Premodifying: coordination and hyphenation

Premodifiers are often coordinated in academic styles, thus avoiding repetition of the noun head: (noun phrases in green, coordinated premodifiers in bold type)

For both normal and oblique incidence, the stochastic and deterministic theories are equivalent in the limit of long propagation distances. (compare with the uncoordinated alternative: For normal incidence and oblique incidence,…)

and that sole parents and disability support pensioners should be required to demonstrate some form of social or economic participation in return for receiving income support.

Hyphenated compound adjectives are frequent, and these also contribute to the integration and condensation of information. They often reflect the condensation of a noun and its complement phrase: (noun phrases in green, hyphenated premodifiers in bold type)

Spiral galaxies have a disc-like appearance, with distinct, spiral-shaped arms on which most of the stars reside.
(compare the noun-complement alternative: Spiral galaxies have an appearance similar to a disc, with distinct arms in the shape of a spiral on which most of the stars reside.)

These unusual outcomes have a number of policy-relevant implications for sustainable development.
(compare: … a number of implications (which are) relevant to policy for sustainable development.)

[back]