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How Random is a Corpus? The Library Metaphor
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Stefan Evert
Published/Copyright:
April 1, 2006
Abstract
There is a stark contrast between the random sample model underlying the statistical analysis of corpus frequency data and our intuitive knowledge that sentences are more than random bags of words. The 'library metaphor' illustrates how randomness results from the selection of a corpus as the basis for a linguistic study. At the same time it reveals two reasons why corpus data do not fully meet the assumptions of the random sample model. Finally, practicable methods for identifying and quantifying non-randomness are introduced and demonstrated on the example of passive verb forms.
Online erschienen: 2006-4-1
Erschienen im Druck: 2006-4-1
© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Inhalt
- Editorial
- Introduction
- Pedagogical Applications of Corpora: Some Reflections on the Current Scope and a Wish List for Future Developments
- How Reliable are the Results? Comparing Corpus-Based Studies of the Present Perfect
- Distributional Data and Grammatical Structures: The Case of So-Called ’Subject Extraposition’
- The Distribution of Also and Too: A Preliminary Corpus Study
- How Random is a Corpus? The Library Metaphor
- Some Proposals towards a More Rigorous Corpus Linguistics
- Corpora and (the Need for) Other Methods in a Study of Lancashire Dialect
- Using Corpora in the Calculation of Language Relationships
- Buchbesprechung
- Die Autoren dieses Heftes
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Inhalt
- Editorial
- Introduction
- Pedagogical Applications of Corpora: Some Reflections on the Current Scope and a Wish List for Future Developments
- How Reliable are the Results? Comparing Corpus-Based Studies of the Present Perfect
- Distributional Data and Grammatical Structures: The Case of So-Called ’Subject Extraposition’
- The Distribution of Also and Too: A Preliminary Corpus Study
- How Random is a Corpus? The Library Metaphor
- Some Proposals towards a More Rigorous Corpus Linguistics
- Corpora and (the Need for) Other Methods in a Study of Lancashire Dialect
- Using Corpora in the Calculation of Language Relationships
- Buchbesprechung
- Die Autoren dieses Heftes
