Judicial Opinions as a Genre Simplex with an Embedding Structure

Genre embedding occurs as one specific means of genre hybridity.Previous studies remain limited in the discussion of elemental genres embedded in other elemental genres, which can hardly explain how large texts grow bigger.This study approaches genre embedding following the path of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).Based on a description of the generic structure of the United States Supreme Court opinions, the findings suggest that judicial opinions, on the top tier, function as a genre simplex and contain a multilayered genre embedding structure, and that a wider rank-shift genre embedding could occur in judicial opinions, namely a genre complex downranked as a stage wrapped in an elemental genre.This wider rank-shift genre embedding structure is considered to be a way of expanding the meaning potential of large texts as in judicial opinions, contributing to text cohesion and the depth of discussion.Grasping this structure helps readers appreciate large texts akin to the judicial opinions and cope with the complexity of genre hybridity embodied in these texts.