal combustion engines) or more than 50 years ago (gas turbines).

24. Second

any transition to new prime movers

Carrier Np+NP Second, any transition to new prime movers is an inherently prolonged affair, taking decades to accomplish.

25. Even today, for example

there Existent AdvbP+PP+NP

Even today, for example, there are few indications that steam turbines will not continue to generate the bulk of our electricity in the decades ahead, or that gas turbines will be replaced anytime soon.



26. Recent developments

Actor NP Recent developments show that even automotive internal combustion engines will not yield to electric motors or fuel cells as rapidly as many enthusiasts have hoped.

27. Finally the wider the scale on which an energy prime mover

Affected advbP+Np Finally, the wider the scale on which an energy prime mover is deployed, the longer it will take for substitutions to appear.

28. A century ago

the world Actor NP+NP A century ago, the world used coal and a relatively small volume of oil at the rate of 0.7 TW, but in 2008 established commercial energies – fossil fuels and primary (water and nuclear) electricity – flow at the rate of nearly 15 TW.

29. Obviously this scale Actor AdvbP+NP Obviously, this scale limits the speed with which new prime movers can be introduced to replace any significant share of the old devices.

30. For example

if 20% of the world’s (…)using steam turbines)

we Actor Clause+Caluse+NP

For example, if 20% of the world’s electricity were to be generated by wind turbines, then, considering their inherently low load factor of about 25% (compared to 75% for thermal stations using steam turbines), we would need to install new capacity of some 1.25 TW in these machines.

31. Even with large 3‐MW turbines,

this Affected AdvbP+NP Even with large 3‐MW turbines, this would require more than 400,000 new tall towers and giant triple blades.

32. That Carrier NP That is a task for many decades.



Micro-Europe Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 11, 2009)


Textual

Interpers

onal Pre head Head

Experienti

al Role

Syntactic

features

1. With the United States crippled by Wall Street’s collapse

this Carrier PP+NP With the United States crippled by Wall Street’s collapse, this should be Europe’s moment.

2. Yet the European Union’s role in the world

Carrier PP+NP Yet the European Union’s role in the world is weakening; it is listened to less today than it was 15 years ago.

3. As Singapore’s Kishore Mahbubani, a prominent Asian diplomat and academic

Sayer NP+App As Singapore’s Kishore Mahbubani, a prominent Asian diplomat and academic, puts it, “Europeans are irrelevant to the world’s great issues, obsessed by internal process, culturally arrogant, craven in the face of the US, and blind to the rise of Asia.”

4. If Europe is to gain a more important role in global leadership,

it Actor Clause+NP If Europe is to gain a more important role in global leadership, it must reverse its long‐term economic decline.

5. Consider 2 p sing Process VP Consider the evidence of that decline.




6. After centuries in which European corporations dominated the developing world

, the trend Actor PP+NP Ownership : After centuries in which European corporations dominated the developing world, the trend is reversing.

7. Indian, Middle Eastern, and other investors

Actor Np+np+np Indian, Middle Eastern, and other investors are buying up European steel mills and carmakers.

8. In coming years

watch out Process PP+VP In coming years, watch out for China and Russia.

9. When the dollar slumped a year ago and eroded European competitiveness still further

both the European‐led International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank

Actor Clause+Subj Exchange rates : When the dollar slumped a year ago and eroded European competitiveness still further, both the European‐led International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank proved impotent.

10. Instead,

European leaders Actor np Instead, European leaders flew cap in hand to China to ask for support.

11. While the dollar has risen recently against the euro,

Europeans Actor Clause+NP While the dollar has risen recently against the euro, Europeans did not influence this.

12. When American and Swiss banks hit the wall

nobody Actor Clause+NP ∙ Banks : When American and Swiss banks hit the wall, nobody approached Europe for support.

13. Instead

, bank leaders sayer np Instead, bank leaders pleaded with the Middle East, Singapore, and China to throw a lifeline.



14. Once Europe’s own banks became infected

euroskeptic British leadership

Affected Clause+np Once Europe’s own banks became infected, euroskeptic British leadership was needed to overcome French and German dithering.

15. European institutions

Actor NP European institutions remained on the sidelines.

16. Of course Europe’s growing irrelevance

carrier np Of course, Europe’s growing irrelevance is not entirely self‐inflicted.

17. Emerging‐market countries

Actor np Emerging‐market countries have increased their share of the world economy, giving them a more important voice in international relations.

18. But it Carrier np But it is not others that prevent euro‐zone growth from climbing above 3%, or that are causing the EU‐15’s share of the world economy to dwindle, from 19.5% of global GDP in 1994 to 16% last year.

19. Despite its Lisbon agenda

EU enlargement, and the coming of the euro, Europe’s overall economic performance

Actor Non finite

clause+np

Despite its Lisbon agenda, EU enlargement, and the coming of the euro, Europe’s overall economic performance has not improved because it has neglected many basic and everyday issues.

20. Three examples Actor np Three examples come to mind.

21. First the EU actor Np+np First, the EU still spends far more of its resources subsidizing declining sectors than preparing for the future.

22. Although

actor AdvbP+np Although research funding is rising, it accounts for just 4.7% of EU spending, compared to 31.7% for agriculture.

23. Second,

research funding is rising,

it actor Np+np Second, Europe has failed to introduce an independent European Research Council to ensure that funding is allocated on the basis of scientific merit.

24. Too much of the money earmarked for research

actor np Too much of the money earmarked for research goes to prestige projects with limited or no connection to science, like Galileo or the European Institute of Technology.



25. Third, European resources

carrier Np+np Third, European resources are fragmented, and this hampers European competitiveness.

26. The weak and diluted EU Takeover Directive, adopted after more than a decade of debate

actor Np+non

finite clause

The weak and diluted EU Takeover Directive, adopted after more than a decade of debate, fails to facilitate the cross‐border mergers within Europe that are needed to build world champions.

27. And company‐based social benefits in some leading European countries weaken

actor NP And company‐based social benefits in some leading European countries weaken corporate flexibility by locking in labor.

28. Yet there Existent NP Yet there are a number of areas of consensus where the EU can push ahead.

29. Enlargement actor np Enlargement has made far‐away countries our neighbors.

30. They experienc

er

np They need access to our markets, and we should not turn them away.

31. We actor np We should expand the European single market in order to boost growth and avoid new divisions.

32. This carrier np This means leveraging unglamorous tools like tariffs, industrial standards, market regulation, and cooperation in research and education in our relations with countries like Russia and Egypt, just as we have done with Norway and Switzerland.

33. Many citizens Experienc

er

np Many citizens believe that European cooperation benefits only the privileged, and that workers and pensioners face higher taxes because cross‐border integration has helped the rich find ways to avoid paying their fair share on interest and capital gains.

34. Common rules to eliminate cross‐border tax evasion, and thus erase this

carrier Non finite

clause+claus

e

Common rules to eliminate cross‐border tax evasion, and thus erase this perception, should become a priority. Participation in a common financial market should not be allowed for free riders who refuse to share information.



perception,

35. Cooperation with havens like Liechtenstein or Monaco

Carrier np Cooperation with havens like Liechtenstein or Monaco should be ruled out unless they accept that within the common market all citizens must pay taxes where they live, according to the rules of that country.

36. Policy coherence within the EU

Carrier np Policy coherence within the EU must also be improved.

37. The motivation to implement further reforms of the internal market

actor Non finite

clause

The motivation to implement further reforms of the internal market has weakened, leading to a situation in which even decisions by EU leaders at their European Council meetings can go ignored.

38. Developments that are fundamental to European competitiveness, like an EU‐wide patent,

Carrier clause Developments that are fundamental to European competitiveness, like an EU‐wide patent, have proved impossible to achieve.

39. The EU’s goal of spending 1% of GDP on research by 2010

carrier np The EU’s goal of spending 1% of GDP on research by 2010 will not be met by any member state.

40. Too often special interests carrier advbP+np Too often, special interests are allowed to overrule common European interests.

41. Europe experienc

er

np Europe needs to curb subsidies for old and dying industries, and to invest the money saved in future‐oriented sectors.

42. The last thing Europe

carrier np The last thing Europe needs is to reinforce unnecessary centralization.

43. A dynamic and successful Europe

carrier np A dynamic and successful Europe is not a one‐size‐fits‐all Europe, and European integration must not become a goal in itself, but a means to create sustainable prosperity.

44. Nor do we experienc advbP+np Nor do we need cosmetic efforts to pursue EU‐wide policies to combat the current crisis, when it is obvious that we have failed to act together. Strengthening Europe means



er encouraging growth‐enhancing policies, rather than focusing on who gets the most benefits from EU funds or institutions.

45. This carrier np This is particularly important in the area of worker protection.

46. Europe’s citizens carrier np Europe’s citizens are unlikely to support measures to strengthen the EU if this means that working conditions can no longer be decided locally.

47. Yet the European Court

actor np Yet the European Court has fueled frustrations by undercutting local labor practices in notable recent cases concerning workers employed in Sweden and in Germany.

48. Europe, to be blunt,

actor Np+app Europe, to be blunt, must devote more energy in the years ahead to addressing its micro challenges rather than to promoting grand ideas.

49. If we stick to that principle

the EU carrier advbP+np If we stick to that principle, the EU will have a much better chance of regaining global influence.



Central Asia’s Waking Giant Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 12, 2009)

# Outer theme Inner theme Text

Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head Experiential Role

Syntactic feature

1. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

Actor NP The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) brings together almost half the world’s population, several members own nuclear weapons, many are big energy suppliers, and it includes some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

2. Yet few outside Central Asia

Experiencer NP Yet few outside Central Asia have heard much about it.

3. The SCO Actor NP The SCO emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union in 1996. Today, its members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, while Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are observers. Russia and China remain the lead actors.

4. Since its launch

the SCO’s military exercises

Actor PP+NP Since its launch, the SCO’s military exercises have become increasingly ambitious, growing from largely bi‐lateral to inclusion of all members.

5. The SCO Carrier NP The SCO is also beginning to work together in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.

6. Until recently

the SCO’s members

Actor PP+NP Until recently, the SCO’s members addressed energy issues only bilaterally.

7. But, in order to coordinate

last year the organization

Actor Non finite clause+NP

But, in order to coordinate energy strategies and strengthen energy security, last year the organization launched a club that unites energy‐




energy strategies and strengthen energy security

producing and energy‐consuming states, transit countries, and private companies.

8. The SCO Actor NP The SCO promotes free trade, too, and aims to build essential infrastructure such as roads and railways to link its members and boost commerce between them while also harmonizing customs systems and tariffs.

9. Yet cooperation within the SCO

Actor NP Yet cooperation within the SCO remains focused on national rather than collective objectives, because its members’ interests vary so much.

10. China Actor NP China, for example, seeks markets for its products and further energy resources, while Russia aims to use the SCO to promote its anti‐Western agenda.

11. The group’s other members – led by China and Kazakhstan

Experiencer Np+App The group’s other members – led by China and Kazakhstan – want to strengthen their already robust levels of economic cooperation with the West.

12. Thus, for example,

at the SCO summit in August

Russia Affected AdvbP+NP Thus, for example, at the SCO summit in August, Russia did not get the support of other members regarding the Georgia conflict.

13. These diverging objectives

Actor Non finite clause These diverging objectives make it hard to believe that the SCO will ever evolve into an eastern version of NATO.

14. True its members Actor NP True, its members have held joint military exercises and have expressed a desire to build the SCO into a more mature security organization.

15. But the SCO Actor NP But the SCO still lacks many essential elements of a full‐grown NATO‐style security organization.



16. The SCO Possessor NP The SCO has no integrated military‐political structure, and no permanent operational headquarters.

17. It Possessor NP It has no rapid‐reaction force and does not engage in regular political deliberations. NATO’s focus is on external security risks, while the SCO’s members target security issues within their own territories.

18. It Carrier NP It makes sense for the West, particularly the European Union, to seek cooperation with the SCO, as this would also help counter Russia’s attempts to use it as a tool for its anti‐Western policies. It would also prevent the SCO from turning into a militarized entity.

19. These Carrier NP These may look like negative reasons for the EU to engage with the SCO, but there are also ample positive reasons for encouraging cooperation.

20. Europe Affected NP Europe needs energy supplies from Central Asia, and Central Asia needs European investment.

21. Another sphere of mutual interest

Carrier NP Another sphere of mutual interest is Afghanistan. At present, the EU offers financial support to the Afghan government and helps to train its police and judiciary.

22. The SCO Actor NP The SCO has established a contact group with Afghanistan. Both sides want to do more, and they might be able to make a greater impact by working together rather than separately.

23. The EU Possessor NP The EU has money and the SCO organization, most of whose members border Afghanistan, has trained personnel and direct experience in the region.

24. Cooperation with NATO

Carrier NP Cooperation with NATO also looks strategically wise.

25. Given China’s (…) significance for Western security

cooperation between the SCO, the EU, and NATO

Carrier Non finite clause+non finite clause+clause+NP

Given China’s importance in both military and economic matters, growing energy and trade relations between Central Asia and the West, and the reasonable assumption that Central Asia’s security will continue to have great significance for Western security, cooperation between the SCO, the EU, and NATO looks inevitable.

26. This Carrier NP This is all the more true in view of the common security threats faced by NATO and the SCO in Central Asia, such as Al‐Qaeda and Taliban‐sponsored



terrorism and drug trafficking.

27. But But both NATO and the SCO

Experiencer NP But both NATO and the SCO have so far hesitated to engage in closer contact.

28. It Carrier NP It is hard to discern whether NATO has any opinion at all about the SCO. At best, NATO seems to regard it as being neither a problem nor an opportunity.

29. Reaching out to the SCO

Experiencer Non finite clause Reaching out to the SCO would certainly seem to support NATO’s stated objectives.

30. After 9/11, the alliance Actor AdvbP+NP After 9/11, the alliance came to the conclusion that threats may need to be dealt with on a worldwide basis, which explains NATO’s presence in Afghanistan.

31. As a part of this global strategy

NATO Actor PP+NP As a part of this global strategy, NATO strengthened its relations with partners elsewhere, including in Southeast Asia which is the SCO’s chief area of responsibility.

32. Perhaps inevitably

the SCO – and Russia and China as its leading members

Experiencer NP+App Perhaps inevitably, the SCO – and Russia and China as its leading members – regards NATO’s increased presence in the region with some mistrust.

33. As long as NATO remains reluctant to enter into a dialogue with the SCO

such a cautious attitude

Carrier Clause+NP As long as NATO remains reluctant to enter into a dialogue with the SCO, such a cautious attitude looks set to linger, and may even intensify.

34. Consideration Carrier NP Consideration also needs to be given, therefore, to the establishment of a NATO‐China Council, along the lines of the NATO‐Russia Council, and to the creation of arrangements that would facilitate greater cooperation with the SCO as a whole.



35. Such cooperation

Actor NP Such cooperation would not bridge the main differences between SCO members and the West over issues like democratization and human rights.

36. Cooperation Affected NP Cooperation would also need to comprise much more than mere joint policy development, and should involve the practical pursuit of mutually beneficial, smaller‐scale ad hoc projects. NATO and the SCO could work together on neutralizing anti‐personnel mines in Afghanistan, as well as other possible types of confidence‐building measures, such as joint police training and counter‐narcotics operations.

37. If security cooperation is to be a success,

politically sensitive issues

Affected Clause+NP If security cooperation is to be a success, politically sensitive issues should be avoided, with the emphasis squarely on practical measures.

38. This approach

Actor NP This approach would serve the interests of the EU, NATO, the SCO’s members, and, not least, Afghanistan.



The Case for Fiscal Stimulus Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 12, 2009)

# Outer thematic field Inner thematic field Text

Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head Experiential role Syntactic features

1. Governments around the world

Actor NP Governments around the world are now developing massive fiscal stimulus packages that will cause unprecedented peacetime budget deficits.

2. The fiscal deficit in the United States this year

Carrier NP The fiscal deficit in the United States this year is likely to exceed 10% of GDP.

3. A substantial part of the increased deficit

Affected NP A substantial part of the increased deficit will be due to a wide range of new government spending.

4. Under normal circumstances

I Actor AdvbP+NP Under normal circumstances, I would oppose this rise in the budget deficit and the higher level of government spending.

5. When an economy is closer to full employment

government borrowing to finance budget deficits

Actor Clause+non finite clause

When an economy is closer to full employment, government borrowing to finance budget deficits can crowd out private investment that would raise productivity and the standard of living.

6. Budget deficits Actor NP Budget deficits automatically increase government debt, requiring higher future taxes to pay the interest on that debt.

7. The resulting higher tax rates

Actor Non finite clause

The resulting higher tax rates distort economic incentives and thus weaken future economic performance.




8. Of course some government spending

Carrier Non finite clause

Of course, some government spending is desirable or necessary.

9. But an increase in government outlays

Carrier NP But an increase in government outlays often means wasteful spending that produces less value than consumers would get from those same dollars.

10. however, increased government spending and the resulting rise in the fiscal deficit


Now, however, increased government spending and the resulting rise in the fiscal deficit are being justified as necessary to deal with the economic downturn – a sharp change from the reliance on monetary policy that was used to deal with previous recessions.

11. Countercyclical fiscal policy

Affected NP Countercyclical fiscal policy had been largely discredited because of the delays involved in implementing fiscal changes and households’ weak response to temporary tax cuts.

12. By contrast the central bank Actor NP By contrast, the central bank could lower interest rates rapidly, which worked to raise household and business spending through a variety of channels.

13. Nevertheless I Actor NP Nevertheless, I support the use of fiscal stimulus in the US, because the current recession is much deeper than and different from previous downturns.

14. Even with successful countercyclical policy,

this recession Carrier AdvbP+NP Even with successful countercyclical policy, this recession is likely to last longer and be more damaging than any since the depression of the 1930’s.

15. The 40% decline in the US stock market and the dramatic fall in house prices

Actor Clause+clause The 40% decline in the US stock market and the dramatic fall in house prices have reduced American households’ wealth by more than $10 trillion, which is likely to reduce annual consumer spending by more than $400 billion.

16. And the collapse of housing

Actor NP And the collapse of housing starts has lowered construction spending by another $200 billion. This $600 billion fall in demand is more than 3% of GDP.



17. If not reversed it Actor Clause+NP If not reversed, it will cause further cuts in production, employment, and earnings, leading to further reductions in consumer spending.

18. The usual monetary‐policy response of lowering interest rates

Carrier Clause The usual monetary‐policy response of lowering interest rates is unable to reverse this sharp drop in demand.

19. The dysfunctional credit markets caused by the uncertain value of asset‐backed securities

Carrier Clause The dysfunctional credit markets caused by the uncertain value of asset‐backed securities means that banks and other financial institutions are unable to raise funds and are unwilling to lend.

20. As a result the central bank’s lower interest rates

Actor NP As a result, the central bank’s lower interest rates do not translate into increased spending on interest‐sensitive investment and consumption.

21. So there Existent NP So there is no alternative to fiscal policy if we want to reverse the current downturn.

22. The resulting increase in the national debt


The resulting increase in the national debt is the price that we and future generations will pay for the mistakes that created the current economic situation.

23. Those mistakes Actor NP Those mistakes led to an underpricing of risk and the resulting increase in excessive leverage.

24. There Existent NP There are many reasons for the underpricing of risk and the rise in leverage.

25. The exceptionally easy monetary policy at the start of the decade

Actor NP The exceptionally easy monetary policy at the start of the decade contributed to financial investors’ willingness to buy low‐quality financial assets in order to get higher yield and to an explosive rise in house prices.

26. The rating agencies

Experiencer NP The rating agencies miscalculated the value of asset‐backed securities.



27. The increase in leverage

Carrier NP The increase in leverage was driven in part by government policies aimed at expanding home ownership among lower‐income groups that have proven unable to afford that life style. Banking supervisors did not deal with many institutions’ low levels of capital and poor asset quality.

28. A major challenge for the future

Carrier NP A major challenge for the future is to fix the institutional policies that led to these problems.

29. The new Obama administration and the Congress

Carrier NP The new Obama administration and the Congress are still working out the structure of the fiscal stimulus for the US.

30. Although I Actor NP Although I support the need for a large fiscal package, I disagree with many of the specific features of the plans now under consideration.

31. Regardless of what is done to provide a fiscal stimulus, governments around the world

Affected Clause+NP Regardless of what is done to provide a fiscal stimulus, governments around the world must act to fix dysfunctional credit markets. Otherwise, credit will not flow and growth will not resume.

32. In the US reviving the credit markets

Affected AdvbP+Non finite clause

In the US, reviving the credit markets requires stopping the mortgage defaults driven by negative equity.

33. The US Treasury Department

Actor NP The US Treasury Department wasted valuable time in 2008 by not using the funds provided by Congress to deal with those housing‐market problems.

34. There Existent NP There is hope that the Congress and the new administration will now address that issue.

35. When the recession is over

the US and virtually every other country

Possessor Clause+NP When the recession is over, the US and virtually every other country will have substantially higher debt‐to‐GDP ratios.

36. At that point, it Carrier AdvbP+NP At that point, it will be important to develop policies to reduce gradually the relative level of government spending in order to shift to fiscal surpluses and reduce the debt burden.



The Global Economy’s Dialogue of the Deaf Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 4, 2009)

# Inner thematic field Outer thematic field Text

Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head

Experiential roles

Syntactic features

1. As governments do more to try to coax the world economy out of recession

the danger of protectionism

Carrier Clause+NP As governments do more to try to coax the world economy out of recession, the danger of protectionism is becoming more real.

2. It Carrier NP It is emerging in ways that were unforeseen by those who founded our existing global institutions.

3. Unfortunately the discussion between countries on trade nowadays

Carrier NP Unfortunately, the discussion between countries on trade nowadays is very much a dialogue of the deaf, with countries spouting platitudes at one another, but no enforceable and verifiable commitments agreed upon.

4. There Existent NP There is an urgent need to reform global institutions – and more dramatically than envisaged by the G‐20 thus far.

5. Protectionism Carrier NP Protectionism is not just about raising tariffs on imports; it is any government action that distorts the global production and allocation of goods, services, and capital to favor domestic producers, thereby reducing overall efficiency.

6. So for example government pressure on multinational banks

Carrier Non finite clause So, for example, government pressure on multinational banks to lend domestically, or to withdraw liquidity from foreign branches, is protectionism, as are capital injections into multinational




to lend domestically, or to withdraw liquidity from foreign branches

companies with the explicit requirement that domestic jobs be preserved.

7. Such actions Carrier NP Such actions are problematic not only because they insulate inefficient forms of production, but also because foreign countries respond by adopting similar measures towards their national champions, so that everyone is worse off.

8. The number of inefficient workers protected by these measures

Carrier Non finite clause The number of inefficient workers protected by these measures is offset by the number of efficient workers laid off by foreign multinationals responding to political pressures in their home country.

9. Perhaps of greatest concern, Carrier NP Perhaps of greatest concern, moreover, is that the public, especially in poor countries that cannot undertake offsetting measures, will come to distrust global integration, with multinationals viewed as Trojan horses.

10. In addition to explicit protectionist measures

governments Experiencer Non finite clause+NP

In addition to explicit protectionist measures, governments now plan actions that will affect others across the globe. For example, the large volume of public debt that industrial countries will issue will undoubtedly raise interest rates and affect developing country governments’ borrowing costs.

11. There Existent NP There is little dialogue about how industrial country issuances can be staggered to minimize the impact on global markets, and what alternatives can be developed for countries that are shut out.

12. If developing countries are left to their own devices,

they Experiencer Clause+NP If developing countries are left to their own devices, they will conclude that they should self‐insure by rebuilding foreign‐exchange reserves to even higher levels, a strategy that has clearly hurt global growth.

13. We Expereincer NP We need a moderate‐sized representative group of leaders of the world’s largest economies to meet regularly to discuss such issues, informed by an impartial secretariat that will place its analyses before the group.



14. Initially the group Actor NP Initially, the group should only exert peer pressure on its members to comply with international responsibilities.

15. But as confidence in the group’s decision‐making – and in the impartiality of the secretariat – improves

members Actor Non finite+finite+NP

But, as confidence in the group’s decision‐making – and in the impartiality of the secretariat – improves, members might give it some teeth, such as the ability to impose collective economic sanctions on recalcitrant members.

16. The United Nations Carrier NP The United Nations is too large to serve this purpose, and the most obvious candidate for the group, the G‐20, is not representative.

17. There Existent Np There is, however, a representative alternative – the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), a group of finance ministers and central bank governors that meets twice a year to advise the International Monetary Fund.

18. While the IMFC could be shrunk (for example, if euro‐zone countries agree to a common seat),

the real challenge Carrier Clause+NP While the IMFC could be shrunk (for example, if euro‐zone countries agree to a common seat), the real challenge is to make it a venue in which countries talk to one another rather than at one another.

19. To meet this goal

some changes Carrier Non finite+NP To meet this goal, some changes would be in order.

20. First the frequency of meetings

Carrier NP First, the frequency of meetings should be increased, especially in times of crisis, and the level of a few of these meetings enhanced.

21. So, for example,

two meetings a year at ()… (with more at the deputy‐minister

Carrier NP+NP So, for example, two meetings a year at the head‐of‐government level and quarterly meetings at the finance‐minister level (with more at the deputy‐minister level) would provide ample time for



level) dialogue, and thus for trust‐building, and would allow the commitments made by the heads of government to be monitored.

22. Second the IMF’s permanent Executive (…) government functionaries

Affected Np+non finite clause+non finite cluase

Second, the IMF’s permanent Executive Board, established in an era when travel was costly and communications difficult, and consisting of mid‐level government functionaries, should be abolished. Important decisions should be vetted by the IMFC and others delegated to IMF management.

23. Current executive directors typically do

Possessor NP Current executive directors typically do not have the authority to make commitments on their countries’ behalf, so their effort is often diverted to minutiae. And, in an attempt to preserve its turf, the Board constantly attempts to keep the IMFC from discussing anything of substance.

24. Third the obvious secretariat

Carrier NP Third, the obvious secretariat is the IMF. Unfortunately, the Fund is not regarded as being impartial, especially by countries that have been seared by its past conditionality.

25. The IMF possessor NP The IMF has, however, become far more neutral than it is given credit for – though it could take more steps to distance itself from its past.

26. These Actor NP These include abolishing any region or country’s right to appoint IMF management; allowing the Fund to borrow from markets, so that it does not have to keep seeking key countries’ permission to expand; eliminating any country’s official veto power over major decisions; and having its agenda set by the IMFC rather than outside bodies.

27. Industrial countries Experiencer NP Industrial countries should be happy that developing countries would take greater responsibility for global economic outcomes, rather than simply sulking about their lack of voice and representation.

28. Developing countries

Actor Non finite clause Developing countries, in turn, would gain greater voice, but would also be forced to contribute ideas (and resources) to deal with global problems.

29. And maybe, just maybe,

we Actor NP And maybe, just maybe, we would preserve faith in globalization.



The New IMF Project Syndicate (http://www.project‐syndicate.org/ extracted March 5, 2009)


Textual Interpersonal Prehead Head

Experiential roles

Syntactic features

1. When Ministers meet for the IMF’s Spring Meeting this month they

Actor Clause+NP When Ministers meet for the IMF’s Spring Meeting this month they will find an institution with regained self‐confidence.

2. The London G20 summit Actor NP The London G20 summit gave a strengthened mandate to the IMF, while tripling its resources.

3. More concessional finance Actor NP More concessional finance will be available for low‐income countries, and international liquidity will be increased by a hand‐out of $ 250 billion in special drawing rights (SDRs).

4. This Carrier NP This is a boost for the IMF, and it gives hope to emerging and developing countries that have been severely hit by a crisis that originated elsewhere.

5. The IMF Carrier NP The IMF is well‐positioned to help its members overcome the financing gaps resulting from the crisis. In the run‐up to the G20 summit access to the Fund’s credit facilities was increased and policy conditions were streamlined.

6. In a watershed with former practice

a new non‐conditional credit line

Carrier PP+NP In a watershed with former practice, a new non‐conditional credit line was introduced for well‐performing countries.

7. Mexico and Poland Carrier NP Mexico and Poland will be its first users and more countries will line up. These more flexible lending policies reflect a new image of the IMF.




8. The negative stigma attached to IMF financing


The negative stigma attached to IMF financing is a thing of the past.

9. Its financing role in this crisis Actor NP Its financing role in this crisis secured, the IMF now needs to strengthen its position as guardian of an open international financial system.

10. The IMF Affected NP The IMF was created to prevent crises like the current one and in this it has failed.

11. Admittedly there Carrier NP Admittedly, there were warnings, but policy makers, particularly in advanced countries, did not follow suit.

12. The ‘new’ IMF Carrier NP The ‘new’ IMF should be an institution that communicates better with its members, balances the interests of its advanced, emerging and developing members in an evenhanded manner, and aligns its policies better to the needs of the moment.

13. Now that the IMF Affected AdvbP+NP Now that the IMF has been given a second lifetime, it needs to regain its central position in the international financial system. For this, it needs to focus on three issues: improved surveillance of financial stability, strengthened international coordination, and an updated decision‐making process.

14. The new IMF Expereincer

NP The new IMF needs to become more vocal on global financial stability issues.

15. The IMF Experiencer

NP The IMF should see to it that there are no gaps in the surveillance of financial institutions.

16. It Actor NP It can help shape a more robust global supervisory system which needs to be built in order to preserve the benefits of global financial markets.

17. And it Actor NP And it should help develop a vision on what the future financial landscape should look like.

18. To this end IMF surveillance Actor Non finite clause+NP

To this end IMF surveillance should include regular updates on supervisory regimes in systemically important countries.

19. Early warnings, commissioned by the G20,

Actor NP+App Early warnings, commissioned by the G20, should be specific and the IMF should monitor whether policymakers give follow‐up to the Fund’s advice.



20. The new IMF Experiencer

NP The new IMF needs to take a fresh look at international policy coordination.

21. The demand for a different monetary order, as advocated by China

Actor NP+App The demand for a different monetary order, as advocated by China, sets the stage for a renewed effort to avoid the international imbalances which were at the root of this crisis.

22. First the US saving deficit Experiencer

NP First, the US saving deficit will need to be addressed in a sustainable manner.

23. Second China Actor NP Second, China will have to make its currency convertible.

24. Third the position of the euro Actor NP Third, the position of the euro will strengthen over time as more countries will join the euro zone.

25. With more key currencies in place

the perspective of a truly multipolar currency system

Actor PP+NP With more key currencies in place, the perspective of a truly multipolar currency system comes in sight, with an increased role for the SDR.

26. This Actor NP This will lessen the need felt by emerging economies for self‐insurance against financial instability, by building up large reserves.

27. Finally the new IMF Experiencer

NP Finally, the new IMF needs governance structures that better reflect today’s new global realities.

28. The perception that advanced countries are running business in the Fund, but do not adhere to Fund advice,

Actor Clause+clause

The perception that advanced countries are running business in the Fund, but do not adhere to Fund advice, has undermined the IMF’s authority.

29. The G20 summit Actor NP The G20 summit marked the return of the United States to multilateralism.

30. This acceptance of collective responsibility

Actor NP This acceptance of collective responsibility should come with abandoning US veto power in the IMF by lowering required voting majorities, as well as abandoning Europe’s prerogative of appointing the Managing Director.

31. One of the strengths of the IMF’s present governance

Affected NP+Np One of the strengths of the IMF’s present governance structure, the constituency system, should be duplicated at the G20 as well, so as to



structure, the constituency system,

ensure inclusiveness.

32. The rapid growth of China, India, and other emerging countries

Actor NP The rapid growth of China, India, and other emerging countries should come with increased influence, to be implemented through the planned quota increase in 2011.

33. Advanced countries, including European countries,

Experiencer

Non finite +non finite

Advanced countries, including European countries, will see a relative decrease in voting power.

34. An increased say for emerging economies

Actor Non finite An increased say for emerging economies will imply taking more international responsibility as well, also in financial terms.

35. Now European countries Actor AdvbP+NP Now European countries finance 42% of IMF lending and 62% of concessional World Bank lending.

36. This task Affected NP This task will have to be shared by emerging countries with large reserves.

37. These reserves Affected NP These reserves are put to better use by assisting the IMF in maintaining an open and stable financial system and prevent crises like these from recurring



1.2 Spanish

Yak-42: justicia a medias El tribunal admite que la falsa identificación fue intencionada pero no dice los motivos (20/05/2009) Elpais online

# Outer Thematic Field Inner thematic field Text

Textual Interpersonal

Pre‐Head Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1. La falsa identificación de 30 de los 62 militares españoles muertos en el accidente del avión Yak‐42, el 26 de mayo de 2003, cuando se aprestaba a aterrizar en la base turca de Trabzon, procedente de Afganistán

Carrier Np+App+clause

La falsa identificación de 30 de los 62 militares españoles muertos en el accidente del avión Yak‐42, el 26 de mayo de 2003, cuando se aprestaba a aterrizar en la base turca de Trabzon, procedente de Afganistán, no fue error, sino un acto intencionado, perpetrado a sabiendas.

2. La Audiencia Nacional Actor np La Audiencia Nacional ni siquiera ha entrado a deliberar si se trató de una mera imprudencia: todas las pruebas le han llevado a considerar el hecho como un delito de falsedad en documento oficial realizado de modo consciente y con conocimiento de causa, es decir, con dolo.

3. Las consecuencias Carrier np Las consecuencias son importantes.

4. Agrava 3 p sing Process VP Agrava laconducta de los acusados haciéndola merecedora de penas de prisión: tres años para el principal acusado, el general de Sanidad Vicente Navarro, y año y medio para el comandante y el capitán médicos José Ramón Ramírez y Miguel Ángel Sanz.

5. En el caso del general Navarro, y a expensas de

la pena de tres años carrier Pp+Np En el caso del general Navarro, y a expensas de posibles recursos, la pena de tres años supone su ingreso en prisión.



posibles recursos,

6. No obstante,

el fallo de la Audiencia Actor np No obstante, el fallo de la Audiencia se queda en la mitad de las penas de cinco y seis años, respectivamente, solicitadas para este acusado por el fiscal y las acusaciones en representación de las familias de las víctimas.

7. El tribunal Sayer np El tribunal argumenta por qué: la falsa identificación de los 30 cadáveres responde "a una sola decisión delictiva, a una sola voluntad criminal".

8. No cabe 3 p sing Carrier advbP+np No cabe, pues, hablar de un delito continuado.

9. Y en lo que respecta a los otros dos acusados,

la omisión de determinados datos en los informes de necropsia que realizaron

Actor pp+clause Y en lo que respecta a los otros dos acusados, la omisión de determinados datos en los informes de necropsia que realizaron coadyuvó a "la acción falsaria de Navarro", pero no constituyó delito por sí misma.

10. El tribunal Sayer np El tribunal describe con detalle la conducta dolosa de Navarro, su voluntad de faltar a la verdad.

11. Pero Nada sayer np Pero nada dice sobre por qué actuó así, salvo la explicación del propio Navarro de que su misión era repatriar los cadáveres.

12. Desconocer todo sobre esa misión, si existió o no, y si respondió, de existir, a órdenes superiores, directas o inducidas

carrier Non finite+finite clause

Desconocer todo sobre esa misión, si existió o no, y si respondió, de existir, a órdenes superiores, directas o inducidas, constituye una grave laguna procesal que, de no corregirse, seguirá proyectando zonas de sombra sobre la tragedia del Yak‐42.

13. Quizás para curarse en salud,

el tribunal Actor pp+np Quizás para curarse en salud, el tribunal se cuida de delimitar el objeto de su veredicto, negando que pueda extenderse "a valoraciones ajenas al objeto procesal ni a la conducta de personas no acusadas y sobre las que, en consecuencia, no se ha practicado prueba ni se ha formado convicción alguna".

14. Pero es 3 p sing Process vP Pero es difícil admitir que indagar sobre la existencia y naturaleza de la misión que parece haber condicionado la conducta del



principal acusado sea tarea ajena al tribunal, bien directamente, bien por deducción de testimonio.

15. Las familias de las víctimas possessor np Las familias de las víctimas tienen motivos para estar satisfechas. Sobre todo, tras los iniciales obstáculos de la propia justicia, reacia a actuar, y la escasa atención inicial de la opinión pública a su lucha por la exigencia de responsabilidades

16. La impunidad Carrier np La impunidad no ha prevalecido, pero queda pendiente saber por qué los acusados actuaron como lo hicieron.



Sonrojo enWestminster Los escandalosos gastos de los diputados británicos comienzan a pasar factura política (20/05/2009) Elpais online




Syntactic Features

1. Es 3 p sing Process VP Es poco probable que el escándalo de los gastos de los diputados británicos a costa del contribuyente afecte decisivamente a la intención de voto de los ciudadanos, pero es seguro que ha asestado un golpe formidable a la reputación de un Parlamento considerado modélico en el exterior y honorable más allá de toda duda en el interior.

2. La insólita dimisión de su presidente, primera en más de tres siglos, con ser imprescindible por la incompetencia del laborista Michael Martin en el manejo del asunto y sus intentos para ocultar los abusos

Carrier Np+non finite clause

La insólita dimisión de su presidente, primera en más de tres siglos, con ser imprescindible por la incompetencia del laborista Michael Martin en el manejo del asunto y sus intentos para ocultar los abusos, no va a ser el fin de la historia.

3. El primer ministro Gordon Brown Actor np El primer ministro Gordon Brown intentó salir ayer al paso del desastre anunciando un acuerdo interpartidista para la reforma del sistema, pero Westminster y los partidos en su conjunto, y eso es lo grave, han perdido la confianza pública.

4. Las noticias que el diario conservador Daily Telegraph

Actor np Las noticias que el diario conservador Daily Telegraph viene publicando son motivo no sólo para desguazar los actuales mecanismos de control ‐que ni laboristas ni conservadores han tenido el menor interés en cambiar‐, sino probablemente para iniciar por fin una reforma que acabe con los profundos anacronismos del sistema democrático más afianzado del mundo.

5. Si en ese sistema (…)

3 psing Carrier Clause+clause+vP

Si en ese sistema donde los Lores todavía no son plenamente elegidos o sólo dos partidos tienen monolíticamente el control del poder, los



o extravagantes es

Comunes pueden diseñar un tinglado de inaceptables gabelas para que los ciudadanos corran con los gastos particulares de sus representantes, vulgares o extravagantes, es que algo serio no funciona.

6. Las corruptelas Actor np Las corruptelas afectan a todos los partidos y a diputados de toda edad y condición.

7. Pero la losa del desprestigio de un pilar básico de la democracia

Affected np Pero la losa del desprestigio de un pilar básico de la democracia cae más pesadamente sobre el laborismo gobernante, a cuyo frente el desacreditado premier recoge la ira creciente de unos ciudadanos que, en medio del despilfarro, hacen equilibrios para llegar a final de mes.

8. Brown Actor np Brown ha rechazado adelantar unas elecciones, como le pide la oposición conservadora, que presumiblemente perdería por goleada. Los diputados británicos no están bien pagados, ni puede considerárseles corruptos para los estándares de otros países, europeos incluidos.

9. Pero muchos Actor np Pero muchos han cometido el error de considerar sus injustificables gastos consentidos como un complemento salarial de libre disposición.

10. Y pocas cosas Affected np Y pocas cosas se toleran peor en una democracia que la sensación de que hay unas reglas para los que mandan y otras para los demás.



Sigue imputado La declaración de Camps ante el Tribunal Superior no disuelve los indicios de cohecho (21/05/2009) Elpais online




Syntactic Features

1. El presidente de la Generalitat valenciana, Francisco Camps,

Actor Np+app El presidente de la Generalitat valenciana, Francisco Camps, compareció ayer como imputado ante el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana, del que salió, 45 minutos después, con la confirmación de que sigue imputado.

2. El tribunal Actor np El tribunal facilitó una escueta nota en la que afirma que "el proceso sigue su curso".

3. Esto Carrier np Esto significa que los indicios de delito de cohecho apreciados por el juez Garzón antes de inhibirse en favor del Tribunal Superior (por la condición de aforados de tres de los investigados) no han sido disueltos por la declaración del presidente, pese a lo que él mismo había dado a entender que ocurriría al manifestar que nada deseaba tanto como poder comparecer ante el juez para aclarar el asunto.

4. Los dirigentes populares

Experiencer np Los dirigentes populares habían pretendido confundir a la opinión pública presentando la condición de imputado como un mero detalle procesal derivado de la forma en que había instruido el caso el juez Garzón.

5. Pero el juez valenciano Actor np Pero el juez valenciano no ha encontrado motivos para modificar esa condición, lo que en principio significa que aprecia los mismos indicios.

6. Si de la declaración se hubiera deducido una posición más favorable

el juez Actor Clause+np Si de la declaración se hubiera deducido una posición más favorable para el reo, el juez tendría que haberlo traducido en alguna medida.



para el reo,

7. No ha 3 p sing Process advbP+VP No ha habido tal, aunque tampoco ha solicitado medidas cautelares, lo que habría indicado reforzamiento de los indicios contra el reo.

8. El empeño del PP en quitar importancia a la imputación

Carrier Non finite clause El empeño del PP en quitar importancia a la imputación estaba motivado por su negativa a adoptar con alguien tan relevante en el partido las mismas medidas (suspensión de militancia) aplicadas a otros imputados de menor nombradía.

9. El PP Possessor np El PP tiene cada día más difícil mantener esa actitud, contraria a lo establecido en su propio código de conducta y que supone aplicar dos criterios diferentes en Madrid y en Valencia.

10. Porque, entretanto,

Camps Actor Advbp+advbp+np Porque, entretanto, Camps sigue sin presentar facturas que, desmintiendo la documentación que figura en el sumario, acreditasen su afirmación de que él se pagó los trajes que presuntamente le regaló el jefe de la trama corrupta en Valencia.

11. Y sigue 3 p sing Process VP Y sigue también sin ofrecer una explicación que reste verosimilitud a la de que trajes y regalos pagaban un trato de favor en adjudicaciones.

12. Desde que la Audiencia Nacional adoptó las primeras decisiones sobre el asunto,

la dirección del PP Actor Clause+np Desde que la Audiencia Nacional adoptó las primeras decisiones sobre el asunto, la dirección del PP ha ido cambiando de estrategia para, en último extremo, encontrarse en la actual situación: todas las medidas políticas que se ha resistido a adoptar contra los implicados se vuelven contra la totalidad del partido una vez que las actuaciones judiciales se han puesto en marcha.

13. La instrucción, entretanto,

Actor Np La instrucción, entretanto, sigue su curso, y las excusas que los populares han ido desgranando hasta ahora van perdiendo verosimilitud a medida que se van conociendo nuevos datos. Al contrario de lo que el comité de recepción a Camps ante las puertas del tribunal ha querido dar a entender, no se trata de un proceso por motivos políticos, sino de un proceso por corrupción en el que, eso sí, están implicados varios políticos.



Proyectos divergentes La visita de Netanyahu a la Casa Blanca anticipa serias discrepancias sobre Oriente Próximo (21/05/2009) Elpais online


Textual Interpersonal Pre‐Head Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1. Con la visita del primer ministro israelí a la Casa Blanca

la diplomacia de Barack Obama

Actor Pp+np Con la visita del primer ministro israelí a la Casa Blanca, la diplomacia de Barack Obama ha dado sus primeros pasos relevantes en el avispero de Oriente Próximo.

2. Washington experiencer np Washington ha previsto próximos encuentros con el presidente egipcio, Hosni Mubarak, y con el líder de la Autoridad Palestina,Mahmud Abbas.

3. Si hasta ahora los presidentes de Estados Unidos debían lidiar con el conflicto palestino como principal y casi exclusivo escenario político de la región, ahora

el cruce de líneas de alta tensión

Carrier Clause+advbP+np Si hasta ahora los presidentes de Estados Unidos debían lidiar con el conflicto palestino como principal y casi exclusivo escenario político de la región, ahora el cruce de líneas de alta tensión es más complejo debido a los errores de Bush y del anterior primer ministro israelí, Olmert.

4. Uno en Irak y otro en Líbano y en Gaza, ambos

Actor np Uno en Irak y otro en Líbano y en Gaza, ambos deterioraron gravemente la capacidad de disuasión convencional de sus respectivos países y contribuyeron, así, a colocar la proliferación nuclear en primer plano.

5. Y ésta process

np Y ésta tiene un actor principal en Irán, que sobre la inquietud que suscita su programa atómico mantiene un discurso absolutamente radical contra Israel en el que no falta un componente antisemita.



6. Por si faltaban pruebas sobre su peligrosidad,

Teherán Actor Pp+np Por si faltaban pruebas sobre su peligrosidad, Teherán lanzó ayer mismo un misil en pruebas con alcance de 2.000 kilómetros.

7. Ahí radica 3 p sing Process

Advb+vp Ahí radica la encrucijada ante la que tenían que haber alcanzado un principio de acuerdo Obama y Benjamín Netanyahu.

8. La tarea carrier np La tarea no era sencilla y la visita del líder israelí no ha arrojado avances.

9. Ambos Gobiernos

Sayer np Ambos Gobiernos discrepan sobre las prioridades y sobre el futuro que desean para Oriente Próximo.

10. MientrasWashington estima que la cuestión palestina debe ser resuelta para abordar en mejores condiciones el dossier iraní ‐y de ahí que Obama haya exigido a Israel el fin de los asentamientos y la aceptación de la fórmula de los dos Estados‐,

Netanyahu experiencer Clause+clause+np MientrasWashington estima que la cuestión palestina debe ser resuelta para abordar en mejores condiciones el dossier iraní ‐y de ahí que Obama haya exigido a Israel el fin de los asentamientos y la aceptación de la fórmula de los dos Estados‐, Netanyahu quiere la inmediata detención del programa nuclear de Teherán, pero sin ofrecer ninguna garantía sobre el arreglo con los palestinos.

11. Ayer mismo el líder derechista israelí

Sayer Advbp+np Ayer mismo el líder derechista israelí aseguraba que había acordado enWashington la necesidad de conversaciones de paz con Siria y con los palestinos.

12. Pero los hechos Carrier np Pero los hechos son contumaces: casi coincidiendo con la entrevista de ambos mandatarios el lunes en la Casa Blanca, Israel ha iniciado la construcción de una nueva colonia en Cisjordania.

13. Por primera vez en muchos años

, los intereses de ambos países

Carrier Pp+np Por primera vez en muchos años, los intereses de ambos países aparecen como abiertamente divergentes.



14. En poco tiempo se verá

3 p sing process Pp+vP En poco tiempo se verá si la política de Netanyahu lleva a Israel a una decisión trascendental para la paz y la seguridad mundiales: la de si actuar o no por su cuenta contra Irán.



Medidas improvisadas Falta elaboración política en las propuestas para salvar los sectores del automóvil e inmobiliario (23/05 /2009) Elpais online

Outer Thematic Field Inner thematic field Text



Syntactic Features

1. Una de las virtudes Actor Np Una de las virtudes que con razón se le atribuyeron al debate sobre el estado de la nación (también en este periódico) fue el grado de concreción de las propuestas económicas del presidente del Gobierno.

2. Tras un diagnóstico bastante acertado y un reconocimiento razonable de los errores de previsión,

Rodríguez Zapatero sayer Pp+np Tras un diagnóstico bastante acertado y un reconocimiento razonable de los errores de previsión, Rodríguez Zapatero anunció la rebaja paulatina de la desgravación fiscal por vivienda y la implantación de ayudas directas a la compra de automóviles para contrarrestar el brutal descenso de la demanda.

3. Pero ambas propuestas Affected np Pero ambas propuestas perdieron fuerza en la tramitación parlamentaria, y en el caso de la medida estrella para reanimar el mercado automovilístico, se está desperdiciando por una gestión desafortunada con las comunidades autónomas.

4. De forma que hoy los potenciales compradores, los concesionarios, los Gobiernos autónomos y el propio Gobierno central

Experiencer advbP+advbp+np+np+np+np

De forma que hoy los potenciales compradores, los concesionarios, los Gobiernos autónomos y el propio Gobierno central desconocen exactamente quién pondrá los 2.000 euros de subvención prometidos, y los modelos y plazos incluidos.



5. El presidente Sayer np Un patrón económico más ordenado, en resumen.

6. Es 3 p sing Process VP Es un propósito que identificó bien el programa electoral del PSOE en 2004, pero que ha sido olvidado en estos años.

7. A ese propósito se dirigen

3 p plu Process PP+VP A ese propósito se dirigen algunas decisiones acertadas, como la supresión de la desgravación por compra de vivienda o la simplificación administrativa para la creación de empresas, incluida la extensión de las posibilidades de interlocución digital de los ciudadanos con el conjunto de las administraciones.

8. La decepción Actor np La decepción ha venido luego, al saberse que gran parte de las medidas propuestas carecían de la mínima elaboración para aplicarse inmediatamente.

9. A la improvisación del Ejecutivo se han añadido

3 p plu Process PP+VP A la improvisación del Ejecutivo se han añadido las dificultades para conseguir apoyos parlamentarios para alcanzar la aprobación de las decisiones.

10. Las prisas por hacer anuncios, por buscar sólo el efecto de los enunciados, sin dotarlos de contenido

Carrier Np+non finite clause+non finite clause

Las prisas por hacer anuncios, por buscar sólo el efecto de los enunciados, sin dotarlos de contenido, no es una buena forma de gobernar.

11. Todo enunciado possessor np Todo enunciado ha de tener definido con precisión su itinerario de concreción y aplicación.

12. Y en mayor medida si

ésta affected Pp+np Y en mayor medida si ésta depende del concurso de otras administraciones y de sus presupuestos.

13. El momento Sayer np El momento no aconseja ni excesos retóricos ni grandes representaciones.

14. En mitad de una recesión

ciertas medidas en ámbitos como la fiscalidad, los estímulos de la demanda o la

Actor Pp+np En mitad de una recesión, ciertas medidas en ámbitos como la fiscalidad, los estímulos de la demanda o la reforma del sistema bancario exigen amplios acuerdos.



reforma del sistema bancario

15. Y, desde luego , deben 3 p plu Process VP Y, desde luego, deben presentarse una vez bien estudiadas y con la viabilidad de su aplicación asegurada.

16. Gobierno y PP Experiential

Np+np Gobierno y PP necesitan fortalecer la seriedad de sus actuaciones y no contribuir más a la creciente erosión de la confianza de los ciudadanos.



Equilibrio de poderes Al contradecir al Gobierno, el Constitucional refuerza la legitimidad de la Ley de Partidos (23/05 /2009) Elpais online




Syntactic Features

1. El Tribunal Constitucional

Sayer np El Tribunal Constitucional ha estimado el recurso de la coalición Iniciativa Internacionalista‐La Solidaridad con los Pueblos (II‐SP) contra su anulación por parte del Supremo, que la consideró un instrumento de ETA‐Batasuna para burlar su prohibición y concurrir a las elecciones europeas.

2. Con esta resolución se refuerza

3 p sing Process Pp+VP Con esta resolución se refuerza el equilibrio de poderes del sistema político, que incluye un Tribunal Constitucional que no necesariamente avala lo que defiende el Ejecutivo.

3. La Ley de Partidos

Carrier np La Ley de Partidos es una norma excepcional motivada por una situación que también lo es.

4. Esa excepcionalidad

Carrier np Esa excepcionalidad implica dos riesgos principales: que se relativicen, en nombre de las razones de Estado, las exigencias propias del Estado de derecho y del procedimiento judicial, y que la excepcionalidad en principio prevista para el conglomerado que dirige ETA se extienda a situaciones, grupos y personas cada vez más alejados de ese núcleo.

5. La sentencia Actor np La sentencia incide en ambos aspectos.

6. Por una parte,

no se conforma

3psin Process advbP+vP Por una parte, no se conforma con los indicios obvios de voluntad defraudatoria de Batasuna, y constata que no existe en el auto confirmación de que esa voluntad se haya materializado en la candidatura señalada.



7. Por otra, , no encuentra

3 p sing Process advbP+vP Por otra, no encuentra indicios suficientes para acreditar la integración en una trama al servicio de ETA o de formaciones ligadas a ella.

8. No cualquier actitud favorable al mundo de la izquierda abertzale

Carrier advbP+np No cualquier actitud favorable al mundo de la izquierda abertzale implica formar parte del entramado terrorista.

9. La legitimación que para la política antiterrorista supone que la ilegalización de partidos dependa de los tribunales, y no del Gobierno

sayer Np+clause La legitimación que para la política antiterrorista supone que la ilegalización de partidos dependa de los tribunales, y no del Gobierno, se ve confirmada por una sentencia que contradice la posición del Ejecutivo, cosa que no había ocurrido hasta ahora.

10. Ello Actor np Ello debilita las críticas nacionalistas de que la ley se aplicaba en función de conveniencias políticas del Gobierno de turno.

11. El Constitucional Sayer np El Constitucional viene a decir que, sin una base probatoria sólida de dependencia de ETA, la aplicación de la ley no puede limitar derechos fundamentales, como el de participación política.

12. las pruebas decisivas de esa dependencia

Actor np En el caso de ANV, las pruebas decisivas de esa dependencia aparecieron bastante después de las elecciones municipales

13. Por lo mismo,

la sentencia Actor np Por lo mismo, la sentencia protege lo que podía haber sido un flanco débil de la ley con vistas al recurso planteado ante el Tribunal de Estrasburgo: que se expanda, sin las garantías del Estado de derecho, a partidos legales preexistentes.

14. Ya no puede

3 p sing process advbP+advbP+vb

Ya no puede defenderse esa teoría.



El reto de Pyongyang El régimen norcoreano prosigue, contra todos, su alarmante camino hacia un arsenal nuclear (26/05 /2009) Elpais online



Pre‐Head

Head Experiential role Syntactic Features

1. Resulta 3 p sing Process VP Resulta sorprendente que un país tan aislado, pobre y proscrito internacionalmente como Corea del

Norte mantenga tal empeño en romper uno tras otro los puentes que todavía le unen al exterior.

2. Así ha 3 p sing Process advbP+vP Así ha vuelto a ser ayer, cuando el régimen de Pyongyang, en un nuevo desafío, ha detonado su

segundo artefacto nuclear en tres años, más potente que el de 2006.

3. La lóbrega exhibición (…) alcance

Actor Np+non finite clause

La lóbrega exhibición de fuerza, aderezada con el lanzamiento casi simultáneo de tres misiles de

corto alcance, acrecienta los temores de proliferación y evidencia el lento pero seguro progreso

norcoreano hacia un arsenal atómico, que inevitablemente hará más inestable el noreste de Asia.

4. El ultraje Carrier np El ultraje no es menor por esperado.

5. Pyongyang Sayer np Pyongyang había anunciado volver a la carga inmediatamente después de que en abril pasado el

Consejo de Seguridad endureciera sus sanciones contra el Estado comunista por el disparo de un misil

de largo alcance disfrazado de satélite.

6. El régimen de Kim Jong‐il

Actor np El régimen de Kim Jong‐il también descartó entonces reincorporarse a las interminables negociaciones

a seis bandas para que abandone su programa bélico atómico, y que hasta ahora sólo han conducido a

una ristra de promesas incumplidas.

7. La opacidad total de las decisiones políticas norcoreanas

Actor np La opacidad total de las decisiones políticas norcoreanas no permite sino cábalas.



8. , la explosión atómica

Actor np Se trate de sobresaltar a Barack Obama, de una exhibición de fortaleza ante los suyos de un dictador

enfermo que pergeña su sucesión o de una mezcla de factores, la explosión atómica coloca a la nueva

política exterior de Washington ante el primer hecho consumado de envergadura en la región.

9. también China y Rusia, valedores de Pyongyang

sayer Np+non finite clause

Si la conmocionada Corea del Sur y Japón, como vecinos más directamente amenazados, la

consideran alarmante, también China y Rusia, valedores de Pyongyang, han condenado el

experimento, que ha reunido de urgencia al Consejo de Seguridad.

10. No cabe Actor advbP+VP No cabe esperar de la ONU decisiones drásticas.

11. Ni Pekín, sobre todo, ni Moscú, ambos con poder de veto,

Actor Np+app Ni Pekín, sobre todo, ni Moscú, ambos con poder de veto, están dispuestos a apoyar un verdadero

castigo ejemplar contra Corea del Norte.

12. Descartada por la nueva Casa Blanca una acción militar

Actor Non finite cluse

Descartada por la nueva Casa Blanca una acción militar, queda ensayar variantes de la actual e

infructuosa sucesión de recompensas y sanciones.

13. Al menos mientras China

Actor np Al menos mientras Chinamantenga su política o un maestro del chantaje como Jong‐il o el núcleo

duro de sus generales no acepten que cooperar es mejor que la paranoia en que están instalados, a un

precio terrible para 23 millones de norcoreanos.



Camps y Torquemada Rajoy descalifica a la justicia mientras el líder valenciano busca la absolución en las urnas (26/05 /2009) Elpais online


Textual

Interpersonal Pre‐Head Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1. El Partido Popular Actor np El Partido Popular ha cedido a la tentación de confundir unos eventuales resultados favorables en las próximas elecciones europeas con una absolución en los casos de corrupción que afectan a destacados dirigentes y cargos institucionales, como Francisco Camps.

2. Esta reacción Carrier np Esta reacción no constituye una sorpresa, puesto que se dejaba traslucir en las declaraciones de los líderes populares, incluido el propio Camps, desde que trascendieron las primeras decisiones de la Audiencia Nacional relacionadas con el caso Gürtel.

3. Pero más grave aún es

3 p sing Process Advbp+VP Pero más grave aún es que esta forma de eludir responsabilidades tampoco representa una novedad en las estrategias del PP para enfrentar los casos de corrupción que le afectan: su respuesta a la imputación de Camps es idéntica a la que ofreció en los procesos judiciales contra el presidente de la Diputación de Castellón, Carlos Fabra, para quien el fiscal acaba de solicitar dos años de cárcel.

4. La dirección nacional de los populares, con Mariano Rajoy a la cabeza

Experiencer Np+app La dirección nacional de los populares, con Mariano Rajoy a la cabeza, ha decidido cerrar filas con el presidente de la Generalitat valenciana.

5. La incondicionalidad de este apoyo

Carrier np La incondicionalidad de este apoyo no es sólo asunto del PP y de sus complejos equilibrios internos, en los que Camps llegó a afirmarse como un sólido apoyo de Rajoy durante el acoso de Esperanza Aguirre y de los sectores más radicales del partido tras la derrota en las últimas elecciones generales; es también, y sobre todo, una cuestión que afecta al obligado respeto a los tribunales desde los partidos políticos.

6. Rajoy Sayer np Rajoy ha apuntado a los "Torquemada del siglo XXI" como causantes de los problemas de Camps con la justicia.



7. Las palabras del líder de la oposición

sayer np Las palabras del líder de la oposición descalifican gratuitamente la actuación de los jueces y, en concreto, del instructor del caso en el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Valencia

8. parece 3psing Process np Sea cual sea la hipótesis que se escoja, parece impropio de una fuerza política con vocación de Gobierno propagar insinuaciones sobre la justicia en lugar de exigir responsabilidades a sus militantes.

9. Eso Carrier np Eso es lo que establece el código de conducta del PP y ésa es la decisión que ha adoptado en relación con los implicados en la Comunidad de Madrid.

10. Los problemas judiciales de Camps

carrier np Los problemas judiciales de Camps se deben exclusivamente a comportamientos sobre los que no ha ofrecido ninguna explicación.

11. Y el cerrado apoyo de Rajoy


Y el cerrado apoyo de Rajoy sólo significa, por su parte, que el Partido Popular ha renunciado a exigírsela.

12. Al seguir este camino,

el PP y su dirección nacional

Carrier Non finite clause+np

Al seguir este camino, el PP y su dirección nacional no quedan a merced de los resultados electorales, como pretenden sus dirigentes en un intento de repetir la estrategia ensayada con Fabra; quedan a merced de lo que decidan los tribunales

13. Y lo que han decidido los tribunales

Actor clause Y de momento, lo que han decidido los

tribunales ya les ha llevado a proteger a destacados imputados por cohecho.



2 News articles

2.1 English

“Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, escapes dismissal over affair” The Times online October 26, 2008

# Outer Thematic field

Inner thematic field Text


PreHead Head Experiential Role

Syntactic Features

1

Dominique Strauss‐Kam, the French head of the International Monetary Fund,

Actor NP+App

Dominique Strauss‐Kam, the French head of the International Monetary Fund, escaped dismissal for a one‐night stand with a subordinate today, but was denounced by board members for a "serious error of judgment."

2

The fund's managing director

Goal NP The fund's managing director was allowed to remain in his post after an investigation cleared him of accusations of harassment, favouritism and abuse of power over his affair with Piroska Nagy, a Hungarian economist.

3 But

But his reputation Actor NP

But his reputation took a battering in the statement by the 1M F board, which said the relationship "was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director."

4

Shakour Shaalan, the fund's executive director

Sayer NP+App

Shakour Shaalan, the fund's executive director, said 1M F staff, and notably female staff, "are not at all happy" with Mr Strauss‐Kahn, whose amorous adventures in France have earned him the epithet Ie grand seducteur.



5

“The managing director has expressed his regrets. I don't think that we can ask him to do more at this time,"

Verbiage Clause

“The managing director has expressed his regrets. I don't think that we can ask him to do more at this time," said Mr Shaalan. "We will continue to work with him."

6

Mr Strauss‐Kam, 59,

Sayer NP+App Mr Strauss‐Kam, 59, said in a statement: "I very much regret the incident and I accept responsibility for it."

7

The investigation

Goal NP The investigation was launched when Mario Blejer, a senior Argentine economist, said Mrs Nagy, his wife, had been seduced at the Davos international forum.

8

A US law firm Receiver/Beneficiary

NP A US law firm was asked to probe accusations that Mrs Nagy, who left the IMF in August, had been forced out by Mr Strauss‐Kahn, possibly with an exorbitant pay‐off.

9

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Sayer NP+NP+NP

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius said there was no evidence to support the claims.

10

The decision Goal NP

The decision was greeted with relief in France, where Mr Strauss‐Kahn is seen as a key figure in President Sarkozy's drive to remodel and regulate capitalism in the wake of the financial crisis.

11

French commentators

Sayer NP

French commentators hailed the role played by Anne Sinclair, Mr Strauss‐Kahn's wife, a former television presenter, who wrote in her blog: "Everyone knows that these are things which occur in the life of all couples. This one night adventure is now behind us. We love each other as much as we did on the first day.”



“Opec hawks want to cut oil production to keep up price” The Times online October 17, 2008

# Outer Thematic field


Textual Interpr PreHead Head

Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1

Opec’s mettle Goal NP

Opec’s mettle will be tested next week when the cartel assembles in Vienna at a hastily convened meeting to discuss the economic crisis and whether the exporters’ club should take action to arrest the fall in the price of crude oil.

2

Mounting alarm over the dwindling rent from oil sales

Actor Non‐finite

Mounting alarm over the dwindling rent from oil sales prompted Opec yesterday to bring forward an emergency meeting scheduled for mid‐November to next Friday.

3

Together the cartel members Carrier NP

Together the cartel members have lost about a billion dollars of revenue a day since crude price peaked in July.

4

The benchmark US Light crude price

Actor NP The benchmark US Light crude price fell $5 per barrel on the New York Nymex exchange yesterday to $69.15 (£40.05), less than half the value at oil’s peak, while London’s Brent crude futures contract fell to $65.70.

5

Evidence of (...) and workshops Actor NP

Evidence of rising oil stocks in America and weakening demand for energy in China’s mills and workshops has speeded up oil’s decline, but there is no agreement within the cartel over price strategy.

6

Opec hawks, such as Iran and Venezuela,

Experiencer NP + App Opec hawks, such as Iran and Venezuela, want to shore up the price by turning off the taps, but neither country can afford to cut output and forgo revenues.

7

Both Actor NP

Both are failing even to produce at their agreed quotas because of weak investment in their oil industries, so the burden of any cut will fall on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.



8

The Saudis Experiencer NP

The Saudis would not like to see the price falling below $60 per barrel, a level at which most economists reckon the kingdom can support its profligate princes, the social security bills and invest in the oil industry.

9 However

the Saudis Actor NP

However, the Saudis will be listening to the grinding cogs of the slowing Asian industrial juggernaut with mounting concern.

10

A deep recession Actor NP A deep recession might precipitate an oil price collapse

11

It Carrie NP

It is Saudi Aramco that has been responsible for the weakening oil price, pushing more oil on the market since the energy summit in Jedda.

12

According to Platts, the oil pricing publisher, even as the price tumbles Saudi Aramco

Actor Clause According to Platts, the oil pricing publisher, even as the price tumbles Saudi Aramco has supplied every refiner’s request to lift Saudi crude next month.

13

The wider question Token NP The wider question is what impact falling crude will have on nonOpec oil output

14

Russia’s budget Actor NP Russia’s budget depends on a $70 per barrel price, according to Aleksei Kudrin, the Finance Minister

15 But

Russian oil output Actor NP But Russian oil output is already falling because of weak investment, as is Mexican production

16

The major Western oil companies

Experiencer NP The major Western oil companies can probably stomach prices dipping temporarily to $60 for a few months and still pay their dividends, but a prolonged slump at $50 per barrel would lead to the scrapping of investments followed by another cycle of shortages and soaring prices



“Microsoft results offer hope to tech sector” The Times online October 24, 2008

# Outer thematic field


Textual Interp PreHead Head Participant

Syntactic Features

1 Microsoft, the world’s biggest computer company, Actor NP+App

Microsoft, the world’s biggest computer company, offered a rare glimmer of hope to Wall Street after it unveiled better than expected quarterly profits.

2 The software giant, based in Seattle, Washington, Actor NP+App

The software giant, based in Seattle, Washington, made net profits of $4.37 billion for the three months to September 30, compared with the $4.29 billion it reported for the same period the year before.

3 Revenue for the quarterly period Actor NP Revenue for the quarterly period rose 9 per cent to $15.06 billion.

4 Wall Street Experiencer NP

Wall Street is scared about how much the US recession will erode American corporate profits over the next few years.

5 Fears Actor NP

Fears have been growing that technology companies will be hard hit by the economic downturns because their customers will cut back on IT spending.

6 However,

Thursday’s numbers Actor NP

However, Thursday’s numbers show that Microsoft managed to increase its market share during the period as corporate customers renewed licenses for servers and other business programs.

7 Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar Sayer NP+App

Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar, said: “If you are a Microsoft investor you should be happy that Microsoft thinks they will weather the storm relatively well.”

8 For the full‐year ending

Microsoft Sayer

Non – finite+ NP

For the full‐year ending June 2009, Microsoft forecasts earnings per share to range between $2.00 to $2.10 on revenue from $64.9 billion to $66.4 billion.



June 2009

9 Microsoft’s previous estimates

Sayer NP Microsoft’s previous estimates called for earnings per share from $2.12 to $2.18 and revenue ranging from $67.3 billion to $68.1 billion.

10 Microsoft’s guidance for the current quarter

Carrier NP+Adj Microsoft’s guidance for the current quarter was marginally lower than Wall Street was expecting.

11 Its shares Actor NP Its shares rose then dipped in extended trading as investors digested the news.

12 “We (...) particular,”

Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell Sayer Clause+NP

“We, like most companies, saw a slowdown at the tail end of thequarter in particular,” Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said.

13 Mr Liddell

Sayer NP

Mr Liddell said the worst hit among Microsoft’s customers in the just‐concluded quarter were small and medium‐sized businesses that “perhaps are more affected by the credit squeeze and who perhaps make decisions on a month‐by‐month basis.”

13 In a

conference call with investors

Mr Liddell

Sayer PP+NP In a conference call with investors, Mr Liddell said Microsoft will “tailor our business to whatever the economy brings.”



“Dutch Government to inject €10bn of fresh capital into ING savings bank” The Times online October 20, 2008

# Outer Thematic field Inner thematic field Text


PreHead Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1 The Dutch Government Sayer NP

The Dutch Government announced last night that it would inject €10 billion (£7.8 billion) of fresh capital into ING, the Dutch savings bank with more than a million British customers.

2 The details of the deal,

which was agreed over the weekend,

Verbiage NP+App

The details of the deal, which was agreed over the weekend, were announced last night by Wouter Bos, the Finance Minister, Nout Wellink, the central bank governor, and Michel Tilmant, the chief executive of ING.

3 The Government Actor NP

The Government will buy €10 billion of subordinated bonds in ING using a €20 billion fund set aside for fighting the current crisis.

4 The deal Actor NP

The deal could leave the state with as much as an 8.5 per cent stake in the Netherlands’ largest bank and it will have two of the 12 seats on its supervisory board.

5 Unlike rescued UK banks ING

Carrier Non‐finite+NP

Unlike rescued UK banks, ING will be free to pay dividends while it owes money to the Dutch Government. However, the bank said it was scrapping its final dividend for 2008 and executive bonuses because of the “exceptional circumstances”.

6 The bonds Carrier NP

The bonds are redeemable at any time at 150 per cent of the issue price and carry no voting rights.



7 The capital injection Actor NP

The capital injection will boost ING’s core Tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, from 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent.

8 Mr Bos Sayer NP

Mr Bos said the deal was structured to ensure a state exit as soon as “this financial hurricane” receded.

9 This is a healthy company,” he

Sayer Clause+NP “This is a healthy company,” he said. “We wanted to be able to give it extra buffers to withstand market conditions in these extraordinary times.”

11 Mr Tilmant Sayer NP

Mr Tilmant said the bank had the trust of its customers and had not seen a large outflow of funds.

12

The market environment has changed over the last two weeks and the expectations for capital levels have changed following massive capital injections in financial institutions worldwide

he

Sayer Clause+NP

“The market environment has changed over the last two weeks and the expectations for capital levels have changed following massive capital injections in financial institutions worldwide,” he said.

13 The move Actor NP

The move follows ING’s revelation after trading on Friday that it expected a €500 million net loss in the third quarter.

14 Its shares Actor NP

Its shares had already plumetted 27.5 per cent to a 13‐year low on rumours that it was short of capital.

15 ING Carrier NP

ING has 85 million customers and 130,000 staff around the world.



G7 'preparing to drive down the yen' The Times online October 27, 2008


Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head Experiencial role

Syntactic Features

1 Members of the Group

of Seven (G7) nations Experiencer NP

Members of the Group of Seven (G7) nations may be considering a joint market intervention to prevent a further surge in the yen as the Japanese currency’s sharp rise threatens the world’s second biggest economy and other Asian economies.

2

The yen, which is trading at around Y93 against the greenback, Actor NP+App

The yen, which is trading at around Y93 against the greenback, lurched higher today, despite the afternoon warning statement from the G7 and direct comments by the Japanese Finance Minister that currency traders said amounted to “the cleares possible” signs the Japanese Government was poised to intervene in the markets.

3 Analysts

Experiencer NP

Analysts interpreted a rare currency volatility warning by the G7 as a sign that Japan and others may step in to foreign exchange markets and artificially force down the Japanese currency if the yen breaches the Y90 level against the US dollar.

4 Japanese government sources Sayer AdjP

Japanese government sources told The Times that if it intervenes to fight the prevailing market tide and weaken the yen, it “may do so with the support of other G7 nations”.

5 In its relentless surge higher

the yen Actor PP+NP

In its relentless surge higher, the yen has smashed through levels previously thought to offer more resistance.

6 Some analysts Experiencer NP

Some analysts believe that its rally may continue to Y79 – a level that would be devastating to the earnings of companies such as Toyota, Canon and Sony.



7

An intervention drive

Carrier NP

An intervention drive by the Japanese authorities could prove hugely costly: the Government would be forced to sell the yen heavily in favour of dollars and would be doing so against the powerful tide of yen‐buying triggered by the global unwinding of the carry trade ‐ the investment practice where the Japanese currency was borrowed on a large scale to finance investments around the world.

8

Although the Bank of Japan has remained tight‐lipped on the question of currency intervention, Shoichi Nakagawa

, Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's Finance Minister,

Sayer Clause+NP

Although the Bank of Japan has remained tight‐lipped on the question of currency intervention, Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's Finance Minister, said today that he saw "excessive volatility" in the yen's exchange rate and that he was he “watching with grea interest.”

9 This

Token NP

This was the kind of language used by the Japanese Government during its most recent – and spectacular – bout of intervention in early 2004 where it amassed tens of billions of dollars in its effort to weaken the yen and make the country’s exports more attractive.

11

“We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability,” said

3p psing

Process Clause

“We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability,” said the G7 statement, adding that all members “shared interest in a strong and stable international financial system” and would “co‐operate as appropriate.”

12 Currency traders at

Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo

Sayer NP+PP

Currency traders at Royal Bank of Scotland in Tokyo said that verbal intervention was no substitute for the real thing, and that Japan and the other G7 nations needed to move before any traders would believe they were serious.

13

Analysts at Société Générale

Actor NP+PP

Analysts at Société Générale gave warning that even if joint G7 intervention were carried out, the effects would not be long term until the yen carry trade had unwound and the pressures it is creating are relieved. “No matter what authorities do, the yen's longer‐term strength will likely remain for the time being,” said SG’s chief of foreign



exchange.

14

In what one Macquarie economist described as “slow torture” for Japan’s big exporters,

the yen

Actor Clause+NP

In what one Macquarie economist described as “slow torture” for Japan’s big exporters, the yen worked its way towards a 13‐year high against the US currency, and hit an all‐time high against the Australian dollar.

15 It

Actor NP It is trading at a six‐year high against the euro, and analysts at Nomura predict further rises in the course of the next few hours as London trading begins



Ukraine agrees terms of $16.5bn rescue by IMF The Times online October 27, 2008



PreHead Head Expereintial roles

Syntactic Features

1 The International Monetary Fund

Actor NP The International Monetary Fund has reached agreement in principle with Ukraine for a $16.5 billion (£10.5 billion) loan to help to ease the effects of the financial crisis.

2 The 24‐month deal,

subject to parliament passing new bank laws

Carrier NP+App The 24‐month deal, subject to parliament passing new bank laws, requires IMF board approval.

3 Ukraine Experiencer NP

Ukraine is facing its third parliamentary election in three years, its currency has slumped by a fifth to a record low and the price of steel, its main export, has fallen.

4

Ukraine and Hungary, which is due to get “a substantial financing package” from the IMF within days,

Carrier NP+App Ukraine and Hungary, which is due to get “a substantial financing package” from the IMF within days, are set to become the first nations in the former Eastern bloc to gain IMF help in the credit crisis.

5 Belarus, like Iceland and Pakistan

Actor NP+App Belarus, like Iceland and Pakistan, is also seeking an IMF loan.



“Barclays rejects government funding, secures £5.8bn from Qatar and Abu Dhabi” The Times online October 31, 2008


Textual Interp PreHead Head Participant Syntactic Features

1 Barclays Actor NP Barclays is to raise £7.3 billion from investors after securing a £5.8 billion cash injection from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, in exchange for a stake of over 30 per cent in the British lender.

2 The bank

Sayer NP The bank announced this morning that it will raise up to £2 billion pounds from Qatar Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), an existing shareholder, and its associated holdings. and £300 million from Challenger, an investment vehicle of a member of Qatar’s royal family.

3 It Actor NP It will also raise £3.5 billion pounds from Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, which would give him a 16.3 per cent stake in the bank.

4 Barclays Actor NP Barclays is seeking to raise up to a further £1.5 billion from existing and other investors The move boosted Barclays' share price by 7.1 per cent to 220p in early trading.

5 The plan Actor NP The plan will help John Varley, Barclays’s chief executive, to recapitalise the bank without government help.

6 The bank Carrier NP The bank will recieve up to £7 billion onto its balance sheet after the move, which is subject to shareholder approval, as the remaining £300 million will be paid out in fees, expenses and commissions to the new investors.

7 Qatar Holdings, and HH

Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Carrier NP+NP Qatar Holdings, and HH Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan will receive a commission of 4 per cent of the value of convertible notes they have agreed to buy, and 2 per cent of the value of reserve capital instruments, another form of share.



8 In addtion,

, Qatar Holding willCarrier PP+NP

In addtion, Qatar Holding will receive £66 million for having helped arrange the capital raising.

9 These commissions Goal NP These commissions will be paid even if shareholders do not agree to the deal.

10 Barclays Sayer NP Barclays also issued a trading update saying group profit in the first nine months of this year was“slightly ahead” of the same level a year earlie

11

In contrast to Royal Bank of Scotland

HBOS and Lloyds TSB, which will receive £37 billion from the Government to prop up their balance sheets, Barclays

Sayer Clause+NP

In contrast to Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds TSB, which will receive £37 billion from the Government to prop up their balance sheets, Barclays recently announced that it would raise additional funding on its own.

12 Last year, Barclays Actor PP+NP Last year, Barclays raised funds from the China Development Bank (CDB) and Singapore's Temasek.

13 With

today's investment

over 35 per cent of BarclaysValue PP+PP

With today's investment, over 35 per cent of Barclays is now owned by foreign investors.

14 The QIA Actor NP The QIA bought a substantial stake in Barclays after taking part in the bank’s £4.5 billion capital increase earlier this year.

15

In February,

the QIA, a sovereign wealth fund set up to invest profits from the world’s largest gas field

Sayer/ PP+NP+App

In February, the QIA, a sovereign wealth fund set up to invest profits from the world’s largest gas field, said it had $15 billion (£9.27 billion) to spend on overseas financial institutions over the next two years.

16 The £30 billion fund Actor NP The £30 billion fund is expected to double in size by 2010.

17 When QIA

took its first stake in Barclays in

Mr VarleySayer PP+NP

When QIA took its first stake in Barclays in February, Mr Varley said: “The participation of players such as these is one of the most positive manifestations of globalisation. It’s highly positive that there are pools of money that can be put to work in this way. That’s very different to the world of five or ten years ago.”



February

18 Gordon Brown Actor NP Gordon Brown is to visit the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia this weekend and is expected to urge the Gulf states to put more money into the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

19 Mr Brown Experiencer NP Mr Brown believes the IMF needs substantially more than the current $250 billion set aside for struggling nations.

20 This Actor NP This came as Lehman Brothers Holdings said it wanted to rehire about 480 former employees to assist in winding down its business as it deals with inquiries from traders and hedge funds about their transactions.

21 It Sayer NP It said its "current workforce is too small to manage this process without incurring unnecessary expenses and delay



“US economy officially on brink of recession” The Times online October 31, 2008

# Outer thematic field Inner thematic filed Text

Textual Interpersonal PreHead Head Participant

Syntactic Features

1 The US economy

Carrier NP

The US economy is on the brink of officially entering recession after a slump in Americans’ consumer spending saw its gross domestic product (GDP) decline for the first time since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

2 Warnings (...) prove long and

deep, Goal AP+NP

Warnings that the American economy is already in the grip of a new recession, and fears that this will prove long and deep, were reinforced after official figures showed that it contracted at an annual rate of 0.3 per cent in the past quarter.

3 The drop in US national

income and output – by 0.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis

Carrier NP+App

The drop in US national income and output – by 0.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis – marked an abrupt reversal after growth at a brisk 0.7 per cent quarterly rate in the previous three months.

4

US economists

Sayer NP

US economists predicted that a far more brutal slump was now set to follow in the present quarter, and into next year. “The drop is a harbinger of much worse things to come. We now expect that GDP will contract at an average 3 per cent annualised rate in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of next year, generating the worst recession since 1981-82,” Abiel Reinhart, of JPMorgan Chase in New York, said.

5 The main drag on America’s performance in the past three months came

Actor NP+PP The main drag on America’s performance in the past three months came as consumer spending slumped at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent.

6 ItCarrier NP

It was the first drop since the end of 1991, and the biggest since 1980’s second quarter.



7 Economic activity

Goal NP

Economic activity was also sapped as businesses cut back on their investment spending – the first fall since the end of 2006 – which fell at a 1 per cent annual rate, after rising by an annual 2.5 per cent in the second quarter. Investment in equipment and software fell by an annual 5.5 per cent.

8 The grim newsActor NP

The grim news came after the US Federal Reserve stepped up its drive to shore up the rapidly faltering US economy on Wednesday with a further half-point cut in official interest rates to 1 per cent.

9 American Express, the credit

card group, Actor NP+App

American Express, the credit card group, added to the gloom, announcing a cull of 7,000 jobs or nearly 10 per cent of its workforce, as it seeks to cut costs by $1.8 billion (£1.1 billion) next year, while Motorola, the mobile phone company, is looking to shed 3,000 posts, or 5 per cent of its staff.

10 Markets Experiencer

NP Markets found solace, however, in the third-quarter fall in US GDP being smaller than predicted, and in hopes that worldwide rate cuts led by the Fed could forestall a global recession.

11 On Wall Street US blue-chip sharesCarrier PP+NP

On Wall Street, US blue-chip shares closed up more than 2 per cent, while in London the FTSE 100 index closed up 49.1 points at 4,291.7, having risen 400 points in the previous two days.

12 Anxieties over the global outlook Carrier NP

Anxieties over the global outlook were stoked after the latest snapshot of economic sentiment in the euro-zone showed confidence among businesses and consumers at its lowest since 1993.

13 EconomistsSayer NP

Economists said that this was a clear signal that the 15-nation bloc was sliding into recession.

14 Germany and FranceActor NP

Germany and France joined Japan in signalling further moves to bolster economic conditions to try to stave off a recession.

15 BerlinCarrier NP

Berlin is set to introduce a stimulus package worth up to £15 billion next week.

16 In France, President SarkozySayer PP+NP

In France, President Sarkozy said a fund for domestic industries would be set up in three weeks.

17 In Japan, the GovernmentActor PP+NP

In Japan, the Government unveiled a Y26.9 trillion (£169 billion) package to stimulate the economy, including fresh spending of Y5 trillion on measures to buy growth.

18 Taro Aso, the Japanese Prime Minister Sayer NP+App

Taro Aso, the Japanese Prime Minister, said: “A harsh storm seen only once in 100 years is raging. Under such circumstances, I am certain that what is most important is to remove uncertainties from the lives of people.”



2.2 Spanish

Una noche sin consecuencias para Strauss-Kahn. (27/10/2008) Elpais online Cl #

Outer thematic field

Inner Thematic Field Text

Textual Interp Pre‐Head Head Experiential roles

Syntactic Features

1

Un "serio error de juicio", algo "lamentable", pero sin sombra de acoso, favoritismo o abuso de autoridad

2

La aventura amorosa de Dominique Strauss‐Kahn, director gerente del Fondo Monetario Internacional

Actor NP+App

La aventura amorosa de Dominique Strauss‐Kahn, director gerente del Fondo Monetario Internacional, con una empleada recibió carpetazo el sábado (madrugada del domingo en España) con la sentencia absolutoria del comité ejecutivo de la institución financiera

3

La relación de Strauss‐Kahn con la economista húngara Piroska Nagy

Actor NP+PP

La relación de Strauss‐Kahn con la economista húngara Piroska Nagy en enero pasado (cuando el director llevaba unas semanas en el cargo) abrió una vía de agua de cierta importancia, justo en un momento en que al FMI se le acumulan los frentes abiertos por la crisis financiera internacional.

4

La trinchera doméstica ya la

3 p sing Goal NP La trinchera doméstica ya la había zanjado la esposa del ex ministro francés, Anne Sinclair: "Fue cosa de una noche, nos queremos como el primer día".

5

La investigación independiente

Sayer NP+App La investigación independiente encargada por la institución a un despacho de abogados sostiene que el ex ministro francés (afable, simpático y tolerante para sus



encargada por la institución a un despacho de abogados

defensores; diletante, aficionado a negocios poco transparentes y excesivamente hedonista, según sus detractores) se ajustó en su conducta a los estándares que rigen para el personal del FMI

6 Pese a ello

los letrados Sayer NP Pese a ello, los letrados recomiendan que se establezcan mayores exigencias para su director gerente dada "su prominencia y las consecuencias para la reputación" de la institución que representa.

7

Los abogados de Morgan Lewis

Sayer NP

Los abogados de Morgan Lewis afirman que no hubo conductas reprobables más allá del "error personal" que el propio Strauss‐Kahn, de 59 años, ha reconocido: no presionó a la mujer para obtener sexo ni intervino en su decisión de cambiar de trabajo ni favoreció una compensación mayor de la usual cuando abandonó el FMI en agosto.

8 Además,

la recomendación de Strauss‐Kahn para que se concediese una beca en el FMI a la hija de unos amigos, Emilie Byhet

Carrier NP

Además, la recomendación de Strauss‐Kahn para que se concediese una beca en el FMI a la hija de unos amigos, Emilie Byhet, es una "práctica común" en la institución.

9 Byhet Actor/ NP

Byhet había colaborado en la fallida campaña del ex ministro para ser designado candidato socialista a la presidencia francesa en 2005 frente a Ségolène Royal.

10

Poco después,

Strauss‐Kahn Actor AdvbP+NP Poco después, Strauss‐Kahn sustituyó a Rodrigo Rato en el FMI, con el apoyo explícito del presidente francés, Nicolas Sarkozy.

11

La clase política francesa, tan distinta en su moral sexual de la estadounidense

Actor NP+App

La clase política francesa, tan distinta en su moral sexual de la estadounidense, salió en defensa de Strauss‐Kahn desde que saltó el escándalo hace 15 días.

12 Pero

en Washington se

3p sing Process PP+VP

Pero en Washington se asomó de inmediato la sombra del ex presidente del Banco Mundial Paul Wolfowitz, quien hubo de dejar el cargo en 2007 cuando se supo que había favorecido a su novia Shaha Ali Riza, funcionaria de la misma entidad hermana del FMI.



13 Y

ello en un momento en que

el convulso panorama financiero

Senser PP+NP Y ello en un momento en que el convulso panorama financiero necesita, más que nunca, tranquilidad y buenos alimentos en forma de miles de millones de euros y dólares para devolver la confianza al sistema.

14 En ello 3 p sing Process PP+VP

En ello sigue estos días el FMI, al que el presidente del Gobierno español, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, quiere que se dote de un nuevo mandato y de nuevos mecanismos de supervisión de los mercados, además de que facilite préstamos a las economías emergentes con problemas.

15 Ayer mismo

el propio Strauss‐Kahn

Sayer PP+NP

Ayer mismo el propio Strauss‐Kahn anunció un principio de acuerdo con Ucrania para un préstamo de hasta 16.500 millones de dólares (algo más de 13.000 millones de euros) en 24 meses, condicionado a que se cumplan una serie de requisitos sobre la regulación del sector bancario en ese país.

16 No 3 p sing Process AvbP+ VP

No es el único que ha tenido que recurrir al FMI.

17 También

Hungría, Islandia, Bielorrusia y Pakistán

Sayer PP+NP+NP+NP+NP

También Hungría, Islandia, Bielorrusia y Pakistán han pedido ayuda a Strauss‐Kahn para tratar de salvar la crisis.



El recorte de producción de la OPEP hunde el petróleo. El crudo cae a 62 dólares después del anuncio del cartel de que rebaja su oferta en 1,5 millones de barriles al día (24/10/2008) Elpais online


Textual

Interpersonal


Syntactic Features

1

El barril de petróleo

Actor NP

El barril de petróleo se ha desplomado hoy en los mercados de materias primas después de que la Organización de Países Productores haya confirmado en una cumbre extraordinaria convocada para hoy que rebaja en 1,5 millones de barriles al día su producción de crudo para adecuar su nivel de oferta a una caída de la demanda "más profunda" de lo esperado por el calado de la crisis que azota las economías occidentales, que son sus principales consumidores, e intentar subir los precios.

2 El recorte Goal NP

El recorte se realizará con respecto a los niveles de oferta de los países productores del mes de septiembre y se hará efectiva a partir del 1 de noviembre.

3

A cada país se le ha

3 p sing Beneficiary

NP A cada país se le ha asignado una cuota en proporción a su producción, de modo que los mayores recortes se les exigirán a Arabia Saudí (466.000 barriles) e Irán (199.000 barriles). Venezuela dejará de producir 129.000 barriles al día.

4 Para la OPEP

los precios del petróleo

Experiencer

PP+NP

Para la OPEP, los precios del petróleo han sufrido un "dramático derrumbe sin precedente en velocidad y magnitud", por lo que se encuentra "preocupada", ya que los niveles actuales podrían "poner muchos proyectos en peligro de suspensión o retraso", lo que generaría "cortes en el suministro".

5

La actual crisis financiera, señala

3 p sing Process NP+VP La actual crisis financiera, señala la organización, "está teniendo un impacto patente en la economía mundial y está dañando la demanda en general y la de crudo en particular".

6

Esta ralentización de la demanda

Actor NP Esta ralentización de la demanda está "exacerbando" la situación del mercado, que ha llegado a estar "sobreabastecido" de petróleo, afirma.



7 La OPEP Sayer NP

La OPEP explica que el 17 de diciembre celebrará en Argelia una reunión extraordinaria en la que se revisará la decisión adoptada hoy.

8 El anuncio Actor NP El anuncio ha provocado una reacción inmediata en los mercados internacionales.

9

El barril de crudo de Mar del Norte, de referencia en Europa,

Carrier NP+App El barril de crudo de Mar del Norte, de referencia en Europa, ha llegado a bajar hasta los 61,08 dólares a las 11.14, 4,84 dólares menos que al cierre del jueves y la cifra más baja desde el 15 de febrero de 2007, cuando cotizó a 61,07 dólares.

10 No obstante

ha 3 p sing Process VP No obstante ha moderado esta caída a medida que avanzaba la sesión y se ha estabilizado en torno a los 62,75 dólares.

11

Los precios del crudo

Actor NP Los precios del crudo han caído más del 50% desde el récord de 147 dólares registrado en julio.

12

El descenso de la demanda

Carrier NP El descenso de la demanda ha sido especialmente significativo en Estados Unidos y en las economías más industrializadas.



“Los resultados de Microsoft brillan gracias al Windows Vista” El líder mundial de software se vuelca en sus accionistas tras mejorar sus beneficios un 47% entre julio y diciembre de 2007 (25/01/2008) Elpais online

# Outer thematic field Inner Thematic Field Text

Textual

Interpersonal Pre‐head Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1 Microsoft Actor NP

Microsoft ha logrado esquivar la desaceleración del consumo que ha lastrado las economías de EE UU y Europa desde el pasado verano gracias a las ventas del Vista.

2 Así, , el nuevo Windows Actor NP

Así, el nuevo Windows ha permitido a la compañía de Bill Gates ganar en su primer semestre fiscal 8.996 millones de dólares, lo que supone un incremento del 47,3% respecto al mismo periodo de 2006.

3 Ante este buen comportamiento del sistema operativo

el líder mundial de software Actor PP+NP

Ante este buen comportamiento del sistema operativo, el líder mundial de software ha elevado sus beneficios por acción un 90% entre julio y diciembre del año pasado.

4

En el segundo trimestre fiscal

la empresa

Actor PP+NP

En el segundo trimestre fiscal la empresa ha logrado además una facturación récord por las ventas del Windows Vista y el Office 2007 y ha elevado sus previsiones para el conjunto del ejercicio fiscal ignorando las previsiones de una caída del consumo en EE UU y Europa, sus principales mercados.

5 De cara a recompensar a

sus accionistas tras los flojos resultados del anterior ejercicio

la compañía

Actor PP+NP

De cara a recompensar a sus accionistas tras los flojos resultados del anterior ejercicio, la compañía ha aumentado su beneficio por acción durante el primer semestre fiscal a 95 centavos el dólar, frente a los 61 centavos por título que ganó entre julio y diciembre de 2006.

6 Aquellos resultados

fueron más bajos de lo que cabía esperar debido al retraso en el

3 p sing

Carrier Clause+Clause+NP+VP

Aquellos resultados fueron más bajos de lo que cabía esperar debido al retraso en el lanzamiento de sus programas Windows Vista y Office 2007 ‐que tuvo un coste para la compañía de unos mil millones de dólares‐, lo que hace que las cuentas anunciadas hoy hayan sido muy



lanzamiento de sus programas Windows Vista y Office 2007 ‐que tuvo un coste para la compañía de unos mil millones de dólares‐, lo que hace

bien acogida por los inversores.

7 En cualquier caso,

los ingresos de Microsoft

Carrier PP+NP

En cualquier caso, los ingresos de Microsoft alcanzaron en los seis primeros meses de su ejercicio fiscal 30.129 millones de dólares, un incremento del 29 por ciento respecto al mismo período de 2006, cuando facturó 23.353 millones de dólares.

8 Por lo que respecta

al segundo trimestre fiscal (octubre a diciembre),

el beneficio neto de Microsoft

Carrier PP+NP

Por lo que respecta al segundo trimestre fiscal (octubre a diciembre), el beneficio neto de Microsoft ha ascendido a 4.707 millones de dólares, un 87 por ciento más que en el mismo período del año anterior, en el que ganó 2.626 millones de dólares.

9 Así el beneficio por

acción Carrier NP

Así, el beneficio por acción durante ese periodo se ha situado en 50 centavos de dólares, lo que representa un incremento del 92% con respecto a los 26 centavos de ganancia por título del periodo de referencia.

10 Además,

sus ingresos Actor NP

Además, sus ingresos se han incrementado el 30 por ciento entre los dos periodos comparados y han alcanzado los 16.367 millones de dólares.

11

"Los ingresos de más de 16.000 millones de dólares en este trimestre exceden nuestro anterior récord en 2.000 millones de dólares", ha

3 p sing

Process Clause+VP

"Los ingresos de más de 16.000 millones de dólares en este trimestre exceden nuestro anterior récord en 2.000 millones de dólares", ha destacado el responsable financiero de Microsoft, Chris Liddell, al presentar los resultados después del cierre de los mercados en Estados Unidos



“Holanda inyectará 10.000 millones en el grupo ING” La entidad logra un acuerdo para una inyección de capital estatal (19/10/2008) Elpais online

# Outer thematic field Inner Thematic field Text

Textual


Syntactic Features

1

El grupo holandés de banca y seguros ING

Actor NP+NP El grupo holandés de banca y seguros ING ha conseguido un acuerdo con el Gobierno y el banco central de Holanda para fortalecer el capital del grupo financiero ante la crisis.

2 En concreto

las autoridades holandesas

Actor NP En concreto las autoridades holandesas inyectarán 10.000 millones de euros en el capital, según han anunciado en rueda de prensa el primer ministro, el director del banco central holandés y el director ejecutivo del grupo ING.

3

A partir de esta inyección de capital,

el Estado Actor PP+NP A partir de esta inyección de capital, el Estado aportará dos consejeros a ING que tendrán derecho a veto en decisiones "fundamentales" que se refieran a inversiones que afecten a más del 25% del capital propio de la empresa.

4 El Gobierno Actor NP

El Gobierno recibe "seguridades" por valor de 10.000 millones de euros, las cuales "tienen las mismas características que las acciones", según un comunicado del ministerio de Finanzas. También los miembros ejecutivos de ING renuncian a sus bonificaciones sobre el año 2008.

5

El presidente de ING,

Michel Tilmant Sayer App+NP

El presidente de ING, Michel Tilmant, ha asegurado en esa comparecencia que la ayuda responde a "circunstancias excepcionales", y que la cantidad de 10.000 millones de euros es "suficientemente cómoda como para absorber las sacudidas del futuro", causadas por la crisis global.

6

El presidente del DNB (banco central holandés),

Nout Wellink Sayer App+NP

El presidente del DNB (banco central holandés), Nout Wellink, ha comentado que este apoyo financiero a ING, del que ha recorado que es "el segundo banco mundial de ahorros", permitirá al grupo tener "una excelente condición para continuar haciendo negocios".



7

Las acciones de la entidad

Actor NP Las acciones de la entidad cayeron el pasado viernes un 27%, precisamente ante los rumores de que necesitaba inyección de capital estatal.

8

El valor bursátil del banco

Actor NP

El valor bursátil del banco se ha visto reducido en un 73% en lo que va año. ING tiene en España 1,7 millones de clientes, a través de su filial ING Direct, primer banco por Internet del país gracias a productos de ahorro populares como la Cuenta o el Depósito Naranja.

9 Se trata 3 p sing Process VP

Se trata de la primera operación de rescate que Holanda emprende en solitario, ya que con anterioridad había acudido a rescatar el Fortis, pero en una acción conjunta con Luxemburgo y Bélgica.

10

El pasado 4 de octubre

Holanda Senser PP+NP El pasado 4 de octubre Holanda decidía así adquirir por 16.800 millones de euros los activos de esta entidad en su territorio.

11

La inyección de capital anunciada este domingo para ING

Carrier NP+PartClause

La inyección de capital anunciada este domingo para ING supone la mitad del fondo que el gobierno de Amsterdam había anunciado para el rescate de entidades financieras en crisis.

12 Tiene 3 p sing Process VP

Tiene más de 75 millones de clientes en Europa, EEUU, Canadá, Latinoamérica, Asia y Australia, de los que 1,7 millones habitan en España, con depósitos de 13.800 millones de euros, informa EFE.



El G7 reafirma su interés en que el sistema financiero sea "fuerte y estable". El Grupo de los Siete se muestra preocupado por la "excesiva volatilidad" del yen (27/10/2008) Elpais online

# Outer thematic field Inner Thematic Field Text

Textual


Syntactic Features

1 El G7 Sayer NP

El G7 ha reafirmado hoy su compromiso de que exista un sistema financiero internacional "fuerte y estable" y ha expresado su preocupación por la "excesiva volatilidad" en el tipo de cambio de la divisa japonesa, el yen, que en los últimos meses se ha apreciado con fuerza frente al dólar y sobre todo frente al euro.

2

El Grupo de los Siete, integrado por EEUU, Japón, Francia, Reino Unido, Italia, Canadá y Alemania

Sayer NP+App

El Grupo de los Siete, integrado por EEUU, Japón, Francia, Reino Unido, Italia, Canadá y Alemania, ha divulgado un comunicado de urgencia sobre los últimos movimientos en los mercados de divisas, de apenas un párrafo.

3

Los países ricos, dice

3 p sing Process VP Los países ricos, dice la nota, seguirán "vigilando de cerca los mercados y cooperando de manera apropiada" ante la crisis financiera global.

4 El G7 Sayer NP

El G7 insiste además en que todos sus miembros tienen un "interés común" de que haya un sistema financiero internacional "fuerte y estable".

5

"Estamos preocupados por la reciente excesiva volatilidad en el tipo de cambio del yen y sus

3 p plu Process Clause+VP

"Estamos preocupados por la reciente excesiva volatilidad en el tipo de cambio del yen y sus posibles implicaciones adversas para la estabilidad económica y financiera", indican los ministros de Finanzas y gobernadores de los bancos centrales del G7.



posibles implicaciones adversas para la estabilidad económica y financiera", indican

6

En el último mes,

el yen Carrier PP+NP

En el último mes, el yen se ha apreciado el 13% frente al dólar y el 27% frente al euro, lo que ha propiciado fuertes descensos en la bolsa de Tokio y caídas en los beneficios de las empresas. El índice Nikkei de la Bolsa de Tokio bajaba, a 45 minutos para el cierre, un 6,23%, situándose a 7.172,89 puntos.

7 El dólar Actor NP

El dólar ha abierto en Tokio a 93,52 yenes y el euro a 118,05 yenes, un fuerte descenso con respecto a los valores que se registraban a comienzos de año.

8 En un año, el yen Carrier PP+NP

En un año, el yen se ha apreciado el 18% frente al dólar y el 28% frente al euro, sobre todo debido a los movimientos registrados desde agosto pasado, hace apenas dos meses.

9 Japón Sayer NP

Japón anuncia mayor control en la venta de acciones

10

El primer ministro japonés,

Taro Aso Sayer App+NP El primer ministro japonés, Taro Aso, ha anunciado hoy que su Gobierno buscará un mayor control de la venta de acciones a corto plazo, después de que la bolsa japonesa haya perdido alrededor de la mitad de su valor desde principios de año.

11

Según la agencia nipona Kyodo

Aso Actor PP+NP Según la agencia nipona Kyodo, Aso también tratará de inyectar más fondos para capitalizar las instituciones financieras japonesas.

12

El gobernante japonés

Experiencer NP El gobernante japonés desea estabilizar el mercado de valores y fortalecer el sistema financiero nipón, afectado por la crisis crediticia global



El FMI anuncia ayudas financieras para Ucrania y Hungría. El organismo llega a un principio de acuerdo con Kiev para el préstamo de 12.990 millones de euros (27/10/2008) Elpais online

# Outer Thematic

Head Inner Thematic Field

Text

Textual

Interper Pre‐Head Head Experiential role

Syntactic Features

1

El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI)

Sayer NP

El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) ha anunciado este domingo en un comunicado que ha llegado a un principio de acuerdo con Ucrania para el préstamo de 16.500 millones de dólares (12.990 millones de euros) para aliviar los efectos de la crisis.

2 Además,

, el director gerente del organismo,

Dominique Strauss‐Kahn,

Senser App+NP Además, el director gerente del organismo, Dominique Strauss‐Kahn, ha prometido una "importante ayuda financiera" para Hungría con el objetivo de estabilizar la economía de este país centroeuropeo.

3

El programa de las autoridades busca la vuelta de Ucrania a la estabilidad financiera y económica tratando la liquidez y solvencia del sector financiero, puliendo el ajuste a la conmoción interna y reduciendo la inflación", prosigue

3 p sing Process Clause+VP

"El programa de las autoridades busca la vuelta de Ucrania a la estabilidad financiera y económica tratando la liquidez y solvencia del sector financiero, puliendo el ajuste a la conmoción interna y reduciendo la inflación", prosigue el comunicado de Strauss Kahn.

4 "Al mismo tiempo, (el acuerdo) la defenderá ante el

3 p sing Process Clause+VP "Al mismo tiempo, (el acuerdo) la defenderá ante el importante descenso de la producción (...) en la medida de lo posible", indica.



importante descenso de la producción (...) en la medida de lo posible", indica.

5

El FMI en Kiev y las autoridades ucranianas

Actor NP+NP

El FMI en Kiev y las autoridades ucranianas han logrado un acuerdo para un paquete con las condiciones de devolución necesarias teniendo en cuenta los efectos combinados del derrumbe de los precios del acero y la inestabilidad del crédito internacional.

6 El préstamo Carrier NP El préstamo equivale al 800% de la cuota que Ucrania aporta al FMI.

7 Esta cuota Goal NP Esta cuota es determinada para cada país en función de su peso en la economía mundial y de la cantidad de dinero que puede prestar.

8 En circunstancias normales

los países Sayer PP+NP En circunstancias normales, los países pueden pedir préstamos sólo de hasta el 300% (el triple) de su cuota.

9

"La fortaleza del programa justifica el alto nivel", explica


"La fortaleza del programa justifica el alto nivel", explica Straus‐Kahn en el comunicado.

10 El paquete para Hungría

Phenomenon

NP El paquete para Hungría se concretará en los próximos días, "cuando el programa de apoyo esté completo", ha explicado en un informe Strauss‐Kahn.

11

"La participación en este proyecto incluye al FMI, la UE y algunos gobiernos europeos de forma individual, junto a otras instituciones regionales y multilaterales", agrega


"La participación en este proyecto incluye al FMI, la UE y algunos gobiernos europeos de forma individual, junto a otras instituciones regionales y multilaterales", agrega el documento.

12 Los detalles sobre el tipo de

Verbiage/Medium or

NP Los detalles sobre el tipo de financiación y la cantidad aún no han sido revelados.



financiación y la cantidad

Phenomenon/Medium



“Barclays recibe 9.200 millones de fondos soberanos para evitar acudir al fondo de Brown” (31/10/2008) Elpais online



Text Interp Pre‐Head Head

Experiential Role

Syntactic Features

1 El Barclays Actor NP

El Barclays recurrirá en su mayor parte a inversores del Golfo Pérsico para llevar a cabo una ampliación de capital de hasta 7.300 millones de libras (9.305 millones de euros), ha comunicado hoy el banco británico al regulador de la Bolsa de Londres.

2 La entidad Actor NP

La entidad emitirá 3.000 millones de libras (3.822 millones de euros) en opciones sobre acciones, destinadas a esos inversores árabes, y otros 4.300 millones de libras (5.479 millones) en títulos convertibles de forma obligatoria.

3

De esta segunda cantidad

2.800 millones de libras (3.567 millones de euros)

Actor PP+NP

De esta segunda cantidad, 2.800 millones de libras (3.567 millones de euros) irán a esos fondos del Golfo pérsico y otros 1.500 millones de libras (1.910 millones) a actuales accionistas e inversores institucionales.

4 De este modo

el Barclays, que tras la ampliación estará controlado en más de un 30% por esos inversores del Golfo

Actor Conj+NP+Clause

De este modo, el Barclays, que tras la ampliación estará controlado en más de un 30% por esos inversores del Golfo, rechaza de nuevo la ayuda ofrecida por el Gobierno británico para incrementar la liquidez de los bancos del país.

5

Frente al rechazo de Barclays,

Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB y HBOS,

Experiencer PP+NP+NP+NP

Frente al rechazo de Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB y HBOS, sí han accedido a acudir a este fondo por un monto global de 37.000 millones de libras esterlinas (47.000 millones de euros).



La crisis financiera lleva a Estados Unidos al borde de la recesión (31/10/2008) Elpais online



Textual Interp Pre‐Head Head Experiential roles

Syntactic Features

1 Estados Unidos Actor NP

Estados Unidos dio ayer el primer paso hacia la recesión.

2

El producto interior bruto (PIB)

Carrier NP El producto interior bruto (PIB) registró una contracción del 0,1% en el tercer trimestre del año (equivalente a un ritmo anual de caída del 0,3%), el peor dato desde la última crisis económica, en 2001.

3

El motivo de este frenazo

Carrier NP+App

El motivo de este frenazo reside en la mayor caída del consumo ‐motor de la primera economía del mundo‐ de los últimos 28 años y el pesado lastre de la devaluación de la vivienda, en medio de la peor crisis financiera desde la Gran Depresión.

4 Los economistas Sayer NP

Los economistas anticipan ya que la contracción continuará hasta la primavera, en el que será el periodo más prolongado de recesión desde la II Guerra Mundial. El paro podría alcanzar entre tanto el 8%.

5 Con todo,

el frenazo Carrier Conj+NP Con todo, el frenazo es menor de lo que preveían los analistas, y quizá por eso las Bolsas estadounidenses reaccionaron con subidas moderadas.

6 Pero este parón Carrier Conj+NP

Pero este parón es importante si se tiene en cuenta que Estados Unidos crecía a un ritmo anual del 2,8% en el segundo trimestre.

7 Este vuelco Actor NP

Este vuelco se produjo sobre todo en septiembre, cuando el caos volvió a dominar los mercados financieros tras el rescate de las hipotecarias Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac, el colapso del banco de inversión Lehman Brothers y la intervención pública en la aseguradora AIG.

8

Con el precio de la vivienda

las familias Carrier PP+NP Con el precio de la vivienda en caída libre, las restricciones para acceder al crédito y el desplome de las inversiones, las familias no tienen otra salida en la presente



en caída libre, las restricciones para acceder al crédito y el desplome de las inversiones,

coyuntura que mirar a sus bolsillos y recortar ahí donde pueden para hacer frente a un futuro incierto, sobre todo en el empleo.

9

El gasto de los consumidores, del que dependen dos terceras partes del crecimiento, cayó un 3,1%.

Actor NP+App

El gasto de los consumidores, del que dependen dos terceras partes del crecimiento, cayó un 3,1%.

10 Es 3 p sing Process 3psing

Es el primer recorte trimestral en el consumo desde el último trimestre de 1991 y el mayor desde la primavera de 1980.

11

El Departamento de Comercio

Senser NP El Departamento de Comercio calcula que esta caída en el gasto de los hogares restó 2,25 puntos al PIB.

12 Y es 3 p sing Carrier Conj+3psing

Y es que las finanzas de las familias están bajo una tensión considerable, por la continua pérdida de empleo y de caída de las inversiones.

13

El dato del crecimiento económico

Sayer NP

El dato del crecimiento económico revela en este sentido que los ingresos personales cayeron un 8,7% en el tercer trimestre, el peor dato desde que se empezó a utilizar este indicador en 1947 y que contrasta con el incremento del 19,1% del segundo trimestre, cuando empezaron a fluir los primeros estímulos fiscales al crecimiento.

14 Los hogares Token NP

Los hogares no son los únicos que miran hasta el último dólar en la coyuntura actual.

15 Las empresas Actor NP

Las empresas están buscando cómo ahorrar por todos los rincones

16

La del tercer trimestre

Token NP La del tercer trimestre fue la primera reducción en el gasto desde final de 2006, del 1%.



17 Y

También están

3 p plu Process VP Y también están destruyendo empleo.

18 Motorola Actor NP

Motorola va a despedir a 3.000 empleados y American Express anunció ayer que eliminará 7.000 puestos de trabajo.

19

El otro punto vulnerable

Token NP El otro punto vulnerable sigue estando en la vivienda, el epicentro de la crisis.

20

La inversión residencial cayó

Actor NP La inversión residencial cayó un 19,1% en el tercer trimestre, lo que refleja que la contracción continúa con fuerza tras 11 trimestres y que queda camino por recorrer antes de que se pueda hablar de estabilización.

21 La contracción Carrier NP

La contracción habría sido aún mayor de no ser por el sector exterior y el gubernamental.

22

Del lado de la balanza comercial

, las importaciones Actor PP+NP Del lado de la balanza comercial, las importaciones cayeron un 1,9%, y las exportaciones subieron un 5,9%.

23 Esto Actor NP

Esto sumó 1,1 puntos al crecimiento, aunque es tres veces menos que en el trimestre precedente.

24 El gasto público Actor NP

El gasto público subió un 5,8% y aportó 1,2 puntos al PIB.

25 Estos datos Actor NP

Estos datos están sujetos aún a dos revisiones. Wall Street anticipó una contracción mayor del PIB, de en torno a medio punto.

26

En cierta medida

el indicador Carrier PP+NP En cierta medida el indicador es viejo, porque no refleja el fuerte deterioro registrado en octubre, y podría quedarse corto, ya que los analistas hablan ya de una caída de tres puntos en el cuarto trimestre.

27

"Nos llevó tiempo llegar a esta situación, y llevará tiempo salir de ella", reconoce


"Nos llevó tiempo llegar a esta situación, y llevará tiempo salir de ella", reconoce el jefe del equipo de asesores económicos de la Casa Blanca, Edward Lazer, que aunque se mostró confiado en un repunte del consumo gracias al abaratamiento de la energía, no negó que el dato refleja el pesimismo de los estadounidenses.




28 La Reserva Federal

(Fed) Actor NP

La Reserva Federal (Fed) rebajó el miércoles medio punto los tipos de interés, hasta el 1%, su nivel más bajo desde mayo de 2004. Los precios vinculados al consumo personal subieron a un ritmo del 5,4% anual, el mayor desde comienzos de 1990.

29 La subyacente Carrier NP

La subyacente fue del 2,9%. Pero esto no es un problema para la Fed, porque en octubre empezaron a moderarse.

30

El banco central estadounidense

Senser NP El banco central estadounidense está claramente preocupado en este momento por devolver a la actividad económica su crecimiento potencial y evitar una recesión severa.

a functional analysis of two newspaper genres

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