152 Sylvie De Cock and Diane Goossens
- The company approximators tend to keep in BENews and FRENews
An examination of the context in which combinations of approximators and num-
bers denoting quantities occur in BENews and FRENews reveals that the company
they keep is very similar in the two corpora. As Examples (18) and (19) illustrate,
approximators seem to enjoy each other’s company, thereby arguably reinforcing
the approximation reading. Among the 16 instances of combined use uncovered
in each corpus, all except one bring together two approximators. BENews even
features a gathering of three approximators around one and the same number
(see Example 20). Interestingly, another tendency involves the co-occurrence of
approximators with items that appear to make the approximation more precise or
specific rather than reinforce it (underlined in Examples 21 to 24):
(18) The market for wired microcontrollers is worth some $8bn to $10bn. (BENews)
(19) Les banques sont généralement en baisse à quatre jours de la publication des
résultats des “stress tests” sur près d’une centaine de grands établissements
européens. (FRENews) [‘nearly a hundred’]
(20) Inflation could be in the region of about 4.0 per cent or less in 2009, according
to Najib. (BENews)
(21) Together, the two firms would control slightly more than 20% of the juice
business. (BENews)
(22) The nation’s foreclosure rate, while up significantly, is still well under 5% for
all mortgages. (BENews)
(23) Une petite dizaine d’indicateurs seront finalement publiés...
(FRENews) [‘a small dozen’]
(24) Les hausses des ventes dépassent allégrement 10%...
(FRENews) [‘are well over 10%’]
The context surrounding the approximator + number combinations in BENews
and FRENews also reflects the fact that in these corpora the journalists often
report on predictions made by companies or by experts or on figures included in
press releases or given by analysts. As pointed out by Doyle (2006: 449), “a reliance
on ‘experts’ to help explain and interpret news developments is prevalent within
financial and economic news coverage.” Words expressing epistemic modality (e.g.
probably, could, pourrait, devrait) or referring to estimates or forecasts tend to be
used around approximators in these contexts, as Examples (25) to (27) illustrate.
(25) The Council of Economics and Business Research is forecasting that between
100,000 and 135,000 shopworkers will lose their jobs this year. (BENews)