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Corpus Linguistics

Corpus Linguistics. martin.wynne@it.ox.ac.uk ylva.berglund@it.ox.ac.uk http://tinyurl.com/669o4zt. Do you agree?. [the pattern where going to is used for future reference] “ is very common, indeed, probably more common than sentences with WILL and SHALL in ordinary conversation ”

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Corpus Linguistics

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  1. Corpus Linguistics martin.wynne@it.ox.ac.uk ylva.berglund@it.ox.ac.uk http://tinyurl.com/669o4zt

  2. Do you agree? [the pattern where going to is used for future reference] “is very common, indeed, probably more common than sentences with WILL and SHALL in ordinary conversation” (Palmer 1965:63, 1974:37) Palmer, F. R. 1965. A linguistic study of the English verb. London: Longman. -- 1974. The English verb. London: Longman. .

  3. How do you know? • Trust your intuition • See what others have said about it • Look at how language is used • Observer’s paradox • Objectivity • Representativeness

  4. Use a corpus!!!

  5. What is a corpus? • A collection of naturally occurring language data compiled to mirror a language or language variety • (Usually) computer-readable • (Sometimes) contains more than text (for example annotation, metadata, other media)‏

  6. How can a corpus help? • ‘Real language’ – language in use • Based on a variety of sources • See several examples • Look for patterns to see (irr)regularities • Quantify

  7. For what do you use a corpus? • Compare variants • Which is more frequent? In what context? • Compare text types/genres/speakers • Who uses more slang? What is typical of the language of XX? • Look for a feature • Does it exist, where/how is it used? • Quantify results • Identify patterns of use • …

  8. Course outline More info: http://tinyurl.com/669o4zt • 6 sessions • Separate topics • Connected but not dependent on previous • Demonstrations and suggestions for practical tasks • Please register for each session via IT Services and cancel if you can’t attend!

  9. Outcome • Know how to ‘think corpus linguistics’ (CL) • Be able to read CL literature • Design CL studies • Perform CL studies • Have experience of some different corpora and tools • Know where to go for more information and advice

  10. What do you need to know to successfully use a corpus? • What’s in your corpus? • How do you find what you are looking for? • How do you make sense of what you find?

  11. Your result is only as good as the corpus you are using!!! John Sinclair

  12. How do you use a corpus? Traditionally: • Lexical starting point • Retrieve examples • examine quantitatively (count) • examine each in detail • Compare and contrast, summarise • The computer can help, but you need human input!!

  13. What do you borrow? And how? http://corpus.byu.edu/ Let’s try it!

  14. http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/

  15. Further reading See Weblearn: http://tinyurl.com/669o4zt • Reading list + List of corpora • Presentations and handouts Wynne (2008) ‘Searching and Concordancing’ (free pre-print at http://www.pala.ac.uk/resources/sigs/corpus-style/searching/handbook.html )

  16. Corpus Linguistics martin.wynne@it.ox.ac.uk ylva.berglund@it.ox.ac.uk http://tinyurl.com/669o4zt

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