universidade federal de santa catarina pós-graduação em letras ...

241Explicit reference in the form of date in parentheses can be found much morefrequently in linguistics (every 709 words) than in chemistry (2,457 words) or economics(4,014 words). Recurrent explicit reference may signal that a given concept is not widelyaccepted in the discipline and that terminology is not univocally defined.Example [L#13] below highlights the general tendency for internal dissent inlinguistics through the use of characterizations such as “pseudoattempt”, “inconsistency”associated with the word concept:[L#13]... there is, indeed, but a pseudoattempt at defining the concept of(morphological) naturalness ex negativo (p. 3)... [J]ust to cite one case ofinconsistency, in contradiction to the very first claims in L, examples offrequency, language economy, or statistical evidence used as unexplainedarguments in favor of morphological naturalness abound in every chapter...Instead of showing their hand by giving a concise and comprehensible definition,the authors leave too much to the reader's ability to read between the lines.Apparently, concepts do not easily find consensual acceptance among practitionersin the field, even though, in some cases, they have been around for more than threedecades, as, for example, Chomsky’s transformational grammar rules that still todayconstitute an issue for discussion (see, for example, Sokolik (1990) on the discussion ofLinear vs. Connectionist models).Economics is mid-way in the continuum of intensity of internal controversy thatstretches between chemistry and linguistics. Although the word “concept” also appears incontexts that signal controversy (as in linguistics), the bibliographic information about itssource is disregarded (as in chemistry). Among other things, absence of reference signals