Using Corpora at Work

Dr Pernilla DanielssonCentre for Corpus Linguistics

University of Birmingham

An Introduction to Meaningful Linguistics

The Birmingham Centre for Corpus Linguistics Why use corpora? Live Corpus Linguistics!

Birmingham Centre for Corpus Linguistics, founded 2000

Prof Wolfgang TeubertDr Geoff BarnbrookDr Susan HunstonMr Oliver MasonMs Louise MattyMs Anna CermakovaMs Michaela MahlbergMr Andrew Sayers

Dr Chang BaobaoDr Hu Junfeng

What about me?

MA (Computational Linguistics) and PhD from Goteborg University

Master Thesis on MT system METAL Compiled a Swedish–English Parallel Corpus; PEDANT,

together with colleague Dr Daniel Ridings Worked on the ALLEX project, Zimbabwe Frequent lecturer and computer consultant at John Sinclair’s

Tuscan Word Centre BIRMINGHAM: Project Manager of the EU–funded project

TELRI, Research Fellow, Deputy Director. Project Manager of The Chinese-English Parallel Corpus

CCL Projects

MONOLINGUAL CORPORA: Bank of English – COBUILD Birmingham (450M w) The Monitor Corpus (billions…) (New!)

MULTILINGUAL CORPORA Chinese English Translation Database (New!) European Languages (EUROVOCAB) (New!)

TELRI - Trans European Language Resources Infrastructure. 1994-2002

TRACTOR – TELRI Research Archive of Computational Tools and Resources, 1998 - ongoing

Home of the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics

Monitor Corpus: Study language Change

activities which are eating up green-field sites and privatising open space." and death. There was a large green field, covered with bodies. They seemed also considered moving to a green-field site in Bridgend. <p> But it is play football on a large green field next to a community centre. Every might otherwise be just a new green-field or, in these cases often a brown- that does not even have a green field. Had BMW thought things through, a well as generating pressure for green-field housing development, many Sheet. This says that 17 green-field sites, comprising up to 6,500 acres countryside. Simple images of green field, stone walls, quiet cottages anduite abandoned the hope that a green-field site in their region might be in the region, some for green-field sites, but most for former state away from the traditional green field campus with landscaped lawns, he has chosen himself a very green field. The godfather of Australian buckets of milk across a green field against a backdrop of snow-capped at all. Suzuki has chosen a green field site in the north of the country up from scratch on a toally green field site. So I, Cranfield is mainly, it up from scratch on a totally green field site. Cranfield is mainly, funded from shutdown through to a green field site. But to date, no full-size

Monitor Corpus: study neologism

certain rules in their joint globalisation strategy. They have agreed that bad to continue with the current globalisation strategy. But if he wants to expected to discuss the issues of globalisation and to commit new Labour to an is an inevitable consequence of globalisation," he said. <p> <h> Alfred the long term, with a growing globalisation and consolidation of its We have to unite, to fight the globalisation that disempowers us and <p> In an age of supposed globalisation, where a product comes from on the problems associated with globalisation with a new book, her eleventh, of ministers. But technology and globalisation are racing ahead. Uncensored if BT is to make a success of globalisation it has not covered itself in slimming bloated organisations. Globalisation of most industries has exerted like-minded commentators say globalisation of markets makes raw materialsinconclusive debate looked at the globalisation of the sport, suggesting that a ignore their elders and embrace globalisation. Figures published yesterday by lead to problems later # Since globalisation will be the flavour of the new from the relentless push towards globalisation. While investors should catch on. The trouble is that globalisation of the market place is too Consider: in recent years, the globalisation of the car industry meant thatthe environment these days is the globalisation of hot air. However, there is a Svengali and the apostle of globalisation. What is notable about this some truth in all the talk about globalisation and all those new, cheap front in the battle for true globalisation (Mark Baldwin writes). A

Why Use Corpora:The Object of Study

Unlike many other scientific studies, language specialists have no concrete object. Compare it with biology and astronomy, for example.

Karl Popper urged us all to create object of studies in the pursue of scientific evidence.

Corpus linguistics is not against intuition

Human Memory; how do we access language?– Word? Or Multi-Word Units of Meaning

Analytic vs Holistic Alison Wright)

(Lexicography: lumpers and splitters)

Corpora flattens the language

Corpus Linguistics is not necessarily word count and statistical calculations

Statistics may give a snapshot of the context, but it is not a direct link to meaning

Distribution of words (Zipf, G.K. The Psycho-Biology of Language)

Corpus Linguistics offers more than just taking examples from text

Prof Tognini Bonelli (Lecce, Italy) Corpus-based:

– You apply your theories to a corpus; you justify your theories with corpus examples

Corpus-driven:– Your theories emerges from the corpus

Corpus Linguistics is more than just the paradigmatic axis

famous boots. On the stroke of full time the Stoke the lead on the stroke of half-time with a goal Smith sin-binned on the stroke of half-time, added a clinched their win on the stroke of lunch after resuming chase by declaring on the stroke of lunch. <p> With a lead expectant crowd, on the stroke of midday. The bird hour began not upon the stroke of midnight but upon the of midnight but upon the stroke of noon. There was, booked in advance. On the stroke of seven, a gong summons Promptly on the stroke of six 'clock, the chooks from Edinburgh on the stroke of the Millennium.

SYNTAGMATIC

Meaning emerges from texts; Meaning emerges from context

My pink dress

J. R. Firth

”[…] I propose to bring forward as a technical term, meaning by ’collocation’, and to apply the test of ’collocability’.” (Firth 1957[1951]:194)

“You shall know a word by the company it keeps!”, Firth (1968:179) when discussing Wittgenstein’s “the meaning of a word is in its use”.

From Words to larger Units of Meaning

Collocation Colligation Semantic preferences

Does size matter?

Sinclair: Small Corpora implies Early Human Intervention (EHI)

Large Corpora implies Delayed Human Intervention (DHI)

Sinclair, J. Preface In Ghadessy, M., Roseberry, R. and Henry, A. (eds.) The Use of Small Corpora in the Teaching of Language. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Young writers

Corpora and Language Teaching

“In the morning we saw a very strange man at the window. He had three eyes. And two horns on his forehead, as soon he knew we seen him disappeared like someone chasing him . Me and Clair had got worried so we had a little chat. Later on we were cooking our tea” (The Haunted House)

Young Writers1: Scared

Shitless Witless Wits Stiff Shit .. awfully rabbit

Shitless

It mightn't show, but I'm scared shitless." <p> Me, too. And I'm more used

Are you really nervous?" I'm scared shitless," he said, as they drove up to the

If you want to know, I was scared shitless.' She reached up and held his face

dam went on, `the old guy's scared shitless. So's my brother.' Didn't even

Because basically I am scared shitless, I have spent the past 20 minutes

I was so nervous, I was scared shitless,'' Carol reveals, before adding,

We're all scared shitless for him. I think his life is in

I USED to be scared shitless about the Job [the police force]

Scared witless

you scared me witless; Go; Motoring </hl> <bl> Andy

It is because they are scared witless of the checkout. With good reason.

was when they were scared witless by the rise and rise of Pauline

The French authorities - scared witless by the mayhem in Marseille a week

y ride in gold-plate F1 scared me witless </hl> <bl> Jeremy Clarkson. And

Matthew is also scared witless when sinister Steve pulls a real

but the idea of a hawk scared me witless. I was absolutely terrified the

That’s your plan, wasn't it? To scare me witless so that I would leave and

She scared me witless. The problem arose during one of

It scared me witless to walk down the high street or

Scared wits

Parker was also scared out of her wits. In a river swimming scene she

the chance to be scared out of their wits. But until now, no psychologist

surprise. <p> I was scared out of my wits, racked by regret and almost

an ice floe. I was scared out of my wits," he says. `People who work there

plays. <p> I was scared out of my wits!" she said in her half-Brooklyn,

Young Writers2: Wind

|Collocations to Wind Gust, gusted Howling Blustery Sighing Blowing Funnelling Buffeting Blustery Flapped

Wind gusted

final day the pressure was on, as the wind gusted to their peak performance saw the yellow flash. A burst of hot wind gusted through his hair. He could graves from group to group. The hard wind gusted and flapped continuously, dropped to 60 degrees below and the wind gusted up to 50 knots, conditions so

  motorbike was blown by ca gust of wind into the path of a crane.

and seeing it blown off in a gust of wind, the unfancied Frenchman seemingly the windowless house, a gust of wind pried loose a section of sheet-metalback of his own police van. A gust of wind blew the prisoner cage door shut as A strong, moisture-laden gust of wind came off the ocean. I shivered out of her hangar. A sudden gust of wind can smash her against the door, andalready fallen, and with each gust of wind Elaine had heard flutters in theand tell the world.' Another gust of wind seemed to blow through the room. The when yet another mysterious gust of wind segues into an unearthly moan,

 10. Funnelling  exposed to the full force of the wind funnelling up the Bristol Channel, Port Moresby, `it's because of high wind funnelling up the gorge - even the valleys can sometimes be affected by wind funnelling down the valley. The[BACK]    11. Buffeting to respond to the buffeting of the wind, which can cause considerable damage shape which would shrug off wind buffeting. </p> <p> The Titan is classic.<LTH> With a strong wind buffeting the bunch, there was[BACK] 12. Blowing  in for a rude shock. `With a strong wind blowing over his left shoulder, Read Straws in the unseasonally keen wind blowing about Centurion Parka sodden playing surface and a strong wind blowing across the park, Heriot's black and there was 50 knots of wind blowing," Mr Holt said. By 10pm, we past midnight, a cold northwesterly wind blowing strong and presaging a <p> Tea," I said. There was a cold wind blowing up here and it was such a[BACK] 13. Howling hip in the middle of winter with the wind howling down the Clyde. <p> It's yelling to be heard over the howling wind and groaning snow. `We better take when he was eighteen years old. the wind was howling, angry, whirling. A few canopy over it, I could hear the wind howling around me and see the rain devoid of human life. Howling wind and the odd seagull's cry punctuate getting out of the bath with a cold wind howling." Work was very slow to which has the emotional gust of the wind howling through the trees at report </h> <p> A howling northern wind, a rocky outcrop and an impenetrable I lie in our bed and listen to the wind howling round the house and hear the to bed. </p> <p> Next morning the wind was howling, rain was pouring and[BACK] 14. Blustery not unduly unsettled by the blustery wind and, above all else, putted well. was surprisingly cold. A blustery wind blew in from Wisconsin, seventy by the blustery conditions. The wind which caused Young's mistake almost and a blustery, limb-sapping wind made the seven-mile circuit of

Young Writers 3: Odd verb choices

“I walked over to the door, thoughts rationally buzzed through my head. I opened the door and screamed, I saw the wild beast scamper across the room” (All alone in the countryside House)

Scamper

bleating call can be heard as they scamper away among rocks. <224> without a safety net. At first they scamper around the set like elegant

though-like small children, they scamper round your feet, babbling some

called Bullseye and Byron to scamper round their little balls ('oooh #

some sticky moments when he had to scamper to keep up with Tony Blair's

fumbled, allowing the batsmen to scamper through. Of the home side's

A little Heathkit robot would scamper out in the hall from the software

 

Alternative verb for scamper

Let’s look at two other words which might be used instead. If we think of the wild beast to be big like an elephant or a rhino, it might be useful to use verbs which are often used to describe them. Click on rhinos and dinosaurs, and then elephants and see which two verbs you find in our examples.

Stampede and trample

turn into quicksand, and a stampede of rhinos comes bursting through <hl> Eagles eclipsed by Rhinos' stampede; Rugby League; Match report </hl>near Winton, record a dinosaur stampede across a billabong millions ofhad tried to wait for the bulls to stampede past him, squashing himself competition could become a Bulls stampede if Queensland can follow the gardiens <f> managed to turn the stampede. They let the bulls graze for a before the bulls resumed their stampede. By mid-afternoon, the Dow had bull at the head of the seven-year stampede of bulls. Her rise has beenalong the lines of a buffalo stampede. <p> Nor are we concerned that the in Cinerama. They had a buffalo stampede that went over the camera, which enter contests.<LTH> <LHH> Buffalo stampede <LTH> As grunge becomes the kindhad been, and what an elephant stampede across the keys her own early go - Merciful Heavens! Is that a stampede of rogue elephants coming?' Shewith gold elephants, has managed to stampede his way up the ratings and should

 

TRAMPLE

is angry, particularly when roaming elephants and buffalo trample their corn

them an incentive not to kill elephants when they trample crops. </p> <p>

machine. `Do you want to use 16 elephants to trample down the forest or

card with you when you call. <hl> Elephants trample 4 </hl> <dt> 23 October

[BACK]

 

LIVE CORPUS LINGUISTICS!

Can you define the token eye for me?

How to interpret a press release from the University? Expectations and irony…on+the+1,1of Do you finish or complete your breakfast? What else do you use sign for, apart from signing the

bill? At the airport, I saw a big sign saying:

– “Excuse me, rebuild inside”

When is stand out taken in its literal meaning?

This is not an English test! See Swedish politicians.

UNIVERSITY SET TO GO FOOTBALL CRAZY!

With more than 30,000 staff and students from all over the world, the traditionally reserved University of Birmingham is gearing up for an unprecedented outbreak of World Cup fever.

 

Heads of school and department managers will be turning a blind eye as employees take time out from their duties to watch their home nation compete in the tournament.

 Special arrangements have been made so that lecturers,

researchers and support staff can come to the campus ahead of early morning kick-offs and watch the action accompanied by their cosmopolitan colleagues and a hearty World Cup special breakfast in the staff bar.

                                                                   

Eye…

… 对 装作不见 : pretend not to see 肉眼 : naked eye 照看；留意 (look after; pay attention to)

The End 谢谢你。