Closed-class keywords and corpus-driven discourse analysis
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Nicholas Groom
Abstract
Keywords belonging to closed grammatical classes (i.e. conjunctions, determiners, prepositions and pronouns) are often perceived as useful indicators of the characteristic style of a particular text or corpus, but as being of less interest to researchers interested in its semantic properties. The aim of this chapter is to propose, contrary to this mainstream view, that closed-class keywords can form a valid and even preferable basis for empirical linguistic research into specialized discourses, “discourses” being defined here as constellations of meanings and values associated with specific communities or institutions. The argument is illustrated with practical examples drawn from a keywords analysis of a 3-million-word corpus of academic journal articles representing the academic disciplinary discourse of history.
Abstract
Keywords belonging to closed grammatical classes (i.e. conjunctions, determiners, prepositions and pronouns) are often perceived as useful indicators of the characteristic style of a particular text or corpus, but as being of less interest to researchers interested in its semantic properties. The aim of this chapter is to propose, contrary to this mainstream view, that closed-class keywords can form a valid and even preferable basis for empirical linguistic research into specialized discourses, “discourses” being defined here as constellations of meanings and values associated with specific communities or institutions. The argument is illustrated with practical examples drawn from a keywords analysis of a 3-million-word corpus of academic journal articles representing the academic disciplinary discourse of history.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on keywords and keyness 1
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Section I. Exploring keyness
- Three concepts of keywords 21
- Problems in investigating keyness, or clearing the undergrowth and marking out trails… 43
- Closed-class keywords and corpus-driven discourse analysis 59
- Hyperlinks 79
- Web Semantics vs the Semantic Web? 93
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Section II. Keyness in specialised discourse
- Identifying aboutgrams in engineering texts 113
- Keywords and phrases in political speeches 127
- Key words and key phrases in a corpus of travel writing 147
- History v. marketing 169
- Metaphorical keyness in specialised corpora 185
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Section III. Critical and educational perspectives
- A contrastive analysis of keywords in newspaper articles on the “Kyoto Protocol” 207
- Keywords in Korean national consciousness 219
- General spoken language and school language 235
- Index 249
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on keywords and keyness 1
-
Section I. Exploring keyness
- Three concepts of keywords 21
- Problems in investigating keyness, or clearing the undergrowth and marking out trails… 43
- Closed-class keywords and corpus-driven discourse analysis 59
- Hyperlinks 79
- Web Semantics vs the Semantic Web? 93
-
Section II. Keyness in specialised discourse
- Identifying aboutgrams in engineering texts 113
- Keywords and phrases in political speeches 127
- Key words and key phrases in a corpus of travel writing 147
- History v. marketing 169
- Metaphorical keyness in specialised corpora 185
-
Section III. Critical and educational perspectives
- A contrastive analysis of keywords in newspaper articles on the “Kyoto Protocol” 207
- Keywords in Korean national consciousness 219
- General spoken language and school language 235
- Index 249
