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Corpus Linguistics: Counting words, texts or featuresMike Scott, University of Liverpool
Corpus Linguistics Summer Institute June-July 2008
Aims
to identify what is in principle countable using CL techniques
to consider what it is in principle desirable to count and why
No, not that kind of sentence
What have we got, anyway?
electronic texts is anything missing?
What is a text, anyway?
What we’re looking at
Words in Textssentencesparagraphs
sectionskey words
etc.
Words in the Brainmemory e.g. tip-of-the-tongue
word associationsenjoyment
priming
Words in the Languagelexicographyterminology,
phraseology, etc.patterns of “standard English”
Words in Culturecultural key words,
indicators of class andstance, bias, etc.
What is countable?
characters word-forms parts of speech sentences headings? paragraphs? lines? pages? other divisions (section, chapter) if marked up utterances turns grammatical sequences
What isn’t countable?
metaphors semantic prosody patterns
because these are abstractions
though we have to try …
by seeking various markers, frames signalling these abstractions
recognising, however, that 1 form ≠ 1 function
Corpus Linguistics is all about pattern-seeking!
Why counting, anyway?
search for interpretations understanding re-defining categories
via patterns WordSmith
What should we count?
the question of focus the question of scope pointfulness: the search for patterns the POS-trap
metadata are used to forget the data (François Rastier)
Reference
Scott, M. & C. Tribble, 2006. Textual Patterns: keyword and corpus analysis in language education, Amsterdam: Benjamins. Chapters 1 & 2.