Evaluative Meanings and Disciplinary Values - eTheses Repository ...

The depended- entities in ALC are peculiar to the subject matter of this discipline (e.g.
things relevant to language activity), whereas those in BC constitute a somewhat broader
range of entities (e.g. business participants, research assumptions, states of affairs). In
particular, firm and performance co-occur in a specific way with the LSP dependent on N in
BC. 42 Let us consider the following concordances of this collocation.
[dependent on + firm]
[dependent on + performance]
Some concordances rather prioritize the independent relation rather than the dependent
situation through negatives such as not and less, but others express the dependent relation in a
negative way with the collocate negatively. These negative polarities not and negatively, the
contrastive conjunction however, and the comparative adverb less emphasize the contrast to
dependency, namely independency (Martin & Rose, 2007, p. 88). Although the first example
dependent on + performance seems to show no negative sense, a closer inspection of the
co-text causes the reader to reject this expectation, as in the following:
Potential liability from incorrect data is another issue. Once integrated, SCM will become dependent on
the performance of ERP systems. Without human monitoring, erroneous data from one partner's ERP
system could contaminate the SCM system and subsequently affect the operation of the entire supply
chain. System security is also a concern. (BC: Management2003_8)
42 While firm in some examples might be interpreted as adjective (e.g. firm size), it is possible to re-interpret firm size as the
size of firm, identifying that firm size is a double compound noun. Thus, I interpreted it as a noun, including the case of firm
performance.
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