Corpus linguistics is taking an ever more significant place in the analysis of language, and contributing substantially to the way dictionaries and textbooks are written. Since the advent of computers these corpora have been growing in size, and, at the same time, in perceived authority. A presumed objectivity is combined with technological glitz to produce a scenario in which judgements based on corpus-led research have become prescriptive and even proscriptive. While the benefits of large-scale studies and the statistical analysis of language phenomena are recognised, this article presents a brief critique of current corpus linguistics in layman’s terms, and offers a proposal for a bottom-up approach to language analysis. Shakespeare’s Sonnet Cycle is then taken as the body of text for an initial experimentation in the use of a micro corpus. Some early findings are then very briefly described.
"Small Is Beautiful?" Shakespeare's Sonnets As a Linguistic Corpus
CHAPMAN, Richard
2014
Abstract
Corpus linguistics is taking an ever more significant place in the analysis of language, and contributing substantially to the way dictionaries and textbooks are written. Since the advent of computers these corpora have been growing in size, and, at the same time, in perceived authority. A presumed objectivity is combined with technological glitz to produce a scenario in which judgements based on corpus-led research have become prescriptive and even proscriptive. While the benefits of large-scale studies and the statistical analysis of language phenomena are recognised, this article presents a brief critique of current corpus linguistics in layman’s terms, and offers a proposal for a bottom-up approach to language analysis. Shakespeare’s Sonnet Cycle is then taken as the body of text for an initial experimentation in the use of a micro corpus. Some early findings are then very briefly described.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
