Metaphorical keyness in specialised corpora
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Gill Philip
Abstract
What is more important in text: the topical content, or the manner in which topical content is presented? While statistically-generated key words tell us about a text’s content, the inter-relation between these words and the message of the text can be difficult to ascertain. One method of doing so is to observe the inter-relation of key words with evaluative language: in this case, metaphor. Metaphors are notoriously difficult to locate in corpora, but this paper sets out a method for their semi-automatic identification, and demonstrates how their interaction with keywords is both systematic and pervasive. Studying the interaction of key words and metaphors brings to light attitudes which lurk beneath the surface of text.
Abstract
What is more important in text: the topical content, or the manner in which topical content is presented? While statistically-generated key words tell us about a text’s content, the inter-relation between these words and the message of the text can be difficult to ascertain. One method of doing so is to observe the inter-relation of key words with evaluative language: in this case, metaphor. Metaphors are notoriously difficult to locate in corpora, but this paper sets out a method for their semi-automatic identification, and demonstrates how their interaction with keywords is both systematic and pervasive. Studying the interaction of key words and metaphors brings to light attitudes which lurk beneath the surface of text.
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