scholarly journals Corpus-based Approaches to Constructional Change

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hilpert
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Fine Grained

This chapter analyzes how corpus linguistics has significantly affected our understanding of constructional change. It describes three different kinds of constructional change, including changes in a construction's frequency, in its form, and in its function. The analysis reveals that, in all cases, the data retrieved from corpora can reveal fine-grained detail regarding the gradual nature of constructional change and facilitate the quantitative analysis that typifies much work on linguistic variation and change.

Mapping variation in Basque: The BiV database

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-374
Author(s):  
Beatriz Fernández ◽  
Ane Berro ◽  
Iñigo Urrestarazu ◽  
Itziar Orbegozo
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
User Friendly

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present the Euskara Bariazioan/Basque in Variation (BiV) database, a project launched by the Basque and Beyond (Bas&Be) research group. This open-access online database, available in both Basque and English versions, is intended to facilitate research on Basque morphosyntactic features that show cross-dialectal variation. Based on data obtained from questionnaires, the BiV provides the user with a description of each feature together with illustrative examples, and accompanies each entry with a map graphically depicting the distribution of variation. The resulting fine-grained picture of the distribution of morphosyntactic phenomena across Basque varieties has the ultimate goal of improving our understanding of the systematicities and connections that underlie variation. Thanks to its user-friendly format, the database can be used easily by anyone who is interested in Basque morphosyntax in particular and cross-linguistic variation in general. The results obtained thus far show that while some features have the same distribution across Basque varieties as that previously reported, others are spreading and thus have a wider geographical presence than has been described in the literature.

Phonological awareness errors mirror underlying phonological representations: Evidence from Hebrew L1 – English L2 adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susie Russak ◽  
Elinor Saiegh-Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Reading Disability ◽  
First Language ◽  
Phoneme Segmentation ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Insight Into

This article examines the effect of phonological context (singleton vs. clustered consonants) on full phoneme segmentation in Hebrew first language (L1) and in English second language (L2) among typically reading adults (TR) and adults with reading disability (RD) ( n = 30 per group), using quantitative analysis and a fine-grained analysis of errors. In line with earlier findings, overall mean scores revealed significant differences between the two groups. However, no qualitative differences were found. In both groups and languages, full phoneme segmentation overall scores for CVC stimuli were higher than CCVC stimuli. This finding does not align with previous findings, obtained from a phoneme isolation task, showing that isolation from a cohesive CV unit is the most difficult. A fine-grained analysis of errors was conducted to glean insight into this finding. The analysis revealed a preference for creating and preserving CV units in phoneme segmentation in both L1 and L2. This is argued to support the cohesion of the CV unit. The article argues that the effect of language-specific sub-syllabic representations on phonemic analysis may not be always observed in overall scores, yet it is reflected in specific patterns of phonological segmentation errors.

scholarly journals Unity in Diversity?: A Fine-Grained Approach to Linguistic Geography of Breton by Means of Dialectometry

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 137-174
Author(s):  
Tanguy Solliec ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Small Area ◽  
Local Variation ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Unity In Diversity

Local variation in Breton is a well known feature but aggregate analyses on this topic are still rare. A dialectometric approach, i.e. a computational method for comparing data from the different locations of a linguistic atlas, applied to the Nouvel Atlas Linguistique de la Basse-Bretagne (Le Dû 2001) but restrained to a small area at the center of the Lower-Brittany has identified a few phenomena involved in linguistic variation and has quantified their importance. We discuss these results in the light of the frequency of these facts for each site. This approach is an opportunity to associate basic corpus approach to linguistic geography for a better understanding of linguistic variation.

Identifying key sociophilological usage in plays and trial proceedings (1640–1760)

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Archer ◽  
Jonathan Culpeper
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Corpus Annotation ◽  
Personal Pronouns

In this paper, we argue that there is another approach to the study of historical pragmatics beyond those explicitly mentioned in Jacobs and Jucker (1995). We label this approach “sociophilology”. Moreover, we demonstrate how this approach can be effectively pursued by combining two corpus linguistics techniques: corpus annotation and “keyness” analysis. Specifically, we draw from the Sociopragmatic Corpus (1640–1760), an annotated subsection of comedy plays and drama proceedings taken from the Corpus of Dialogues 1560–1760, as a means of identifying the statistically-based style markers, or key items, associated with a number of social role dyads (including examiner to examinee and master/mistress to servant). We will show how such an approach might be used to uncover differential distributions of personal pronouns, interjections, imperative verbs, politeness formulae, etc., and how, by combining qualitative analysis with quantitative analysis, one can scrutinise such material for pragmatic import.

scholarly journals Teaching Specialised Translation Through Corpus Linguistics: Translation Quality Assessment and Methodology Evaluation and Enhancement by Experimental Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-825
Author(s):  
Natalie Kübler* ◽  
Alexandra Mestivier* ◽  
Mojca Pecman*
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Global Communication ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Translation Quality ◽  
Research Material ◽  
Current Context

In the current context of rapid and constant evolution of global communication and specialised discourses, the need for devising methods for ensuring both high quality levels of specialised translation and successful translation training is becoming a true challenge. Steady renewal in knowledge paradigms leads to an increase in term coinage, modifications in lexical and phraseological patterns, and accommodations in discourse conventions. This situation requires teachers in specialised translation to train future translators to develop the skills meant to help them adapt rapidly to change. The tools brought by corpus linguistics offer access to the language-in-the-making and continuously emerging knowledge fields. However, methods for their efficient exploitation in translation classes can still be improved. In the current study, we present the translation-teaching framework devised specifically for such contexts. It is based on corpus linguistics, terminology management, collaboration with experts, and the quantitative analysis of the quality of finished translations, which can then, in turn, be used to improve the overall framework and to provide research material on specialised translation problems.

Object and handling handshapes in 11 sign languages: towards a typology of the iconic use of the hands

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Nyst ◽  
Marta Morgado ◽  
Timothy Mac Hadjah ◽  
Marco Nyarko ◽  
Mariana Martins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Variation ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Data Set ◽  
European Origin ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Iconic Signs

Abstract This article looks at cross-linguistic variation in lexical iconicity, addressing the question of to what extent and how this variation is patterned. More than in spoken languages, iconicity is highly frequent in the lexicons of sign languages. It is also highly complex, in that often multiple motivated components jointly shape an iconic lexeme. Recent typological research on spoken languages finds tentative iconic patterning in a large number of basic lexical items, underlining once again the significance of iconicity for human language. The uncontested and widespread use of iconicity found in the lexicons of sign languages enables us to take typological research into lexical iconicity to the next level. Indeed, previous studies have shown cross-linguistic variation in: a) the use of embodying and handling handshapes in sign languages (mostly of European origin) and b) the frequency of space-based size depiction in African and European sign languages. The two types of variation may be interrelated, as handling handshapes may use space-based size depiction. In this study, we first replicate earlier studies on the distribution of embodying and handling handshapes, this time in a data set consisting of a relatively large set of sign languages (n = 11), most of which are used in Africa. The results confirm significant variation across these sign languages. These findings are then compared to the use of space-based size depiction, revealing that these patterns independently from the distribution of embodying/handling handshapes. We argue that the results call for expanding typological studies on representational strategies in iconic signs beyond the now relatively well studied instrument/manipulation alternation. Fine-grained analyses on a multitude of iconic features in signs are likely to reveal cross-linguistic variation in iconic tendencies in SL lexicons.

Refugee Debates in Kenya

2021 ◽  
pp. 132-184
Author(s):  
Lamis Elmy Abdelaaty
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Ethnic Politics ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Qualitative Interpretation ◽  
The World

To examine the mechanisms that shape asylum policy at a more fine-grained level, chapter 6 expands the analysis to cross-cutting pressures within the Kenyan parliament. Kenya is often considered a “crucial” case: it hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world; it is home one of to the largest refugee camps in the world; and it is the site of a grave, protracted refugee situation. Unlike previous work on refugees in Kenya, this chapter zooms in on parliamentary debates. Qualitative interpretation and quantitative analysis of statements about refugees show that these differ substantially, depending on whether they are being delivered by members of the foreign policy establishment or parliamentarians who represent domestic constituencies. The evidence presented in this chapter further bolsters the argument that asylum policy is indeed shaped by foreign policy and ethnic politics.

Using “On-the-Fly Corpus Linguistics” to Systematically Derive Word Definitions Using Inductive Abstraction and Reductionist Correlation Analysis

2015 ◽  
pp. 153-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Word Definitions

Computer jargon is something that can either unite people, or draw them apart. This chapter looks at definitions of the terms, ‘trolling,' ‘flame,' ‘flame-war' and ‘lurking,' as presented in specialist dictionaries, newspapers and through a survey of laypersons. The aim of the chapter was to see whether it was possible to objectively define terms using a quantitative analysis of qualitative data. The study finds that objectively determining a definition of a term requires a bigger dataset than is used for qualitative studies. It further notes that whilst there is a lot in common with expert definitions, the problem with drawing definitions from others is that whilst it might produce objective definitions they might not be accurate ones.

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