Evolution of Linguistic Patterns in Scientific Writing in Portuguese: An Analysis with NILC-Metrix

2026-04-12 · Source: Paper Index on ACL Anthology · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Data Science & Analytics · Depth: Advanced, quick

Summary

A study analyzed the evolution of linguistic patterns in over 10,000 Portuguese article abstracts from the Brazilian Computer Society, published between 2020 and 2025. Researchers applied 72 linguistic metrics from NILC-Metrix and conducted statistical comparisons (t-tests) between a 2020–2022 reference period and subsequent years. The analysis revealed significant linguistic transformations beginning in 2023, characterized by structural simplification, increased lexical density, altered discursive strategies, and changes in connective usage. By 2024 and 2025, more than 95% of the articles exhibited multiple metrics significantly distinct from the reference period.

Key takeaway

For researchers and editors in scientific publishing, understanding the observed linguistic shifts in Portuguese abstracts is crucial. These changes, including structural simplification and increased lexical density, suggest an evolving communication style that may impact clarity and accessibility. You should consider these trends when drafting or reviewing submissions to ensure alignment with contemporary academic discourse and reader expectations.

Key insights

Scientific writing in Portuguese abstracts evolved significantly from 2023, showing simplification and increased lexical density.

Principles

• Linguistic patterns in scientific writing are dynamic.
• Metrics can quantify stylistic shifts over time.

Method

The study applied 72 NILC-Metrix linguistic metrics to abstracts and performed t-tests to compare reference periods.

In practice

• Monitor linguistic trends in academic publications.
• Use NILC-Metrix for stylistic analysis.

Topics

• Linguistic Patterns
• Scientific Writing
• Portuguese Language
• NILC-Metrix
• Lexical Density

Best for: NLP Engineer, AI Scientist, Research Scientist, Data Scientist

Related on AIssential

• From sunblock to softblock: Analyzing the correlates of neology in published writing and on social media — Neology correlates similarly across published writing and social media, though topic popularity's influence varies.
• A Lexicon-Grammar of Brazilian Portuguese Predicative Adjectives — A new machine-readable lexicon for Brazilian Portuguese predicative adjectives was created with 36 syntactic properties.
• Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computational Processing of Portuguese (PROPOR 2026) - Vol. 2 — This volume compiles research from the 17th PROPOR conference on Portuguese computational processing.
• Towards a Linguistic Evaluation of Narratives: A Quantitative Stylistic Framework — Linguistic features can quantitatively assess narrative quality, distinguishing professional from self-published works.
• Most Influential NAACL Papers (2025-09 Version) — Citation-based rankings reveal evolving research priorities and enduring impact within NLP.
• PorTEXTO: A European Portuguese Benchmark for Visual Text Extraction — Specialized multilingual data significantly improves European Portuguese OCR performance over model size or resolution.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Paper Index on ACL Anthology.