Topic 3

(1) Never walk backward.

(2) Never walk backwards.

Different preferences for backward and backwards in British and American English and changes between the 1960s and 1990s.

(1) Never walk backward.

(2) Never walk backwards.

Different preferences for backward and backwards in British and American English and changes between the 1960s and 1990s.

(1) Never walk backward.

(2) Never walk backwards.

Different preferences for backward and backwards in varieties of English world-wide.                                                     

(1) The instructor gave each participant three tasks.

(2) The instructor gave three tasks to each participant.

Retrieving abstract construction types from a parsed corpus.                                                                                                                       

(1) I'm going to see the doctor.

(2) I'm gonna see the doctor.

Any changes in the frequency of the construction and in the percentage of contraction between older and younger speakers?                                   

(1) I want to see the doctor.

(2) I wanna see the doctor.

Any changes in the frequency of the construction and in the percentage of contraction between older and younger speakers?                                   

(1) I was introduced to a pretty nurse.

(2) I was introduced to a pretty ugly nurse.

Disambiguating different word classes with the help of Part-of-Speech tags; comparing percentages across different text types.                                   

(1) I was introduced to a pretty nurse.

(2) I was introduced to a pretty ugly nurse.

Disambiguating different word classes with the help of Part-of-Speech tags; comparing percentages across different text types.              

(1) I was introduced to a pretty nurse.

(2) I was introduced to a pretty ugly nurse.

Disambiguating different word classes with the help of Part-of-Speech tags; comparing percentages across different text types.         

(1) The guide sold/offered each tourist three tickets.

(2) The guide sold/offered three tickets to each tourist.

Retrieving abstract construction types from a parsed corpus; comparing the behaviour of different verbs.                                    

(1) I got married when I was 18.

(2) I should have got/gotten married before I left Mexico.

Development of the get V-ed construction and the competition between got and gotten                                                                                                                                                     

(1) Never walk backward.

(2) Never walk backwards.

Different preferences for backward and backwards in varieties of English world-wide.                                                                           

Keywords are defined as words that occur significantly more often in one text than they do in another.

With modern corpus software, it has become fairly easy to compile keyword lists. For a keyword analysis with AntConc, we compare a specialized corpus against a reference corpus. The resulting keyword list could give us, for example, a glimpse of the thematic focus of the text.

In this task you will:

• Create a keyword list of a corpus with AntConc
• Analyse the resulting list

• Familiarize yourself with the concept of part-of-speech tags and their use in corpus queries
• Use the concordance function in AntConc to explore the context of the verb "to love" in two different corpora

Keywords are defined as words that occur significantly more often in one text than they do in another.

With modern corpus software, it has become fairly easy to compile keyword lists. Comparing two keyword lists can yield all sorts of interesting results.

In this task you will:

• Compare two keyword lists against each other
• Come up with a meaningful system for categorizing the entries
• Analyse both keyword lists

(1) However, I believe this is but a drop in the ocean. (BNC GXG 4982)

(2) The proceeds from such sales are a drop in the bucket . (COCA 4012269)

Do the corpora hint at one of the idioms being distinctly British or American?

(1) the, to, of, and, a, in, I, is

(2) academicianship, wooldworkers, wordshaking, tarpapered, swallowtailed

How strong is the correlation between word frequency and word length?

(1) There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing.

(2) Another one makes himself poor, but has great riches.

The transition from the 3rd pers. sg. inflection -th to -s in two different verbs.                                                                                                      

(1) He was a young man of one and twenty years of age.

(2) He was a young man of twenty and one years of age.

(3) He was a young man of twenty-one years of age.

The transition from unit-and-ten to ten-before-unit in the history of English.                                                                                                           

... meseemeth I have done you good service.

She beseemeth afar the fairest lady that ever I looked upon.

Loans from Latin: plant, wine, kitchen, cheese, dish, street, mile, pound, inch, mill, cheap

Loans from French: cattle, pocket, catch, launch, pinch, marriage, demand, judge, parish, furious

Is it
Horn fond sittinde Arnoldin ...
or
Horn fond sittinge Arnoldin ... ?

The dialectal distribution of -and(e), -ind(e), -end(e) etc. vs. -ing(e), -yng(e) etc. in Middle English