Academic Scientific JournalsSufficient or adequate evidence? Using corpus data to distinguish between near-synonymous adjectives in academic prose
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/bp.2023.1.02Keywords:
near-synonyms, adequate, sufficient, distributional patterns, academic proseAbstract
Using the British Academic Written English Corpus as data, this study attempts to reveal the semantic and usage differences between adequate and sufficient, two near-synonymous adjectives often used in academic texts. The distributional patterns examined include overall and discipline frequency, syntactic functions, typical noun collocates and modifying adverbs. The results show a preference for sufficient in academic prose, where it is distinguished from adequate by a more frequent predicative use; an inclination towards it-extraposed constructions, and the VPto and pp_for patterns; the tendency to express more absolute and more specialized meanings; and a close collocational relationship with nouns relating to information. Adequate, which is less frequent, tends to more often modify abstract nouns and co-occur with the definite uses of its modifiees, and its uses may involve comparison. Insights from the study can support scholars in their lexical choices in English academic writing.
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