Thematic variation in English and Spanish newspaper genres 271
Thematic Heads functioning as Sensers in mental processes are rarely used in both
languages (English 6.90%, Spanish 6.42%), but the analysis revealed a larger num-
ber of these items in commentaries with the function of introducing opinions, as
in (25) and (26) below (Thematic Heads as Sensers in bold):
(25) 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. (The Vanishing Bomb. Comment 2)
(26) El pasado 4 de octubre Holanda decidía así adquirir por 16.800 millones de
euros los activos de esta entidad en su territorio. (Holanda inyectará 10.000
millones en el grupo ING. Report 4)
‘The last 4th October Holland decided to pay 16.800€ millions for the assets
of this entity in its territory’
Existential processes are used only in English commentaries in a low percentage
of the cases (6.90%), also to present an opinion, as illustrated in (27) and (28):
(27) 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. (The Limits of Energy Innovation. Comment 3)
(28) There is also the risk that nuclear weapons may fall into the hands of non-state
actors, such as terrorist groups. (The Vanishing Bomb. Comment 2)
6.1.2 The semantic nature of the noun groups realizing the Thematic Head
The analysis revealed that noun groups are the most frequent realisation of
Thematic Heads in both genres and languages (over 50%), as illustrated in (29):
(29) 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.
(The Vanishing Bomb. Comment 2)
Genre-related differences were observed in the semantic nature of such Noun
Groups. Thus, while news reports favoured the use of concrete nouns (63.69%)
rather than abstract ones (14.46%), the opposite tendency was observed in com-
mentaries, which showed a preference for the use of abstract nouns (40.10%)
over concrete ones (30.90%). This difference proved to be statistically significant
(p < 0.05).