Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory

Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 14 Issue 1 -

Issue of Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available April 7, 2018

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iii

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April 7, 2018

Using the parameters of the Zipf–Mandelbrot law to measure diachronic lexical, syntactical and stylistic changes – a large-scale corpus analysis

Alexander Koplenig

Page range: 1-34

Abstract

Using the Google Ngram Corpora for six different languages (including two varieties of English), a large-scale time series analysis is conducted. It is demonstrated that diachronic changes of the parameters of the Zipf–Mandelbrot law (and the parameter of the Zipf law, all estimated by maximum likelihood) can be used to quantify and visualize important aspects of linguistic change (as represented in the Google Ngram Corpora). The analysis also reveals that there are important cross-linguistic differences. It is argued that the Zipf–Mandelbrot parameters can be used as a first indicator of diachronic linguistic change, but more thorough analyses should make use of the full spectrum of different lexical, syntactical and stylometric measures to fully understand the factors that actually drive those changes.

April 6, 2018

Register variation by Spanish users of English: The Nijmegen Corpus of Spanish English

Huib Kouwenhoven, Mirjam Ernestus, Margot van Mulken

Page range: 35-63

Abstract

English serves as a lingua franca in situations with varying degrees of formality. How formality affects non-native speech has rarely been studied. We investigated register variation by Spanish users of English by comparing formal and informal speech from the Nijmegen Corpus of Spanish English that we created. This corpus comprises speech from 34 Spanish speakers of English in interaction with Dutch confederates in two speech situations. Formality affected the amount of laughter and overlapping speech and the number of Spanish words. Moreover, formal speech had a more informational character than informal speech. We discuss how our findings relate to register variation in Spanish.

April 6, 2018

Recent change in the productivity and schematicity of the way-construction: A distributional semantic analysis

Florent Perek

Page range: 65-97

Abstract

This paper presents a corpus-based study of recent change in the English way -construction, drawing on data from the 1830s to the 2000s. Semantic change in the distribution of the construction is characterized by means of a distributional semantic model, which captures semantic similarity between verbs through their co-occurrence frequency with other words in the corpus. By plotting and comparing the semantic domain of the three senses of the construction at different points in time, it is found that they all have gained in semantic diversity. These findings are interpreted in terms of increases in schematicity, either of the verb slot or the motion component contributed by the construction.

April 7, 2018

A multivariate analysis of the partitive genitive in Dutch. Bringing quantitative data into a theoretical discussion

Dirk Pijpops, Freek Van de Velde

Page range: 1-33

Abstract

This article takes a usage-based perspective on the partitive genitive construction in Dutch ( iets moois , ‘something beautiful’), which has previously drawn scholarly attention from a theoretical perspective, due to the challenges it presents to Dutch nominal morphosyntax. We will argue that a good understanding of the construction at issue cannot circumvent the enormous variation in the expression of the genitive marker. Within the wide variation space, regular patterns can be discerned, which we uncovered by using mixed-effects logistic regression. This approach allows us to assess the precise contribution of internal factors (e.g. length of the adjective, or the type of quantifier) and external factors (e.g. regional variety, or register), as well as their interactions. This article has three objectives then: first, it wants to contribute to the description of Dutch syntax, second it aspires to advance methodological standards in grammatical investigation, and third, it makes a theoretical plea for a usage-based perspective, with full recognition of variation.

April 6, 2018

Log-likelihood and odds ratio: Keyness statistics for different purposes of keyword analysis

Punjaporn Pojanapunya, Richard Watson Todd

Page range: 133-167

Abstract

Keyword analysis is used in a range of sub-disciplines of applied linguistics from genre analyses to critically-oriented studies for different purposes ranging from producing a general characterization of a genre to identifying text-specific ideological issues. This study compares the use of log-likelihood (LL), a probability statistic, and odds ratio (OR), an effect size statistic, for keyword identification and argues that the two methods produce different keywords applicable to research focusing on different purposes. Through two case studies, keyword analyses of advance fee scams against the British National Corpus and research articles in applied linguistics against research articles from other academic disciplines, we show that both the LL and OR keywords concern the aboutness of the corpus, but differ in their specificity and pervasiveness through the corpus. LL highlights words which are relatively common in general use serving genre purposes, whereas OR highlights more specialized words serving critically-oriented purposes. Methodological and practical contributions to keyword analysis are discussed.

April 7, 2018

Prosodic modeling and position analysis of pragmatic markers in English conversation

Jesús Romero-Trillo

Page range: 169-195

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate the use of three of the most frequent pragmatic markers in English conversation in the London-Lund Corpus, i.e. “well”, “you know” and “I mean”. Specifically, the aim is to study the characteristics of the prosodic patterns and the Tone Unit position in the realization of pragmatic functions by the markers. The article combines the thorough analysis of the corpus data with the description of the function of these elements in the realization of Adaptive Context within the Dynamic Model of Meaning approach to pragmatics and communication.

About this journal

Objective
Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory (CLLT) is a peer-reviewed journal publishing high-quality original corpus-based research focusing on theoretically relevant issues in all core areas of linguistic research, or other recognized topic areas. It provides a forum for researchers from different theoretical backgrounds and different areas of interest that share a commitment to the systematic and exhaustive analysis of naturally occurring language. Contributions from all theoretical frameworks are welcome but they should be addressed at a general audience and thus be explicit about their assumptions and discovery procedures and provide sufficient theoretical background to be accessible to researchers from different frameworks.

Topics

Corpus Linguistics
Quantitative Linguistics
Phonology
Morphology
Semantics
Syntax
Pragmatics

Article formats
Research Articles

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