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Exploring part-of-speech frequencies in a sociohistorical corpus of English

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Abstract

We investigate the usefulness of part-of-speech (POS) annotation as a tool in the study of sociolinguistic variation and genre evolution. We analyse how POS ratios change over time in the Parsed Corpus of Early English Correspondence (c.1410–1681), which social groups lead the changes, and whether the changes can be connected to colloquialisation with regard to reduced complexity or an increasingly involved style. While we find gentry-led colloquialisation in terms of noun and verb frequencies as well as evidence for gendered styles, the results on structural complexity are more mixed. We argue that POS annotation can be a useful tool when complemented by a thorough textual analysis, but that more fine-grained categories are needed to reach firmer conclusions.

Abstract

We investigate the usefulness of part-of-speech (POS) annotation as a tool in the study of sociolinguistic variation and genre evolution. We analyse how POS ratios change over time in the Parsed Corpus of Early English Correspondence (c.1410–1681), which social groups lead the changes, and whether the changes can be connected to colloquialisation with regard to reduced complexity or an increasingly involved style. While we find gentry-led colloquialisation in terms of noun and verb frequencies as well as evidence for gendered styles, the results on structural complexity are more mixed. We argue that POS annotation can be a useful tool when complemented by a thorough textual analysis, but that more fine-grained categories are needed to reach firmer conclusions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. The future of historical sociolinguistics? 1
  5. Part I. Methodological innovations
  6. Exploring part-of-speech frequencies in a sociohistorical corpus of English 23
  7. Reading into the past 53
  8. Ireland in British parliamentary debates 1803–2005 83
  9. Discord in eighteenth-century genteel correspondence 109
  10. Part II. New data for historical sociolinguistic research
  11. Competing norms and standards 131
  12. Relativisation in Dutch diaries, private letters and newspapers (1770–1840) 157
  13. “A graphic system which leads its own linguistic life”? 187
  14. Part III. Theory: Bridging gaps, new challenges
  15. Historical sociolinguistics and construction grammar 217
  16. A lost Canadian dialect 239
  17. “Vernacular universals” in nineteenth-century grammar writing 275
  18. Revisiting weak ties 303
  19. Index 327
Exploring Future Paths for Historical Sociolinguistics
This chapter is in the book Exploring Future Paths for Historical Sociolinguistics
https://doi.org/10.1075/ahs.7.02sai

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. The future of historical sociolinguistics? 1
  5. Part I. Methodological innovations
  6. Exploring part-of-speech frequencies in a sociohistorical corpus of English 23
  7. Reading into the past 53
  8. Ireland in British parliamentary debates 1803–2005 83
  9. Discord in eighteenth-century genteel correspondence 109
  10. Part II. New data for historical sociolinguistic research
  11. Competing norms and standards 131
  12. Relativisation in Dutch diaries, private letters and newspapers (1770–1840) 157
  13. “A graphic system which leads its own linguistic life”? 187
  14. Part III. Theory: Bridging gaps, new challenges
  15. Historical sociolinguistics and construction grammar 217
  16. A lost Canadian dialect 239
  17. “Vernacular universals” in nineteenth-century grammar writing 275
  18. Revisiting weak ties 303
  19. Index 327
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