lie on the basis of versus "lie at the basis of"?

Question

I often read in scientific papers a sentence of the form "X lies on the basis of Y." or "X lies at the basis of Y." to indicate that Y is caused by X in some fundamental way. Are both forms valid and common? (Maybe both are poor English?)

Answer 1

Both phrases are somewhat awkward, with the latter being much more common in English.

I've read many a scientific paper with terrible grammar/wording — some so badly that detracts from the evidence presented. Typically, when scientists wish to use this type of phrase, they're relying on 'X' as the premise of 'Y'.

Phrases like this would benefit if they were rephrased to the following or something similar: "Given X, Y must be...", "X is necessary to understand why Y...", or even the simple "X. Thus, Y."

I would recommend checking out Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams, especially if you are in any kind of higher education or professional field that requires you to do any sort of writing, from emails to memos to research articles.

Answer 2

"X lies on the basis of Y" seems to imply that X is caused by Y, not vice versa. This is because "ON the basis" suggests that X relies ON Y, or that X occurrence is dependent on Y. In contrast, "X lies at the basis of Y" implies that X is the base of the problem, since lying AT the basis indicates it is the "bottom most" concept. Everything else must come from this basis X, so Y depends on X. Personally, I would phrase it as "X is the root cause of Y" or "X is the basis for Y" to reduce ambiguity. The word "lies" seems a bit unnecessary, and only causes the phrase to be unclear.