Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice

✍ Scribed by Tony McEnery and Andrew Hardie

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 312
• Series: Cambridge textbooks in linguistics
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Corpus linguistics is the study of language data on a large scale - the computer-aided analysis of very extensive collections of transcribed utterances or written texts. This textbook outlines the basic methods of corpus linguistics, explains how the discipline of corpus linguistics developed and surveys the major approaches to the use of corpus data. It uses a broad range of examples to show how corpus data has led to methodological and theoretical innovation in linguistics in general. Clear and detailed explanations lay out the key issues of method and theory in contemporary corpus linguistics. A structured and coherent narrative links the historical development of the field to current topics in 'mainstream' linguistics. Practical tasks and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter encourage students to test their understanding of what they have read and an extensive glossary provides easy access to definitions of technical terms used in the text.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Corpus Linguistics......Page 3
CAMBRIDGE TEXTBOOKS IN LINGUISTICS......Page 5
In this series:......Page 6
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Figures......Page 12
Tables......Page 13
Acknowledgements......Page 14
Preface......Page 15
1.1 Introduction......Page 19
1.2 Mode of communication......Page 21
1.3 Corpus-based versus corpus-driven linguistics......Page 23
1.4.1 Monitor corpora......Page 24
1.4.2 The Web as Corpus......Page 25
1.4.3 The sample corpus approach......Page 26
1.4.4 Balance, representativeness and comparability......Page 28
1.4.5 'Opportunistic’ corpora and minority and endangered languages......Page 29
1.5 Annotated versus unannotated corpora......Page 31
1.6.1 Total accountability, falsifiability and replicability......Page 32
1.6.2 Data selection – not (necessarily) a bad thing......Page 34
1.7 Monolingual versus multilingual corpora......Page 36
Further reading......Page 39
2.1 Introduction......Page 43
2.2 Are corpora the answer to all research questions in linguistics?......Page 45
2.3.1 Metadata, markup and annotation......Page 47
2.3.2 Consistency of annotation......Page 49
2.4 Introducing concordances......Page 53
2.5.1 First-generation concordancers......Page 55
2.5.2 Second-generation concordancers......Page 57
2.5.3 Third-generation concordancers......Page 58
2.5.4 Fourth-generation concordancers......Page 61
2.6 Statistics in corpus linguistics......Page 66
2.6.1 Descriptive statistics......Page 67
2.6.2 Beyond descriptive statistics......Page 69
2.7 Summary......Page 71
Further reading......Page 72
3.2 The web and legal issues......Page 75
3.3 Ethical issues......Page 78
3.3.1 Ethics and respondents......Page 79
3.3.2 Ethics and corpus builders......Page 82
3.3.3 Ethics and corpus distributors......Page 83
3.3.4 Ethics and corpus users......Page 84
3.3.5 Some cases of ethically problematic research......Page 85
Further reading......Page 87
4.1 Introduction......Page 89
4.2 University College London (UCL)......Page 92
4.3 Lancaster University......Page 94
4.4 University of Birmingham......Page 97
4.5 Université Catholique de Louvain......Page 99
4.6 University of Nottingham......Page 102
4.7 Northern Arizona University and the USA......Page 106
Further reading......Page 109
5.2 Diachronic change from Old English to Modern English......Page 112
5.2.1 Some notable general historical corpora......Page 113
5.3 Diachronic variation in contemporary Modern English......Page 114
5.3.1 The Brown Family of corpora......Page 115
5.3.2 Results from the analysis of the Brown Family......Page 118
5.4.1 An overview of the MD method......Page 122
5.4.2 Applications of the MD approach......Page 126
5.4.3 Criticisms of Biber's MD methodology......Page 129
5.5 Corpora and variationist sociolinguistics......Page 133
5.6 Summary......Page 136
Further reading......Page 137
6.2 Collocation......Page 140
6.3 Discourse......Page 151
6.4 Semantic prosody and semantic preference......Page 153
6.5.1 The Idiom Principle......Page 160
6.5.2 Pattern Grammar......Page 161
6.5.3 Lexical Priming......Page 163
6.6.1 Data and theory......Page 165
6.6.2 Text sampling......Page 170
6.6.3 Corpus annotation......Page 171
6.6.4 Corpus linguistics and pre-existing theory......Page 175
6.7 Summary: Sinclair's contribution to corpus linguistics......Page 180
Further reading......Page 182
7.1 Introduction......Page 185
7.2 Functionalism in linguistics: a brief overview......Page 186
7.3 Corpus-based research from a functionalist perspective......Page 189
7.4 Corpora and typology......Page 194
7.5.1 Cognitive approaches to syntax......Page 197
7.5.2 From syntax to semantics......Page 201
7.6 Corpora in the analysis of metaphor......Page 203
7.7 Summary......Page 206
Further reading......Page 207
8.1 Introduction......Page 210
8.2.1 Corpus data in experiments on language processing......Page 211
8.2.2 Language acquisition and child language corpora......Page 216
8.2.3 Corpus data and the computational modelling of language acquisition......Page 221
8.2.4 Formulaic language......Page 223
8.2.5 Corpora in psycholinguistics: an afterword......Page 226
8.3 The convergence of neo-Firthian corpus linguistics and functionalist linguistics......Page 228
8.4 Summary......Page 239
Further reading......Page 240
9.2 The story of corpus linguistics, from past to future......Page 243
9.3 Revisiting old friends: computational linguistics......Page 245
9.4 The textually mediated world: the humanities and social sciences......Page 248
9.5 The challenge ahead: integrating corpora with new methods in linguistics......Page 251
9.6 The final word......Page 254
Glossary......Page 256
Notes......Page 272
References......Page 277
Index......Page 310