Corpus linguistics, anyone?

[SugarPlumFairy]

If you had to conduct a corpus research on language use of native speakers of English, which phenomenon would you be interested in?

The tools, you can use are:

1. frequency (the number of actual occurrences of a particular lexical item in the corpus,
e.g. the frequency of the word "literally" in spoken vs. written English)
2. collocations (two lexical items that frequently occur together,
e.g. "BIG man", but "LARGE number")
3. colligations (a lexical item is used in combination with a specific grammar structure,
e.g. "TO the naked eye")

I thought that I'd like to compare how English speakers use German loanwords (e.g. Poltergeist, Wanderlust, Schadenfreude etc.) as compared to German speakers, but there's not much data since these are low-frequency words.

 

[Progster]

As an EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher, collocations and colligations would be of most interest to me.

 

[Gerontius]

The simplification of language over time & how that either expedites or corrupts the transmission of thoughts.

 

[tree]

First I'd have to know what the terms "corpus research"/"corpus linguistics" meant.

Corpus linguistics is the study of a language as that language is expressed in its text corpus (plural corpora), its body of "real world" text. Corpus linguistics proposes that a reliable analysis of a language is more feasible with corpora collected in the field—the natural context ("realia") of that language—with minimal experimental interference.

Corpus linguistics - Wikipedia

This leaves me feeling like Bill, in this scene from King of the Hill:
I mainly just know about possums.

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

As an EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher, collocations and colligations would be of most interest to me.

Wow, you're an EFL teacher! English would also be my subject if I started working as a teacher (I studied Special Needs Education) but I decided to change subject and study Applied Linguistics as my master.
Using corpora for teaching and creating teaching material is a really fascinating topic. May I ask if there is anything in particular you or your students might find interesting?

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

The simplification of language over time & how that either expedites or corrupts the transmission of thoughts.

I'd love to study the change of language over time but I'm afraid I don't have the ressources, so I have to study language as it manifests itself in a particular point in time.
How do you think, the simplification of language could potentially corrupt the transmission of thoughts?

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

I`m guily of using German loanwords. I say schadenfreude, I call people kartoffelkopf and I say things like I`m a little verwirrt today. German is fun. A fun language.

Kartoffelkopf! Never heard this one Where did you pick that up?

 

[Gerontius]

I'd love to study the change of language over time but I'm afraid I don't have the ressources, so I have to study language as it manifests itself in a particular point in time.
How do you think, the simplification of language could potentially corrupt the transmission of thoughts?

A smaller vocabulary means less nuance; less nuance means that language itself is less useful for its purpose of trading ideas and concepts. We end up watching language degrade to the point where it is really useful mainly for pragmatic purposes and not for abstractions, effectively neutering philosophy--

Or,

Tiny word make everyone talk dumber.

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

First I'd have to know what terms "corpus research"/"corpus linguistics" meant.

Corpus linguistics is the study of a language as that language is expressed in its text corpus (plural corpora), its body of "real world" text. Corpus linguistics proposes that a reliable analysis of a language is more feasible with corpora collected in the field—the natural context ("realia") of that language—with minimal experimental interference.

Corpus linguistics - Wikipedia

This leaves me feeling like Bill, in this scene from King of the Hill:
I mainly just know about possums.

Good one
Don't worry, it's a very specific area of linguistics and kind of nerdy.

 

[tree]

@Gerontius
"Tiny word make everyone talk dumber."

Sort of like in the book, 1984.
Newspeak - Wikipedia

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

A smaller vocabulary means less nuance; less nuance means that language itself is less useful for its purpose of trading ideas and concepts. We end up watching language degrade to the point where it is really useful mainly for pragmatic purposes and not for abstractions, effectively neutering philosophy--

Or,

Tiny word make everyone talk dumber.

I see, you mean "simplification" in the sense that the range of vocabulary shrinks. Is this something that happens in English?

When I think of simplification, I think of the reductions of inflections. English has very few left, so word order is very important. I'm happy that my native language has cases and grammatical genders because for people who don't have this concept in their L1, it must be extremely difficult to understand it. However, languages can "lose" their cases, so this is something that could happen to German too one day...

 

[Judge]

Admittedly there are certain words that are quite explicit in German, yet would take many words in English to explain. Though I suspect most persons born into a western democracy are not so familiar with them.

Sicherheitsdienst, Volksgemeinschaft, Endloesung, Selektion, Schrecklichkeit, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, Volkspolizei, usw.

Not to mention some infamous acronyms as well. Though such terms tend to be taboo for Germans to speak of. However if you have a degree in totalitarian systems and authoritarian mass movements, such terms may be "par for the course".

In this respect, I don't see such terms as a manifestation of simplification. At least not in terms of explaining them in English. Yet in German, such words may mean a great deal without elaborate explanations in another language. This I see as a "convenience of language".

 

[Gerontius]

I see, you mean "simplification" in the sense that the range of vocabulary shrinks. Is this something that happens in English?

When I think of simplification, I think of the reductions of inflections. English has very few left, so word order is very important. I'm happy that my native language has cases and grammatical genders because for people who don't have this concept in their L1, it must be extremely difficult to understand it. However, languages can "lose" their cases, so this is something that could happen to German too one day...

German is a unique language which I think I would like to learn someday. In English things are simplifying rapidly which can be good, but also causes people to forget about the richness of language.

Personally I fear we are going to forget the words to describe beautiful, good, and true things, and end up with an artless language good only for commercial viability.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

@Gerontius
"Tiny word make everyone talk dumber."

Sort of like in the book, 1984.
Newspeak - Wikipedia

Then there is Nadsat in A Clockwork Orange, with words borrowed from Russian anf Cockney. Burgess, the author is a linguist.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

That was a good Movie.

 

[Progster]

May I ask if there is anything in particular you or your students might find interesting?

Of interest to students in particular are idioms and expressions, also regional variations or dialects, the differences between, for example, America English and that spoken in the UK. Americans use the word 'pants' and the British use the word 'trousers'.
I find the etymology of certain words and expressions interesting. For example, the word 'forest' used to mean an area used for hunting, it's only in more recent times that it has come to mean an area covered with trees. Also the origin of common idioms and expressions can be interesting.

 

[SugarPlumFairy]

Of interest to students in particular are idioms and expressions, also regional variations or dialects, the differences between, for example, America English and that spoken in the UK. Americans use the word 'pants' and the British use the word 'trousers'.
I find the etymology of certain words and expressions interesting. For example, the word 'forest' used to mean an area used for hunting, it's only in more recent times that it has come to mean an area covered with trees. Also the origin of common idioms and expressions can be interesting.

Thank you for sharing, that's very helpful!

 

[Judge]

Of interest to students in particular are idioms and expressions, also regional variations or dialects, the differences between, for example, America English and that spoken in the UK. Americans use the word 'pants' and the British use the word 'trousers'.
I find the etymology of certain words and expressions interesting. For example, the word 'forest' used to mean an area used for hunting, it's only in more recent times that it has come to mean an area covered with trees. Also the origin of common idioms and expressions can be interesting.

That's one aspect of this forum that at times makes it very educational as well as entertaining.

“The British and the Americans are two great peoples divided by a common tongue,” -George Bernard Shaw

Still, it's almost unnerving to see more English in the Winter Olympics than Chinese characters. Not "Deutschland or Österreich" on athletic suits, but rather "Germany and Austria".

At times I still find myself astounded that English in the 21st century may be the ultimate manifestation of the "Tower of Babel". Not necessarily a good thing.

 

[Progster]

Still, it's almost unnerving to see more English in the Winter Olympics than Chinese characters. Not "Deutschland or Österreich" on athletic suits, but rather "Germany and Austria".

Or the increasing number of bands whose mother tongue isn't English, but who choose to sing in English rather than their own mother tongue.

 

[Judge]

Or the increasing number of bands whose mother tongue isn't English, but who choose to sing in English rather than their own mother tongue.

Well, if anyone changed the landscape of modern music, IMO it was those four lads from Liverpool.

That said I was always a fan of both ABBA and Golden Earring.