Reading Concordances

An Introduction

John Sinclair

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PEARSON

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J. R. Firth
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128 Long Acre I would like this book to be read as a tribute to the memory of John Rupert
London WC2E 9AN Firth, 1890-1960, whose ideas made possible the study of lexis as part of
United Kingdom the meaning-creating potential of language. He supervised my research in the
Tel: +44 (0)20 7447 2000 session 1958-59 at the University of Edinburgh, and my first paper on lexis,
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Website: www.history-minds.com
"Beginning the study of lexis", was contributed to In Memoriam J. R. Firth
(Bazell et al., eds, Longman, 1966). I am proud to have spent much of my
career working towards an ever greater understanding of Firth's concepts of
First published in Great Britain in 2003 language, using research techiques that were not available to him.
© Pearson Education Limited 2003

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Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgements xx

Level 1
Task 1 How meanings are shown 3
Theme: meaning distinction
Word/phrase: block
Task 2 Underlying regularity 9
Theme: regularity and variation
Word/phrase: gamut
Task 3 Words as liabilities 17
Theme: semantic prosody
Word/phrase: regime
Task 4 Literal and metaphorical 23
Theme: meaning in phrases
Word/phrase: free hand
Task 5 Meaning focus 31
Theme: co-selection
Word/phrase: physical

Level 2
Task 6 Specialised meaning 43
Theme: lexical item
Word/phrase: brook
Task 7 Subtle distinctions 51
Theme: meaning in phrases
Word/phrase: best thing
Task 8 Meaning flavour 57
Theme: co-selection
Word/phrase: incur
Task 9 Extensions of grammar 63
Theme: grammar and lexis
Word/phru.w: borders on

Page vll
 Contents

Task 10 Meaning and cotext 73 Preface^

Theme: meaning in proximity
Word/phrase: lap What this book tries to do
Level 3
Task 11 Words difficult to define The main aim of this book is to introduce corpus work to students, researchers
83
Theme: lexical item and workers in the language industries. If you work through it conscientiously,!
Word/phrase: budge you should at the end be able:
Task 12 Ad hoc meaning 91 (a) to interrogate a corpus in order to retrieve evidence that is relevant to a
Theme: meaning in proximity linguistic enquiry
Word/phrase: veritable (b) to manage and interpret the first results of your queries \
Task 13 Grammatical frames (c) to refine your queries further until you have a neatly organised body of
105
Theme: regularity and variation evidence to present as a report on your findings.
Word/phrase: about as The emphasis is on the acquisition of practical skills rather than the exposi-
Task 14 Hidden meanings tion of theory. There are a large number of theoretical points made as we go
117
Theme: semantic prosody along, mainly in the keys to the tasks, but they are not gathered and organised
Word/phrase: happen into a specific stance. At this point in the development of corpus study the
priority is for people to get first-hand experience of working with corpora, to
understand the enormous power of corpus evidence, and to learn how to inter-
Level 4
pret the evidence that comes from a corpus.
Task 15 Closely related meanings 129
Theme: meaning distinction What's new in a corpus?
Word/phrase: manage
To many commentators, there is nothing much new in being able to access a
Task 16 One and one is not exactly two 141 corpus. It is, after all, just a large collection of texts. Texts - that is to say,
Theme: lexical item samples of language in use - have not been very popular in the dominant
Word/phrase: true feelings linguistic fashions of the last half-century, but the older traditions of linguistics
were based on the direct observation of speakers and writers in action. Today
Task 17 Common words 153 we have both returned to this tradition and moved on; we carefully study usage
Theme: meaning in phrases in a corpus, but instead of the field worker with notebook and mosquito net,
Word/phrase: place
there is now the office worker with corpus and technical support.
Task 18 Singular and plural 167 There are two main novelties in the modern way of studying language. One
Theme: grammar and lexis novelty is the amount of it that is available. Before the computer, linguists could
Word/phrase: eye/clock only study small samples of language at a time because of the limitations of
their powers of observation and their memories. Even scholars who relentlessly
collected instances of usage all their lives only had a few examples of any
Glossary 173 particular pattern, and there was no way of telling what they had missed. The
situation is almost the opposite with corpora, especially large corpora, where
techniques have to be devised to control the often massive amount of evidence.

New skills, new thinking

Before large amounts of data were easily available, most of the generalisa-
tion had to be done by intuitive guesswork; pre-corpus linguists were not
Page ix
Pagavill
 Preface
Preface

able to check their notions. The second novelty of the modern work with
corpora is that the amount of variation in actual usage makes accurate gen-
Background and design
eralisation rather difficult. The difference is often said to be between "top-
down" and "bottom-up" approaches; starting from the "top" it is extremely This book has evolved over a decade, driven by its growing utility value.
difficult to arrive at a description that fits the facts of usage, while starting During this decade its subject matter, the study of language collected in a
from the "bottom" it is not easy to formulate sufficiently general statements. corpus, has moved from a position on the periphery of linguistic science to an
However, the experience and intuition of the researcher are available in area which has to be involved in any serious investigation of the nature and
both approaches, and so the so-called "bottom-up" approach, properly con-
structure of language. Even if one's primary research interest is language in the
ducted, is really a two-pronged attack on the data from the top and bottom
mind, it is difficult nowadays to ignore the evidence that is increasingly avail-
simultaneously.
able from corpora.
In this new way of studying language the researcher has to maintain control
The origin of the book was a set of activities written for "distance" Masters
of a potentially large quantity of evidence while trying out generalisations,
students at the University of Birmingham. Whereas the full-time residential
and this requires intellectual skills that have not traditionally been taught.
students at Birmingham were well provided for on the campus, with the growing
Instead of just finding a well-known "rule" that is close to the patterns in the
data, a corpus linguist has to look at the detailed, individual instances and has collection known as The Bank of English, the modern-age students who worked
to be prepared to formulate a statement that may have a strong original element in Seoul, Kyoto or the Malaysian jungle had no such resources and no teachers
in it. on hand for immediate consultation. I therefore devised a simple method of
presentation which remains standard in most of the activities in this book.
If you are going to use corpora thoroughly, you will have to be prepared to
put aside some kinds of argument that you may well be taking for granted at
present. For example, many linguists argue that if you find a single example Design features
that does not fit a generalisation you should discard the generalisation. This Each section sets out a task that involves studying the way words pattern
is just not valid in corpus work, because corpora record actual language in together in a corpus. Starting from the physical facts of letters, numbers and
use, and so contain all sorts of variation and even error. Thousands of people punctuation marks occurring in texts, each task gradually brings in the exercise
over decades, all over the world, old and young, may contribute their language of one's intuitions about the language and one's knowledge of it, leading to
to a corpus, and it would be very strange if they all spoke exactly the same observations and insights that are simultaneously grounded in the evidence and
English. are also important linguistic abstractions.
So you have to hunt for general patterns among a mass of varying There are four components to each section:
and sometimes even conflicting evidence, and put to one side any occasional
lapses (but keep an eye on them in case they are the first signs of a new 1. A brief introduction.
generalisation!).
2. A series of questions and instructions to retrieve linguistically relevant
The datafiles in this book are so small that the analysis often attempts to
information from the data. Each numbered item is a minitask.
be comprehensive, and it will be clear in several of the tasks that a great
3. The evidence, in datafiles, which most often contain computer-generated
amount of time and space is spent on tracking down one or two strange
CONCORDANCES but occasionally profiles of COLLOCATIONS. The collocational
instances. In most research projects or applications these would probably just
be ignored. profiles are ordered according to the significance of the collocates as measured
by their T-SCORE.
4. The key, which sets out my responses to the minitasks.
Other aims
The tasks that follow have been chosen from a large collection to show a broad
range of language patterning, and so you can actually learn a lot about the How to use this book
lexical structure of English by going through them carefully. See the paragraph
below about Structural Lexicology. At the end of the book is a glossary of all
the terms that I use, with references to tasks that feature them; another route It is important to have the relevant datafile in front of you while working on a
through the book would be via the glossary. minitask, and this can become awkward because a book is necessarily divided
into pages. One solution is to photocopy the datafiles, for which the publisher
grants permission. The larger page size of the photocopy allows you to make
Page xi
 Prefao* Preface

notes as well. For those with easy access to the World Wide Web, I intend to set out. It could also be used as the basis of a teaching unit; by ordering and
replicate the datafiles on my website, and from time to time I hope to add clustering the main terms, a quick syllabus could be prepared, and it is a fairly
simple data-handling tools, so that users will be able to avoid even the small easy matter to use the entries as exemplifications of the terms.
amount of work there is in gathering the evidence from the instances provided.
The web address is that of The Tuscan Word Centre, http://www.twc.it Task classification
From there a link will be provided to the location of the datafiles. If a login
prompt is given, you should enter your email address as "user" and "concs02" The tasks are organised in two ways. They are divided into four groups accord-
as password. (Any correspondence about the website should be addressed to ing to the level of complexity of the task, and if you are new to corpus
me - [email protected] - and not to the publisher.) investigation it is a good idea to go through them in the order in which they
It is recommended that you work through the minitasks thoroughly and appear. They are also classified roughly for theme, and so if you want to study
methodically, even if you appreciate early on the point that is being made. all the tasks that feature the lexical item, you can retrieve them. All this
Take the minitasks one at a time, and prepare your response, then compare it information is given in the Contents.
with mine. If there is a substantial difference between the responses, search for
a reason; perhaps we are using terminology differently, or perhaps our inter-
pretation of some of the instances is different. Please do not assume that if
your response is not the same as mine, you are wrong; during the long period Methodology
of trialling that the book has gone through I have changed my position many
times as a result of perceptions and arguments from other users. The keys are
just the best responses that I can come up with at the time of writing. The tasks in this book are designed to share a common methodology, which is
Unfortunately I cannot anticipate the responses of readers, and I imagine outlined hererirra book it is possible to show only the first few steps, but I
that they will be many and varied. So where the next step depends on agreeing hope that this is sufficient to motivate the reader to the pleasure of consulting
an analysis I have to ask you to accept mine in order to build on the early a corpus at first hand, and so I have outlined the method below, in general
observations. terms. I recommend these procedures as a basic strategy for retrieving informa-
It is very easy to "cheat" and look at the key before you have tried the tion from a corpus and evaluating it. They are the result of many years'
analysis yourself. I really think that this would be a waste of time, since the experience of working with corpora and may seem deceptively simple, but
most valuable activity that the book stimulates is the reader's engagement with they usually give good results.
the data in tackling a theoretical or descriptive problem. I do not think there is The simplicity lies in the practical origins of the work, after years of trial
any quicker way to understand how to read concordances. and error. Corpora typically contain much more information than a human being
can handle at any one time, and the investigator can easily get swamped in a
Structural lexicology large quantity of heterogeneous data. The technique, presented here, of taking
successive small samples allows the investigator to keep control of the investiga-
Another approach to the material in the book is to use it as a course book for tion, and to formulate explanations that are then cyclically tested and refined
a course in structural lexicology. There is a great and growing interest in - or abandoned - as the evidence accumulates. The sequence of steps in the
lexical structures nowadays, and the standard works on lexicology say very methodology does not vary much, although the content of the tasks in the book
little about these crucially important patterns. This book should complement covers a wide range of topics in current lexicology. So the user becomes
the familiar works on lexicology, which tend to concentrate on other areas of rapidly familiar with the procedures. This generates confidence in one's ability
vocabulary study, such as morphology and the historical development of the to handle a corpus, and transfers readily to "live" corpus investigations, where
vocabulary. This book has very little on patterns below the word, and only the methodology can be applied in a more flexible way. In several sections
occasional glances at earlier stages of the language; on the other hand it deals there is recourse to a second set of data to confirm or extend the results of
with a large variety of meaningful patterns of word combination, which the examining the first set. This gives a little of the flavour of the real thing.
traditional books keep away from. The normal starting point for a corpus investigation is the concordance,
which from early days in computing has used the KWIC format, where in-
Glossary stances of a chosen word or phrase (the NODE) are presented in a layout that
aligns occurrences of the node vertically, but otherwise keeps them in the order
The starting point for such a course is the glossary at the end of the book, in which they appear in the corpus. Only the first 25 or so usually appear in the
where I hope all the working terminology that you need for using the book is window on the computer screen.
Page xiii
Pag* KM
 Preface Prefac*

Small samples *t Obviously the investigator will use all the knowledge and intuition about the
••*?•
language that he or she has available, and will move from an examination of
For a quick overview of the patterning, it is usually advisable to call up an the physical evidence to some generalisations that group the data into sets which
unbiased selection of lines from the whole concordance, and it is best to start seem to show identical or sufficiently similar patterning in their environments.
with only a few (my normal practice is to start with just a screenful, unless I Quite often the groupings will be reasonably familiar to anyone who knows
know in advance that I am likely to reject many of them, but even then I will the structure of English, and this is to be expected, since the normal statements
choose a hundred at most). Then using whatever sorting facilities are available, about grammar and semantics will emerge and will be seen to be largely
the patterns can be brought out more clearly for inspection. At this point there correct. Occasionally there will be a surprise.
are two alternatives available; one is to ask for another small selection, and the
other is to refine the search on the basis of the evidence of the first sample.
"Degeneralisation"
The first alternative is better when you feel fairly sure that the small sample
you have studied has instances of most of the main patterns that you are likely However familiar the patterns of text may be, the investigator is encouraged to
to find. Then what you need is to confirm this, get a clearer idea of the examine them closely, one by one. Sometimes the categories are much more
frequency of the various patterns and concentrate on the variation, seeking to restricted than a conventional description would provide, and sometimes they
classify it and circumscribe it. In such a case you should ask for a second are considerably broader; also you may find words and phrases occurring
sample from the same dataset as the first, and then another and then another, together that are not normally associated structurally with each other.
and so on until you are satisfied that most of the main patterns are evidenced in Indeed, the investigator is encouraged to remain sceptical about "received"
sufficient quantity. You may also find that the accumulation of evidence sheds descriptions in general, and to pursue the patterns found in the data, because
light on some difficult areas. After several repetitions of this cycle you should they may lead to more precise or alternative descriptions. Grammars and dic-
find that each new sample adds nothing or very little to the accumulated tionaries are repositories of information that has been through an extended
description; by this time it is unlikely that you have missed anything of import- series of processes of selection and summarisation, during which a great deal
ance, and you can make summary statements about the way the meaning is of the evidence is lost, and the examination of corpus evidence may very well
constructed with reasonable confidence. reveal information - important structural information - about the language
But sometimes even inspection of the very first selection leads to the need which has never been written about in the literature.
for some refinement of the data. Sometimes a query results in unexpected evid- Even today, very few published works have been able as yet to incorporate
ence, for example if a node word is also a common proper name, or it figures corpus evidence, and those that claim to have done so have often used corpora
in a very frequent expression that you had not taken into account. It is usually merely to support existing views about the language, and not used them critic-
possible to edit a concordance to remove unwanted material of this kind, but ally. It is helpful to read carefully the statements in such publications about
often this outcome shows patterns that lead immediately to the formulation of how corpus evidence is used.
a refined query, and the procedure starts again. So because of the powerful tradition of linguistic scholarship it is more than
likely that anyone who has learned enough about language to be able to tackle
Generalisation " a corpus has also absorbed a mass of theory, description and opinion about
what to expect; language is exceptionally rich in patterning and if you are
In this book, the data is usually presented in the form of a single page of a looking for something specific you will usually find it unless your reasoning
concordance, sometimes in text order and sometimes sorted. This data is studied and intuition have both deserted you. But in focusing on one pattern, you may
thoroughly on the assumption that it will probably show the main lines of the fail to see another, much stronger and more important but not anticipated by
patterning of the node word or phrase. It is helpful to imagine that the data might previous authorities.
be from a dead language, and that the small concordance is all the extant evid- Hence the notion of degeneralisation. Your starting views on language are
ence of the use of a word or phrase. From this, the investigator must construct not merely those you have picked up in your education - everyone is com-
a description that is as predictive as possible, so that if another document turns petent in using at least one natural language and therefore has access to private
up in the lost language, the description would have to be minimally amended. language experience of great subtlety. People's views about language are often
To achieve a high predictability, some steps in abstraction and/or generali- held most stubbornly, whether or not they are in accord with the facts that are
sation are required. It is well known in language text that sequences of words available. For example, many people will swear that words which are different
are rarely repeated exactly, but that there are often strong similarities among in spelling but identical in pronunciation (as far as can be observed with the
them that justify grouping them together, or strong differences that justify most sensitive equipment) do sound different, or that the intonation pattern of
keeping them apart. an utterance goes up, when in fact it goes down. Problems of this kind can be
Pag* xv
 Preface
Preface
other side of the node. Use always the criterion of how close they are to
tackled by breaking the link between the physical facts and the meaningful coming under the hypothesis that you have set up, and be prepared to revise
organisation of language, a kind of alienation technique. -m and loosen up the hypothesis a little if by doing so you can include several
So by composing early questions that are very earth-bound, like "which
words are repeated immediately after an occurrence of X?", I help the user to more instances.
decouple temporarily the powerful mechanism of generalisation and see a text Examples of the sort of variants that occur are as follows. A pattern like "his
as little more than marks on a page. Just to begin with, of course - the user will N" can be stretched to include "Bill's N", or even "the N of the village". It can
need a full complement of intuition and acquired knowledge to tackle later be developed into "his own N", pushing the two words apart, and even "his
questions of classification and interpretation. funny old N". The choice of active versus passive voice in grammar can alter
the positions of words relative to each other, e.g. "they drove away in a bus"
versus "the bus was driven away".
Procedural steps
Step 4. Report. When you have exhausted the patterns you can observe, and
I have had to think all the time of space and efficiency in preparing this book,
have revised your hypothesis so that it is as flexible as it needs to be and as
but as you look through the sections you will be struck by the similarity of
strong as it can be, write it out so that you have an explicit, testable version for
procedure. It is possible to outline a set of steps that should uncover the
the future. You will be surprised how often you may need to return to this and
mysteries of most concordances, and I will try to do that here. In practice you
rephrase it without fundamentally altering the classification.
should find that your intuition will guide you to shortcuts, but, looking ahead,
it is clear that more and more of this methodical work will be done eventually Step 5. Recycle. Now start with the next most important pattern in the vicinity
by computer, and so there is need for a procedure which is reliable even if, to
of the node - probably on the other side from the first initiation. Go through
a human, needlessly laborious.
the same steps as before, and after that look for the strongest pattern remaining
on either side. Continue until you are not finding any repeated patterns,
Step 1. Initiate. Look at the words that occur immediately to the right of the
and then look at the remainder. If there are any instances that have not been
NODE. Note any that are repeated. Do the same with the words immediately to
cited as evidence for atNleast one hypothesis, examine them to see if they are
the left of the node. Decide on the "strongest" pattern and start there.
unusual, or if there is something that this selection is not emphasising enough.
Deciding which is the strongest pattern depends on the circumstances,
If there are signs of an underlying pattern that has not been brought out by this
and with small numbers of instances is to some extent a matter of judgment. If
selection, make a tentative note of it.
one particular word form occurs in the same position in more than half the
instances then it is pretty dominant, and is likely to be the best place to start; Step 6. Result. Make a final list of hypotheses and link them in a final report on
if there is no single word that stands out, but a grammatical word class is
apparent in most of the lines, then start there. If there is nothing obvious at first the node that you started with.
sight, count which side has the largest number of repeated words; this is an Step 7. Repeat. Now gather a new selection from the corpus and start by
indication of the coverage of repetitions, and a reliable place to start. Where
applying your report to this new data. Go through the same steps, and confirm,
you have strong patterns on both sides of the node it is safe to start on either
extend or revise your hypotheses as you go along.
side, since the retrieval of patterns is a cyclical procedure, and you will retrieve
neglected patterns at Step 5.
When to stop
Step 2. Interpret. Look at the repeated words, and try to form a hypothesis that After a few selections, depending on the complexity of the data, you will prob-
may link them or most of them. For example, they may be from the same word ably find that your hypotheses stand, and the only developments are additions
class, or they may all have similar meanings. to the lists of words and phrases that realise the categories. If your study is
small-scale, this is a reasonable place to stop; if it is a more thorough study,
Step 3. Consolidate. Assuming that Step 2 has been successful, now look for
then you can guess at some other words and phrases and look specifically for
other evidence that can support the hypothesis - for example, single occur-
them. Grammars, thesauri and dictionaries can be useful here. If you get specific
rences that come close to the criterion that you have set up, or structures that
gaps, beware; there may be another factor operating that you had not noticed
are different ways of expressing a similar meaning. Also you should look
before. Check more closely.
beyond the word position that you have started with, because there can be
It is unwise, though understandable, to try to examine each and every instance
variations that separate elements of a pattern; look at the adjoining words and
when the numbers are more than a hundred or two. Corpora - particularly
even some more distant ones, and in some cases also consider words on the
Page xvll
PlMKVl
 Prefaco
Preface

large corpora - are designed for computers to do most of the routine work,
and there is as yet no program that can take over your analysis at a certain
Websites
point, check through all the rest of the evidence and complete an exhaustive
description of your data. Here are three useful "bookmark" websites for corpus linguistics; from these
you should be able to find your way, to the remarkable resources of the World
Wide Web.

Corpora and concordances Michael Barlow: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~barlow/corpus.html

Knut Hofland: http://www.hit.uib.no/icame.html
David Lee: http://www.devotedto.corpora
Unless stated otherwise, the concordance files in this book are selected from
a corpus automatically. The number of instances in the corpus is divided by
the number of instances required, and the result is used as the gap between
selections; thus if there are 5000 instances of a word or phrase in the corpus,
and 25 are required for the sample concordance, then the gap is 5000/25 = 200.
In text order, no. 1 is selected, then nos. 201, 401, 601, etc., until the 25th and
last instance, no. 4801.
The concordance is silently tidied; duplicate examples, which occur quite
naturally in collections of text, are omitted, obvious errors which do not affect
the task are corrected, transcriptions of speech are regularised, and some sig-
nals which have been added by editors are taken out again. Any other changes
or omissions are mentioned in the text.
The concordances used in the datafiles come mainly from the corpora at the
University of Birmingham, from The Bank of English at various stage of its
evolution.
Listings of collocates in this book (Sections 3, 12 and 18) are in order of
significance, read vertically down the left-hand column, then down the second
column, and so on.

References
Chomsky, N. (1957) Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
Sinclair, J.M. et al. (1990) Collins Cobuild English Grammar. London:
HarperCollins.
Sinclair, J.M. (1991) Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press.
Stubbs, M.W. (1995) "Collocations and semantic profiles", in Functions of
Language 2.1.
Tognini Bonelli, E. (1992) " 'All I'm saying is' . . . The correlation of form and
function in pseudo-cleft sentences", in JLLC 7.1.

Page xix
Acknowledgements LEVEL 1
Task 1 How meanings are shown 3
It would be difficult to list all the people who have helped in the long period of
preparation of this book, so I will group them together and highlight but a few. Task 2 Underlying regularity 9
Well over two hundred students and participants in courses at The Tuscan
Task 3 Words as liabilities 17
Word Centre have worked through earlier versions of some of the tasks, and
Task 4 Literal and metaphorical 23
have reported on the clarity and utility of them; as a result all of the tasks have
been revised many times over. Quite a few students have produced written Task 5 Meaning focus 31
critiques of tasks, which have helped immensely. For a time the University
of Nottingham sent some of its master's students to TWC, and they wrote
assignments arising from the tasks; I am grateful to Ron Carter for his support
of this co-operation. Linda Pearce sent a detailed report on the very first set of
tasks, and at a crucial stage of development, Anna Mauranen, now of Tampere
University, came to Birmingham and worked through a first draft of about half
of the tasks now gathered here.
The Bank of English is the corpus built and maintained jointly by the Uni-
versity of Birmingham and HarperCollins, publishers. I gratefully acknowledge
their permission to make use of concordances and collocational profiles taken
from that corpus.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my wife Elena Tognini Bonelli, many
of whose ideas are inextricably tied in with my own in the book. Throughout
the decade I have enjoyed her unlimited support and profited from her sharp-
eyed criticism.

Page xx
TaskJ
How meanings are shown

A dictionary lists words and meanings, and you can see at a glance that most
common words in the language have several meanings. It would be much
easier to describe a language, and perhaps easier to learn and use it if each
word always gave us the same meaning, but this is not the case. The very
common verbs like "set", "run" and "take" have dozens of meanings - how
does the user know which meaning is appropriate? Do we try all the meanings
very quickly each time we hear or read the word and work out the most likely
sense, or are there other clues? I
If we study instances of usage, we find that the surrounding words and
phrases help a lot in determining the meaning. Consider, for example, the
concordance of the word block in the datafile 01_block.doc.
1. Read each example in turn and work out its sense. Do not use a dictionary,
but make notes on the meanings.
2. Group the meanings together wherever you can. If in doubt, put them
together, so that you end up with a rather small number of senses.
3. Pick out the largest group. Compare your selection with the key.
4. What word classes are found in this group?
5. Do you recognise any phrases, phrasal verbs, idiomatic constructions or the
like among the twelve?
6. A barrier can be a concrete physical object or a more abstract thing in
politics or social life. Classify the "barrier" instances, taking care not to over-
simplify; some instances may not be quite clear in the short context, and some
may have a meaning that covers both the concrete and the abstract.
7. Pick out the instances with a physical meaning. Study the four or five words
on either side of block, and make notes on any repeated patterns of grammar or
vocabulary choice.
8. Try to fit the non-physical barriers into the same categories as are set up in
answer to §7.
9. Select the next largest group of instances with the same sort of meaning.
Check with the key, and then note any patterns in the surrounding words.
Continue with the remaining meanings; do not be surprised if there is little
regularity in the patterns when there are very few instances.
10. From the evidence of these examples, summarise the main meanings and
uses of block.

Page 3
 Reading Concordances

Datafile 01_block.doc
Task 1
1 on foot between the administration block and some cells can take up to 25
2
3
operations are moves designed to block enemy penetrations. The counter-
fee are variable. In 1985, Block filed 10 million tax returns,
Key
4 the 16th Century, salt was used in block form and scraped off with a knife,
5 Zulu men for rural areas) and a road block had been set up by young men
6 Ltd. could also find itself on the block if Sir James Goldsmith succeeds in
7 the livery yard. Although the stable block is in darkness, she knows her own 1 and 2. No key is provided. The meanings are discussed separately. Note,
8 cross as he led the crowd on a three- block march to police headquarters. He however, that if you have carried out these steps without serious problems, you
9 deep pockets, and setting it upon a block of stone between himself and the
have demonstrated that in a large number of instances only a few words on
10 Next to the main assembly block of the shipyard in the Baltic port
11 you're a winner! Underneath each block of three numbers is a prize value, either side are enough guidance for you to pick out the relevant meaning.
12 The antagonists fasten onto and block off the receptors so that the
13 he would chase one leaf half a block or more with his blower, whereupon
14 a yodel, came echoing down from C- block 's Two-tier. Bauman 3. In my analysis, there are twelve instances where block has to do with a
15 his state partners would be able to block such a move. A Montedison spokesman
barrier placed in the path of something. The twelve lines are nos. 2, 5, 12, 15,
16 antagonists" he's developed which block the chemical signals small cell
17 or have clips or rings put on them to block them. Early techniques 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. Even if your view is different, please
18 blindfolded man cried out in the cell- block yard: about five guards surrounded concentrate on these twelve for the purposes of demonstration.
19 Minister, Nikolai Ryzhkov, was on the block yesterday, not that of Mr
20 effectively took itself off the block yesterday and announced a sweeping
21 appeared to be the main stumbling block . Yorkshire refused to comment on 4. Two; nos. 5 and 21 are nouns, the rest verbs.
22 off ALL THREE numbers in a single block you're a winner! Underneath
23 a landscape, the seascape doesn't block your sight; it extends beyond it.
24 a turning point in your life. Do not block your own good; ask for guidance,
25 Another is to go to extremes to block your neighbours out of your life, 5.
26 and circumstances that appear to block your path. There is a certain
27 nationalists today said they will block Yugoslavia's border crossings with No. Phrase Comment
28 see it by our eyes. Siegel: Down the block , Ziyad, who runs a souvenir shop
5 road block common collocation - compound
12 block off phrasal verb
21 stumbling block idiomatic phrase
26 block your path cliche"

6.

No. Meaning type Comments

2 tactical could also be interpreted as physical

5 physical road block ,-
12 physical block off
15 tactical could also be interpreted as physical, but unlikely
16 physical chemical blocks are different from physical blocks, but are
put together here
17 physical clips or rings are physical restraints
21 figurative familiar idiom, never used literally |p
23 physical sight
24 figurative mental blocks
25 figurative mental blocks
26 figurative could be physical, but normally refers to mental blocks
27 physical border crossings

PageB
 How meanings are shown
Reading Concordances

7. Numbers 8, 13 and 28 rclcr ulso to buildings, but to collections of buildings

bounded by roads. Numbers 8 and 13 show this meaning in terms of measure-
No. Part of speech What is blocked - "route" or "travellers" ment, and 28 uses block to mean the block where you live.
The phrase on the block occurs twice (nos. 6 and 19) with a meaning like
5 noun road route "facing execution"; no. 20 may be similar, but is a little obscure.
12 phrasal verb receptors travellers The meaning of block as a large sqlid lump is found in nos. 4 and 9.
16 verb in relative clause chemical signals travellers Numbers 11 and 22 mean a group of consecutive numbers.
17 infinitive them travellers
One single meaning is no. 3: a proper name.
23 verb in negative phrase sight travellers
27 verb in modal phrase border crossings travellers
10. The word is principally used as a verb in the sense of placing an obstacle
in the way of something. The object of the verb is usually whatever is being
blocked, but it can also be the route. The verb has a wide range of objects,
including people, vision, chemicals, and, in a more abstract sense, plans of
No. Part of speech Route or travellers action.
is good
Noun uses of block carry several distinct meanings; while there
2 infinitive travellers too few
evidence in the cotext to identify the most common one, there are
15 infinitive travellers
21 noun travellers instances of the others to be definite.
24 negative travellers
25 infinitive travellers
26 infinitive route

9.

No. Meaning Comment

1 building compound - administration block

3 proper name
4 large lump salt
6 execution phrase - on the block
7 building compound - stable block
8 town streets measurement
9 large lump stone
10 building compound - assembly block
11 group of consecutive numbers
13 town streets measurement
14 building compound - C-block
18 building compound - cell-block
19 execution phrase - on the block
20 avoiding execution phrase - off the block
22 group of consecutive numbers
28 town streets location

Cases for comment

Numbers 1, 7, 10, 14 and 18 refer to buildings; in each case the noun is
modified by another noun; two of these are hyphenated.
Pago 7
Task 2
Underlying regularity

Many uses of words in English are as parts of phrases. The meaning of the
word is hardly separable from that of the phrase. As more and more evidence
is gathered from corpora, this aspect of how words make meaning is growing
in importance.
Phrases are the result of the co-ordinated selection of two or more words,
and there is often a lot of variation in the way in the way a phrase can be made
up. The actual words are not always fixed, and some do not always need to be
present; the word order can also vary, and some words can vary in their
inflections, while others appear only in one form in the phrase.
So on the surface of the language we tend to see a lot of variation; the
regularities of phrases are often not obvious, because it is not often that exactly
the same sequence of words recurs. We are aware of some repetition, but when
we look carefully there always seems to be a lot of variation.
The computer allows us to gather together a lot of instances and makes them
easy to compare, and see just what repetition and regularity there is.
There is a type of phrase which, although variable, includes a word that is
confined to that phrase, and does not occur anywhere else in the language. A
favourite example among linguists is the word kith in the phrase kith and kin.
Whereas kin can be found in a number of different structures, and is a fairly
free noun, kith only ever occurs in this phrase.
Another such word is gamut, and we will look at a sample of gamut in the
datafile - see 02_gamutl.doc. This is a rather uncommon word, with hardly
any of its "own" meaning in current English. If you look up an old-fashioned
dictionary, you may be told that gamut used to refer to a musical scale that had
fourteen notes rather than the seven that is normal in the musical traditions of
Europe - double the number in an octave. As you study the examples, consider
if there is any of that meaning left in the phrase.

1. Make a list of the repeated words that occur immediately to the left of
gamut. Sort them in frequency order. Then make a similar list of the words
immediately to the right of gamut. Ignore single occurrences at present.

2. Look among the single occurrences to see if there are any which you think
are small variations of one of the repeated words; provide a reason and revise
the lists accordingly.

3. Now consider small variations of position. Look at the words at N - 2 ,

N+2, and make lists as in § 1, then compare the lists with those you have made.
Include single instances if they relate to the words that have already been
repeated.

Paged
 Underlying regularity
Reading Concordances
Datafile 02_gamut1 doo
4. Review the variations so far. To the right of the node the patterns are
remarkably fixed and we will return to them; to the left of the node there is ng systems, the entire technological gamut , that we were at least their equal
1 up. We ran the usual conversational gamut , which centers around Old Stony's
some overlap between N - 1 and N - 2 . Take each line in turn and see how they 2 sure. Well illustrated, it runs the gamut from gun making, gun fitting to gun
are distributed; in particular look for the combinations that occur, and attempt 3 fore reaching conclusions. It runs a gamut from out-and-out materialism on one
an explanation for them. Look beyond the second position where necessary. 4 powerful hands. Its snarls ran the gamut from pain to alarm, from alarm to o
5 uge curving mouth gave rise to a rich gamut of facial expressions which compleme
6 ing and beautiful things they run the gamut of texture from the sweet chestnut'
5. Now look at the right-hand cotexts. Do you agree that they specify the area
7 rt practices by re-examining the full gamut of expression which roots itself in
over which the phrase ranges? Do you notice anything about nos. 3-5, where 8 assed and re-passed through the whole gamut of American roadside restaurants, f
from is the preposition? 9 oke and iron and steel he had run the gamut of everything that could pierce and
10 Fathers can participate in the whole gamut of domestic work: shopping, food p
6. Prepare a short account of the structure and meaning of the phrase around 11 irshbaum stared at Gurewich. A whole gamut of feelings passed between them in t
12 ved difficult, she seemed to run the gamut of all the ills that babies can make
gamut. 13 individuals who reflected the entire gamut of London politics from the Fabian s
14 they had run through practically the gamut of their vocabulary. Instead they p
7. If we choose the most likely word at each place in the phrase, what combina- 15 be any common perspective amongst the gamut of structuralists from Lacan to Levi
tion do we get? How many instances of this combination of choices are there 16 has been squandered, and the whole gamut of opportunities that have been lost
in the concordance? Can you explain this finding? 17 ike mews of alarm. I heard the whole gamut on the mid-April day when, 35 feet
18

8. Now turn to the second datafile, 02_gamut2.doc. Repeat the analysis in

§1—§6, noting any changes that you need to make with this new evidence.
Datafile 02_gamut2.doc
9. This task has studied the nature of regularity and variation in phrases, and
gamut from eating one banana a day and
the way in which meaning is sometimes associated with a whole phrase rather 1 habits of kids with cancer run the
gamut from exhibitionism to self- '
than a single word. Summarise your findings. 2 patrons happy. Ginny soon runs the
gamut from outright condemnation to
3 with the rest of the world run the
gamut from reasonable-sounding chiefs to
4 indeed suspect. Its members run the
gamut from posters to holographs to
5 make up the exhibition. They run the
gamut occurs plenty in the
6 to use your gamut one? Well
gamut of physical and so-called mental
7 beyond this, however, and cover the gamut of his momentary preoccupations
8 he went, and they ran the full gamut of unsuccessful medical
9 and have usually been through a gamut of lovers - black, white, a
10 explored her sexual appetites with a gamut of training programmes had to be
11 to exist in a co-operative, the whole gamut of relations between the
12 shaped the ideas influencing a wide gamut of Alsace wines, including
13 viticulteur produces the full gamut of post-natal emotions
14 and labour through the whole gamut of investment choices, from very
15 in Appendix 4). They run the whole gamut of Hitlerian ideas; and other ^;
16 corporatism and eventually the full gamut of emotions from A to B). Even so,
17 in "The Lake" she ran the gamut of Network activities. While
18 has made a major impact on the whole gamut of entertainment cliche. Consummate
19 days; and we get songs running the gamut of amateur rug repairs often causes
20 Without this expert guidance, the gamut of styles and fabrics. At Dolce &
21 chic, the season's variations run the gamut of keyboard works from baroque to
22 ago, Roselyn Turik has performed the gamut of 20* century history form the
23 different locations and running the gamut of the Russian press reflected
24 had a year ago. Yesterday, the whole gamut . Then children's carousels, opening
25 for ringing mystery prizes, the whole gamut . There's so much gaiety, there's
26 but the profundity of feeling and the gamut . This is Ireland after all, and the
27 hour is usually enough for the whole gamut . Unrepentant, he boldly asserted
28 programs, mind you, but the whole gamut you know. Mm. From you
29 but but they go they run the

Page 1 1 (
 Underlying regularity

position N - 1 has the word wb.uk or similar. So there is a pattern to be seen,

Task 2 familiar in Knglish grammar:

Key ARTICLE [ADJECTIVE] NOUN

Numbers 1 and 2 are a little more elaborate, having two adjectives; the first of
1. We shall call gamut the NODE word, symbol N, and positions to the left of
these is of the whole set:
it N - 1 , N - 2 , etc. Positions to the right are N+1, N+2, etc. (see the glossary
under SPAN for this notation). ARTICLE [ADJECTIVE - whole] [ADJECTIVE] NOUN

Frequencies at N-1 This formula summarises all the variation of the left side of the noun group,
and all the occurrences at N-1. To continue the study of the noun group we
the
turn to N + 1 and observe that the first two instances are again different from the
whole
others, being followed in each case by a comma and a relative pronoun - the
signs of the beginning of a non-defining relative clause and therefore the end
Frequencies at N+1 of the noun group. We conclude provisionally that the second adjective in nos.
12 1 and 2 has a similar role to the prepositional phrases that follow the node in
of
from 3 the other instances.
At N-2 there are six instances of a form of the verb "run", in each case
2. There is one instance of a, the indefinite article, which is an alternative followed by an article, and the pattern is found also at N—4 in no. 2. Similar
choice to the. The words entire and full are very similar in meaning to whole, verbs are found in no. 9 (passed through'), no. 11 (participate in') and no. 15
and rich shares some of the meaning that seems to be relevant in this phrasing. (run through'). The other verbs are reflected, re-examining, gave rise to and
On the right-hand side there is no variation. heard; these are more distant from the central meaning of the phrase. Three
instances have no verb to the left, but no. 12 has the verb passed at N + 3 , which
Revised frequencies at N-1 fits the general tendency.
An explanation of these patterns is that the phrase centring on gamut
the/a 8 normally specifies an area over which it ranges; where this does not come after
whole/entire/full/rich 8 the noun it can be realised by an adjective of the "non-gradable" kind such as
technological or conversational. Since the meaning includes a notion of a large
3. range comprehensively covered, a modifier like whole reinforces that notion.
The occurrence of the definite article before a noun followed by a prepositional
Frequencies at N-2 phrase is normal; the preponderance of the verb run is idiomatic (here we may
have a faint echo of the original meaning of gamut, since we often talk of
the/a 8 "running" through musical exercises and pieces).
run/runs/ran 6
entire 5. All but the last instance support this interpretation; in no. 18 the previous
usual sentence is:

Frequencies at N+2 Listen, and you may hear a repertoire of calls that could make a mocking
bird jealous, from hisses to hoots to catlike mews of alarm.
There are no repeated words in this position.
Clearly this is where the area is specified, and it is the from type.
4. Combinations
Notice that fiojn. is followed by to shortly afterwards, specifying a range;
All except the first two instances have the. or a in one of these positions, and in this is also found in nos. 3 and 5, and if no. 4 is extended it is there too - but
those cases th£ is at N - 3 . Of the eight instances where the or a is at N - 2 , almost 50 words farther on!
Page 13
Page 12
Reading Concordances Underlying regularity

6. The phrase typically consists of: Comment

a verb - usually run, followed by The phrase pattern is confirmed, with even greater regularity. The set of adject-
a noun group containing ives led by whole is now:
an article - usually the
an adjective - usually whole whole, full, entire, wide, rich
the noun headword gamut and
a prepositional phrase - usually of - which specifies the area over which the Combinations
phrase ranges.
Of the five instances where the preposition is from, the following to is present.
The adjective is optional. One variant is to omit the prepositional phrase and There is one instance (no. 15) of the phrase run the whole gamut of - so it is
insert a second adjective specifying the range. a possible combination, but a single instance is not good evidence of a settled
The function of the phrase is to specify some set of events, objects or pattern in the language.
tendencies, and to draw attention to the large size, fullness or complexity of the Verbs other than "run" are cover, been through, and performed, which are
area concerned, the necessity for its contents to be enumerated one by one and similar to run, and influencing.
the extensiveness of the coverage achieved. There are no instances of two adjectives between the article and the noun,
but there are five instances - the last five - where gamut is not followed by an
7. The phrase made up word by word is: indicator of range. In nos. 25 and 28 the phrase refers back to a listing of
range, and no. 27 is also anaphoric; but no. 26 is using gamut as an independ-
run the whole gamut o f . . . ent choice of noun, and 29 is a little obscure.
Number 6 shows gamut being cited as a word, dislocated from any cotext.
There are no instances of just this phrase in the concordance. At this stage, This can happen to any word or phrase, and does not affect our analysis.
with only 18 instances examined, the absence of this particular combination
may be just a matter of chance; word by word it is the most likely one, and 9. There is no more meaning in gamut than in ga, gam or gamu. Historically
there are no obvious barriers to combination. it once had a meaning, and some aspects of that meaning - e.g. the idea of
a detailed enumeration of a long list - are still present. As always, there is a
8. We repeat the procedures from §1-7. possible exception to this - in one instance (no. 26 of the second datafile)
gamut refers to the compositions of Bach, and may be being used with some
Frequencies at N-1 reference to its original sense.
Hardly any word except an article and gamut seems to be necessary, but the
the 14, a 2 total 16 vast majority of the instances show the distinctive pattern that is set out in §6
whole 8, full 3, wide 1 total 12 above; the second datafile largely confirms the first one. The meaning of the
phrase is also confirmed as it is set out in §6 above.
Frequencies at N+1
of 18
from 5

Frequencies at N-2
the 11, a l total 12 .
run 6, running 2, runs 1, ran 1 total 10

Frequencies at N+2
There are no repeated words in this position.

Page 14
Task 3
Words as liabilities

A few years ago there was an interesting legal trial in south-east Asia, widely
reported. A journalist writing about the politics of the region had used the
word regime in reference to some of the governments of the region, without
naming any. The government of the country where he lived felt that the use
of this word about itself was insulting, and arrested the journalist and accused '
:
him of libel. The defence of the journalist was that he had not named his
country of residence, and that the word regime was not so derogatory a refer-
ence as to justify a libel suit. Commentators (from a safe distance) recalled the
English proverb "If the cap fits, wear it".
The government pursued its case and won a conviction. No-one asked a
corpus linguist to give evidence of the word regime, and no-one came forward
with text evidence of the way the word was used.
Imagine that you were on the jury for this case; on the assumption that the
journalist had intended to imply that his government could reasonably be called
a regime, make an assessment of the case against him.

1. Study the file 03_regime.doc. Read each instance in turn, and select those
where regime means government; note where it means something else. Look
for words and phrases which could indicate a good or a bad SEMANTIC PROSODY,
and put as many instances as possible in one category or the other, avoiding
"neutral" whenever you can. Note what grammatical relationship each expres-
sion has with the node word regime.

2. Assess whether the good or the bad predominates; see how many of the
others can be interpreted so as to join the main group. Make notes on doubtful
decisions.

3. Now look at the file 03_regime_colls.doc. There you will find the most
significant collocates of regime, arranged by a measure known as T-SCORE. Put o,
them into groups and summarise the kind of meaning that comes through.

4. Do you agree that if you call a government a regime you are likely to intend
an insult to it?

Pagt
 Reading Concordances

Datafile 03_regime.doc
Task 3
1 that Queensland has been seeking a regime which was not discriminatory and
2
3
the government as an apartheid regime . He maintained that with the steps
and leaving in place the appalling regime which these refugees from
Key
4 the newest studio, a more benign regime prevailed, under the command of
5 at 40 as at 20, have an exercise regime to impress Jane Fonda, the perfect
6 the government probably prefer his regime to the theocracy favoured by a i.
7 Arab world, nobody could deny his regime 's vigorous espousal of Arabism and
8 a godless and therefore illegitimate regime . Sociologists usually explain the No. Expression Good/bad Relationship
9 of a huge tariff. The new import regime has angered companies like Chiquita
10 now is whether and when the military regime will hand over power to a new 1 discriminatory bad complement
11 further discredited the military regime , which had shown by its 2 apartheid bad • modifier
12 strong condemnation of the military regime . The Canadians are among those who 3 appalling bad modifier
13 Dinitz, said he thought the new regime in Moscow would think carefully 4 benign good modifier (means management)
14 Then London would deal with the new regime : until then it was bound to deal 5 means "programme"
6 theocracy bad second object - regime is the first
15 to cross the threshold under the new regime ." Geese nip out for love
7 vigorous espousal good regime's modifies
16 changes if his twenty-year old regime is to survive. This month marks the
8 illegitimate bad modifier
17 a "pseudo-state". 13 During the Old Regime, Spanish administration had a more
9 angered bad verb with regime as subject
18 backs the boycott of the general's regime . According to Information, the 10 military bad modifier
19 from both sides brought down the regime , and of course this was within the 11 discredited military bad bad verb with regime as object modifier
20 counter-productive in terms of the regime 's image abroad. Western men however 12 condemnation bad headword with regime in prep, phrase
21 . the Corriere has supported the regime with exemplary loyalty. '62 In the military bad modifier
22 groups in the provinces to staff the regime 's political and ceremonial posts. 9 13 new neutral modifier
23 about the true nature of the regime . From that date, whatever illusions 14 new neutral modifier
24 of his bitter disillusion" with the regime only added to the sense of a 15 new neutral modifier
25 It exposes for what it is - the regime that we are dealing with, that we 16 changes good in main clause, regime in subordinate
26 at it, which is another side of the regime that everyone's known about, but no 17 pseudo-state bad previous sentence
27 the Bush administration to blast the regime publicly, in terms clear enough for 18 boycott bad headword with regime in prep, phrase
28 people in the country, because their regime killed hundreds of thousands of 19 brought down bad verb with regime as object
20 counter-productive bad headword with regime in prep, phrase
21 exemplary loyalty good in adverbial
22 ceremonial posts neutral regime's modifies
Datafile 03 regime_colls.doc:
23 true nature bad headword with regime in prep, phrase
the most frequent collocates of reqirm 24 bitter disillusion bad in adverbial
25 exposes bad regime in apposition
communist ancien strict 26 known neutral in relative clause modifying regime
new Nazi fascist 27 blast bad verb with regime as object
old power authoritarian 28 killed bad verb with regime as subject
military Baghdad Mengistu
Iraqi Soviet collapse
Ceausescu President control 2. In all but one instance, regime means government or some kind of manag-
Saddam Franco Vichy ing authority. In 18 of these 27 instances the prosody is marked as "bad".
Hussein dictated repressive
Penh overthrow Kabul
Phnom totalitarian Instances marked "good"
• Number 4 has "a more benign regime prevailed", implying that the previous
regime was malevolent.
• In no. 7, the attitude does seem to be good.
• In no. 16, changes have to be made, which implies that the regime is not
good.
• Number 21 is probably ironical, since if regimes are on the whole bad,
supporting them is ulso bad.

Page 1»
 Words as liabilities
Reading Concordances

Doubtful decisions Next there are some words which offer further facets of meaning:

• In no. 6, "theocracy" is not inherently bad, but a regime is preferred to it. power
• Number 10 has military as a modifier; not all military regimes are bad, but President
since they are undemocratic many people would hold them to be bad in dictated
principle. overthrow
• In no. 17, the relation of pseudo-state to regime is not clear. collapse
• In no. 23, there is also the word illusions to support the feeling that to reveal control
the true nature of something is to expose its bad side. I have been unable to
find a single example of the collocation of true nature and regime that is Finally there are two familiar adjectives, and one fixed collocation, ancien
even neutral, far less good in orientation. regime - the only use of ancien in modern English. Regimes preceded by one
of these three modifiers are unlikely to be nasty:
Instances judged to be neutral
ancien
There are five of these. Three concern the word new as modifier, and it seems
new
that this collocation counteracts the otherwise bad prosody of the word regime:
old
also the regimes involved are often minor management roles, in sport for
example, rather than governments. Number 22 concerns a dictatorship but 4 In summary, by far the greatest number of significant collocations of regime
presents it in a mild mode; the quoted line in no. 26 is just too short to show its concern political systems and dictators with extremely unpopular reputations
menace - the text goes on to say that the regime is very dangerous. in the western world, or they concern the violent use of power.
To sum up this examination of the cotexts, we can say with confidence that
almost all occurrences of regime bring out a bad prosody; the only systematic
exceptions are those where regime is modified by new.

3. First there are some types of regime usually regarded as unpleasant among
the sources of the corpus:

communist
Soviet
military
Nazi
fascist
totalitarian
authoritarian
strict
repressive

Then there is a "rogues' gallery" of dictators and their locations:

Ceausescu
Iraqi Saddam Hussein Baghdad
Franco
Mengistu
Vichy
Phnom Penh
Kabul
Page2t
Task 4
Literal and metaphorical

Some idiomatic phrases in English are recognisable because they contain a word
which is not found anywhere else, like at loggerheads, kith and kin - see also
Section 2, which deals with "gamut". Others are easily identified because their
LITERAL meaning is absurd - see the introduction to Section 7 for some examples.
But many others have no such identificatien marks, and look and sound just
like literal expressions - "He got cold feet", for example, seems quite a normal
way of saying that his feet are cold. How then do we know when it means that
he is cowardly?
This task studies a similar example, based around the collocation free hand.
The datafile 04_freehand.doc gives 30 instances, sorted alphabetically by the
word immediately to the left of free.

1. Look at the words in this position (called N-l), and list them in order of
frequency. Can you associate any of the SINGLETONS with any of those that
recur?

2. Look again at the five lines where N—1 is an adverb of degree. What is the
word at N—2? TheH consider the two lines where N—1 is one. What is the word
at N—2? Can you associate these seven lines with the two big groups of a
and his . . . ? (See the Glossary under SPAN for an explanation of the position
notation.)

3. We have now divided 28 of the 30 lines into two groups on the basis of the
choice of DETERMINER in front of the noun hand. Grammars point out that
there are two main types of determiner, one which tells us that the noun is
identified, and the other which tells us the opposite. "The" is typical of the first
type, and the possessive adjectives come in that group also; a/an is typical of
the second type.
But here the difference is not just the type of determiner; consider the
meaning of free hand in the two types of line and comment on the distinction
in meaning.

4. What about the remaining two lines? This time start with their meaning - is
it LITERAL or FIGURATIVE? Then see if there is any other evidence for fitting
the lines into the groups.

5. Now we will look in more detail at the two groups of concordance lines,
starting with those with a.. Look at the word that comes before a. Again, list the
words that occur in frequency order, and try to associate the singletons with
the repeated words.

Page 21
 Literal and metaphorical
Reading Concordances

6. In the eight cases where the word in front of a is a noun or pronoun, look Datafilo 04_frMhand.doc
even further to the right, to the end of the noun group, and discover what the to buy Russia's forests and
1 against allowing Western businesses a free hand
next word is. With this information, can you extend the description of the regional interests are: to have a free hand
in Lebanon and to regain the
2
structures around a free hand?
3 no doubt like to give the military a free hand but is wary of further
4 referred to as giving parents a free hand closing hospitals and
7. Group the lines with a free hand according to the number of objects and I says, "she thinks she's got a free hand . After all Claire
5
this instruction, he gave Stephanie a free hand in the decoration. Her main aim
whether the verb is active or passive. Does this explain why given occurs three 6
and glows with pride in being given a free hand by the most influential
times just in front of a but not at all otherwise? 7
the army wants to be granted a free hand to crack down against the
8
gives President-elect Bill Clinton a free hand to shape the bank and thrift
9
8. From this information, put together a set of criteria in order to identify the is widely rumoured, have been given a free hand if they don't rock the boat on
10
figurative meaning of phrases that include free hand. Think of what a computer boots. She brushed on makeup with a free hand .cheeks like a clown, red mouth,
11
if financial deregulation gave them a free hand , bank managers would lend first
would have to look for. 12
on the federal bench a judge has a free hand . A decade from now it may be
13
But Quayle denied Channel 9 had a free hand in nominating telecast
14
9. We continue with this group of 19 lines, and see if there are any helpful unlikely to give them a completely free hand in the matter. What Burma
15
regularities on the right-hand side. Start with the word at N+l, immediately er You've got a fairly free hand ? Yeah. Yeah.
16
was pointing down the road with her free hand . 'Look. The train's in. We'll
after hand, and list the repeated words in frequency order. 17
the rain had stopped. With his free hand he rolled down the window
18
resting on her shoulder. He moved his free hand around to the front of her
19
10. In those cases where none of the repeated words occur at N+1, look further he yelled, but he grabbed her with his free hand , his fingers winding in her
20
along the line to see if one eventually does; stop when you come to the end of the bottle against the palm of his free hand . He was a big man in his
21
a sentence or clause. Summarise the patterns to the right of the phrase. at his chest with the thumb of his free hand . 'I don't care about you, I
22
health club, sir." He extended his free hand . 'A while ago. You'll maybe no"
23
wrist so tightly, she had only one free hand . Kelly pulled as hard as she
11. Turn now to the other sense, and the other pattern, which we noted was 24
Nurse!" she shouted as with her one free hand she closed each window in turn,
25
marked by the occurrence of a possessive adjective at N—1. There are eight 26
allowing nature to have a relatively free hand . The spring garden, for
instances where this pattern occurs clearly: nos. 17-23 and 30. Look at N—2 or and he gives them a relatively free hand . They often abuse, they often
27
new broom will be brought in with the free hand to cut the dividend, clean out
further to the left and note any repeated words or other patterns. Can no. 25 be 28
setting. She was given a totally free hand by her clients to do exactly as
added in easily here? 29
1 will only need the body brush so your free hand can be used to steady the horse'
30

12. There are two lines left out of this analysis so far - nos. 11 and 28. Look
at the cotext of each one, and consider its meaning; make a case separately for
each line, as to whether it should be classified as one of the two meanings that
we have identified so far, or whether it is different from both of them.

Page 25
Task 4 5. The word in front of | is:

3
Key given
them 3
2
have
2
got
a 14
his 6 Given and got are verbs that have a free hand as object. This is also true of
relatively 2 granted and have, has and had- That makes a total of ten of this type, out of
one 2 nineteen, more than half. Them is a pronoun, and so takes the place of a noun
Singletons: group. Of the remaining words on our list, five - businesses, military, parents,
her, your - same word class as his Stephanie and Clinton - are nouns that either constitute the group by them-
completely. fairly, totally - same word class as relatively selves (parents) or are heads of the group, e.g. Western businesses.
the Only with in no. 11 is different, having a preposition in front of the phrase
we are studying. We will return to this line later, but first read it carefully and
judge whether it really is an example of the idiomatic meaning that goes with
In half the instances the N—1 position is occupied by an article, almost always
a; since the is the more frequent article generally, and occurs only once in this the selection of a.
position, this pattern is a positive selection of the indefinite article, and a
rejection of the definite article. In eight instances N - 1 is a possessive adject- 2
ive, mostly his; in five instances N-1 is an adverb of degree, twice relatively: 2
in two instances N-1 is one. 2
1
1
2. Where N - 1 is an adverb of degree, N—2 is a; so these five lines join the
group of the indefinite article. Where N—1 is the word one, in no. 25 N - 2 is her These are all except one forms of the verb "give", which we have already seen
and so this line joins those with possessive adjectives. is prominent in this lexical structure, and allowing is a form of a very similar
The other one, no. 24, has only at N - 2 , which is unlike all the other lines in verb to "give". So we see that there is a very particular choice of verb in this
this sample, so we will fit it in later on. structure; of the nineteen examples, ten show "give" as the verb and two show
verbs of similar meaning; six show got or a form of "have".
3. Where the determiner of the noun group is a possessive adjective, the word The verb "give", and others such as "grant" and "allow", can occur with
free means "available", and the word hand means the part of the human body both an indirect and a direct object; usually the first one is the indirect one,
at the end of the arm. These are literal meanings. When the determiner is a, the often a pronoun. Our phrase a free hand is the direct object. When the verb is
phrase a free hand means "an unrestricted opportunity"; this is a figurative or passive, there is only a direct object - the pronoun or group that might have
idiomatic meaning. been the direct object is found as the subject.

7. Numbers 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 26 and 29 have only one object. Where
4. Number 24 is clearly literal. In general with words like hand, denoting parts
the verb is "have" (nos. 2, 13, 14 and 26) only one object is possible and the
of the body that come in pairs (see eye in Section 18), reference specifically to
passive is very rare; where the verb is got (nos. 5 and 16) an indirect object
just one of them is a literal reference.
would be unusual and the passive would be ridiculous; in the other cases
Number 28 is a different matter, and as written it is very unusual. The clue
(nos. 7, 8, 10 and 29) the verb is "give" or "grant" and is passive.
is that it is the transcription of a spoken utterance. In fast speech the sound of
"with the free hand" and "with a free hand" can be identical when the article Numbers 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 27 have two objects, and the verb is "give"
is unstressed. When this phrase is transcribed, the transcriber has to make a apart from no. 1 where it is "allow".
choice of article, and this should be based on an examination of the COTEXT,
using precisely the distinction in meaning that is given in §3. In my opinion 8. (a) (i) Is there a form of the verb "give" to the left of the core phrase? or
the transcriber made the wrong guess in this instance. one from the sumc class and with a similar meaning?

Page 27
Page 26
Reading Concordances Literal and metaphorical

(ii) If not, is there an occurrence of the verb "have" or "get", or one be more instances of this kind, less frequent than the others but distinctive. The
with a similar meaning and use? computer could be used to check this prediction.
(b) Does the indefinite article precede the core phrase, either directly or Number 28 has already been noticed as unusual, because of its choice of
with only an adverb of degree in between? the definite article (see §4). The meaning is certainly of the figurative type,
If the answer is yes to both (a) and (b), the meaning is to be set a task without but the structures do not fit the specifications that we have worked out. Free
restrictions on resources or methods to accomplish it. hand occurs after with in a prepositional phrase, which we associate with the
literal meaning, and the verb is brought in. which we have not met before. This
9. Repeated words at N + 1 : verb, however, is quite appropriate to the figurative meaning. We can also note
that the right-hand side starts with to as an infinitive marker, which we have
noted is characteristic of the figurative sense. So this instance shows that the
in 4
cotext patterns are not "rules" which cannot be broken,- but guides to normal
to 3
phraseology.
b_y. 2

1 0 . In nos. 2 and 29 the infinitive marker to comes in later.

In summary, the patterns to the right are not very strong, but where the repeated
words occur, in 11 - more than half - of the lines, they are confirming evidence
of this meaning, because they are scarcely found in the other sense; no. 30 has
an instance of the to-infinitive in the other sense, but that is all.

11. Repeated words at N-2:

with 3
of 2

In no. 22, with occurs at N - 5 but is still part of the pattern.

Number 25 has with her one free hand, which is very close to the others and
adds to the collocation of with. Numbers 19 and 23 have a verb of movement.
None of these patterns occurred in our study of the figurative meaning, so this
is useful, but not critical, evidence.

12. Number 11 seems at first sight to be a member of the figurative group

because of the indefinite article; but the word at N—2 is with, which is strongly
associated with the other meaning. So it is, in terms of cotext, balanced between
the two. The meaning, also, has some association with each of the others. Hand
comes close to referring to an actual physical object because the hands are
used a lot in the application of make-up, and free is used more in its sense of
"liberal" rather than as the opposite of "captive", though there is a bit of both
present.
In fact the phrase with a free hand is a third phrase having free hand as it
core; its combination of elements is different from either of the others although
it uses the same words, and its meaning is distinct. The meaning is closer to the
literal than our first sense, but is still figurative.
We come to this conclusion on the basis of only one concordance line,
which means that it is almost entirely intuitive. It is predicting that there will
Page 29
Task 5
Meaning focus

Written language text takes the form of a string of words, with spaces in
between. We tend to think that each word is independently chosen to deliver a
meaning. For example, a noun like houses brings to mind the full range of
someone's experience of houses; stone houses will now limit this concept to
one particular variety of houses, those made of stone. The adjective stone is
interpreted as selecting, from all the houses you can think of, houses that are
made of stone.
In grammar this relationship is seen as the normal one between an adjective
and a noun - the two words are separately chosen, and their combined mean-
ing is the set of objects that share the two properties they express. In this task
we shall examine whether such a relationship of meaning is the only one
formed by combinations of adjective and noun, beginning with the adjective
physical.

1. Look at the first datafile of physical, 05_physicall.doc. This is a concord-

ance that has been carefully selected to make a point, so please do not use it as
a representative sample of the use of the word. Just consider what difference it
makes in these instances to omit the word physical, and offer an explanation of
your finding. ,

2. Now study the second datafile of physical, 05_physical2.doc. First make a

list of the nouns that immediately follow it. If the next word is not a noun,
what is it, and can you find a suitable noun in the following few words?

3. In a few cases physical may have a scientific meaning, to do with the

science of physics. Find these.

4. In the remaining items, first think of the meaning of the noun without
looking at its cotext. Does it seem to you to have in itself the usual meaning
of "physical"? If not, would you still normally expect that it will apply to
physical events and things? Put the nouns into two groups according to your
intuitions - aided by a dictionary if need be - and note any doubtful cases.

5. Now go through the concordance line by line, looking to see if the occur-
rence of physical narrows the referential range of the noun that follows, or
draws attention to the essentially physical nature of the meaning of the noun in
this cotext. In some instances there may not be enough cotext for you to be
sure, and in such cases |usi guess. Make a note of discrepancies between your
classification in (4 und (lie UMigc here.

Pag* 31
Reading Concordances

6. Discuss the discrepancies noted in §4 and describe in summary the way the
adjective physical is used in front of nouns.

7. The next step is to look at another adjective to see if it shows a similar

pattern of meaning and use to physical. Study the datafile for personal,
05_personal.doc. Pick out only those instances where there is a noun closely
following, and then note any specialised uses, and how many there are. For the
remainder decide in each instance whether it is focusing or selective. Point out
any discrepancies with your intuitive idea of the meaning of the noun, and note
any doubtful cases. Summarise the function of the adjective personal.

Page 33
Reading Concordances

Datafile 05_physical2.doc

1 ers more than usually susceptible to physical injury is the fact that they never
2 They are visual warnings of possible physical attack by the person who is gestur
3 brain - stripped of its supporting physical structures - with the computer. I
4 tried to make up for their lack of physical stature by imposing themselves on
5 Detroit, also joined the team. The physical arrangement of the jail seemed to
6 signs are printed in skin colour or physical features. The colonial heritage,
7 them in terms of their spiritual and physical needs, then it becomes necessary
8 cle Sam might be suffering from some physical disease - he hinted at syphilis -
9 ue his way out of it. It was like a physical disease. He would tell himself,
10 ply. What he does is seek out those physical characteristics which make his sub
11 rid and about her position in it. A physical organism, of course, a distinct
12 urse war, with its accompaniment of physical destruction and social disturbance
13 a recurrent challenge - ineluctable physical and emotional demands - how it bro
14 concentration camp it resembles in physical outline, the people who live in i
15 ng that once upon a time there was a physical world devoid of life, this world
16 to quarrel about. The strained physical attitude to which she was clinging
17 boy babies more often get direct, physical expression of love and approval fr
18 heir home or lodgings address. 14 A physical recreation scheme, with a wide ve
19 east his book was written before his physical health deserted him, a book which
20 of passion, drama and intolerable physical loveliness that Ken Russell will s
21 personalities could also change the physical and chemical nature of our brains
22 omeone else at the wheel because her physical condition made it hard to drive.
23 ing and diarrhoea. As well as these physical problems. Lake, like hundreds of
24 ere people would be left at 'severe physical risk' would it be unreasonable to
25 eference to the likely inflicting of physical injury, and no mention is made of
26 the track. In her army mode as a physical -training instructor she would
27 is strict, with a lot of rigorous physical activity, the declared intention
28 over to children that exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. They m
29 usually temporal, spatial and physical , but it goes beyond that. Some
30 ove legal tolerance for any level of physical punishment, in line with the UN C
31 formers who express complex ideas in physical language. It's tough but inspir
32 ds are circumvented by your superior physical prowess and overriding control. B
33 their periods, even if they have no physical problems themselves. So if these
34 there are vacancies for graduates in physical and computer sciences, engineerin

Page 38
 Meaning focus

Task 5 (B) Nouns that normally include the notion "physical":

activity attack condition
Key punishment stature
(C) Nouns that can quite normally refer to non-physical things and events:
arrangement attitude characteristics demands features
1. The short answer is, nothing at all. Take no. 8 as a typical instance. language outline needs problems recreation
All appearances are physical appearances, so whereas "stone houses" refers risk structures
to a sub-class of houses physical appearances refers to the complete class
of appearances. There are brick houses and wooden houses, but no "mental Notes
appearances".
So why is the word physical there at all? Its function is to focus attention on • It is possible to talk of "social disease", "mental injury", etc., but the point
the physical meaning that is already in the noun; in the noun appearances, is that the adjective "social" or "mental" must be present to suspend the
"physical" is one of many semantic features, not all of which are equally "physical" meaning. Another way of putting this is to say that these usages
relevant to the particular instance. Many of the nouns in this concordance can are metaphorical.
be used in conjunction with an adjective like "mental" to give a non-physical • The noun outline might be type B or even type A except in phrases like in
meaning - even body can - and so the feature "physical" is suspended in such outline, and its uses might refer to discourse and documents.
instances; by using the adjective apparently redundantly, as in this datafile,
attention is drawn to that element of the meaning. 5. Where physical is selecting just part of the referential range of the noun, I
will call it SELECTIVE (S). Where it is highlighting an aspect of the meaning of
2. For the list of nouns immediately following physical, see §4. the noun, I will call it FOCUSING (F).

Other structures No. Noun type Function Comments

• Number 13 and emotional demands: two adjectives are linked together (§4)
modifying demands.
1 A F
• Number 21 and chemical nature: two adjectives are linked together modify- B F visual and gestur . . . support the physical interpretation
2
ing nature. 3 C S
• Number 26 -training instructor: physical is part of a compound here, and this 4 B F most likely, though not certain
instance will be ignored from now on. 5 C S
6 C F printed and skin colour support the physical interpretation
• Number 29 . but: physical does not immediately modify a noun in this antithesis with spiritual
7 C S
instance. A S if the wider cotext mentions mental problems
8 F
• Number 34 and computer sciences: two adjectives are linked together 9 A S it must be some non-physical disease
modifying sciences. 10 C s
11 A F not enough cotext to be sure
12 A F antithesis with social does not affect classification
Conclusion (ignoring no. 26) because each has its own noun
In all instances except no. 29, there is a noun nearby which physical modifies. 13 C S antithesis with emotional
14 C S
15 A F
3. In nos. 21 and 34 the word is linked by and to chemical and computer 16 C S
respectively, suggesting strongly that it is related to the science of physics. 17 A F
18 C S
19 A F
4. Types of nouns. 20 A F a little doubtful without a wider cotext
22 B F this meaning of condition is perhaps A
(A) Nouns that contain the notion "physical": likely contrast with other kinds of problems coming up
23 C S
destruction disease expression health 24 C S
injury loveliness organism world 25 A F
Page 3 *
Page ,*•
 Meaning focus
Reading Concordances
7. There are three examples where there is no following noun; in nos. 1 and 26
No. Noun type Function Comments the adjective is used IMUUMCAI IVELY, and in no. 17 the passage is in note form.
(§4)

not enough cotext to be sure, but strict and rigorous help Specialised uses
27 B F
28 B F supported by exercise • Number 7. The Personal Column of The Times is a long-established section
30 B S other kinds of punishment are permitted
C language perhaps should be type D - where the notion of that newspaper.
31 s "physical" is in conflict with its normal semantic features • Numbers 8 and 9. Personal computers or PCs are the familiar home and
32 A F office machines.
33 C S • Number 10. A Personal Equity Plan is a kind of insurance policy.

6. We would expect that physical with all type A nouns would be focusing,
but one instance of disease is not, and the other is doubtful. The use of disease morality antithetical structure; noun is A-type
2 S
to refer to non-physical symptoms is still an unusual phrasing in English, and appearances A-noun; all appearances are personal
3 F
so the collocation physical disease is used for clarity in contrast with mental F attributes A-noun
4
disturbances. 5 F best strong collocation, and best is not normally a noun
On the whole, physical with type B nouns should also be focusing, though 6 S claim forms contrast with some other kind of form
more susceptible to selective interpretation. The only clear instance of select- 11 F fiefdom emphasises the-power of the boss
ive meaning is no. 30, which appears to refer to legislation concerning the 12 S finance contrast with business financing
corporal punishment of children. Since other kinds of punishment are legitim- 13 S centres same as 12
ate, physical is behaving in the same way as "stone" in "stone houses". 14 F friend A-noun stresses speaker's involvement
F gain see note below
Physical modifying type C nouns can be expected to be selective, since 15
grievances not contrastive with other grievances
there is no reason to expect the concrete notion "physical" to arise in the 16 F
meeting emphasises intimacy
18 F
meaning of the noun. Number 6 presents an apparent counter-example, but ones some "ones" are political
19 S
perhaps the noun features has more than one meaning. Certainly the common opposition reinforces the personal element of his
20 F
meaning is extremely general and can apply to abstract ideas, but in the sense F popularity A-noun •
21
that goes with skin colour it refers to the shape etc. of parts of the human power reinforces the personal element of my own
22 F
face, and thus perhaps should be reclassified as type A. See also condition requirements reinforces the personal element of your
23 F
in no. 22. safety safety is person-oriented
24 F
salvation salvation is person-oriented
To summarise, the correspondence between types and usage is close, and the 25 F
successors reference to the ceremony of consecration
reasons for discrepancy are important. 27 F
supplies draws attention to the privacy of the service
28 F
S things classifying
29
(a) Collocation is a good guide to meaning, and when a noun is ambiguous in use no contrast with non-personal use
30 F
meaning (as many are) collocation can indicate which meaning is relevant.
So nouns like features and condition have broad, general meanings of type
C, but less common meanings of type A; when combined with physical the Note on no. 15
A meaning is the relevant one.
Gain is an A-noun, so personal is clearly highlighting that aspect of its mean-
(b) Some stylistic structures create a contrast of meanings. One of them is the
ing. But it is also in an antithetical contrast with public. The fact that each
SIMILE, which says roughly "X is like Y". If X is like Y then X cannot
adjective has its own noun allows the adjectives to contrast without forcing
actually be Y; and so when physical is placed as part of Y in a simile, as
them to be selective. See no. 12 of 05_physical2.doc.
in no. 9, it must be selective even though the noun it modifies is type A.
There are several reasons for creating such contrasts, and one is to project In several cases the adjective personal works with a possessive adjective that
the meaning of a noun into an unusual combination, for example to sug-
comes in front ol it. The clearest cases are 20, 22 and 23, but there is some
gest that a mental problem is as real and painful as an illness with physical
intlucncc also in 4, 5 und 24.
symptoms.

•a* 38
Reading Concordances

Numbers
predicative 2 (nos. 1 and 26)
LEVEL 2
other non-attributive 1 (no. 17)
specialised 4 (nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10)
selective 6 Task 6 Specialised meaning 43
focusing 11 Task 7 Subtle distinctions 51
30 57
Task 8 Meaning flavour
Task 9 Extensions of grammar 63
Conclusion
Task 10 Meaning and context 73
The adjective personaI is used mainly in a focusing function.
Task 6
Specialised meaning

Most of the words in a language are uncommon; only a few hundred occur
really often. Many of the uncommon words are restricted in meaning, and
a large number are called "technical terms" because they are defined outside
language texts, in a specialised discipline, and people who use them try to
restrict their meanings to the definitions. Clearly, if a word keeps a pre-
defined meaning it will behave independently of its context; the attempt is
made to associate the word and meaning so closely that the meaning will not
vary, regardless of the context of its use. This independence is possibly true
of some very specialised terms, but it has not so far been proved, while it
is known that language in use has an unpredictable effect on the words that
are used.
This book takes its examples from general English, so there are only
occasional references to technical terms. But there are still a lot of rare
words - in fact one of the remarkable statistics of words in a corpus is that,
no matter how large the corpora become, half of the word forms occur
once only.
Some of these rare words name uncommon things in the world, and so they
occur only on the rare occasions when these things are talked about. Others are
restricted so much in their occurrence that they occur only in one or two
idiomatic phrases - for an example in this book see the word "gamut" in
Section 2.
But in this section we shall study another kind of uncommon word, one
which has a clear cotextual pattern associated with it but is not thought of as
part of an idiom. Why is it rare? Its meaning is clear, and indeed in all its
occurrences it can be replaced by a more common word, and the same word in
all cases. We might ask why it is in the language at all, if it is so unnecessary.
The likely answer, or part of it anyway, is that this word gives an extra
flavour of meaning, more specific than a common word could be. It can be
used precisely, and therefore economically. As will come clear, the special
meaning is not easy to express in any other way.
The word chosen for this investigation is brook, used as a verb. To make a
concordance of this usage it is necessary to separate the verbal uses of brook
from the more common uses as a noun meaning a small stream. This is done
by using a Word-class Tagger, but it has to be checked by hand afterwards.
Since it is not a common word, we can study the complete concordance to
brook in a fairly large corpus. This is printed in datafile 06_brook.doc, with
the words immediately after brook in alphabetical order.

I. List those words a( N 11 (immediately to the right of brook) that are repeated.
Is there any relation between them?

Page 43
Reading Concordances Specialised meaning

2. Check all the lines for evidence of negation. Look on both sides of brook, Datafile 06 brook doc
and note all the negative words. Can you formulate a simple general statement
relating brook to the negative? 1 again shown its determination not to brook any challenge to its authority. It
2 another indication that SLORC cannot brook any objections or protests against
3 about the ANC, about its inability to brook any criticism or opposition. Like
3. Now look at the word immediately to the left of brook, at position N - 1 , 4 authenticity? Anthea: It doesn't brook any messing around. There is no
starting with nos. 11-36. Again, list the repeated words in frequency order. 5 President Assad will be in no mood to brook any more. Treachery, however
What is the predominant word-class? Can you fit any of the singletons into this 6 absolutely useless. We will not brook any decision by any court from
word-class? (See the Glossary under SPAN for an explanation of the position 7 unenthusiastic for Delorism, will not brook Britain's petulant isolation from
notation.) 8 become a state of mind that does not brook contradiction. Yet a few modest
9 armed with an attitude that will not brook defeat. The opening scene of the
10 the proud Cleopatra would not brook . Learning of his plans, she
4. Expand your search to N - 2 , etc., and to the remaining lines (nos. 1-10 and 11 for school. Mother and father would brook no more of Malcolm's (or Rose's)
37-39). Can you find further instances of the predominant word-class? Can 12 enemies within Germany that he would brook no opposition. Calling upon his
you see any words that have similar meanings to modals? What general con- 13 Yitzhak Shamir has said Israel will brook no interference in the affairs of
14 has repeatedly said it will brook no interference in what it
clusion can you come to about the relation of brook to modality?
15 Yitzhak Shamir has said Israel will brook no interference concerning the
16 minded determination of the Tigers to brook no opposition in the Tamil areas of
5. Now we will look at what sorts of things people "will not brook" - that is, 17 do it at once. She would brook no argument or opposition and on
the objects of the verb. The easiest way to start is with the lines that have any 18 a leap. But Fisher's determination to brook no opposition meant that defective
or no at N - 1 and to list the repeated words at N - 2 in those lines. What kinds of 19 needs or wants. Artemis-type women brook no nonsense from their menfolk, as
words are they? Can any of the singletons can be associated with the repeated 20 and those influenced by its rays will brook no denial in seizing their
brook no mispronunciation or mis-accent,
21 and intolerant teachers, as they will
words? brook no control, and Sarah Ellis had
22 anger in her companion's veins would
brook no interference, and his jaw was
23 thin enough to make it clear they'd
brook no interference. And if, by some
6. Some of the instances have two nouns connected by or. Add in the other 24 Warn them that, on this one, we'll
brook no delay, llara
noun. Do they fit into the set we have built up from the N+1 words? At this 25 had an urgent appointment which would
brook no interference. Pallas and Hart
26 of action for herself, one that would
stage bring in also the object nouns of the six lines we put on one side in §5 brook no interference from their de jure
27 laughter. Meanwhile, Eritrea's rulers brook no interference from France's
(nos. 7, 8, 9, 37, 38 and 39). Ask of all these words whether they are members 28 Francois Mitterrand, vowing to brook no delay. This feat has never
of the set because of an inherent feature of their meaning or something caused 29 or what have you) and they will brook no weakening of its power. In 1988,
by the local conditions. 30 of the country. And the army will brook no brickbats and from the moment
31 fantastic. They fear no mocking, they brook no delay but there is a need for
32 insistent about the tasks that will brook no dissent from the ERM line,
7. We have studied the relation of brook as a verb with its objects; next we
33 summer, and made clear that he would brook no interference in its internal
will have a look at the subjects. Who or what will not brook such things as 34 it was a sovereign state, and would brook no opposition. He once ordered
interference? There are unlikely to be many repeated words here, because it is 35 a pistol, and Epstein himself would brook no vigilantes in his town and
a fairly open choice, but try to group the subject nouns (the headwords of the 36 avoid the terrifying Hackman who will brook riddles, solved or unsolved,
subject noun groups) according to any shared features that you detect. Where 37 Department. The Constitution does not brook such nonsense. They had only to
the subject is a pronoun which immediately follows its referent, as in . . . an 38 that society would not always brook the thought of a husband and wife
39 out - that Mrs. Thatcher would not
attitude that will not b r o o k . . . (no. 9) note both of them.

8. From the organised lists that you have made, what can you deduce about
the characteristics of the people and things that are subjects of brook?

9. Summarise your findings about the unit of meaning that has brook (verb) as
its core, giving information about the effect it has on its cotext.

Paaa4t\
 Specialised meaning

Task 6 The instances which do not have at N+l have modals as follows

Key No. Form Notes

1 determination lexicalised modality

1. no 26 2 cannot modal
any 6 3 inability lexicalised modality
4 doesn't auxiliary
Any is often part of a negative construction. 5 in no mood to lexicalised modality
6 will modal
2. 7 will modal
8 does auxiliary
No. Negative 9 will modal
10 would modal
1 n o t . . . any 37 does auxiliary
2 cannot.. . any 38 would modal
3 inability . . . any 39 would modal
4 doesn't... any
5 no . . . any
6 n o t . . . any This leaves only six instances which have no expression of modality: the three
7-10 not
with the auxiliary does, and nos. 20, 27 and 31. Of these the first five express
11-36 no
37-39
generalisations, and the last is an odd phrase altogether. From this evidence we
not
can safely say that the vast majority of instances of brook occur with a modal
verb, usually of the will, would type but also occasionally of the can type. It
From this evidence it can be assumed that brook characteristically occurs with is important to note, however, that in several instances the modal choice is
a negative; in most cases this is no or not, but there is one instance (no. 3) LEXICALISED, and there is no grammatical choice of modal.
of a lexical negative, where the negative is in the form of a prefix within a
word. Since the concordance contains all the evidence of the word from a large 5. interference 9
corpus, and not a single instance occurs without a negative, it is fairly safe to opposition 4
assume that a positive use of brook would be an exceptionally unusual event. delay 3

3. would 9 There is a lot of common meaning between interference and opposition: delay
will 9 is a little different, but in the context of actions that frustrate the implementa-
to 3 tion of a plan, delay is a kind of inaction that has the same effect; and of course
some delays are deliberately caused. To these we can add challenge, objec-
The most common word class is the modal verb, with will and would as strong
collocates. The form Id is most probably a shortened form of would and the tions, criticism, argument, nonsense, denial and dissent. The next step is to
form HI is most probably a shortened form of will, so we can add these in to look at the specific instances and see if the noun at N - 2 can be interpreted in
make ten of each type, and twenty modals in all. a similar way, if only in the particular line. For example, in no. 4, messing
around probably refers to some action that is getting in the way of someone's
4. The three instances which have to at N - 1 have a lexical anticipation of plans; decision (no. 6) is neutral in itself, but the cotext probably goes on to
modality as follows: specify a decision that would thwart a plan of action; mispronunciation in the
context of intolerant teachers is clearly frustrating. The use of control in no. 22
• Number 18 - determination - a word indicating the sort of stubbornness that has this kind of meaning also because the subject concerns an overwhelming
we hear in would not anger; vigilantes (no. 36) joins the group with reference to someone whose
• Number 28 - vowing - another, similar lexicalisation behaviour is beyond the luw; weakening (no. 30) means "being weakened" and
• Number 16 - determination - again refers back lo liic "'Uy «* the organisation under threat of being weakened.

Pag* 46 Page 47
Reading Concordances Specialised meaning

We are left with brickbats in no. 31, which is already a strange instance, and The only other repcuted words are pronouns: the personal pronouns they (2),
two instances of more in nos. 5 (any more') and 11 (more o f . . . ) . In no. 5 the il (2) and we. (2), he. shtf. one . . . , demonstrative those . . . and relatives which.
phrase refers back to something that has already been expressed, and since the that and who.
following word, in a new sentence, is Treachery, we can get some idea of what Among the singletons we find some loose groupings: "institutions" like
any more refers to - something likely to fit into the list we are compiling. )RC. (the ANC). Israel, rulers, army, society. Constitution, state and
In line 11 the behaviour that is objected to has not yet been expressed, but it chers); "people" like Assad. Cleopatra. Mitterrand (?), Epstein. (Hackman)
looks as if Malcolm is a child who has driven his parents to the end of their and Mrs Thatcher: also mother and father and women.
patience. There are two left over - (appointment), which suggests that the appoint-
We have now associated together all the noun objects of the sentences that ment is with a person likely not to brook delay, and (tasks) which get their
have no or any at N+1. The association is semantic, in that we claim a sim- urgency from someone's pressure. In no. 7 the subject noun is not present.
ilarity of meaning; in some cases, particularly the repeated ones, the semantic
strand is inherent in the word - that is to say, it will most likely be part of 8. The prevailing impression of the collection of people and institutions that
a dictionary definition of the word as in interference, but in many cases it is are represented in the subject position is one of figures of authority and centres
only when the word is interpreted in the specific instance that it acquires this of power. Nations and heads of nations include some hint of the autocratic -
meaning, and it would be most inappropriate for a dictionary to suggest that for example, the named women are Cleopatra and Mrs Thatcher, the unnamed
this meaning was inherent. For example, mispronunciation is a fault and the are Artemis-type women and mother.
word is pejorative, but it does not normally mean a challenge to authority - There is a curious absence of the pronouns I and you: the instances of we
only when the authorities are intolerant teachers of pronunciation is this mean- refer to spokespeople for nations or groups. It appears that people do not use
ing created by the text as a whole. this verb of their own personal behaviour, but ascribe it to others - their
The local, temporary creation of meaning in a text is called REVERSAL, superiors in the case of spokespeople, and indomitable personalities by those
because our normal model for the creation of meaning is that it is brought to who come up against them or observe their behaviour.
the text by the words; in cases of reversal the direction changes, and the text
brings new meaning to the words - but only for a single instance. 9. The core of the unit of meaning is the co-selection of brook and a negative
- one of many possible kinds of negative but typically the emphatic variety
6. Words following or: protests, opposition (twice), mis-accent. The first two where the word no follows a positive verb. Hypothetically, brook is almost
have an inherent meaning that is appropriate to this set, but the third requires a synonym of "tolerate", and in all the instances here it can be substituted
the cotext. without much change of meaning; what is lost is the fact that brook entails the
Number 8 (contradiction) also has an inherently appropriate meaning. negative and so is much more forceful.
Defeat, riddles and nonsense need to be focused in order to be seen as thwart- Another element of the meaning is the attitude of the person who is the
ing somone's plans, so for example defeat fits in when it is the subject of the subject of the verb brook. This comes out in most instances in a modal verb,
clause who is in danger of being defeated. (Britain's petulant) isolation has particularly would or will, but also in words like determination. Some of the
to be understood in a particular political context; the word isolation only fits people and institutions named as subjects lend support to this element of the
in with this meaning where someone is pressing for integration. Finally, (the) meaning, since they are the kind of people or institutions that tend to be
thought ( o f ) . . . recalls the structure of no. 11, where whatever is causing offence authoritarian.
has yet to come, and is not expressed in the short quotation that we have. People do not often say "I will not brook..." or "You wouldn't brook . . . "
Clearly the semantic framework provided by brook has a powerful effect on - in other words they do not say it of themselves or ascribe it to others face-to-
the words around it; in this case it obliges its objects to include a particular face. It is much more common for them to have that said about them, because
strand of meaning; either an object noun is selected that already fits the prescrip- the phrase with brook has a pejorative meaning also; it is not nice not to brook
tion, or a noun is selected that can be interpreted as fitting the prescription, or things - perhaps the person is impatient or even arrogant.
the required meaning is projected onto the noun for this instance only. There is a common element in the meaning of most of the objects of the
clause with brook as verb. They can almost all be interpreted as some action or
7. The most repeated subject noun is determination, which occurs three times inaction that gets in the way of the implementation of a plan, and irritates the
and shows once again the close relationship between the choice of the verb person in authority.
brook and the choice of modality, particularly in the sense of stubbornness. So you use brook when you want to say disparagingly of a person in author-
Related to determination are anger . . . , inability, (state of mind) and (attitude). ity that they cannot tolerate any manoeuvres against them, whether intentional
(Nouns referred to by pronouns are in brackets.) or not. This inclining i* a lot more specialised than just "tolerate".

Page 48
Task 7
Subtle distinctions

Everyone knows, in a way, what IDIOMS are, but it is very difficult to define
them. There is something quite specific and local about their meaning.
The most popular definition of an idiom is that it is a phrase that has a meaning
that cannot be predicted from the individual meanings of the words that make
it up.
Idioms that are often quoted to illustrate this unique kind of meaning are,
for example, kick the bucket, red herring and it's raining cats and dogs.
These mean, respectively, to die, an irrelevant diversion, and it's raining very
heavily. Although some of the words keep their normal meaning, e.g. raining,
it is not possible to guess the meaning of the phrase as a whole.
There are examples of this kind of idiom in Section 4. But there are also
idiomatic phrases made up of words that do not change in meaning. As well as
its literal meaning, such a phrase is used in a special sense without any change
in the meanings of the words in the phrase.
In this task we will study one of these idioms, based around the collocation
best thing.

1. Study the concordance sample of best thing (datafile 07_bestthing.doc).

Look at the words immediately to the left of best (position N - 1 ) and find
the most frequent form; then do the same calculation at the position N+1 , the
word immediately to the right of thing. Of the two, select the most frequent.
This gives us, as a starting point, the strongest word-pattern in the immediate
environment of best thing. (For an explanation of the position notation, see the
Glossary under SPAN.)

2. Of those lines that have a different choice at N—1, look for this frequent
word at N - 2 . HOW many are there? List the words that come in between.
Which lines are left over?

3. Now look at the right-hand side, the words that come immediately after best
thing. The commonest word can be either a preposition or the marker of the
infinitive. Classify the seven instances here into one or the other.

4. What other words occur at N - 1 more than once? Of the words that occur
only once, which share the word class of one of the repeated words? Which
lines are now left over?

5. Now look on the right-hand side for the first verb. Stop when you come to
the end of a sentence. Make a list of the verbs.

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Reading Concordances Subtle distinctions

6. Consider the lines containing the commonest verb. Is there another verb just Datafile 07_bMtthlng.doc
afterwards? What is it? Note the grammar at this point.
1 or me, this gumbo is the next best thing to a trip to New Orleans. Tender
2 else I would've done. It was the best thing for shareholders. It was the right
7. Now we are going to look for what best thing refers to. It must be some-
3 people are beyond help. Now the best thing you can do is to help us.' I
where in the text, because "best things" do not exist in the world in the same 4 else. And that, ok that was the best thing that was available at the time but
way that chairs and tables do. Start with the seven instances analysed above, 5 not sure that's necessarily the best thing ," he said quickly. But
where the phrase is part of the subject of is/was. Is the "best thing" to be found 6 they knew on instinct that the best thing to do was to push, to take the
just afterwards, in the complement of the clause? 7 as if his mind had shut down. Best thing for him, to be pissed and not be
8 and cry. 'I thought it was the best thing that was ever likely to happen to
9 What's happened is much the best thing . Father and Aunt Ginny will have a
8. Look through the other lines and see if there are any more where the 10 and therefore I thought the best thing was to stamp upon it at once,
referent of best thing is in the complement of the clause. If you find it, note 11 of study surely, the very best thing he can do is devote his spare time
where it is; if it is not present make a guess as to where it is likely to be. 12 with myself. So I thought the best thing I could do was come along here and
13 and done, Tis still the best thing under the sun. On Malted
14 react and I decided that the best thing to do would be to move up to them
9. In those cases where the referent is to the right, which of the referents start is to separate them out into a
15 a series of issues here and the best thing
with infinitives? Do these have the verb is/was just in front of them? Is it 16 with me would have been the best thing ever to happen to Gavin. I just
possible to add to do between best thing and is/was? If so, how do these 17 All Played Out was easily the best thing to come out of Italia '90) goes to
structures compare with the diagram in §6? 18 assigning blame becomes the next best thing . On health care, Missouri
19 And I'm not sure what the best thing to do would have been. And it's
20 you know I don't know what the best thing is to do. It's been g+ you know if
10. Check through the lines where the referent is at N-l. How often is it the to do is just sit and let them
21 say anything clever. In fact the best thing
case that the referent is the subject of a clause with the verb "be" and the best 22 Englishman (Hugh Grant, the best thing in the film) is button-holed by a
thing is complement? At the same time note how many referents are them- 23 of doom and gloom this is the best thing we could have had." As the
selves, or include, words of reference, passing the reader on to a previous 24 Christine, 43, said: 'It's best thing that ever happened to us. It made
referent. 25 in Albertville, the next best thing is to be in your own living room
26 saying: 'Craig said it was the best thing he had ever done to turn pro. I am
explode. The best method of
27 mixture of fuel and air to make the thing
11. We have divided the lines according to where the referent for best thing is, I think the best thing to do is for
28 this, [tuts] Right. Well the thing
which depends largely on whether that phrase is subject or complement of a I could do best and not many other
29 was a change of direction. I felt the thing
"to be" clause. Now consider if there is any difference in meaning between the as best I could and they looked at
30 and I described the whole thing
. This is the best thing you've ever
two uses of the phrase. 31 This is the most wonderful thing
to do if you think someone is
32 Imbert. Q: What's the best/worst thing
the best things in life are free?
33 No answer. 12% 39 Do you thing

PagaS2 Page 53
 Subtle distinctions

All this structure in the subject of the verb "be", which follows.
Task 7
7. In six cases - nos. 4, 11, 12, 14, 19 and 21 - the referent is the comple-
Key ment. However, in no. 19 there is a complication because best thing is in
a relative clause introduced by what. This word is the grammatical com-
plement of would have been, and the referent of best thing: such a word would
1. N-1 the 20 normally follow the verb, but since it is a relative pronoun it must come first in
N+l to 6
the clause.
2. N-2 the 4 With this in mind we can now add no. 20 to the group; it is almost the same
Words in between: next 3, very (i.e. the next best thing, etc.) as 19 but has an extra change in word order so that the verb is precedes do.;
Lines where the is at neither N—1 nor N—2: nos. 7 and 24 only there is no difference in the grammatical relations.

3. To is a preposition in the first line only; otherwise it is the infinitive marker 8.

in six cases. • In nos. 10, 15, 25 and 26 the referent is to the right.
• In nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 17, 22, 23 and 24 the referent is to the left.
4. Repeated words at N-1: he 3, is 3, that 3, for 2. • In nos. 7 and 16 there is no clear referent; I guess it is to the left.

Singletons 9.
pronouns (like he): I, we, you total with he = 6 Infinitive? to do?
Line
prepositions (like for): on, in, under, to. total with for = 6
verb "be" (like is): was total with is = 4 10 yes yes
15 yes yes
25 yes no
How many are left? The three word classes above add up to 16; with that (x 3)
26 yes no
and to (x 6) as an infinitive marker, the total is 25 out of 26; only no. 10, where
the word at N—1 is Father, is left; this word begins a new sentence and so is
probably an unrelated choice.
Numbers 10 and 15 fit into the diagram, which can be expanded to:
5. do 8 (also done)
was 2 (also be)
also happen, happened to

6. Verbs that immediately follow do: is 3, was 2, would be. would have been. you is
can do to INFINITIVE
All these are forms of the verb "be"; in one line do ends the sentence. the best thing
he was
The grammar shows that between best thing and the verb "be" is a clause or
phrase containing the word do. This can be seen in a simple diagram:
I could

to
In no. 25 to do would clash in meaning with to be so it cannot be introduced;
you but this clash points up the ironical meaning - being in a place is not an action.
the best thing can do Number 26 is superficially similar to no. 11, for instance, but there is one
he important difference: ]ha best thing is the complement in 26, and to turn pro is
anticipated by il, which is the subject. In no. 11, and all the other lines with do.
I could
and the inlinilivcs, the nynuu is the other way round.
Page 55
Page 54
Reading Concordances

10. Numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 13 and 23 answer "yes" to all these queries; the Task 8
referent is the subject and itself makes a further reference back; the verb is a
form of "be". Meaning flavour
In nos. 17 and 18, and probably 16, the referent is expressed as subject in
the clause and there is no further reference chain: in no. 17 this is All Played
Out, in 18 assigning blame, and in 16 . . . with me (no. 18 has becomes as a
verb which is similar to "be" in this context). In no. 9 the verb is happened, Words influence each other, pass judgements on each other, and lay down
and the relative pronoun what affects the word order as we saw above in guidelines for each other's interpretation. One word can prepare the reader or
relation to nos. 19 and 20, but the referent is clearly on the left-hand side. listener to receive another one that comes just a little later, and to understand it
Number 7 needs to be interpreted because it is very colloquial; if it is in a certain way. The interconnections among words that occur close to each
interpreted as "the best thing for him is to be pissed" then it is very similar to other are so intricate that quite often we are sure that they are not independ-
no. 25, and is ironical - perhaps by being drunk he does not experience fully ently chosen, but COSELECTED.
something unpleasant. If this reading is accepted then no. 7 joins those that fit
into the diagram at §9. 1. This section explores the coselection of words by asking a question to begin
with: What sort of things do you incur? Study the file 08_incur.doc and look
11. When (the) best thing has a backward referent, it is unrestricted in mean- at the words that immediately follow incur. It is most likely that the object of
ing, and means "the best possible event". When it has a forward referent is the verb incur will come immediately after it; locate the HEADWORD and clas-
occurs just after some unfortunate event has been described, and it means "the sify the objects according to (a) the meaning of the headword, and (b) the
least damaging action in the circumstances". The is called "damage limitation" determiners that precede the headword. Note other modifiers and qualifiers that
(Tognini Bonelli, 1992). The two meanings are substantially different - one is surround the headword.
a very desirable event, and the other is an action which is seen as the least
unpleasant of a set of alternatives. 2. Look at the adjectives and see if any support the gloomy outlook of the
So the phrase can be deployed in two different ways to make two different nouns, or otherwise. Look at the noun modifiers of the headwords, and the
meanings, without the meanings of the words changing in any dramatic way. words in the prepositional phrases, and more widely in the instances, and see
finally if any of them escape this orientation to gloominess.

3. Now look at the words that precede incur. Take into account up to three
words to the left, and look for other verb elements, adverbials and conjunctions
that affect the timing and modality of the verb. Remember that this form, the
BASE or uninflected form of the verb, has three main syntactic functions -
simple present tense, imperative, and infinitive (following "to" or following a
modal verb).

4. What kind of meaning goes with the selection of the "to" infinitive? Sum-
marise the verb cotext of incur.

5. What kind of person or thing incurs these financial and other liabilities?
Unfortunately the instances are often too short for the subject of the verb incur
to be identified, but in those instances where it is clear, note it and classify the
list you build up.

P«g«M Page 57
 Reading Concordances

Datafile 08_incur.doc Task 8

1 worth between YEN 250m and YEN 500m incur a tax rate of 65%. A sum
2 and that the confession may also incur a torrent of moral judgment, Key
3 of 40m. Punch would also incur an additional capital gains tax
4 don't run a single minute late and incur costly overtime payments. Pavarotti
5 that a sentient entity can incur a loss. For a critical discussion
6 today have product liability and can incur legal damages if they place a
7 or so. I know if I cash my super in I incur a hefty tax bill. Is it possible to
8 perceived as negative that may incur bad publicity. It is surely time No. Headword Type Det. Adj. Noun Prep, phrase
9 Allen said: 'No one state should incur sanctions when making a stand
10 Countreys, lest otherwise he should incur great danger and loss in the 1 rate money a X" X
11 must be invested overseas, or if they incur unusually large costs to get their 2 torrent" morals a X
12 face deduction of 10 points if they incur that grading in 1996. Cricket: 3 tax money an X XX
13 APPLE COMPUTER expects to incur a $700 million loss in the 4 payments money X X
14 The restructuring is expected to incur a one-off charge of less than 5 loss money a
15 The company said it continued to incur an operating loss due to increased 6 damages money X
16 of fiscal 1990 and we are likely to incur additional restructuring charges as 7 bill money a X
17 path and it does not expect to incur any abnormal restructuring costs in
8 publicity publicity X
18 Mm. That means that we have to incur that expenditure. And equally I
9 sanctions politics
19 are many overheads we are forced to incur in order to make our judgements as
10 danger trade X
20 round on Everest Fol Amour only to incur three quarters of a time fault,
11 money Xm*
costs
21 and for any losses or costs we incur as a result of any breach by you of
12 grading sport that
22 trading markets. American firms will incur short-run adjustment costs but
13 loss money a X
23 not to be called in as they would incur penalty rates, 'after all it's only
24 the gospel and reform sinners would ' incur the highest displeasure of his 14 charge money a X X
25 was open to competitive tender would incur costs. But Mr Wakeham emphasised 15 loss money an X
26 Western Front. Attacking armies would incur huge losses for gains that could 16 charges money X X
27 to seek a method which would incur the lowest loss of life and the 17 costs money any X X
28 order to place the shares and would incur advisory and other costs. The 18 expenditure money that
29 OF POCKET EXPENSES: If you incur out of pocket expenses, notify the \9d overheads money any
30 card. You can relax, knowing that you incur no liability for fraudulent 20 fault sport a e X
21' losses or costs money any
22 costs money XX
23 rates money X
24 displeasures morals the X X
25 costs money
26 losses warfare X
27 loss warfare the X X
28 costs money XX
29 expenses money X
30 liability money no X
" "X" in a column indicates that the object includes such an element of structure.
h
"m" in the "Adj." column means that the adjective is itself modified by an adverb of degree
such as "very".
' This analysis follows conventional lines, but there is a sound argument in noun groups of
the quantifying type for considering the second noun as the main headword. In this instance
|uO|>ement would be the headword, and the type classification is based on that. Note
also that judgement in this sense is an uncountable noun. See Sinclair (1991), Chapter 6.
' In this instance the main verb is passive and so it is the subject of that verb that is analysed
in the table.
' This instance is of a clear quantifier, three quarters of. which does not have headword status.
' In this instance incur is in a relative clause, and the relevant noun group is in the main clause
just before incur.

Pao«B8 Page 59
Heading Concordances Meaning flavour

Comments
No. Type Modal To-infinitive Other words
Most of the headwords concern money (21 out of 30, 70%), and of the rest two
13 infinitive expects to
concern morals, two sport and two warfare, leaving publicity, politics and
14 infinitive is expected to
trade with one each. The commonest nouns are lossfes*) and costs (six of each), continued to
15 infinitive
and many of the others emphasise the flow of resources away (ten). In all 22 of 16 infinitive are likely to
the headwords are of this kind. 17 infinitive does not expect to
The determiners are mainly indefinite - a, an, any., no, totalling 12. To these 18 infinitive have to
must be added instances where the headword is plural (12) or uncountable (2), 19 infinitive are forced to
bringing the total to 26 (87%). This tells us that incur introduces new informa- 20 infinitive only to
tion in the object. 21 present any (2)
22 infinitive will
2. 23 infinitive would
24 infinitive would
Gloomy adjectives: costly, hefty, bad, abnormal (4).
25 infinitive would
Intensifying a gloomy headword: additional, great, unusually large. $700 infinitive would
26
million, additional, highest, huge (7). 27 infinitive would
Total adjectives supporting gloom: 11 out of 14 - almost 80%. 28 infinitive would
Noun modifiers number eleven. Most are descriptive, and only two are 29 present if
gloomy: tax and penalty. 30 present that, no
Elsewhere we note liability (6), negative (8), deduction (12), forced to (19),
breach (21) and fraudulent (30).
Comments ^
Summary
There are no imperatives, and very few simple present tense instances. The
The orientation of unhappiness concerning resources, primarily financial re- majority (15) follow modals, and the next largest group (8) are instances of the
sources, slipping away is expressed in the headwords and the adjectives that "to" infinitive. (Actually no. 18 is often classed as a modal.)
modify them. Not a single instance escapes this orientation. We can thus say There are seven instances of the simple present tense; of these four are in
that the verb incur sets up an expectation of gloom, and we expect to find that conditional ("if") clauses, where modals hardly ever occur. Two others (nos.
its object expresses a loss of something important. You do not incur rewards or 21 and 30) are in subordinate clauses, and the only single instance of a simple
prizes, but penalties or charges against you. ., present tense in a main clause is no. L

3. 4. Most of the "to" infinitives concern the likely future; two concern obliga-
tion. In general the cotexts are modals, particularly would, and "to" infinitives,
No. Type Modal To-infinitive Other words with simple present tenses in subordinate clauses, especially "if" clauses.
This, combined with the damaging nature of the typical things that people
1 present
incur, suggests an overall semantic prosody of threat or warning.
2 infinitive may also
3 infinitive would also
4 infinitive don't 5.
5 infinitive can
6 infinitive can No. Subject Type
7 present if
8 infinitive may 2 the confession person
9 infinitive should 3 Punch institution
10 infinitive should 5 a sentient entity person
11 present if 7 I person
12 present if 9 no one slate institution

Page VI
Reading Concordances

No. Subject Tyr*

Task 9
10
11
he
they
person Extensions of grammar
institution
12 they institution
13 APPLE COMPUTER institution
14 the restructuring institution Grammar is usually described separately from lexis. There is rarely any refer-
15 the company institution ence to lexical matters in a grammar because grammarians feel that grammar
16 we institution explains the powerful general rules of the language, while lexis just deals with
17 it institution
the detailed meaning of individual words and phrases. Recently, though, the
18 we institution
notion of "lexicogrammar" has come into some advanced grammars and made
19 we institution
21 we person them a little sensitive to lexis.
22 American firms institution There are, however, places in a grammar where the generalisations do not
23 they institution apply, when the "rules" can be "broken", and the only way to describe these
24 the gospel and reform sinners people places is by using the lexical choices. As an example of this, let us review the
26 attacking armies institution rule for an adjective standing in for a noun. In English it is not correct to say
27 (a method) which institution "Send your complaints to the responsible", though - unlike the example above
29 you person - the meaning is clear; the sentence translates easily into French or German,
30 you person and a similar sentence, "Give your spare cash to the poor", is acceptable. How
do grammars explain this feature?
Unfortunately, they usually do not explain why some adjectives can be used
Comment in this structure and some cannot, or even list those that can. Nor do they
suggest any principle by which we could guess at the normal usage.1 They
In sixteen instances it is an institution, a company, a state or an army that just give a few examples and/or a short list of words that probably occur.
incurs a liability, loss or penalty. In the remaining eight of those whose subject However, looking at the lists provided there does seem to be some SEMANTIC
can be discerned, it is a person or people; these people incur things in relation PREFERENCE; here is one such list:
2
to an institution, because to incur something is a sociolegal consequence of
one's actions, and not an interpersonal relationship.
the lazy, the lame, the fat, the indifferent, the leaning, the halt, the rich, the
poor, the unemployed, the elderly, the young, the transient

1. Do you detect a strand of meaning that is common to most of the words in

this list? How would you express it? Are there any clear exceptions, or any
words which can occur with this meaning but do not always? If any do not
seem to belong to this list, check with a dictionary that they do not have a
minor or old-fashioned meaning that is relevant. Consult the datanles
09_rich.doc and 09_halt.doc for some instances of the rich and the halt that
may be helpful.

1
There are some honourable and recent exceptions; The Longman Grammar of Spoken
and Written English (1999) is not exhaustive, but it does quote actual instances. The
Cobuild English Grammar (1990) does the same, and the Cobuild Pattern Grammar
(1998) lists all the relevant adjectives and classifies them as to their meanings. See the
References in Ihc Preface.
• The UniRman (irummur, puge 520, excluding nationality adjectives (the Welsh) and
(hose that refer to event* (the unlikely)

Pag«62 Page 63
Reading Concordances

2. Now consult the d'atafile (WLfc©rderson.doc. This concordance was made

by selecting arithmetically 35 instances of borders on*. Look at (he phrases
immediately to the right of on', and1 classify them1 with reference to both the
lexis and the grammar.

3. From now on we will ignore the geographical references of border. Examine

the remaining phrases and list the nouns and adjectives^ that are the headwords-;
What kinds of words are they? Do they share any semantic features? Are there
systematic semantic differences between the nouns and the adjectives? Note
any exceptions or marginal GaseSi

4. The phrase that we started with has borders on and not "border on", which is
the normal form in which we'access a verb. So we will now investigate whether
the other forms of the LEMMA "border" combine with on in the same way as
we have observed. For this see the datafile 09_lemma.doc, which contains 20
instances of the other forms of the lemma - border, bordering and bordered.

5. Summarise what has emerged about this phrase, in particular how the struc-
ture of the phrase creates meaning and what conclusions are indicated for
lexicogrammar.

6. One final examination of the concordances. We do not know the precise ex-
tent of the influence of this pattern. For example, the phrase borders on is com-
parative, and so there is likely to be a systematic semantic relationship between
the subject element and the object element We have been concentrating on the
object in this study, and have not even glanced at the language in front of the
phrase, so now let us have another quick look at the datafile 09_borderson.doc.
In one or two instances the left-hand cotext is not long enough to show the
whole subject, but where there is a clear subject phrase compare it with the
object to see what sort of relationship they have. Guess a little if necessary.
Consider the construction of the subject group as well as its meaning. Make
a judgement about whether the subject and object make a clear comparative
relationship (whether relative or absolute) naturally, by their own meaning, on
whether it is their position in this structure that makes you think of how they
can be related.
Reading Concordances Extensions of grammar

Datafile 09 halt.doc Datafil* 09 lemma.doc

1 attention was being paid to the halt and the lame - among them Sir Julian 1 250,000 home on the Essex-Suffolk border on the line because 'the action has
2 I, a sardonic retelling of the halt and the blind helping one another, 2 American currency.) Some attractions border on the absurd. Not to be outdone by
3 for this particular group of the halt and the lame. Science and 3 The women crossed the Albanian border on foot on Monday evening,
4 they come, the limp, the lame and the halt , all of them drawn from the rent-a- 4 of Montenegro after crossing a river border on improvised rafts. The agency
5 So, too, was the shunning of the halt and the lame and the dying. That was 5 attack the Barn owl territories that border on their woods, as Winger seems to
6 here, ministering to the lame and the halt ." They haven't given you your 6 captured on the Macedonian border on March 31. The Red Cross
7 expect nunneries to be full of the halt , the lame, the sick and the 7 each side and can match up with the border on the wall.
8 get him moving too, he thought, the halt , the blind and the deaf, got to get 8 middle-aged Peter Pans the effect bordered on the tragic. At first I thought
9 procession of the lame, the halt and the blind, some with arms in 9 him a kind of power that sometimes bordered on the erotic. Tonight, as he
10 left everyone in place - the old, the halt , the lame and the blind. Yet at the 10 hundred-yard stretch of highway, bordered on either side by small
11 disciples, even the lame and the halt , came in their great multitudes up 11 and their defensive effort bordered on the shameful, especially on the
12 entire wasp population, the sick, the halt , the fuzzy, to enjoy her. A single- 12 Verdict: Rich and creamy but bordering on sickly. Flavours include:
13 of their costly collection of the halt , lame and suspended. Rugby 13 as production designer. In an act bordering on the impertinent, he borrowed
14 trend, 'we may end up getting the halt and the lame.' 14 warned that earlier letters were ' bordering on intimidation of audit'. Such
15 their tufts and 'buns' in a state bordering on religious ecstasy. The fervor
16 I have ever seen. He was confident bordering on the brash and showed little
Datafile 09_borderson.doc 17 and were treated with a respect bordering on irony. They seldom appeared to
18 about media conspiracies. 'Distaste bordering on contempt' is just about right,
1 and on mutual respect for existing borders" on 16 December, Karimov became 19 recognition in this country is bordering on a national shame. McRae's
2 is more than just a way of life - it borders on a religion. But there is 20 know Goli to be a sound bidder, but bordering on the conservative. It was easy
3 of the laws of the sea sometimes borders on arrogance. Not only should the
4 international collaboration is great and borders on cartel-like behaviour,
5 who say using the extremist label borders on demagoguery and will only serve
6 Yugoslavia. What is occurring there borders on genocide. No country or society
7 Careless but losing two in the one day borders on incompetence. Now Charlie
8 Turkey, the only NATO country which borders on Iraq, is playing a key role in
9 Her mastery of the short story borders on perfection, kate saunders
10 country's stagnant growth, which now borders on recession. Here again, the
11 challenge looms ugly when recession borders on slump. Everybody is on edge,
12 The author, a lifelong fan, borders on the obsessive. He portrays
13 has a streak of bravery which borders on the foolish. She has delicate
14 to buy. A family with three children borders on the socially acceptable, four
15 even harbour a passion for DIY that borders on the obsessive. But there is
16 the Sierra Madre" as he dubs them) borders on the eccentric. Mountain lions
17 courses and opportunities, that it borders on the embarrassing. This
18 the straight, but his winning effort borders on the sensational because the
19 amount of work he is required to do borders on the incredible. In the case of
20 maxim 'The collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories.'
21 before staged protests at these two borders on the east and west of their
22 speaking to troops in Xinjian which borders on the Soviet Central Asian
23 clash. He said: 'The hostility there borders on the dangerous.' Black players
the surreal. He had his own
24 and - and to performing them sort of borders on
the Serbian province of Kosovo,
25 most dangerous regions on Earth. It borders on
the dangerous edge of
26 a professional solicitousness which borders on
the irresponsible,
27 savings accounts versus shares, borders on
the contrary, his private
28 an independent Bosnia in its pre-war borders. On
the obsessional. He is truly
29 His love for all things maritime borders on
the surreal. Wander into the
30 Not surprisingly, the atmosphere borders on
the pathological. The sky, a
31 The atmosphere of paranoia borders on
the downright cocky. When I ask
32 then Claire makes a statement that borders on
the paranoid and, although
33 The linear intensity of their songs borders on
the charismatic, it's hardly
34 and an easy-going demeanour which borders on
wholesale plagiarism Trmt't
35 popular music. In some cases, this borders on

Page
k
 Extensions of grammar

Task 9 Article Mmlilier Headword

Key definite adjective 1

1. These all refer to people, and most of them refer to people in an unfortunate indefinite 0 noun 1
condition. Rich is the only word that for most readers will have positive
connotations, but a glance at the datafile makes it clear that the rich is almost adjective 2
always used in a context of insult, criticism or disparagement of rich people. That
is to say, in the opinion of the authors and speakers whose usage is recorded, 0 0 6
being rich has an unfortunate side, and that is the interpretation used when it is
used as the headword of a group with the definite article in front of it. definite adverb adjective 2
Elderly and young may seem fairly neutral, but in this company it seems 0 16
that they may indicate disadvantage. The principal collocates of the elderly are
care, children, disabled, women and help. Needless to say, it is the perceived
vulnerability of women and children that makes them prominent here. The numbers are conclusive - over 60% of the noun groups contain the and an
Halt is not normally a quality associated with people, but there is an old adjective head, over a quarter have a noun head and no article, and the rest is
meaning "lame", which occurs in the King James Bible of 1611; note from the minor variation.
datafile that it is not used on its own, and almost always nowadays it occurs
with its synonym lame. 3. Nouns Adjectives
We can conclude from this that the meaning created by the structure religion obsessive
arrogance foolish
the + adj-headword (cartel-like) behaviour (socially) acceptable
demagoguery obsessive
is of people who are characterised by a certain quality that marks them off as genocide eccentric
different from the majority of people, and leads to them being perceived as incompetence embarrassing
vulnerable and perhaps requiring social protection or open to social criticism. perfection sensational
recession incredible
2. Number 1 is a date, the only one. Number 2 is a noun phrase made of the slump dangerous
indefinite article and an abstract noun, the only one. Numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, chaos (of memories) surreal
11 and 35 are noun phrases made up of just an abstract noun, with no article. (dangerous) edge irresponsible
Number 8 is a place-name, and nos. 22 and 25 are also place-names, beginning (wholesale) plagiarism obsessional
with the definite article; no. 21 is a geographical reference. In no. 28 there surreal
is a sentence boundary between borders and on, and the ort phrase is on the pathological
contrary. (downright) cocky
The remaining 19 instances are made up of the followed by an abstract paranoid
expression. In nos. 20 and 26 it is a noun phrase, and in the others there is an charismatic
adjective as headword; in two of these cases (nos. 14 and 32) the adjective is
itself modified by an adverb. These are mainly words of extreme mental states or character traits, mostly
From these observations it seems that the most prominent feature of these indicating mental disturbance or unacceptable behaviour. It is probably no
structures is the presence of an abstract adjective or noun in the HEADWORD accident that the repeated words in the list above are obsessive/obsessional.
position. A summary of our structural observations with respect to the abstract surreal and dangerous.
expressions is:

Page i
Reading Concordances Extensions of grammar

Cases for comment powerful kind ol' inclining, and it makes its own local grammatical rules. There
are a number ol' minor varieties of this structure, but the two main ones between
• Number 2, a religion. The extreme meaning is relative here rather than them account lor the vast majority of instances. These are an abstract noun
absolute. Practising religion is important and serious for many people, and is without any article, and the definite article followed by a word that is normally
not usually regarded as extreme behaviour (though fanaticism is a close regarded as an adjective. Most of these objects share an unusual meaning, of a
relation); but if a person gives too much importance and commitment to mental state or a character trait which is considered abnormal or extreme. With
some aspect of ordinary living then a comparison with religion exposes the borders on the whole expression serves to define an area that is on the limit of
lack of balance. what is acceptable in ordinary life.
• Number 4, cartel-like behaviour. Cartels are regarded as unacceptable con- English has such few inflections and such a relaxed attitude to word class
spiracies in the prevailing economic conventions of the times. that we may ask why the adjectives keep their word class in such a structure;
• Number 9, perfection. This is a positive quality, and so contrasts with most why do they not "become" nouns? This is indeed a possibility but it does not
of the instances. Perfection, however, is usually regarded as unattainable, so simplify the descriptive work, because we have seen that there are consider-
there may be a hint of irony when it is used in this way. The wider cotext able limitations in general on the use of such words, which will have to be
shows that it is part of a very short - three line - review of a book, and this accounted for whatever word class we say they are. The words usually refer to
does sound like a rather extravagant compliment to pay in such a casual people who have the named quality or attribute, and it makes them vulnerable.
mention. With borders on. this vulnerability is further focused as set out above, and
• Number 14, the socially acceptable. The context is that big families are the same features are found, in varying amounts, in the other forms of the
unusual, and a maximum of two children is the norm. So I would have lemma "borders" occurring with on.
expected "socially unacceptable" here, and I can find no reason other than There are a small number of instances where the tight conventions of the
irony why this instance should run precisely contrary to the vast majority in local grammar are relaxed. If the phrase that follows borders on does not itself
the concordance. Perhaps the adverb socially obscures the way the structure indicate a point just beyond the limit of rational and acceptable behaviour, then
normally specifies the meaning - without it the phrasing is very odd indeed. the structure exerts pressure on the words to carry that kind of meaning. If - as
• Number 32, downright cocky. Like no. 2, this is relative rather than abso- in the case of perfection and charismatic - this is not possible, then the phrase
lute. Cocky is mildly disparaging in normal use, but hardly indicates the still carries the semantic marks of the pressure, and hints at irony.
extreme margins of behaviour; downright pushes it towards the extreme. In this small corner of lexicogrammar we have found a structure which
• Number 34, the charismatic. Like no. 9, this is a word which indicates a is regarded as ungrammatical in most grammars but is here normal and regular.
person of unusual talents, but of a positive kind. Again the wider cotext It refers to the character and behaviour of people in highly specific terms,
suggests that the compliments are almost too extravagant to be true. and wherever possible imposes this meaning on the words that occur around
it. This is so strong that in the instance (no. 14 above) which appears to be
4. Based on this evidence, the form border on is more likely to refer to geo- an exact counterexample, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it is
graphical borders than mental ones; only the absurd out of seven instances has ironical.
abstract reference. The form bordered works in the other direction, and adds We do not as yet know if there are other phrases like borders on which
the tragic, the erotic and the shameful to the list compiled earlier. Bordering attract similar lexicogrammatical patterns, or whether the set of nouns and
is the most numerous of the forms and has all objects but one of abstract adjectives that we have gathered in this study are to be found elsewhere in the
reference; no. 12 is marginal, to do with flavours. The list of adjectives that lexicogrammar, realising other elements of structure. That is to say, we are not
occur in this construction now includes the impertinent, the brash and the sure just how local this kind of pattern is. But its position in relation to a
conservative ("conservative" is to do with bidding at auctions, where the other conventional general grammar is quite clear - it lies substantially outside the
extreme is presumably "rash", and "sound" lies in between). Other abstract ability of the grammar to describe it.
noun groups are religious ecstasy, irony, contempt and a national shame.
The conclusion that we derive from this last datafile is that all of the forms 6. In general the object elements refer to mental states which are beyond the
of the lemma "border" with on can occur with the kind of abstract noun group limits of normality, and the subject elements may refer to related states which
that we have been studying, but the uninflected form, border, is the least likely, are within the range of normal behaviour. But there are some points of interest
because of its common use to mean geographical or political borders. to note.
In no. 30 the subject is atmosphere, which is neutral with respect to our
5. To summarise, the construction consisting of the phrase borders on with an comparisons; Mnulmly in no. 32 statement; in such cases we do not have an
object which has as its head an abstract expression seems to make n very explicit companion Hut mostly such words as subject nouns will have a
Pagt 71
Reading Concordances

modifier which carries the comparison - like extremist label in no. 5, streak of Task 10
bravery in 13, winning effort in 18, easy-going demeanour in 34, and perhaps
amount of work in 19. In other cases both the noun and modifier are requked
to make the item for comparison, as international collaboration in no. 4,
Meaning and cotext
stagnant growth in 10, lifelong fan in 12, collector's passion in 20, profes-
sional solicitousness in 26, and linear intensity in 33.
In two pairs of instances the same word appears on .both sides - recession m A word may have several meanings, and dictionaries present the meanings
nos. 10 and 11, and paranoia/paranoid in nos. 31 and 33. This shows that rtdae without giving much guidance as to how they may be differentiated from each
distinction between relative and absolute is not very clear. In 31, for example, other. In Task 1 we looked at block from this point of view, where the meanings
paranoia is treated as being within the limits of normal behaviour - but note are fairly closely related, and in Task 15 we find manage, where the meanings
that its force is lessened by the phrase the atmosphere of paranoia. Pathological are very closely related. Here we will look at an example of a word whose
is more extreme and unlikely to appear on the left-band side. meanings are quite different - the word lap.
Of the instance with incomplete subjects, the missing word in no. 16 is A good modern dictionary will probably suggest that there are three quite
contention, which is neutral, and the item to be compared is the tfaat-clause that separate words that have the form lap. One is a part of the human body, a
follows. In no. 17 the word is behaviour, also neutral; the embarrassment is posture that is made when you sit on a chair; the second is to go once round a
indicated in the previous text which shows that the behaviour is that of some track or circuit, as in many sports; and the third is to do with the sound that
unpleasant youth groups. In no. 24 the word is approach, neutral again, and in a moving liquid makes when it touches something solid, or vice versa. There
no. 27 it is idea, followed by a that-clause. In the last instance, no. 35, the are sub-meanings of at least the second and third of these, but we will start
subject is this, which refers back to an antecedent which is not fully expressed; with the general picture.
the comparative item is in fact a verb, traced back. Let us examine a short concordance for lap with these meanings in mind,
In general we conclude that the main reason for the subject nouns to be 10_lap.doc.
some distance away is that they themselves are neutral, and the comparison is
1. Do you find instances of all three meanings in the concordance? In roughly
carried by a longer phrase or clause.
equal numbers?
To conclude, our findings are that the subject groups are more varied in
structure than the objects, and are regular in their grammatical structure. Whereas 2. Identify the instances of the posture meaning, and examine the left cotext,
it is easy to see the relationship between, for example, love and obsessional particularly the word immediately to the left. Is there evidence of a special
(no. 29) or careless and incompetence (no. 7), it seems that in most cases the selection here?
relationship is either made or focused on or emphasised by the structure. In
effect the structure contributes substantially to the making of lexical meaning. 3. Follow this up with a look at the words which precede those that you have
(See also Section 12.) just examined, and ask the same question - is there regularity of choice here
again?
4. Now look at the immediate right cotext of lap; before you get to the words,
comment on the punctuation of the "posture" phrases, and associate your
observations with the other findings so far.

5. The remaining instances we assume are of the "circuit" meaning. Check

this, looking for perhaps small variations.
6. Examine the cotexts of the remaining instances and record any choices of
word or phrase that seem to be associated with the "circuit" meaning of lap.

7. Let us look more closely at the collocation last lap. Consult the datafile
10-lastlap.doc and report on the choices that surround the collocation and
their effect on Ihc meaning.
8. Summarise ihc role of corpus evidence in making distinctions in meaning.
 Meaning and cotext

Task 10 3. The word in I'ronl of the possessive is in each case a preposition - in eight
times, on three times, into twice and from once. So on the basis of this evid-
Key ence the word lag occurs in English only as the object of a preposition, and not
as subject or object. If you try to make up a sentence with lag as subject
("Darling, what a beautiful lap you have" or "My lap is sore") it is intelligible
but sounds extremely odd. I have found one instance in a corpus of lap as
1. There are plenty of meanings one (posture) and two (circuit) but none of the object - she patted her lap invitingly - which suggests there may be more, and
third (liquid). This is not an oddity of the sample, because I have taken many US speakers say they are not surprised by this kind of usage.
samples from several corpora and I have only very rarely come across the third
meaning. So we recognise that there are substantial differences in the frequency
of meanings - the first and second seem to be more than ten times as frequent 4. In eleven instances there is a punctuation mark just after lag, indicating
as the third. And since the third meaning divides into the liquid making the the end of a construction; six are commas and five are full stops. Two of
sound, water lapping on the side of a boat or the shore, and an animal like a cat the instances that do not have this feature have the word and immediately
or dog drinking, instances of each sub-meaning will be rare indeed. following lag, and these on examination turn out to be similar boundaries
to the comma. Among the other instances, only three are followed by
punctuation marks, so we can conclude that to end a major structural unit
2. is a very prominent and distinctive part of the way this meaning of lag is
deployed.
No. Cotext
This observation correlates with the finding that the use of Jag seems to be
her
confined to a position in a prepositional phrase, which is often the final ele-
9 her ment of a structure, in the place where adverbials tend to occur. So instead of
10 her saying merely that one of the three main meanings of lag is to do with a
11 her posture of the human body, we can now say that we have identified a three-part
15 my phrase which makes that meaning and is usually an adverbial element in the
17 his father's clause. The phrase has the lexicogrammatical structure of:
18 Miss Clare's
19 her daughter's
20 a man's PREPOSITION POSSESSIVE-ADJECTIVE NOUN = l a g
21 his mother's
22 her twilled silk 5. There is one clear case of a lap that is not a circuit - no. 14. Here it means
24 the lap of her skirt the last stage of a journey.
26 your
27 your
6.
No. Cotext Category of meaning
The regularity of selection of a possessive is remarkable - a COLLIGATION
that is clearly part of the creation of this meaning. There are seven possessive 1 ten, sixth, eleven, twelve, etc. numbers
adjectives just in front of lag, featuring her, and five modifying noun groups 2 lap after lap circuit
ending with Is. One instance - no. 24 - is of a nominal structure that is 3 Athletics sport
closely associated with the others, the definite article in front of the noun 4 fastest, 88 speed, numbers
and an of-phrase following it. Number 22 is unusual because there are two 6 fastest, 74.5, mph speed, numbers, measures
other modifiers between the possessive and the noun, but it can readily be seen 7 places, final, bests competition, measures
as a variation. 12 last measures
Note that in the Is type the possessive adjective tends to be realised, empha- 13 last, second measures
sising the personal side of this meaning - two have his and one has her; also 16 opening, accident public display
23 halfway round, throttle measures, motor
no. 22 has her as well. So of the fourteen instances of this meaning, a possessive
25 prize money, anti-clockwise competition, circuit
adjective is found in twelve, including four where there is already a possessive.

Pag* 77
Reading Concordances Meaning and cotext

Conclusion from the sixth lap or the twenty-fifth. But in the "stage of a journey" meaning
the lap is not clearly defined or measured, and there is a definite extra feeling
From a semantic point of view there is plenty of evidence here of the main of coming towards the end of a struggle, having overcome tough obstacles, a
aspects of the "circuit" meaning of lag, in the numbering and measuring, and sense of growing achievement.
the background of competition and speed. There is not sufficient regularity in Of course, such a meaning of achievement, etc., can also be relevant to the
this small sample for us to work out reliable statements of cotext, and there is last lap of a race, so the distinction is ultimately not between "circuit" and
a clear overlap of cotext in no. 13, on my last lap. The presence of last lap is "stage" but between measurement and conclusion of a strenuous event. The
a very reliable indicator that we are not talking about posture, but the occur- distinction in form is not clear with so few instances, but there are at least
rence of an adjective in this position, while uncommon, also occurs in the indications.
"posture" meaning, as shown in no. 22. Also in no. 13 the preposition on is Our investigation is typical of the state of corpus study at the present time
particularly associated with the "posture" meaning, and there is a possessive - a large and fairly obvious distinction such as that between the "posture" and
adjective where the first meaning would expect to find one. "circuit" meanings including lag shows that the cotexts are typically distinc-
tive, enough in most cases to determine the meaning. Then a subtler distinction
7. All the instances here take the definite article, which is by far the most in last lap appears, and a probe into that yields signs of a further distinction in
likely determiner in general for this phrase. There are four clear instances of meaning that we can appreciate but not state formally as yet. Within each of
the "last stage of a journey" meaning (nos. 1, 4, 5 and 11). In no. 1 we are in those sub-meanings there is a likelihood of an even subtler distinction; in
a bar, and the event is some social ordeal, not a journey at all; in no. 4 the the "circuit" meaning there is no. 14, and in the "stage" meaning there is no. 1.
phrase into Nanking indicates a journey, and in no. 5 of his voyage, as well as We lack the evidence to pursue this any further, but there is no reason why this
Odysseus and the helmsman. In no. 11 everything following lap describes an finding of ever-subtler distinction should not continue until we end up with the
African journey. In contrast seven instances have the "circuit" meaning (nos. obvious conclusion that each instance has its own uniqueness of meaning. On
2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 15). Mostly they are to do with motor racing, and the that journey we will have described a great deal of the way in which language
vocabulary of car, piston, straight, corner (especially a named corner like makes meaning.
Stowe), puncture, engine and tyres is indicative.
Given the brevity of the short quotation in these instances, nos. 9 and 10 8. A corpus search is sensitive to frequency, and so in the first instance it will
could instantiate either meaning, but the wider cotext in each names a motor highlight the most common types of pattern that it detects. In this small exercise,
racing driver; no. 13 includes the word race, which suggests "circuit", and only two of the three meanings usually associated with lag have appeared. The
journey, which suggests "stage", so it is not surprising that the occasion for absence of the third meaning may be a consequence of nothing more serious
this instance is unusual; here is the wider cotext: than the inherently greater frequencies of nouns over verbs; a search confined
to verbal instances of lag shows that the third meaning is quite prominent.
In the west of Ireland there is a tradition that the last corpse into the grave- The "posture" meaning is created by a phrase which consists minimally of a
yard must sweep and keep it tidy. If it should happen that two funerals occur preposition, usually on, a possessive, usually an adjective, and the word lag, in
at the same time, the cart-drivers whip up their willing horses and race the that order. The "circuit" meaning is identified by the occurrence of words and
last lap of the journey in order to get their man in first. phrases of measurement and numbers, along with the characteristic vocabulary
of competitive sport, particularly motor sport. The phrase last lap shows more
Number 14 also describes a situation analogous to circuit training, where delicate distinctions in meaning that we can only point to in this study.
there is no competitive element nor a sense of a goal being reached, so its Also missing from our small sample are instances of a few familiar phrases
similarity to the other "circuit" instances is not great. that include the word lag. Many English speakers, asked for a sentence with
We might give up at this point and say that there are minor differences of the word lag in it, will use the phrase in the lap of luxury or in the lap of the
emphasis, that the "circuit" meaning is just a special case of the more general gods. Again, it is no more than the arithmetic of the corpus that means that a
"stage" one, and there is no way of distinguishing them beyond that. However, phrase of several words is less likely to appear than a single word or a phrase
there are indications of formal differences noted above, sufficient to justify a that allows a lot of variation.
more detailed enquiry. So, depending on its size and constitution, the corpus contains evidence of
There is a difference in SEMANTIC PROSODY between the two, and that is why patterns of cotext that either form part of a compound lexical item such as PREP
it is worth pursuing the distinction. The "circuit" meaning is part of a fairly + POSSI.SSIVM + lap. or support one of the other meanings; ever more subtle
objective vocabulary of measurement, and it can be used just to indicate the meanings peep through ;is the search becomes more focused, and idiomatic
position in a race when something happened; here the last lap is no different phrases come lo Ihc HUII.II.-C despite their fairly low frequency.

Page 79 79,
 LEVEL 3
Task 11 Words difficult to define 83
Task 12 Ad hoc meaning 91
Task 13 Grammatical frames 105
Task 14 Hidden meanings 117
T^sk 11
Words difficult to define

This task explores a relationship between words and their meanings. From a
dictionary we get the idea that a word has one or more meanings, and when
that word is selected in a text, it delivers its meaning. If it has more than one
meaning, then the lexicographer has to decide how to distinguish them, and
this problem is illustrated in Sections 1, 10, 15 and 17. Here the word we have
chosen has only one meaning, so there is no problem in that area; we are free
to explore how the meaning is associated with the word and how it is delivered
when the word is used.
The word for this task is budge, a verb of middling frequency, familiar to all
fluent users of English. Most dictionaries have a problem in defining its mean-
ing, and it is useful at this point to consult one or two dictionaries of English to
see what they say. Here is a typical definition from a well-known dictionary
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English):

to (cause to) move a little

The phrase in brackets is a kind of convention in dictionary language which we

can expand into:

to move a little
OR
to cause to move a little

- that is to say, we can either talk about something moving itself, or of some-
thing else moving it; notice that the movement is small.
We will return to this definition after we have studied a concordance to
budge, which is to be found in the datafile ll_budge.doc. The concord-
ance is alphabetically ordered at two "words" to the left of the word budge;
notice that the computer has problems with what is a word, and it regards the
shortened negative verbs like can't as two words, leaving nj_t as an English
word, and curious forms like ca and wo. The procedure of deciding on what
counts as a word is called TOKENISATION; whatever decision is taken produces
results that do not entirely match our intuitions, because people do not like to
think that "word" is rather an abstract concept. This difference between the
human way of seeing language and the machine one has to be remembered
throughout corpus study, because it can affect our interpretations of the results
of queries.

1. Given the computer's idea of a word, find the commonest word form
immediately to the left of budge, and check that it is more frequent than any

Pag* 83
Reading Concordances Words difficult to define

immediately to the right. Then list the other repeated word forms; can you put Datafile 11 budga.doc
them into groups on the basis of some feature they share? What is the biggest
group? 1 now. We wo n't none of us be able to budge tomorrow.' They sat at their tea
2 .90 caliber pezzonovante. You ca n't budge him, not even with money. He has
3 and hesitated. He knew he could n't budge Ben Canaan. He walked to the alcove
2. Pick the biggest group and consider whether there are any shared features 4 be so heavy that two horses could not budge it even in moist earth. Although
with other lines in the concordance. How does the normal environment of 5 to do so, but she knew she could not budge me from my view. We spent several
budge affect its meaning? 6 out of the packet. When it did not budge he shook it more fiercely like 'a
7 It was a dismissal. Bonasera did not budge . Finally, sighing, a good-hearted
8 at the doorknobs the doors did n't budge or even rattle. 'Oh, my God!'
3. Now look at position N - 2 ; apart from the nine lines with refuse or refused 9 wooden door of the museum. It did n't budge . Hastily, I looked round for a
there, what kind of word occurs, and how often? Can you relate the "refuse" 10 neither death nor? disease could budge her. She wrote a cheque for more
lines to the others? 11 off scrubbers' hands before it would budge . It was rumoured to be make-work to
12 sat in a corner; I determined not to budge from it until closing-time. I also
13 between the duellists and refuse to budge . Often to everyone 's great relief
4. Consider the modality choices in a little more detail. What different kinds
14 might be out of his mind and refuse to budge . In that case, the Vice-President
of modality are there? How do they relate to the meaning of budge? 15 he recognizes it, he'II refuse to budge off that stool where he 's sitting
16 another snail near him he refused to budge , even in the mating season. I often
5. In which lines is the verb budge transitive? Build this feature into your 17 the wings of the eagle and refused to budge . after three thousand years of wait
description. 18 blow. The virus fanciers refused to budge . Whatever the diagnosis, my recovery
19 up to a point but he refuses to budge on design principles he knows to be
20 The humanity here just refuses to budge ." "That's ridiculous," says
6. In how many lines does the word budge end a sentence or clause? When the 21 me into the dining room, refusing to budge , so that no one else budged, and
clause with budge continues, what kind of structure occurs? How do you relate 22 the coroner himself are gawn Y budge on that. In the firrst place,
this to the meaning of budge? We have already dealt with the transitive clauses, 23 it with my shoulder, but it will not budge . I go to the backdoor. I find that
so in those lines look beyond the object for a continuation. 24 side, but still the snake will not budge . He keeps banging it on the head
25 afternoons when the thermometer wo n't budge above minus twenty." "And those
26 pressure any delegation. They wo n't budge from that position." "What a
7. The problem involving the word budge can be either a physical event or a 27 at they might, the British would not budge from their immigration policy. In ^
social position, usually a point of view. So far we have not required to make 28 away louder than ever. I would n't budge either, or come back, till a boy
this distinction, which is between LITERAL and the FIGURATIVE meaning. The 29 tried the idea on him. He would n't budge . He seemed to have already faded
30 the following months and would not budge - "What's done can not be undone
last analytical job is to build in this distinction, watching to see if it correlates
31 emergencies. But Mr Volcker has yet to budge on changing his controls over domestic
with any of the other classifications that we have made. Try to fit it into your
description.

8. Finally, go back to the problem of the lexicographer. Is it really sensible to

explain the meaning of budge on its own when it interacts so much with other
choices in its environment? Can you pick out a phrase or a set of phrase types
that can be defined, and that together account for the way budge operates?

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 Words difficult to define

Task 11 Number 31 is ncgutive in meaning - Mr Volcker has not yet budged. It is a

grammatical negation but without an obvious negative word choice. The mean-
ing arises from the structure has to and the adverb yet.
Key
Conclusion
1. The commonest word form at position N - 1 is to, with twelve instances. This consideration of the words coming just before budge establishes quite
This is much commoner than on (3) on the right at N+1. The other repeated clearly that it occurs in the environment of a negative; the two main ways of
word forms at N - 1 are nit (8) and not (8); we take these to be very similar expressing the negative are (a) by the normal use of a negative word like not,
- really variant forms of the same word. We can therefore combine them into and (b) by the selection of the verb refuse, followed by to budge. The very
a group of simple negatives, which at a total of sixteen is larger than the small number of lines that do not precisely match this prescription nevertheless
occurrence of to. (See the Glossary under SPAN for an explanation of the have something negative expressed just before budge.
position notation.) We can now see why there is a difficulty in defining budge in a dictionary -
the unit to be defined is "negative + budge". It is not "moving" that should be
2. We are looking for indications of negatives in other lines. Numbers 1, 10 the focus of the definition but "not moving".
and 12 contain negatives (won't, none in no. 1, neither, nor in 10 and not in
12), still on the left-hand side but at N - 3 or even farther away from budge. 3. Modal verbs are frequent - ca(n'f). could (3), will (2), wo(n't) (2) and
They can be added in to the group. So too can the lines which have the verb would (4). To these we should add two that we have already met in nos. 10
"refuse" at N - 2 ; in fact "refuse to budge" is the commonest phrasal pattern in (could) and 11 (would), making a total of 14. In no. 1, able to is very similar
the concordance. to the modal "can". In no. 12, the verb determined is a lexicalisation of the
It is quite clear that the meaning of "refuse" has a negative quality; the same meaning as would, and this recalls the lines with "refuse", because re-
difference in meaning between no. 29 He wouldn't budge, and no. 16 . . . he fusing is not only negative but also has the "would" meaning.
refused to budge . . . is very slight. Number 29 uses a grammatical form of We have now identified 25 of the 30 lines as having modality in some form.
negation and no. 16 uses a lexical form; the effect is almost identical. (See the Of the remainder, the auxiliary did, which is necessary when there is no modal
Glossary under LEXICALISED.) SO instead of remaining strictly within the gram- with a verb and it is negative, occurs four times, and no. 31 also has no
mar and saying that the nine lines with "refuse to budge" are positive, and indication of modality. So on these figures modality is chosen with budge in
most of the others negative, we say that 28 of the 31 lines are negative. over 80% of the cases.

Cases for comment 4. There are two main kinds of modality in these instances - what we may call
"ability" and "determination". The lines divide as follows:
The remaining lines will be examined one by one. Number 11 is too short for
a clear decision; it concerns the difficulties in removing stains from the skin, ability: able, can't, could - 6
and indicates that the stains resisted efforts to remove them for some time. determination: will, won't, would, determination, refuse, refused - 19
This is neither grammatical nor lexical negation, but the meaning of the line is (neutral): did, etc. - 5
compatible with the negative quality of the others. It is quite different from, for
example, "So we just budged the stains with a little soap and water." - which Anything or anyone that cannot be budged is not moving because it is unable
is a ridiculous sentence in English. to; anyone or anything that will not budge is not moving because it is engaged
Number 22 is a simulation in writing of a regional dialect of English. It in preventing the movement. When we are talking about being physically
fits in reasonably well with the description as a whole, but needs special stuck, the use of will, would is fanciful, as in no. 25, where free will is ascribed
statements on every point - for example "t" is the equivalent of "to" in normal to a thermometer. The normal use of this type of modality is to refer to the
written English. There is no negative expressed within the line, but it is fairly stubbornness of people in discussion and decision, as in no. 27, and in this
clear that there is a negative - probably neither/nor - on the left-hand side. meaning it overlaps with "refuse to". In the case of animals, as in no. 24
Because of its non-standard nature it will be ignored for the rest of this concerning a snake, it will always be unclear whether the animal genuinely
study. refuses or is unable to move.

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Reading Concordances Words difficult to define

5. Here is a table of the lines where the transitivity of budge is given, along So we must mukc a note in the description that a location can, optionally, be
with the modality: specified, both in transitive and intransitive clauses and in those expressing
ability or determination. There are no instances here of a choice of location
Line
with a clause of neutral modality, but this is probably a result of the small
Transitivity Modality
number of lines of this type (4).
1 intrans able Of the remaining continuations, two begin with the adverb even and the
2 trans can't preposition in, and refer to a local condition relevant to the incident which one
3 trans could might have expected to alleviate the situation - like moist earth, which might
4 trans could make moving a heavy object somewhat easier, or the mating season for snails,
5 trans could which should tempt them to get on the move. This is a very small indication of
6 intrans did what could be another optional element, to intensify the meaning of the central
7 intrans did verb complex.
8 intrans did The other three continuations are not apparently related to the choice of
9 intrans did
budge as the verb. Either and or are rhetorical choices in the sentence structure
10 trans could
11 with full freedom of operation, and tomorrow is a time adjunct, which can be
intrans would
12 intrans determined
expected in any narrative clause. In fact, the scarceness of time adjuncts is
13 intrans refuse perhaps more significant than the one that occurs, because it points to the fact
14 intrans refuse that we are more likely to time the successful movement of an object or a
15 intrans refuse person than the continuation of their being stuck.
16 intrans refuse We should note that yet in no. 31 is also a time adjunct, and that in no. 17
17 intrans refuse the full stop could be a misreading of a comma by an electronic scanner, so
18 intrans refuse that the occurrence of time adjuncts is not perhaps as rare as we thought.
19 intrans refuse
20 intrans refuse 7. The first point to note is that there are a number of doubtful cases. It is
21 intrans refuse interesting that the phraseology round about budge does not clearly indicate
23 intrans will the nature of the problem in eight cases. My analysis is rather tentative, and I
24 intrans will have made three columns, one being indeterminate; despite that I have classi-
25 intrans won't fied several lines as physical or social without being entirely confident. These
26 intrans won't have a query in front of them.
27 intrans would
28 intrans would
29 Physical Social Not sure
intrans would
30 intrans would
31 intrans 1 2 3
has yet to
4 5 7
6 10 14*
8 13?
From this table we can see that transitivity goes with the "ability" modality; 9 18?
no. 1 seems to go against this, but it is an odd line, and it has the modal won't 11 19
in it as well as the phrase able to. This distinction relates to the bracketed 12 26
phrase in the definition quoted in the introductory paragraph: "(cause to)". 15 27
It shows why the exclamation "I can't budge!" would sound so unusual in 16 28
English. 17? 29
20? 30
6. In thirteen lines there is a continuation of the clause with budge. The com- 21 31
monest type is a prepositional phrase where from (4) is the main preposition, 23
24
with on (2), above and off. This phrase refers to the LOCATION of the incident,
25
whether physical or social.

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Reading Concordances

Case for comment Task 12

In the above table no. 14 is asterisked because it really concerns both
the physical and the social simultaneously. It concerns what happens if the
Ad hoc meaning
President of the United States goes mad and refuses to give up his power and
position. If he continues to occupy physically the space that he normally does
as President that is one interpretation - he would have to be forcefully ejected. Most sentences contain a unique combination of words; only a few conven-
If he continues to act socially as President that is the other interpretation, and tional remarks for commonly occurring social occasions are likely to recur in
announcements would have to be made to explain his loss of authority. It exactly the same form. Grammars and dictionaries describe how meaning arises
is difficult to separate these two interpretations because both are precisely largely by erecting a framework of choice which shows the word acquiring
relevant, and the problem for the people who have to deal with this situation elements of meaning as the choices become more specific. So the word "the"
embraces both aspects. in English is one of several DETERMINERS; among the determiners are the
ARTICLES, of which there are two, and "the" is the DEFINITE ARTICLE. SO its
There is a noticeable correlation between the social meaning of budge and the
modal category of determination, especially where the modality is realised by route to meaning is:
would.
DETERMINER - » ARTICLE DEFINITE
8. The characteristic use of budge is with a negative and a modal. There are
two aspects of the modality - ability and determination, and the majority of Similarly a "table" is first classified as a movable object in a room, then as
instances make this choice. With an ability modal the structure is likely to be one of the large movable objects called items of furniture, and finally as one
transitive (on the evidence we have, which is not conclusive). Optionally a with a flat top for putting things on or sitting at.
position can be expressed, either physical or social; if social it usually concerns When several words come together in a linear sequence, they interact with
stubbornness in discussion. each other, and new meanings are produced which are not in the dictionar-
The outline of my dictionary entry for budge would be as follows. (This is ies, because they only arise in the unique combination of choices in a single
a general frame - naturally it would be adapted to the size and intended user sentence.
of each particular publication.) This task is the examination of the various choices that occur around the
word veritable, and how they make their meanings. We begin with the most
budge, verb. regular and obvious patterns and gradually look deeper into the patterning of
this word.
This word is always used with a negative of some sort, whether gram-
matical or lexical. Normally there is also a modal of: 1. Study the file 12_veritablel.doc. These are all the examples of the word
(a) ability: veritable in a corpus of twenty million words. Note the prominent pattern
If you cannot budge something, it is stuck. immediately to the left of the node. What is it?
two horses could not budge it even in moist earth.
2. There are several exceptions. Try to explain the reasons for each one, but
(b) determination: do not be surprised if they do not all have an easy explanation.
If something or someone wouldn't budge or refused to budge, they
rejected all attempts to move them. 3. Now look to the right of the node word, and make a list of the nouns that
he 'II refuse to budge off that stool.... They won't budge from that veritable modifies, and any other modifiers, or qualifying phrases that occur
position. just after the noun. Find the dominant patterns. Add to this the syntactic role of
Notes: the ability choice goes with a choice of transitive; the expression the noun phrase that includes veritable. How often is it the subject or object of
of position (off that stool, from that position) is an option; the phrases a verb? The complement of a verb like "be", "appear", etc.? In a prepositional
can be used to express either a physical problem or a social one. phrase?

4. Consider the meaning of the whole phrase:

a + veritable + NOUN

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Reading Concordances Ad hoc meaning

Is there a consistent element of meaning that you note in all, or almost all, the The proper nuine.s found in §6 can be redistributed among the other categories
instances? Does this help to explain the remarkably frequent occurrence of the - how would you do that?
indefinite article a? You may find that looking at the file 12_veritable_colls.doc Note the codes of the instances of "of" phrases and see if there is any
will help; here is a list of the nouns that collocate significantly with veritable. tendency for them to be associated with one or more categories of meaning-
relationship.
5. Given the presence of this particular kind of meaning, we will now use it
to classify the noun headwords. Keep 12_veritable_colls.doc in front of you 12. To bring this task to a close, study the third concordance, 12_veritable3.doc,
for guidance, and pick out any nouns that seem to correlate well with this noting how far it confirms the various observations we have made about the
meaning. Then turn to 12_veritable2.doc and repeat the search; because so other two samples, and classifying the nouns according to the coding estab-
few nouns are repeated we are searching 64 rather than 29 instances. lished in §10. Make a final statement about the way combinations of vent
and a noun it modifies make meaning in a text that is local and unique.
6. What is the role of the proper names?

7. Which nouns have a fairly common figurative or metaphorical use that

is selected here? In 12_veritable_colls.doc there seem to be a large number of
such nouns - army, flood, explosion, mountain, forest and arsenal from the
first column only.

8. Which nouns do not normally have a figurative meaning but in combination

with veritable acquire one? In 12_veritable_colls.doc the words industry.
revolution, museum, library and machine are of this kind.

9. Of those that are left, some show veritable used just as an emphasiser — note
these, and consider the rest individually. How do they relate to the framework
a veritable . . . , which anticipates that they will be emotionally charged nouns
which are new in the context? At this point also list those words where your
decisions do not coincide with the Key.

10. When nouns are transposed metaphorically, they often occur followed by
an "of "-phrase that indicates their new provenance. This is not so likely if the
metaphorical use is reasonably well established in the language. Go through
the two concordances and note all the instances of the pattern

veritable + NOUN + of + NOUN PHRASE

(for the first concordance this is already available in the Key to §3).

11. We will now relate these instances to the classification of the nouns in
§5-9. Let us assign symbols to these categories of noun.

§5: the normal meaning of the noun correlates with the meaning required by
veritable. Code F (= Fits)
§7: there is a suitable meaning available and veritable selects it. Code
S (= Selects)
§8: there is no suitable meaning available and the presence of veritable re-
quires that one is created. Code C (= Creates)
§9: veritable is used as an emphasiser only. Code E (= Emphasises). W •

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 Reading Concordances

Datafile 12_veritable3.doc
Task 12
1 belonged to a separate room, a veritable stronghold. The fire and bomb
2
3
Its windowless walls make it a
solemnly perform and exhibit the
veritable prison; a depressing bunker
Veritable , Ancient, and Rectified Rite of
Key
4 McCormick and much more, it was a veritable music banquet and celebration of
5 points out, there is a veritable chasm between what the child
6 houses in the centre may be old, veritable antiquities, but still lack 1. The indefinite article a comes regularly just before the node word.
7 was absolute - as powerful as a veritable despot; but his power has
8 of newspaper pop writers, a veritable spring chicken, but I happen to
9 taken in Silicon Valley. HP is a veritable grand-daddy compared with most of 2.
10 creperies, Le Shop - The Veritable Creperie, 329 Kings Road, Cases for comment
11 even worse is in the pipeline. A veritable Ferrari fax is being schemed
12 certainly five kilometres long, a veritable paradise for every bicycle • Number 1. This is a passage about two apparently foreign people, and the
13 Her digestive system is a veritable cosmos in nature, the most author is signalling their foreignness by making them speak unusual Eng-
14 between 26 and 44 cents a pound, a veritable bonanza. In the next decade the
lish. This looks like an instance of the French word "veritable" rather than
15 Man River, he just keeps rolling, a veritable bowling machine of rhythm, loop
16 our new Book Department is a veritable cornucopia of delights for all the English one.
17 ennui as politicians talked and a veritable industry of constitution-making • Number 6. This is another instance of non-native speakers using unaccept-
18 a western sun, the desert air, a veritable army of counselors, and a able English. The phrase "Is small," is a deliberate breaking of one of the
19 contribution. This book is a veritable storehouse of information for the few almost absolute rules of English - that a finite verb should have a
20 In fact, at the time there was a veritable surge of lesbian activity by
subject.
21 annually let loose upon the world a veritable flood of crap books, all in the
22 the two sides. It all adds up to a veritable clash of the Titans, and no • Number 8. Here the noun is plural, and so cannot have the indefinite
23 approach with care and caution the veritable minefield of the ECOs, latter-day article. Such a usage is considered equivalent to the singular noun preceded
24 bars and a 30 degree embankment, a veritable scene out of 4WD heaven, presents by a.
25 Jews, Hindus and Muslims; it is a veritable olla podrida of religions, races • Number 10. Foreign influences again - here almost certainly the French.
26 was Grace Kelly, who became a veritable Ice Princess when she gave up
• Number 20. Here is a rare occurrence of the definite article, and even stranger
27 Noel stood almost six feet tall - a veritable Viking, said one acquaintance. 8
28 a clothes iron. Amid a veritable wig shop of wackiness, both because the noun, fountain, is not followed by of. There are very few occur-
29 of Punk And Disorderly a veritable treasure trove of delights aimed rences of the veritable . . . in any corpus, and in well over 80% of the cases
livewire. With live drums, bass
30 Laws, and by all accounts she's a veritable the reason for the is the following of-phrase. The present instance is almost
unique.

We will ignore nos. 1, 6 and 10 from now on because they are quite deviant
from normal English.

3.

No. Noun Modifier(s) and qualifier(s) Syntactic role of noun group

2 God-send exclamation
3 Mrs Beeton one of a series of antitheses
4 Niagara in a like phrase
5 Proteus of the highway probably apposition
7 ballet of airborne movements clause object
8 bombs apposition
9 host of fascinating questions clause object
11 passion clause object
12 technocrucy of the ruins complement of is
13 Fort Knux Hy/antine apposition
14 array •* of tricnds and relatives clause object . '

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Reading Concordances Ad hoc meaning

very uncommon, and why when it does occur it is nearly always followed by
No. Noun Modifier(s) and qualifier(s) Syntactic role of noun group
an "of" phrase.
15 boon complement of is
16 brick probably complement of "be" 5. In the classification, §5-9, we are in an area of personal taste and judge-
17 city of red brick buildings apposition ment, and no two people are likely to make exactly the same decisions; keep
18 dynasty of English physicians in an appositional phrase notes on where you vary from the personal classification below.
19 explosion apposition A few of the nouns seem to me to have a strong and almost exaggerated
20 fountain in an of phrase meaning even without the word veritable. These are, in the first concordance,
21 garden in an into phrase God-send, passion, jamboree and marathon. (The spelling of God-send with
22 gift from Allah complement of appear capital letter and hyphen is unusual.)
23 jamboree of fraudulent practices complement of were In the second concordance they are disaster, feast (twice), fortress (rather
24 marathon complement of Jj£ than "castle"), frenzy, giant, paradise and treasure house.
25 mermaid clause object
We can say of these choices that they fit very well the expectations set up by
26 movie industry one-man complement of is
veritable. Veritable sets up the expectation of a special kind of noun to follow
27 prison cell complement of forms
28 rainbow complement of was it, and these are pretty clear cases of that kind of noun.
29 tape recorder complement of was
6. The proper names in the first concordance are:

Mrs Beeton. Niagara. Proteus. Fort Knox

Note that there is a noun following veritable in every instance; this shows it to
be an ATTRIBUTIVE adjective. The only repeated pattern within the noun group Each refers to a person or place associated with an extreme feature. Mrs
is that nine of the nouns are followed by an of-phrase. There are no repeated Beeton wrote a classic book on housekeeping and cookery that is still in print
nouns. after a century; the Niagara Falls are exceptionally high; the Greek myth of
The dominant syntactic role is that of complement (10) or object (5) of the Proteus tells of his ability to change into the shape of another creature very
clause; the noun group is never subject in this sample. The other frequent quickly; and Fort Knox is where the United States keeps its gold reserves, and
syntactic role is that of apposition (6). is known as one of the most heavily guarded places on earth.
In conjunction with veritable these are metaphorical uses, where the notable
4. The effect of this structure is to emphasise the noun greatly, making it feature of the person or place is transferred as a quality into the new situation.
sound very dramatic, lexically rich and full of portent. It often involves the In the second concordance the proper names are:
extremity of a scale of meaning, the biggest or the best or the most violent.
Looking at the file 12_veritable_colls.doc, we note that feast is a big and Astolat. Bible. Vendyl Jones
special meal, as is banquet and, slightly oddly, smorgasbord, while cornucopia,
the horn of plenty, is an unusual and powerful word in English. Other words Astolat is a place name from the King Arthur stories; Vendyl Jones is pre-
that seem to be similar in their extravagance of meaning are treasure trove and sented here as a swashbuckling adventurer like Indiana Jones; the Bible is felt
paradise. Aladdin's cave and nightmare. by Christians to be an authoritative and comprehensive book of moral and
The meaning of the indefinite article is to signal that the following noun spiritual guidance.
group is new information, and therefore a potential point of interest. This
contrasts with the definite article which signals that the following noun has: 7. In the first concordance:

explosion, fountain, rainbow

(a) already been introduced into the conversation, or
(b) is obvious in the context, or The use of fountain has already been noted as unusual, and while the word is
(c) is identified by a prepositional phrase or clause that immediately follows it. commonly used metaphorically ("fountain of youth", "fountain of knowledge",
etc.) it may not be in this instance.
Now if the effect of veritable is to make a big fuss about the importance of In the second concordance:
the noun it modifies, then this meaning correlates well with the "newness"
signalled by a.. We now appreciate why the combination "the veritable . . ." is (twice), crop, forest, gulf, landslide, tourist shrine attraction, wells

Paaatt
Reading Concordances Ad hoc meaning

We can say of these words that they have quite ordinary literal meanings - Individual instances, second concordance
a landslide is the movement of land down a hill - and also metaphorical
meanings where a dramatic element of meaning appears, so that a landslide • Number 20. gust is a brief, weak breeze, and is not the kind of word that we
result in an election is a very big victory for one side. In many of these words should expect after veritable: "storm" would be more appropriate. But it is a
nowadays the commonest meaning is the metaphorical one. gust of sighs, and sighs are even weaker and shorter than gusts; so it is used
In the cotext of the modifier veritable, the more dramatic metaphorical ironically here.
meaning is required. Here we can see veritable determining the meaning of a • Number 24. Negro has an initial capital letter but is not considered a proper
potentially ambiguous noun, controlling the selection of meaning. name here; veritable is used in the way that we use "real" or "true" (Tognini
Bonelli, 1992). In Shakespeare's play Othello the precise racial categorisation
8. In the first concordance: of Othello himself, called "The Moor of Venice", is always controversial.
• Number 27. proverbials shows a rather mannered English expression; when
ballet, bombs, technocracy, brick, city, dynasty, garden, gift from Allah. someone is aware of using a familiar idiom, they can draw attention to it by
mermaid, movie industry, prison cell, tape recorder replacing an important word by "proverbial". So here the idiom is "packed
to the gunwales". Perhaps, since the word "gunwales" is not very common
In the second concordance: nowadays, the speaker had forgotten it and so substituted the word proverbials
for it.
acropolis, parade, clan, conveyor belt, crop, party, museum, revolution. • Number 31. song uses veritable to indicate the presence of an idiom - here
soapbox, jihad "for a song", meaning "a good bargain, very cheap", especially in the phrase
"going for a song" - here " g o t . . . for a . . . song".
These words have ordinary meanings and are ordinarily used quite unemo-
tionally; when they are placed after veritable this ordinary meaning is not Doubtful classifications
relevant. So the listener or reader has to imagine a metaphorical meaning that
will be appropriate for the cotext, and - for this unique instance only - will • Number 1/19. explosion. This is classed in §7 because it is felt to have
make sense: distinct literal and metaphorical meanings, but it could also be classed in §5
if all its uses are thought to be "explosive".
his hands perform a veritable ballet of airborne movements • Number 2/28. revolution. This is classed in §8, but could also have been in
§5 if you think that the regular meaning of the word has this special charge
Something of the grace, beauty, control and energy of the ballet is transferred of drama and emotion.
to the hand gestures of the man talked about in this instance.
The same process of interpretation is used in the other instances. If a factory 10. See §11.
is called a city, then the great size of a city is being highlighted, and that
extreme feature is applied to a factory, which is expected to be much smaller. 11. The proper names can be classified, in my opinion, as follows:
Industry is not usually metaphorical, but it certainly includes the idea of a very
large number of people working in the same line of business. As a metaphor it Mrs Beeton C
presumably means that an individual was so enterprising and energetic that his Niagara S
efforts seemed to be much more than that of a single person. A tape recorder is Proteus s
not usually metaphorical, but when used of a person it highlights their ability Fort Knox s
to repeat what has been said - perhaps rather boringly. Astolat c
Bible s
9. veritable as emphasiser only: Vendyl Jones c
host, array, boon The "of" phrases are classified as follows:

There is an older meaning of host - a large crowd of people, angels, etc., from Proteus of the highway S
which this modern meaning no doubt derived - but I have classified it here ballet of airborne movements C
rather than under §7 because the early meaning is no longer current. host of fascinating questions E

PlMiM Pag* 101

Reading Concordances Ad hoc meaning

technocracy of the ruins C t.,- . , '

array of friends and relatives E No. Noun Type Modifiers and qualifiers Notes
city of red brick buildings C
21 flood S of crap books clause object
dynasty of English physicians C 22 clash F of the Titans prepositional object, idiom
jamboree of fraudulent practices F 23 minefield S of the ECOs clause object
barrage of paperwork S 24 scene C out of 4WD heaven apposition; see comments below
beauty parade of the great and . . . C 25 olla podrida C of religions complement; see comments below
clan of family members C 26 Ice Princess C complement
explosion of sex talk S 27 Viking s apposition
28 shop c wig, of wackiness prepositional object; see
farewell party of harp seals C
comments
feast of nourishing pop F 29 treasure trove F of delights apposition
forest of hands S 30 livewire F complement
frenzy of wholesale helping F
giant of the small screen F
gust of sighs of relief (irony) Cases for comment
museum of fast food C
rock jihad of a mini-album C • Number 11:
treasure house of art ? F (a) This phrase is clause subject, which is not common - but there were two
wells of iniquity and crime S instances also in the second concordance.
(b) The word whose meaning correlates with veritable is not the noun fax,
The distribution, given these small numbers, is fairly even, so we can postu- but the modifier Ferrari. Fax on its own would be coded C. Perhaps the
late that the "of" phrase is an independent choice from the assignment of two words should be taken together - there are several instances in this
meaning-relationship. selection where I was unsure whether or not to conflate them.
• Number 24. The word whose meaning correlates with veritable is heaven,
12. which is in a prepositional phrase qualifying the noun.
• Number 25. olla podrida is a Spanish stew which contains a wide range of
No. Noun Type Modifiers and qualifiers Notes ingredients.
1
• Number 28 is one I do not understand, and so I will rely on the conventions
stronghold S apposition
we have noted in this task, assuming that it can be interpreted normally.
2 prison S clause object
3 Rite Ancient and Rectified of-phrase, ritualistic language People's appearance or behaviour was so outlandish (wacky) that the writer
4 banquet F music complement was reminded of a wig shop where perhaps a bizarre selection of wigs
5 chasm F complement would be on display.
6 antiquities C old complement
7 despot F comparison phrase, as . . . as
8 spring chicken C apposition
Summary
9 grand-daddy C complement
10 Creperie article the
The new instances match quite well the descriptive framework, and there are
shop name
11 fax S Ferrari subject; see comments below no novel cases or widely differing frequencies to note. The categories of "fit"
12 paradise F for every bicycle . . . apposition (8), "select" (8) and "create" (10) are all prominent, showing that in a third of
13 cosmos S complement the instances new meaning is actually created by the requirement of veritable
14 bonanza F apposition that its noun group will give a strongly dramatic, exaggerated semantic prosody.
15 machine C bowling, of rhythm apposition Of the nouns that already fit this requirement cornucopia, treasure trove.
16 cornucopia F of delights complement paradise and banquet are listed in 12_veritable_colls.doc, and of those that can
17 industry C of constitution-
making . ..
select such a meaning army, flood and minefield are also included in that file.
18 army S of counselors apposition
19 storehouse C of information complement
20 surge s of lesbian activity complement

Page 103
Task 13
Grammatical frames

There is a widely accepted distinction in English and other languages between

"grammatical" and "vocabulary" words. No-one can say exactly where the line
should be drawn, but almost everyone accepts that the words the and apple are
of two different kinds. The is a building block of text structure, and while it
has a kind of meaning, it is hardly an independent unit of meaning. Apple, on
the other hand, has a clear referential meaning, and a dictionary entry for that
word is not difficult to write.
Most of the concordances that you will come across - including many of
those in this book - are centred on a word or phrase that has lexical con-
tent, like apple. Such words make clear and easy starting-points for the
exploration of corpus patterning. There have been some studies of so-called
"grammatical words", showing that they actually have a clear lexical presence,
which amounts to treating them in the same way as "vocabulary" words
are treated. This is valuable work, but it is not the whole story; combinations
of grammatical words can form repetitive frameworks for phrasal units where
the vocabulary words within them vary a great deal. The most frequent
combination of words in English within a small SPAN is the . . . o f . . . - the
two commonest words in the language. All sorts of vocabulary words fill
in where I have put dots, and though there are many that are quite frequent,
none is more than a COLLOCATION, rather than part of the CORE. Typical words
between the and of are end, middle, heart, rest, number, kind, sort, idea, age
and cost.
The core of this expression is in fact t h e . . . of. and the words that come
between them are collocates, as are the words that follow them. This is a
different kind of unit from those that centre on a single vocabulary word like
budge, or a phrase like true feelings.
In this task we will build up an understanding of one of these phraseological
units of meaning.

1. Study the datafile 13_asas.doc, and in particular the word that comes be-
tween two occurrences of as. Arrange the instances according to the frequency
of this word, ignoring single occurrences at present.

2. Some phrases have a special meaning called IDIOMATIC - see IDIOM. Where
a phrase can have an idiomatic as well as a general meaning (like as well as
meaning "in addition to" rather than "as healthy as") note how many of each
meaning there are. Look at the single occurrences for any instances of less
common phrases with idiomatic meanings. Work out the proportion of in-
stances thai have an idiomatic meaning.

Page 106
Reading Concordances

3. Now look at the instances which do not have an idiomatic meaning. You
might expect that to say that something is "as X as" something else is to mean
that the two things compared are very similar with respect to X - for example,
no. 18. Find all the instances which make this sort of meaning, and comment
on the meanings of the rest.

4. Look to the left of the first as and see if there are any repeated patterns of
words or word classes. Then summarise what we have discovered about the
a s . . . as phrase.

5. We are now going to leave aside the idiomatic phrases and explore one of
the more complex patterns - the phrase about as . . . as. Look at the datafile
13_aboutasas.doc; first pick out any cases where you do not think about is
part of the phrase. Then consider the meaning of each instance in turn. Use the
categories already established to talk about the meaning. Then summarise the
trends that you observe.

6. We have now described a situation where a phrase can have either a straight-
forward meaning or an ironic one that is the opposite of the straightforward
one. The question now to be asked is "how do users of English know which
way to interpret the phrase?" First of all, review all the instances you have
classified as ironic genuine comparisons. Start with the Z element, and ask
yourself whether there are any clues there - for example, if the Z element is
absurd as in no. 26, voting an end to [winter]. this is clearly a useless activity
in itself, and so anything that is said to be as useful as that must be pretty
useless.
After this, go back through, ignoring the Z element, and consider whether or
not you know before you reach there that the ironic meaning is the most likely.
If so, then the meaning cannot arise just in the absurdity of the Z element. Can
you suggest a reason for it?

7. We will take one further step in probing into this kind of phrase and its
unusual meanings. The datafile 13_aboutasusefulas.doc contains 21 instances
of about as useful a s . . . . According to our predictions, most of these should
have an ironic meaning. Check this out, and note also, as before, whether the
Z element is obviously useless and whether it is necessary to know what
it is.

8. Summarise the role of about applied to as . . . as . . . phrases.

106
 Grammatical frames

Task 13 Regular: comparing iwo entities with reference to an attribute and indicating
that they arc similar with respect to that attribute. As a formula:
Key Y is about as X as Z

Number 18 is a fairly clear instance of this meaning, which is often found in

1. as well as 10 expressions of measurement.
as long as 4
as far as 3 Regular +: a comparison with the added implication that the attribute is very
as soon as 2 marked in the entities concerned.
as big as 2
Y and Z are both very X
2. All instances are of the idiomatic kind except no. 13, where as long as
This type is common with qualitative adjectives, because the choice of adject-
means length of time, and the two instances of as big as. which are understood
ive often implies that it is a feature of Z at least; so "Y is as big as Z" suggests
literally. This means that 18 out of the 30 instances are of idiomatic meanings,
that Z is known to be big and Y is also big; if Y and Z were not very big then
which is 60%.
"Y is as small as Z" would be less misleading.
3. Those that conform to expectations are nos. 10, 15, 16, 17 and 18. There is Number 3 is an instance of this meaning - the heels are very deep, and the
in most of them an extra meaning of "very X"; for example, no. 10 includes Z element gives an idea of how deep.
the meaning "The links are very large." Number 17 is an exception to this, Ironic: a comparison with the added implication that the attribute is not at all
implying that Spike did not score, or come near to scoring. characteristic of either of the entities.
The other instances also contain the notion of "very X", but they are not
really comparisons. Number 1 means that the south was always very arid, Y and Z are both very low in X
no. 2 that the two play-offs are the biggest, no. 3 that baseball is very popular
among Cubans, no. 4 that poverty is a very complex problem, no. 5 that both As pointed out above, this is rather unexpected - why should someone choose
ideas are quite erroneous, and no. 9 that the view was both very hilarious and an adjective which is not characteristic of the entities being compared? It
very incensed. produces an ironic meaning - neither X nor Z are at all Y.
Genuine or False comparison. There is another feature that cuts across the
4. The only clear pattern is the occurrence of adverbs such as about, nearly
classification; this is whether the comparison is genuine - that is to say, Y and
and almost, which are expressions of approximation; these are incompatible
Z are comparable entities - or false, as in no. 10, as it ever gets, where there is
with as well as and as far as. and occur in four of the seventeen remaining
no Z element. Note that in nos. 2 and 22 there are such phrases, but also Z
instances - not a very strong pattern until the distinction just made is applied.
elements.
Of the five instances which seem closest to our "literal" interpretation of
as . . . as. three are modified by an adverb; the remaining instance of an adverb Idiomatic: for example, as well as. We have already dismissed the two in-
is no. 2, about, which on close inspection does not appear to be just indicating stances of that item, and there are no other phrases with idiomatic meaning in
approximation. the concordance - it is as if the about made it less likely that there would be
idiomatic phrases of this kind.
To summarise so far: most of the as . . . as phrases are idiomatic, and one,
as well as. is extremely dominant, accounting for half of the instances. Of the
non-idiomatic instances, just over half do not express comparison, but act as No. Adjective Meaning type G/F
intensifiers. Of the remainder, several are modified by nearly or almost, indic-
ating approximation. There is a small loose end in the use of the adverb about 1 appealing ironic G
2 close ironic G
in no. 2.
3 deep regular + G
4 different regular + F
5. In the two instances of as well as. the word about is part of a phrasal verb
5 effective ironic G
- talking about in no. 28 and mess them about in no. 29. We will ignore them. 6 ctliisive ironic F
We will now summarise the categories of meaning that we have established, 7 r.uiopcuH ironic G
and provide an ad hoc terminology. 8 Irml i|K ironic G

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Reading Concordances Grammatical frames

No. Adjective Meaning type G/F unappealing event, but I personally have no knowledge or experience of it - I
presume it is a television programme. In such cases I have recorded "not known",
9 funky ironic G and I expect that each person's response in this column will be different.
10 good ironic F
11 good ironic G
12 interesting ironic G No. Adjective Z element Z is nonX Z is not
13 jolly ironic G required
14 likely ironic G
15 likely regular G 1 appealing a repeat of Legends of the [Fall] not known not required
5 effective crossing your fingers nonX not required
16 long ironic G
7 European a pint of bitter nonX not required
17 meaningful ironic G
8 frail Robocop nonX required
18 much regular G
9 funky Ena Sharpies not known not required
19 much regular + F 11 good finding a 100S engine not known not required
20 much ironic G 12 interesting reading the back o f . . . nonX not required
21 much regular + F 13 jolly the joke in his cracker nonX not required
22 . near regular G 14 likely a redback spider turning up on not known not required
23 positive ironic F 16 long Reggie not known required
24 reliable ironic G 17 meaningful the messy pattern made when . . . nonX not required
25 subtle ironic G 20 much Hitler and Stalin did not known required
26 useful ironic G 24 reliable an election promise nonX not required
27 useful ironic G 25 subtle the former Norway manager's not known not required
30 wholesome ironic G 26 useful voting to declare an end to . . . nonX not required
27 useful J R Hartley winning the Booker . . . nonX not required
30 wholesome cussing in church nonX not required
Comments
Where the status of the Z element is "not required", then it does not matter
The most remarkable trend in the above table is the number of phrases with
whether the reader/listener knows it or not. That accounts for most of the
ironic meaning - 21 out of 28 instances, 75%. Since the original 13_asas.doc
instances, leaving just three where this kind of world knowledge is required -
datafile had none of these, it is likely that by adding about into the phrase, this
nos. 8, 16 and 20 for me. Regarding no. 8 I happen to know that Robocop was
kind of meaning became more prominent. Only three instances are simply
an icon of toughness, but with the cotext given the meaning could just as easily
"regular", while four are the augmented variety of regular.
be regular. I am able to look at the document as a whole, where it is obvious in
The distribution of Genuine and False comparisons does not correlate well
the previous 500 words that Kahn is extremely aggressive and formidable, so
with the other choices, though three out of the four cases of regular+ are False
that resolves the problem. Regarding no. 16, I know neither French Kiss nor
comparisons, and this may be a trend.
Reggie, and the adjective long can occur in several different phrases of the
Note that in no. 22 the Z element is only hinted at by to at the end of the
as . . . as type. Again the previous cotext tells me that they are unsuccessful
line. The relevant wider cotext is: brands of wine; without that knowledge I would not be able to resolve the
The traditional pre-war Sports Car race is about as near as you can get in meaning, but the information is provided in the text. As regards no. 20, I
Historic sport to the medieval Knight jousting to protect the honour of his cannot remember any particular love or hate relationship between Hitler and
Lady Fay re. Stalin, but they fought against each other in a major war so in the absence of
clear evidence I would guess the meaning is ironic here. The previous cotext in
My interpretation of this is that the nearness is adequate to make the compar- fact makes it clear.
ison (while distant enough to be humorous), so my classification is regular; I So all the information I need is supplied in the cotext. But this does not
agree that an ironic interpretation is possible, if you imagine the Y and Z explain how, in the cases where I claim that I know before encountering the Z
elements to be ridiculously dissimilar. element, whether the meaning is ironic or not. This seems to lie in the combina-
tion of about and the adjective chosen. The selection of about, as we have seen,
6. In the following table the column "Z is nonX" depends a great deal on per- makes it likely that in three cases out of four the meaning will be ironic.
sonal knowledge of the world, and subjective opinion. For example, in no. 1 it Combined with this, the choice of a clearly qualitative adjective such as useful
is clear that the author considers a repeat of Legends of the Fall as un extremely makes the ironic meaning exceptionally probable. Where the adjective is possibly

12 Pagt 113
Reading Concordances Grammatical frames

quantitative, like long or much, the previous cotext is needed to clarify the Note
meaning, and also adjectives like frail, which is more of an objective judgement
than appealing - that is to say, thousands of people may like the TV programme In no. 16 the Z element in full is posting a surgeon to watch a butcher operate
that is judged unappealing, but few will mistake a frail person for a tough one. on somebody's brain.
Where the comparison is False, similar conditions of interpretation apply.
There is no Z element, but a conventional phrase like as we come, as it ever Comment
gets. So we rely entirely on the choice of adjective or the wider cotext.
The dominant pattern is that the meaning is ironic; the Z element is obviously
useless, but is not required because the combination of about and useless
No. Adjective Previous cotext Evaluation suggests very strongly the ironic meaning. The two instances of regular mean-
ing are thus worthy of inspection. Number 10 has a false comparison, and there
2 close He allocates to Hampshire 66,500 inadequate closeness is an overall impression that not much is useful in surviving a [tornado],
4 different happy to be different pseudo-Z element required
so there is a slight flavour of irony here, but not in the Z element. In no. 20
6 effusive How nice adjustive + inadequate effusion
inadequate goodness there is again an overall suggestion that the [bureaucratic] structures are fairly
10 good worse news
19 much strong disagreement clear regular interpretation useless, but since it depends on the people that run them, and we are not told
23 positive negative feelings negative attitude how useful they are, this is a fairly neutral comparison. Like a number of
instances, the fact that the Z element is not entirely independent of the Y
element gives a slant to the meaning - as here, the implication that the limit of
Note usefulness lies in the quality of the people. To follow up this point we would
need another investigation.
In no. 4, the conventional phrase as is possible to conceive clearly indicates a
regular +. r- 8. The addition of about to as . . . as . . . phrases makes it very likely indeed
that an ironic meaning will be made, and even in those cases where the regular
7. meaning is relevant, there is an over-arching suggestion of "nonX" about the
effect of the phrase as a whole. In all probability the results obtained for useful
No. Meaning type Z is nonX Z is not required
will be repeated with other adjectives of the same kind, qualitative adjectives
1 ironic nonX not required which do not rely on observables for their validation, but are essentially sub-
2 ironic nonX not required jective. There is a strong tendency in the more journalistic writing to think up
3 ironic cotext indicates bike is useless not required Z elements which are obviously ridiculous, like a chocolate parasol, but these
4 ironic cotext indicates delicate situation not required are not the items which control the interpretation; as the tables show, in most
5 ironic cotext indicates .45 is useless not required cases the nonX nature of Z is predictable before we encounter it.
6 ironic nonX not required
7 ironic nonX not required
8 ironic nonX not required
9 ironic could be useful not required
10 regular false comparison not present
11 ironic nonX not required
12 ironic nonX not required
13 ironic not known not required
14 ironic nonX not required
15 ironic nonX not required
16 ironic nonX - see note not required
17 ironic nonX not required
18 ironic nonX not required
19 ironic nonX not required
20 regular not known required
21 ironic nonX not required

Pago 115
Task 14
Hidden meanings

Often the use of a word in a particular cotext carries extra meaning of an

emotive or attitudinal nature; if you have a sporting victory, and in the pres-
ence of your opponents you call it a "walkover", you insult them, although the
victory may have been very easy. This kind of meaning is sometimes called
"connotation" (as against "denotation" for the ordinary meaning of the word),
and sometimes this kind of meaning is called "pragmatic" meaning.
We will see in this book that this kind of meaning is structurally important,
and essential for the understanding of language text. We will call it SEMANTIC
PROSODY - semantic because it deals with meaning, and prosody because it
typically ranges over combinations of words in an utterance rather than being
attached just to one.

1. Study the file 14_happen.doc. Can you tell whether the "happening" is
regarded as a good thing, a bad thing, or in between, neutral? Consider each
instance in turn and try to identify the overall impression you get. Give an
indication of your confidence in your judgement, because in some of these
instances there is hardly enough cotext to be sure. Keep a note of any words or
phrases that help to indicate this aspect of the meaning.

2. The word happen is usually thought to be of neutral meaning. The Concise

Oxford Dictionary defines it as:

"come to pass (by chance or otherwise)"

After examining this evidence, would you agree?

3. A number of instances contain expressions of doubt or uncertainty, for

example in no. 3 I've no idea expresses doubt and the clause introduced by
what is a device for being inexplicit. Look again at each instance and identify
words and phrases that indicate uncertainty or vagueness about what is to
happen, or its opposite - confidence, certainty and clarity. Where the "happen-
ing" has taken place, note any verbal indications of this. Ignore nos. 22 and 24,
which are instances of happen to be.

4. How closely does the distinction between doubt and certainty fit the distinc-
tion made in §2 between good and bad expectations?

5. Now summarise the basic orientation of the word happen, listing the main
criteria that could be used to determine whether a new instance was neutral or
tending towards one of the poles. How would you describe the semantic prosody
of bimpcji and the words round about it?
Reading Concordances Hidden meanings

6. The two instances of happen to be were removed from (he others on the Dataflle 14 h a p p e n doc
assumption that they showed a separate meaningful pattern. Look (irst at the
file 14_happento.doc. Here are twelve instances of the phrase. Decide how 1 no doubt that a breakaway will happen . New-look Derby;
they fit into the three-point classification good-neutral-bad. 2 as a fluke,' we say. 'It couldn't happen again.' The cheers ringing in our
3 Balmain.'I've no idea what will happen at the end of the season,' he
4 He thought it was what I wanted to happen , but he couldn't have been more wrong
7. The word to makes two rather different structures in English, depending on 5 be immense. That nightmare may never happen . But I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe it'
what follows it. If the next word, or the headword of the next element of 6 questions about what might happen . But, as captain, I back every
structure, is a verb, it forms the infinitive; if it is a noun, it forms a preposi- 7 That's going - N o - t o happen . Erm can you describe sort of
8 few days, but they believe it will happen eventually. The release of Mr
tional phrase. Go through the file and add this part-of-speech information. How
9 out any compensation should it happen . Given that Connolly can put only
does it correlate with the results of §6? happen . I've spent nine years structuring
10 page 90 into This isn't supposed to
11 I will die. I do not know what will happen . I appeal to the American
8. Now look at the file 14_happentobe.doc and classify it as in §5. Sum- 12 reluctantly asked what would happen if the North Vietnamese did not in
marise the form-meaning relationships of happen, etc., in these two files, and 13 examples-is what would happen if we rid ourselves of that fearful
14 to the pound, great things can also happen in Greece without breaking the
relate the semantic prosody of these phrases to the position stated in your happen . Instead, he cavorted loudly in the
15 hooligans. The miracle didn't
answer to §6. happen , just surf the Net instead. Whether
16 While you're waiting for this to
17 so rich that recanalization may well happen . Just as important is the fact that
9. Here is a footnote concerning the likely frequency of words and phrases: 18 amazed tragedies like this do not happen more often. Mrs LAURA HOLDEN
19 is something seismic starting to happen , something as important as the
happen occurs 41484 times in the Bank of English, happen to occurs 7173
20 the town, and nobody knows what will happen then. Adams: Why do you think
times, and happen to be occurs 1207 times; 7173 is 17% of 41484, and 1207 happen there for a while. Instead of
21 Committee and nothing's going to
is 17% of 7173. Can you guess from these figures some relationship be- happen to children at any age, from birth
22 in which the abuse can occur. It can
tween the number of words in a phrase and the number of times the phrase 23 distance. It is no fun at all if you happen to be nearby. If the star that goes
occurs? 24 divides the Tory part is what's to happen to our border controls after
25 couple in the deodorant ad who just happen to be frolicking naked in the

Datafile 14_happento.doc

1 are there and what is going to happen to them, the better they will
2 of the world, waiting for things to happen to other people. He was part of the
3 benefits. And all these things happen to coincide with a major
4 s a little mud, anyway? It could happen to anybody. How's your back, by the
5 so many more people that that could happen to if you could just get them in
6 you have to be cruel to be kind. I happen to feel Enzo has taken Joe as far
7 of people. What to - what's going to happen to those people? Cooper: Kubeka
8 you know exactly what was going to happen to you Yeah. Yeah,
9 it was possible that this could happen to me.' You never thought -
10 others; Do not wish bad things to happen to others; Do not steal; It's a
11 there is no indication of what will happen to its 320 branches. There is a
12 are we portrayed as screwed up if we happen to sleep around asks a well-

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Reading Concordances

Datafile 14_happentobe.doc Task 14

1 religion are we going to put? I happen to be a Catholic. I don't think
2
3
That this hapless fellow should
admittedly, film-makers who just
happen to be a private detective called - Key
happen to be British); the socialist
4 of me that are there. And if they happen to be called feminine by some
5 So that's... two happen to be in the middle of the range,
6 on. Some of its boldest moments also happen to be its most simple ones. There 1. The kind of expectation about what is going to happen is shown in the
7 but it all depends on what it is you happen to be kissing. Cheeks are fine, but
8 present age may be. Many of them
following table.
happen to be more entertaining than the
9 non-political civil servants who happen to be popular with their only real
10 appearing to preach, and they happen to be those that Middle Americans
11 dare mention two years on. They also happen to be very good, heaping layers of Expectation No. Expression
12 on alienation. The characters just happen to be young people who live in
good - definitely 2 cheers
13 rid ourselves of
14 great
19 seismic
good - probably 8 release, eventually
16 waiting
neutral 21 nothing, for a while
23 to be
25 to be

bad - probably 1 breakaway

3
6 questions
7 No (interjected)
17
24

bad - definitely 4 wrong

5 nightmare
9 compensation
10 supposed to
11 die
12 reluctantly
15 miracle
18 tragedies
20
22 abuse

If there is a clear expression of waiting patiently for something to happen, then

it is unlikely to be bad (or else, presumably, something would be done to avert
it). This is the reason for the allocation of nos. 8 and 16 to "probably good"
and no. 21 to "neutral".

Pag* 121 i
Reading Concordances Hidden meanings
2. Certainly not. If we examine the breakdown above, it seems us if happen to Certainty or nciir certainty expressed:
be is a separate meaningful unit from the other instances, and we will examine
it later. Meanwhile we can remove the two instances of it, giving the following
breakdown: No. Expression Modal Conjunction

1 no doubt will
definitely good 4 2 couldn't
probably good 2 8 believe . . . eventually will
neutral 1 14 can
probably bad 6 16 waiting
definitely bad IQ 19 starting to
23 21 nothing 's going to
22 can

The weight of the numbers is heavily towards the "bad" end - 70% are bad. Of
those classified as "probably bad", some are only in doubt because of the short Already determined:
cotext; if expanded it becomes obvious that what happens is bad. For example
in a wider cotext of no. 17, it becomes obvious that "recanalization" is undesir-
able, although in other uses it may be highly approved of. So we can say that No. Expression Reason
there is a strong tendency for happen to set up an expectation that what
10 This refers to ongoing "happening"
happens/will happen, etc., is something unfortunate. This is an aspect of
15 didn't factual statement in the past
PROSPECTION; we encounter an occurrence of happen and we make an initial
18 like this refers to ongoing "happening"
assumption that it prospects an unfortunate event. If a word like tragedy or
nightmare is in the subject and comes in front of happened, then our assump-
tion is already made by those words, and is merely confirmed; if a phrase like
great things appears, it conflicts with the expectations of happen and normally Notes
cancels the "unfortunate" meaning orientation.
• may well is less doubtful than just may.
• will on its own supports certainty (1,8) but this orientation is cancelled out
3. Doubt expressed: by a clause beginning with what (3, 11, 20).

No. Expression Modal Conjunction 4.

3 I've no idea will what On the doubt side On the certainty side
4 He thought... but what
5 may On the bad side 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17, 20,24 1,22
6 questions might what total 11 total 2
7 No (interposed)
9 should (initial) On the good side 13 2, 8, 14, 16, 19
11 I do not know will what total 1 total 5
12 asked would what if
13 would what if
17 may well Number 21 is neutral and on the certain side; nos. 10, 15, 18, 23 and 25 are not
20 nobody knows will what
24
included.
's to what

Comment

There is clearly a good correlation between the two criteria. Of the 19 in-
stances analysed, in In cuscs if the event is on the bad side it is also doubtful

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Reading Concordances Hidden meanings

and if it is on the good side it is close to certain. The three instances that do not Comment
correlate are discussed individually below.
The fit is perfect, happen to is most often followed by a noun, and there it
conforms to the pattern of happen. Eight of the instances here are of the "bad"
Cases for comment meaning, but there is one of the "good" to remind us that this is also occasion-
ally possible. Where to is acting as an infinitive marker rather than a preposi-
• Number 1. The word breakaway is the reason for this instance being classi- tion, all the instances are neutral.
fied as bad; a group of people - here football clubs - is threatening the
established order. But it is bad only from one perspective, and from another 8. All the instances are neutral. So it is not so much the selection of "be" as
(e.g. reform) it could be considered very good. So it is only marginally on the verb, but the selection of a verb rather than a noun that creates the distinc-
the bad side, not as strong as nightmare (no. 5), tragedies (no. 18) or abuse tion in meaning. We can summarise the position by saying that there is a
(no. 22). phrase in English happen + to-infinitive which is separate from happen. It is
• Number 22. The word abuse makes it quite clear that these are bad events, separate because it takes up a neutral position with respect to what is or may
and while can is not a strongly certain modal, in this instance it is used an happen or has happened, whereas, as we have seen, happen in any other
alternative to the simple present tense (like "I can hear you", which is structure tends to suggest a bad event, though occasionally a good one.
preferred in English to "I hear you"). The writing stance is very general, (A little note here about the file 14_happentobe. doc. I get the overall
taking a global view of child abuse and not a single incident. impression that this meaning is not quite neutral, but that it can be a little
• Number 13. This is the only real exception to the correlation. As shown in ironic or aggressive. The phrase makes explicit that people involved in an
the concordance it is rather difficult to classify, because the phrasing - what event have no responsibility for what happens to be the case, and so when the
would happen - normally signals foreboding, and yet rid ourselves and next word is kissing (no. 7) that is a little ironic since normally kissing in-
fearful make it clear that the hope is for a good outcome. Here is a longer volves a serious choice of partner. In no. 3 there is a suggestion that it is not
cotext for this instance: a coincidence that the film-makers are British. This point would have to be
researched more thoroughly, but since I am convinced that language is rarely
I will draw on a number of ethnographic examples - is what would neutral, the faint suggestion of an edge even to this meaning is reassuring.)
happen if we rid ourselves of that fearful symmetry of loss and
redemption 9. The notion of a word choice being independent of other word choices is
very strong, and it predicts that the likelihood of any two words occurring
This is not easy to interpret, and we may well conclude that the author has together is the product of the chances of each being in its position; so if two
some concern over the outcome, even though he or she apparently approves common words each occur on average once in every 500 words of text, the
of the steps being taken to achieve it. chances of them being next to each other is roughly 1:250,000. For most pairs
of words the chances are extremely low. On the other hand, the notion of CO-
SELECTION, the simultaneous choice of more than one word at a time, works in
5. The main orientation of happen is the prospection of an unfortunate event
happening; this often goes with expressions of doubt and vagueness. Occasion- the opposite direction, increasing the chances of certain pairs dramatically. As
ally the word presages the opposite - a desirable event - and in such cases a result we may observe that a two-word phrase, while not as rare as the
there are often expressions of certainty along with it. If it is clear that there is arithmetical predictions would have it, is still not nearly as common as the words
a period of waiting for the event to happen, it is very unlikely that the event is that make it up, and a three-word phrase is even less common. The figures here
expected to be unfortunate. Very occasionally the evaluation of the event ap- suggest that each extra word reduces the number of instances by 83%; this
pears to be neutral. actual number is not important, and the regularity of the reduction in this
example is neater than most, but it indicates the scale of reduction. So while
happen to be is a phrase that is felt by native speakers to be quite normal and
6 and 7.
available, it is a lot less common than happen to and a great deal less common
Good than just happen.
Neutral Bad

Noun 5 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 Q 10, 11
Verb 3, 6, 12
 LEVEL 4
Task 15 Closely related nneanings 129
Task 16 One and one is not exactly two 141
Task 17 Common words 153
Task 18 Singular and plural 167
Task 1 5 __
Closely related meanings

A dictionary isolates one word at a time and follows a very basic assumption
that each word carries or creates meaning by itself. A speaker or writer chooses
the word, and the meaning arrives in the text. From this perspective there are
many cases where one word appears to produce different meanings on differ-
ent occasions.
The different meanings of a word may be a matter of historical accident,
where words that used to look and sound quite different have fallen together
in their physical or phonetic shape. A well-known example is "bear", which
has two main meanings - a noun meaning a large hairy animal, and a verb
meaning to carry. Sometimes the meanings are quite clearly related, and we
call one of them LITERAL, and the other FIGURATIVE or METAPHORICAL; see
Section 4 and Section 12 for details of these different kinds of meaning.
Sometimes, however, a word can have several meanings that are closely
related and yet quite distinct; the differences are not of the literal/figurative
type. In these cases we must look closely at the surrounding COTEXT to under-
stand how we can identify in each case the relevant meaning. In this section we
will examine the verb manage.
The aim of this task is to work out (a) how many meanings the verb manage
has, and (b) how the differences are signalled in the texts. In Section 1 we
began by asking question (a), but here we will make no assumptions about
the number of meanings, but start with the assumption that there will be
textual clues to the meanings, and so we start by examining the cotexts of
manage.

1. Look at the file 15_managel.doc, and particularly at the words that immedi-
ately follow manage. Make a list of those which are repeated.

2. Look more closely at the instances where to follows manage.

(a) When is it the infinitive marker, and when is it the preposition?
(b) Does manage have a similar meaning in each instance?
(c) Provide a word or phrase of similar meaning. ,

3. Now look at the instances where manage is immediately followed by h.

(a) Do you think that it refers to a preceding noun phrase, or to something
else, or is it used "absolutely", without a specific reference?
(b) Does manage have a similar meaning in each instance?
(c) Provide a word or phrase of similar meaning.
(d) Is it close to the meaning of the instances in §2 above?
Reading Concordances Closely related meanings

4. Now look at the instances followed by the. • B1: the original meaning of taking day-to-day charge of a business, an institu-
(a) Does the begin an object for manage? tion or some part of it and making it function efficiently on a continuing basis.
(b) Are the instances similar in meaning to each other? • B2: controlling and coping with problems of a more personal or individual
(c) Provide a word or phrase that paraphrases this meaning. nature, usually outside the institutional framework, e.g. managing stress.

5. Ask the same questions about the two instances followed by this. Note the following information which lies outside the short cotexts given:

6. Ask the same questions about the two instances followed by you. No. 8: it is a crisis.
No. 11: the bashing is given by the one guy, not received. This is an unusual
7. Ask the same questions about the two instances followed by she. instance which will be discussed in the Comments.
No. 14: the condition is a disease.
8. We have now identified three main meanings of the verb "manage", as No. 15: the context here is of business. .
follows: No. 23: them are schoolchildren.
A. accomplish
12. Add up the number of instances of each of the patterns A, B and C,
B. organise
keeping the division Bl and B2 as a secondary distinction. Compare the dual
C. cope
classification that you have worked out from the evidence here with the entries
for manage in several dictionaries, to see (a) how similar the sense categories
Meaning A carries the sense of "with difficulty", "overcoming problems".
are, and (b) how far the structural patterns are associated with the meanings.
Meaning B carries the sense of continuity rather than achieving a specific
objective.
Meaning C suggests that the subject of the verb is thought to be close to
desperate.

Meaning A was found when manage was followed by a "to" infinitive or the
object it.
Meaning B was found when manage was followed by a direct object starting
with the.
Meaning C was found when manage had no object.

Now look at the remaining instances and see how far they follow this classifica-
tion of meaning, and how the structural framework may have to be extended.

9. The file 15_manageit.doc contains 20 instances of manage immediately

followed by it. It will allow us to explore a little more deeply how a transitive use
of manage can create the meaning "accomplish". Consider each instance and
try to decide if the dominant meaning is close to "accomplish" or to "organise";
then relate your decisions to the referents of it. I have included sufficient cotext
for the antecedent of it to be determined, or summarised more distant references.

10. Return to the original data file 15_managel.doc, and look more widely at
the choice of cotexts. Are there any other choices which appear to be co-
ordinated with the meanings?

11. Now turn to the file 15_manage2.doc. Apply to each instance in turn the
dual criteria of meaning and transitivity that we have built up in this section.
Be ready to divide Meaning B into two subtypes as follows:
 Reading Concordances

Datafile 15_manage2.doc Task 15

1 venture deal with Agip of Italy to manage 18 hotels. George Soros,
2
3
Julie Britton, a housewife, could
pace, but was finally just able to
manage
manage a top 20 placing. Few people
Key
4 her mouth doesn't look big enough to manage an olive, let alone a stick of
5 this, local people could better manage both the diminishing woodlands
6 position. Harding could only manage eighth place when she finally 1. to 6
7 children in this age group who can't manage even three-letter words, has risen 5
it
8 in the Third World and agreed to manage it. In the last two weeks, he
9 years ago I've only ever wanted to manage Leonard Cohen and the Waterboys and the 5
10 that it's wrong to ask a manager to manage my budget Mm. because I she 2
11 s a lot of bashing for one guy to manage ; drop them both in their this 2
12 is in jeopardy." Prime will manage Ramada's domestic franchise system, you 2
13 someone up in a club. I always manage somehow, but it can be really hard
14 it is far preferable to try to manage the condition without resorting to
15 Clearly, when an organization has to manage the transition from one stage to 2. (a) They are all the infinitive marker.
16 explained. My husband gave me cash to manage the household, but none of it was (b) Yes.
17 to convince people that he can manage the change. Edwards: All right (c) "accomplish with difficulty", "contrive".
18 It is a blow to the way in which we manage the NHS. I think the government,
19 way for the world to learn how to manage the post-cold war era
20 although it engages P&0 Catering to manage the catering. David has no doubt Note that no. 27 has ironic meaning. We expect in this usage that what follows
21 was sent down from Springwood to manage their little household and to is a desirable goal, whereas getting arrested is not usually regarded as
22 for most NHS patients) the chance to manage their own budgets. This notion of desirable. By making the ironic assumption that getting arrested is desirable,
23 their quality world. Unless we can manage them so that many more are the instance now fits in with the rest.
24 is it such a best-seller? How did he manage to create this extraordinary
25 rare and fascinating occasions they manage to avoid it Theories of
26 He did, but he couldn't quite manage to brush his teeth But you 3. (a) The cotexts are too small to be certain, but I would guess that there is
27 meets Loving Spoonful! This they manage to spit out in what seems like less no noun antecedent of any of these instances of it. More likely there
28 Singaporeans still prefer to (and manage to) find partners all by will be a clause.
29 great to see him man manage to be able to afford to get it that'
30 are bought. Well how do they manage to get that sort of I don't (b) Yes.
31 of how how we manage to move on from the very beginning (c) "accomplish with difficulty".
32 performances from the three lads who manage to convey a great feeling of (d) The meaning is very similar to §2.

4. (a) Yes.
(b) Yes.
(c) "organise in continuity" - control and take responsibility for an institu-
tion or process or behaviour, over a period of time.

5. The two cases are quite different. In no. 24 This starts a new sentence and
plays no structural role with respect to manage. The verb is in a relative clause
where the nearest expression of the object is the phrase that finishes many
different specializations. This phrase probably begins with "the", and the mean-
ing fits in with the other instances of the in §4.
In no. 25 the word this is the object, and its meaning fits with the instances
of it in §3.

6. (a) No. In both cases the word you begins a new clause or sentence.
(b) Yes - the meaning of manage is similar in both cases.
(c) "cope".

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Reading Concordances Closely related meanings

7. (a) In both instances she begins a new clause, and manage has no object. glossed the mciining as "organise/cope with" to make the point that meaning
(b) Yes. emphasises continuity, and that there is an object in the clause.
(c) "cope". Number 23 is very similar to no. 16.
Meaning C
8.
Of the four intransitive uses of manage, three are of the "cope" meaning. In
No.
no. 8 there is a mixed pattern of meaning; in childbirth the mother is both
Structural status Model Meaning type Class
coping and organising something, and it is difficult to determine in the abstract
1 intransitive 2 etc. cope C which idea might be dominant. But the verb manage is used intransitively,
4 quasi-transitive in relative clause 24 organise B which suggests that the "cope" meaning is uppermost and the "organise" mean-
5 transitive; institutional object 19 etc. organise B ing is secondary. We must avoid creating problems for ourselves here - in
6 intransitive 2 etc. cope C real-life communication we do not have the luxury of analysis.
7 hidden passive - see note organise B Coping is also an element of nos. 16 and 23, where it is again mixed with
8 intransitive - see note cope/organise C/B "organise", but with secondary weight.
14 transitive; "dummy" object accomplish A
16 transitive; emotional object organise/cope with B
17 transitive; object propositional reference 10 etc. accomplish A Summary
18 transitive; object propositional reference 10 etc. accomplish A
23 transitive; emotional object 16 organise/cope with B The fit between the intransitive use of manage and the meaning of "cope" is
32 intransitive 2 etc. cope C fairly clear.
The fit between the occurrence of a noun group as object of manage and the
meaning of "organise" is also good, with different shades of meaning accord-
Notes ing to whether the object is an institution or a personal emotion. Occasionally
there is a noun object which refers to neither of these things, but vaguely back
Meaning A to a proposition, and these instances fit better with the meaning "accomplish".
The essence of this meaning is that someone reaches a goal with difficulty; it This meaning is clear when manage is followed by a "to" infinitive, but it
occurs in transitive structures where the object is a pronoun that normally also arises with certain kinds of transitive clause; most instances of it as object
refers to a clause, rather than a noun group. The object is extended here in two create this meaning, and the vague phrases noted above. The criterion for
phrases, our way and such a thing. Note that the first of these is almost redund- distinguishing between "organise" and "accomplish" in transitive uses of
ant semantically, and so is mainly useful as a "transitiser"; in the second the manage is the nature of the object; if it refers to a proposition expressing an
object is extremely vague and almost certainly refers back to a clause in the activity then the meaning is "accomplish", while if it is a conventional noun
preceding text. group, the meaning is "organise".
Meaning B
The typical meaning here is of someone who takes day-to-day charge of an 9. The meaning is "accomplish" in all the instances except four - nos. 7, 9, 12
institution and makes it function efficiently - the work of a manager. The and 19, where the meaning is "organise". In no. 9 the object it refers to society;
object is usually a business or an office, and we found this meaning principally perhaps there is a little ambiguity here, but for me it is clearly "organise". In
in front of the. Numbers 4 and 5 are similar instances. the other three instances it refers to a piece of real estate - farmland or build-
In no. 7 we find an active intransitive structure, and yet it has a passive ings - which are solid, institutional things - "organise" again.
meaning, because it is the songster that is going to be managed. Chomsky drew In most of the others the referent of it can be seen as a proposition; in no. 1,
attention to this meaning in a famous contrast between "John is eager to for example, it is "they meet", in no. 2 it is "manage sex", in no. 3 it is
please" and "John is easy to please" (Syntactic Structures 1957). In the first, "walking briskly for half-an-hour a day", in no. 4 it is "reform labour", in
John is eager to please someone else, and in the second, someone or something no. 5 it is "the Government controls the budget". Numbers 2 and 8 show
pleases John with ease. euphemism in the phrases manage sex and have sex, where "sex" means sexual
In no. 16 there is an extension of meaning B into the area of personal intercourse.
emotions and problems. The verb is transitive, so the "organise" meaning is
dominant, but because the object expresses something very personal, such as 10. Meaning ('. und the intransitive use of manage, appear to be co-ordinated
stress, opinions or grief, the idea of coping is not far below the surface. I have with a choice o! the modal verbs sam, could. Out of eight instances of this

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Reading Concordances Closely related meanings

pattern, five have the modal, and it occurs only twice elsewhere, in nos. 17 be considered II great achievement, there is a touch of irony in this instance. In
and 20. no. 7, a further kind of object is found, in this case an educational target, and
it seems that almost any noun can be the object of manage: it is a productive
11. structure and the reader/listener has to interpret the meaning, usually by ima-
gining an appropriate verb, such as "eating" an olive or "spelling" three-letter
No. Type Structure Wording Notes words.
We first encountered Meaning A where manage was followed by structure
1 Bl transitive hotels institutional introduced by a "to" infinitive, expressing an accomplishment. Numbers 2 4 -
2 C intransitive 32 are uncomplicated instances of this pattern. Then we found that the object it
3 A transitive a top 20 placing object = a rating frequently referred back to such an expression, and Meaning A was appropri-
4 A transitive an olive see comments below
ate. In these further examples it seems that although the grammatical object is
5 Bl transitive woodlands institutional
a noun group, it is interpreted as an accomplishment. So manage eighth place
6 A transitive eighth place object = a rating (compare 3)
7 A transitive three-letter words see comments below
is interpreted as "manage to achieve eighth place".
8 B2 transitive it crisis management Number 11 is very unusual; it refers to photographs of a nasty double
9 Bl transitive Leonard Cohen a pop star = a business murder, and the question of whether the murder could have been committed by
10 Bl transitive my budget institutional one person alone. So the closest meaning is again A, and the quasi-object a lot
11 A transitive a lot of bashing see comments below of bashing can be interpreted as kind of accomplishment.
12 Bl transitive . . . franchise system institutional In Meaning B, the distinction between Bl and B2 holds up but needs some
13 C intransitive further extension and explanation. The original distinction was that the object
14 B2 transitive the condition personal problem of a B2 pattern was some personal or individual problem; the sense of hand-
15 B2 transitive the transition see comments below ling a situation in continuity was common to both Bl and B2. Number 14 adds
16 Bl transitive the household domestic-institutional disease to the range of problems. But we also find B2 patterns in the institu-
17 B2 transitive the change see comments below
tional area, concerning the management of change, in nos. 15 and 17; so if you
18 Bl transitive the NHS institutional
19 B2
manage a company that is B1, keeping it working efficiently, and if you man-
transitive the post-cold war era see comments below
20 Bl transitive the catering institutional age it through a transition, you also manage the transition, which is B2.
21 Bl transitive their little household institutional B2 is also found in the handling of general political situations such as the
22 Bl transitive their own budgets institutional post-cold war era (no. 19).
23 B2 transitive them individual - see comments Number 23 is particularly tricky because it talks about managing school-
24 A to-infinitive children in the sense of getting them to choose scientific subjects. From one
25 A to-infinitive perspective it could be Bl, in that school administrators manage schoolchil-
26 A to-infinitive dren (but this we is very general and refers to society as a whole); if it is an
27 A to-infinitive instance of B2 it is close to the meaning of "manipulate".
28 A to-infinitive
29 A to-infinitive
30 A to-infinitive 12. Totals:
31 A to-infinitive
32 A to-infinitive Meaning A: 28
Meaning B: 27 of which Bl: 18, B2: 9 (approximately)
Meaning C: 9
Comments
No key for dictionary enquiries.
There are several instances of Meaning A with an object, and we will have
to recognise a greater variety of objects than before. Numbers 3 and 6 intro-
duce as object a rating in a competition. The meaning is of accomplishing
with effort, overcoming problems, and so is an A. Such objects are fairly
distinct from the B-type objects. In no. 4 the meaning is again principally A,
but since the activity referred to is eating an olive, which would not normally

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Task 16
One and one is not exactly two

There are in English a large number of phrases which occur in fairly regular
patterns. In the case of each phrase there is a considerable amount of variation
but enough similarity for the phrases to be seen as instances of the same
meaning. We tend to call them idioms if there is something unusual about the
meaning - for example if the meaning cannot be worked out from the normal
meanings of the individual words. But the meaning is not necessarily remark-
able - quite often a regular pattern can be observed where all the words have
approximately their normal meanings. This exercise concerns an example of a
regular phrase, and after studying its form and range we shall return to think
about the reason why it occurs in such a regular form, and if there is anything
special about the meaning.

1. Study the concordance for true feelings held in the datafile

16_truefeelingsl.doc. Look first at the word immediately to the left and list
the words that occur at least twice in that position in order of their frequency.

2. What is the commonest word class? What is the commonest word that is
not a member of that word class? Look at the cotext to the right of each of the
instances of this word, and suggest how these instances can be related to the
commonest word class.

3. Now look at the next word to the left of the "possession" marker. Organise
the words there into word-classes, and note any repeated items. What kind of
meaning do you associate with the words in the commonest word-class?

4. Of the verbs to do with expressing things, you may detect contrasting

meanings. Attempt a classification of these verbs, and then compose a gener-
alisation that covers around two-thirds of them.

5. Look to the left of the verbs in the "reveal" class. Are you aware of any
recurrent strand of meaning among at least some of them? At this distance
from the invariable part of the phrase it is unlikely that you will find many
words repeated exactly, but the similarity in meaning should come through.
Unfortunately in some instances the evidence is too far away from the centre
of the phrase that it lies beyond the quoted line; however, there is often at least
a clue at the beginning or end of the line, so make guesses where there is no
hard evidence.

6. Make a summary of the structure and meaning of the unit of meaning that
has as its core true feelings.

Page 141
Reading Concordances One and one is not exactly two

7. When you are fairly sure that you have captured the meaningful patterns of DataflU 16 trucfoelings1.doc
your first set of examples, go to 16_truefeelings2.doc and check how far your
description is adequate for this new set of instances. See if you can add to the 1 more accustomed to denying our true feelings , avoiding reflection and self-
word-classes and means of expression, and perhaps note some new variations. 2 We try to communicate our true feelings to those around us, and are told
3 the ability to express our true feelings and creativity because we are
(You probably noticed that the first datafile was just a portion of a concordance,
4 we appease others, deny our true feelings , and conform. I suspected the
taken from the middle. This second datafile is the rest of the concordance, 5 more of us in there, of our true feelings , rather than just ranting on about
the portions before and after the first set. Together they make up a sample of 6 Cancerian lover to reveal true feelings so trust and love can blossom. You
84 instances.) 7 abandonment. For to have one's true feelings , perceptions, and thoughts negated
8 Arab summit representing the true feelings of all Arabs, some of whom had
9 account of history and the true feelings of people. Q: How would you propose
10 shows no regard for the true feelings and their needs. The blatant
11 Your month ahead: The true feelings and emotions of your partner will
12 why?" you may prompt the true feelings behind the anger to come out and
13 up and soothing down the true feelings , hopes and demands of an oppressed
14 not the faintest idea of the true feelings of Julia Somerville, the
15 my patients discover their true feelings about the different therapies
16 Then they pour out their true feelings . After emergency surgery to remove
17 from expressing their true feelings on many aspects of life. Mr
18 people from expressing their true feelings . 370 BAND THREE DUR: 12 sees. Senior
19 for them to express their true feelings , and this can come between them
20 will need to communicate their true feelings to their teams in an environment
21 politicians to tell you their true feelings about their fellow politicians and
true feelings . Were they disappointed to have
22 but abruptness betrayed their
true feelings in adolescent petulance? I
23 seething, hiding their
true feelings and noticeably less polite than
24 less open about showing their
true feelings about topics they know intimately,
25 have little regard for their
true feelings behind barbed witticisms at each
26 the lovers who conceal their
true feelings . I think one day I too will have
27 but have now followed their
true feelings . Why hold back and miss out on so
28 it comes to revealing their true feelings . And oddly enough, to write
29 form about their - their true feelings So when - generally speaking, if
30 they'll disguise their true feelings . They don't want to bore
31 guilty about expressing their true feelings . Taste it and see.
32 cakes magically flavoured with true feelings behind a mask of aloofness this
33 you'll be inclined to hide you true feelings on the matter emerge quite clearly,
34 you may find that your true feelings I shall hear you say, "I love
35 When you finally admit to your

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 Reading Concordances

D a t a b l e 16_truefeelings2.doc Task 16
1 Confused as to the Allies' true feelings , Haig commented that 'the
2 touch with their own needs and true feelings full stop, being so anxious to
. And not just as a man, but even
Key
3 incapable of experiencing true feelings
4 moment ago to share his or her true feelings with a team. Courageous sharing
5 and loneliness to mask her true feelings . As the day passed she
6 her formal policy and her true feelings . It is Mrs Thatcher's negative
1. their 17
7 to befriend Alison but her true feelings for her were poured out in a hate-
8 for O'Shaughnessy and her true feelings of suppressed jealousy were the 7
9 the Princess of Wales show her true feelings . The thousands standing our 5
10 He may not want to admit his true feelings of ambivalence because he wants to your 2
11 the growing red stain, had his true feelings broken free from his dying heart
12 face for signs of his true feelings . Did he mean it? Could he really be
13 perhaps giving vent to his true feelings about the massacre, General 2. The commonest word class is the possessive adjective. In total there are 24
14 and the other person as to his true feelings in the relationship, usually due instances of these words, and the single instance of you seems to be a printing
15 in his efforts to conceal his true feelings . "I'm not ill," she said. "I'm error for your. Also in the class is one's, making a grand total of 26 out of
16 Chaucer, is to disguise his true feelings : 'And softe sighed, lest men
35 instances.
17 If they were his true feelings . Perhaps he was suffering from a
? If they were his true The commonest word that is not in the class is the. If we look at the words
18 giving an inkling of his true feelings
19 and happy hero reveals his true feelings for his friend Willie Polhaven to the right of the true feelings, we see that in three of the instances the next
20 charmer will never reveal his true feelings ; he has to appear hard, macho and word is of; two more examples have of present but a few words away. One
21 I know others were making his true feelings perfectly clear. In the end I've more case - no. 10 - may well be a misprint for their. So nearly all of these
22 to his audience and hiding his true feelings behind careful constructions. Even
for Alison, but admitted keeping
examples show a structure which is usually regarded as a phrasal alternative
23 said Taylor was aware of his true feelings
about Gower, claimed that under to the possessive adjective; this is the definite article before the noun and an
24 of his way to make public his true feelings
25 only sounding boards for his true feelings
are likely to be close female o/-phrase after it.
under wraps, he also manages to This adds up to "possession" being a meaning associated with the phrase in
26 a man who resolutely kept his true feelings
about my body, another struggle to
27 Now I had to confront my true feelings all except two of its occurrences. One of these, line 6, seems to be written in
. I picked up the glass and took
28 because I had betrayed my true feelings note form, and one of the conventions of note form is that a demonstrative
had to be buried, the curtain rung
29 the people who mattered. My true feelings
and told them things that were such as the possessive can be omitted. So line 6 is not very different from the
30 so careful about expressing my true feelings
maybe because having a others; the possessive is simply not made explicit.
31 myself to acknowledge my true feelings
. Can we win? Yes, but we The only remaining line, line 32, shows the phrase being used in a reverse
32 when I'm able to reveal my true feelings
. Ford: But the courts failure to
33 prevents me from expressing my true feelings
for him, and during that time I
metaphorical sense - as if true feelings were a kind of sugary ingredient in a
34 two years to experience my true feelings baking mix; that is unusual and idiosyncratic.
, and we can be thankful when
35 communication, and exchange of true feelings
. Then you can go on to make sure It is safe to conclude from this the following.
36 you do share your true feelings with him. As a result, it now
37 have been unable to share your true feelings , and stop pretending you're happy
38 be time for you to show your true feelings at the moment - take heed of them, (a) In all normal circumstances the meaning "possession" is realised in the
39 dreams can help indicate your true feelings during childhood and became self- close vicinity of the phrase in question.
40 you were forced to hide your true feelings means you put out stress hormones
41 you cannot communicate your true feelings
(b) The commonest way in which it is realised is by a possessive adjective
until later, when you're on your
42 not be keenly aware of your true feelings immediately in front of the phrase. Of these, the commonest collocate is
early in August, but later on all
43 Love. It's hard to express your true feelings , nobody every wins. By Lesley their and the least common is our.
44 you play games to hide your true feelings . THE SILVA 'GLASS OF (c) The other way in which "possession" is realised is by the definite article in
45 problems or insights into your true feelings . And things will improve immensely front of the phrase and an o/-phrase following.
46 close wants to know your true feelings . You now have benevolent Jupiter
47 it much easier to express your true feelings . Take a good look at your money
48 response when you express your true feelings ? I think not. Worst of all, Both of these ways of creating meaning are grammatical, so this pattern can be
49 less rude than explaining your true feelings called a COLLIGATION. Whereas collocation is the co-occurrence of particular
words, colligation is the co-occurrence of a grammatical class (such as pos-
sessive adjective) or pattern with a word, phrase or another set of grammatical
choices.

144
Reading Concordances One and one is not exactly two

3. Most of the words are verbs. Repeated verbs are: The phrase with true feelings is usually the object of a verb to do with expres-
sion; while some of these verbs refer positively to expression, even to ease of
express(ing) 5 expression, others highlight reluctance or difficulty of expression.
communicate 2
deny(ing) 2 5. The verbs reveal, prompt and discover suggest that in this phrase expres-
reveal(ing) 2 sion is not seen as a straightforward matter. Looking carefully at the verbs of
hide (hiding) 2 "positive" expression, we discover that in almost every case there is a signal of
reluctance or difficulty in the expression, though some of the lines quoted are
Note that the instance of reveal is in no. 6, where there is no possessive. too short to make this clear. In the table below where I have quoted from
Several of the verbs that occur once only have a similar meaning: prompt- beyond what it is possible to include in the concordance line, I have put the
discover, betrayed, conceal, followed, disguise, showing, representing and quote in square brackets. Apologies to the conscientious student - but there are
admit to. There is also pour out, tell and find t h a t . . . emerge. clues like from in nos. 17 and 18.
These are mainly words to do with expression, and they show that the
choice of true feelings is part of a larger choice. Although true has a similar
meaning to "genuine" and feelings is similar to "emotions", when they come No. Verb Reluctance Notes
together they tend to form the object of a verb of expression. So it sounds
unnatural to make up a sentence like "Fred has true feelings for Mary." 2 communicate try to
or "The true feelings of the people were for revenge, so they stormed the 3 express ability to
jail." 6 reveal [patience can help a timid] phrase is to the left of the line
Where the structure of a phrase, as here, shows repeated choices of words 12 prompt come out phrase occurs on the right-hand side
with similar meaning (though not necessarily the same words) we call this a 15 discover [trying to help] phrase is to the left of the line
SEMANTIC PREFERENCE. In this instance the preference is for words of expres- 16 pour out see note see note
17 expressing [prevented] from part lost to the left of the line
sion. Here they are also all verbs, which is not necessary in semantic prefer-
18 expressing [stopping people] from part lost to the left of the line
ence but is in fact an instance of colligation; we can also expect to find some
19 express [difficult] for them part lost to the left of the line
instances where the meaning is realised in a noun or an adjective. There is also
20 communicate need to
evidence of collocation in that, as we saw above, several verbs are repeated 21 tell [the task of persuading] phrase is to the left of the line
and the verb "express" itself occurs four times. 24 showing less open
Semantic preference is one step more abstract than colligation, which in turn 28 revealing hold back phrase occurs on the right-hand side
is more abstract then collocation. Collocation deals with the actual words, [difficult when] phrase is to the left of the line
sometimes LEMMATISED like "express" - which includes expressing as well as 31 expressing guilty
express. Colligation groups words and phrases together on grammatical grounds, 34 emerge may find .. . quite clearly phrasing occurs on both sides of the node
and semantic preference groups them together on semantic grounds.

4. Note on no. 16: the clue is the first word in the line - then. By implication,
something occurred which allowed the expression to flow. The passage around
"reveal" "conceal" this line is obscure and not a little bizarre, linking surgery with psychological
states - after an operation to remove a blocked intestine the patient finds a
communicate deny
psychological correlate of the unblocking, and is able to talk about his or her
reveal betrayed
emotional problems.
prompt hide
discover conceal
express admit to Conclusion
showing disguise
tell
At this point we can say that all the phrases including verbs of expression
pour out
include an element of reluctance or difficulty. This is called a SEMANTIC
emerge
PROSODY, because although it is not always obvious it indicates why the phrase

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Reading Concordances One and one is not exactly two

with true feelings has been chosen. From this we deduce thai Knglish speakers A word or phrase meaning the expression of one's true feelings, usually a
use the phrase with true feelings when they want to give the meaning of verb to the left of the possessive. This is a semantic preference.
reluctance to express deeply felt emotions. A word or phrase meaning reluctance or difficulty, usually placed to the left
In the case of the verbs which do not share the semantic preference of of the semantic preference; this is the semantic prosody. In several cases the
expression, we note that there is a parallel for the prosody of reluctance; the meaning of the verb puts together "expression" and "reluctance", e.g. in the
true feelings are blocked, ignored or otherwise regarded as of little value. verb conceal.

In no. 7, have is followed, on the right-hand side, by negated. 7. This account goes through §1-6 again with the new data, in §7.1-7.6.
In no. 8, the verb is representing, and the wider cotext includes claim and
other indications that the representation may not be reliable. 7.1. Repeated words immediately to the left of true feelings:
In no. 9, the verb is takes account of. In both 8 and 9 there is an implication
that people's true feelings are obscure and not necessarily what appears on his 17
the surface. your 14
In no. 10, for comes at the end of the phrase show no regard for. my 8
Number 13 has soothing down. her _6
Number 25 is like no. 10, where for completes the phrase have little regard 45
for.
In no. 27, the verb is followed and the clue is but at the beginning of the 7.2 The possessive adjective is the only repeated word class at this position.
line; the topic - recovered from the wider cotext - is sexual identity.
7.3 The commonest word-class is again verbs, and most of the verbs have a
The remaining lines do not contain a verb in front of the node true feelings. semantic preference for expression. Repeated verbs are:

• In no. 5, the word us should be highlighted, and stressed heavily when read express(ing) 5
out, because the following phrase is an explication of the word us. The reveal(s) 3
occurrence of more of indicates some difficulty in bringing out die true hide (hiding) 3
feelings. share 2
• In no. 11, the right cotext continues with the verb revealed, implying that
your partner's true feelings are at present obscured. 7.4
• In no. 29, the word form at the beginning of the line is the end of the phrase
in disguised form, showing an adjective carrying the semantic preference "reveal" "conceal"
and prosody.
show mask
were admit
From this consideration of each line in the sample concordance, we conclude reveal conceal
that there is a semantic prosody of "reluctance" or something like it that applies make . . . clear disguise
in almost every instance; the point of using this expression is to create the express hide
meaning of reluctance to express true feelings. share kept... under wraps
show
indicate
6. The phrase that we have been studying, and that has the meaning and
communicate
function set out at the end of §5, consists of several elements: explaining
acknowledge
• An invariable CORE which consists of the two words true feelings.
• A colligation "possessive" which is realised by a possessive adjective modi-
fying the core in most instances, but in some is replaced by the definite 7.5 The table below goes through each line except those of the "conceal" class
article thg. followed by an of-phrase on the other side of the core. and presents evidence for the semantic prosody of reluctance/difficulty.

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Reading Concordances One and one is not exactly two

7.6 The investigation of the second concordance shows that the "snapshot" of
No. Verb, etc. Reluctance, etc. Notes
the first concordance was accurate and reliable. No new categories of meaning
1 confused confused another variety of possessive have been uncovered, and the only contribution of another 49 instances is to
2 [lose] touch lose touch just beyond the citation add a few more verbs to the class of "expressing" verbs, and some more ways
3 experiencing incapable of expressing the prosody of reluctance or difficulty.
4 share [struggling] a small clue in courageous We can therefore set out with some confidence a description of a lexical
6 [conflict between] conflict formal policy = outward show item in English as follows:
7 poured out [pretended] to the clues in
befriend . . . b u t . . . befriend . . . b u t . . . hate
hate-[filled diary] are fairly strong Semantics Grammar Core
8 [revealed] suppressed
9 show [make] just beyond the citation PROSODY reluctance
11 had . . . broken free had . . . broken free a formal variant of an "if "-clause
12 signs Did he mean it? PREFERENCE expression possession
13 giving vent to [not in quoted line] release of emotion after public
concealment COLLIGATION verb verb poss. adj.
14 as to [deceive]
17 were If... suffering . . . from a [mental illness] COLLOCATION hide his
18 giving an inkling [without] giving 1 reveal their true feelings
19 reveals concealed homosexual relationship express your
20 reveal will never
21 making . . . clear others his normally relates back to the
subject
23 was aware of but admitted less open about showing their true feelings
24 make public went out of his way effort and difficulty Examples
25 sounding boards female [friends] intimacy and secrecy you 'II be inclined to hide your true feelings
27 confront struggle conflict situation
30 expressing careful about
31 acknowledge [allowed myself to] [I don't think at this stage I . . . ] There is an implication of word order in the above diagram, reflecting the
32 reveal able to tendency of the elements of structure to occur in the sequence:
33 expressing prevents
34 experience [it took me two meeting his real father
PROSODY PREFERENCE COLLIGATION COLLOCATION CORE
years to . . . ] at age 16
35 exchange a crisis is the occasion for honesty
36 share [afraid] [ . . . might happen if you . .. ] This tendency has been noted in other lexical items - that the more abstract
37 share unable categories come in front of the more concrete ones, so that the invariable
38 show stop pretending physical realisation of the item very often comes at the end. Incidentally this
39 indicate dreams can help true feelings are subliminal demonstrates fairly graphically how the whole item is a single choice, how in
41 communicate you cannot most cases the word feelings has been "chosen" five or more words before it is
42 keenly aware not be . . . until later articulated.
43 express It's hard to The length of this item in words also shows the limitation of the concord-
45 insights problems ance format, because it takes up half or more of the line, mainly to the left.
46 wants [someone] close true feelings obviously hidden
This has meant that unless the evidence for the more abstract elements of
47 express much easier
structure is very close, the line is too short to contain it. Once the multi-word
48 express [a warm] response [confusions in your emotional
affairs are dispelled . .. ] lexical item becomes a familiar object of attention the concordances of the
49 explaining less rude wider cotext not available future will adapt to its requirements.

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TaskJ 7
Common words

The information that a corpus can give you about the usage of a word or phrase
is often just a confirmation of what a competent speaker of the language
already knows; the corpus adds a lot of useful detail. But also quite often the
information is unexpected, and even goes against what authoritative grammars
and dictionaries say about the word or phrase in question. Even then the gap
between our expectations and the picture given by the corpus can usually be
reduced or closed in a way that increases our understanding about the way
words work together.
When we are dealing with rather uncommon words, we are likely to learn
new things about them anyway; but when we are studying the common words
that are used thousands of times a day by everyone, then it is a strange experi-
ence to see those words as - in part - strangers. This task invites you to
reconsider the information that you have about a very common word in Eng-
lish - the word place.

Let us first ask five questions about this word.

A. What is the most common meaning of place!
B. When can place be missed out with very little damage to the meaning of
the sentence it is part of?
C. Can you compose a sentence where it refers directly to a geographical
location in the world?
D. Can you think of a usage of it which is rather dismissive?
E. When can it mean where someone lives?

There is no key to these questions - as we go along in the task they will be

answered.

1. Examine the datafile 17_placel.doc. This is a tiny but unbiased selection

made by the computer. Find the commonest word that occurs either just before
or just after place; put inflected forms of a word together on this occasion.

2. Does this collocation make a different meaning from place on its own?
Compare it with the other repeated meanings and work out if it is the common-
est in this concordance. Then attempt an answer to Question A.

3. Now look at the datafile 17_place2.doc. This is another concordance, but it

has been constructed in a number of steps. First of all, only occurrences of
place as a verb were chosen, and then a collocational profile was made. In
order of significance, the noun cpllocations of place as a verb are:

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Reading Concordances Common words

order, emphasis, value, importance, bet, burden, strain, trust, pressure, bowl, First of all, rend through it carefully and note any instances where you feel
hand(s), restrictions, top, faith, blame, premium, sheet, limits the writer or speaker has a poor impression of the place in question, or refers to
it casually. Find any clues in the cotext, and summarise your findings in an
I wanted to isolate more abstract objects of place, so I rejected the collocates answer to Question D.
bowl, hands and sheet because these are to do with physical placement. Finally
I selected one instance of each of the remaining collocates to give a summary 6. We now turn to the last question, concerning the use of place to mean
picture of the usage. This is 17_place2.doc. where someone lives. The datafile for this part of the task is 17_tomyplace.doc.
Go through each instance and consider whether it is possible to rephrase it, This concordance was made by retrieving all the instances of to my place and
omitting the word place without losing a lot of the meaning. There may be a selecting every sixth instance. This gave 25 instances, and two were removed;
need for adjustments to maintain grammatical accuracy; the noun object will one was a song title Come on Over to My Place, and although appropriate it
have to turn into a verb and if place is modified by an adjective then the was one of a list and so the cotext was irrelevant; the other was an instance of
adjective will have to change into an adverb. After doing this, attempt an place meaning one's position in a sports team.
answer to Question B. First check that in these instances place means where the speaker or writer
lives or works. Do you think that my is essential to this meaning? Do you think
4. We now turn to issues involved in Question C. In answering Question A that to is essential? If these are optional what alternatives can you think of?
many people would assume that this meaning of locational reference was the You might get a clue from 17_placel.doc.
commonest, so instances should be easy to find. There are some uses of place
that do not have locational reference at all, like take place. If we remove these, 7. Now look further to the left of to and note any repeated words and phrases
the others should fulfil the conditions of "referring directly to a geographical in the concordance. Summarise these findings and the others in an answer to
location". To make the job easier still, all the non-locational instances have Question E.
been removed from the datafile 17_place3.doc. The concordance began as fifty
lines chosen without bias by the computer from all the instances in a large 8. Review your findings about place. Of the information you have gathered,
corpus, and reduced to 21 by deletion of verb uses, the phrase take place, the consider
result of a competition, e.g. second place, and phrases such as in place and
out of place. In addresses and place names Place certainly fulfils the condition (a) how much you were already quite clearly aware of
of Question C, but instances were also removed because the operation of proper (b) how much you recognise as correct although you might not have been able
names requires special statements, which are hardly necessary in this study. to recall it
Look carefully at each instance in the concordance, and consider where the (c) how much is new information that fits in with your idea about the word
referent for place is to be found. If it is to be found in the world - directly and (d) any unexpectedly new information.
not via another word or phrase in the text - then it fulfils the conditions of
Question C; if it refers first to another word coming before or after it, then it is Remember that this task has picked out just a few strands of the meaning and
a word whose meaning is defined in the text and not in the world. This is a use of place in English. It has ignored the frequent use of the word in connection
vital distinction, and there are many words in a language which are nearly with position or ranking in competitions and lists, and many common phrases.
always text-defined. If someone says Globalisation is the big issue of our time,
then you understand issue by referring it to globalisation, and not by looking
around in the world for issues.
How many of these instances show place referring directly to the world, like
"orange" or "apple"? (Occasionally a text referent is too far away to appear in
the line, but there is usually a clue - just guess.)
How would you answer Question C?

5. When can place be used dismissively, asks Question D, and for the answer
to that we can consult the datafile 17_theplace.doc. This concordance is a very
small, unbiased selection of place used with only the definite article. It is not as
tidily displayed as the others because some extra cotext has been included in
several of the instances.

Pag* 155
 Reading Concordances Common words

Datafile 17 place1.doc Datafile 17 place3.doo

1 we all need to feel we have a place in society. Most of us get that 1 A few years ago I stood at just such a place , panting and gasping in the thin air.
2 Telfer believes that there is still a place for a little winding-up of the 2 his household sailed to a landfall at a place called Blacksark, an ice mountain.
3 I'll take you to a place I know. Beautiful stuff. Wear one 3 and he not only provided me with a place to stay, but kept me employed with
4 ring about it, that of a far-away place that nobody can spell, that nobody 4 documentary on the building itself. In a place like this, you're never short of
5 these genes together in the first place , but if it is too common, the 5 For the region to remain an attractive place to live and work and for industrial
6 city of Aries became the first place to experience power cuts. One 6 s that then? do you know the car place ? Mm. Yeah. It's up
7 system for jumping quickly from one place to another on a moon rather than 7 was a dingy, threatening and dangerous place . The merchandise mainly consisted of
8 An inquest may not be the perfect place to decide whether someone should be 8 right,' Julie said. This is a gathering place for the neighbourhood crowd. They come
9 his girlfriend Jessica Pagent's place is his second home. His is a close, 9 Southampton has not been a good place for us in recent seasons and we know
10 In a long analysis of France's place in Europe, he said the 'Franco- 10 Ramos was rejected. Very Ice Place to get married A FITNESS
11 believed the world would be a safer place if the Soviet Union too possessed 11 It was not, she said, the 'ideal' place for a man who wished to hide his
12 what hour the ceasefire should take place . They couldn't find for six hours 12 their careers in Europe, NOT the one place that matters most... America. So why
13 McKee. The show will take place at Belfast city centre's Boucher 13 on the meaning and value of that place . The selections that follow offer
14 we hope that if any crime has taken place that those responsible for it will 14 ) regain its 1970s reputation as 'the place to be'. Now if BT could decide how to
15 accommodation has obviously taken place . (9) Authority flows from such a 15 and the sanctuary is built at the place where it is killed. Or a domestic
16 exhibitions and demonstrations taking place at over 20 venues around the City 16 inch through the narrow passage. Not the place to suffer from claustrophobia, I
17 football championships are taking place in Lagos, with twenty-one teams 17 said. The cops will be all over this place in a few minutes. That should slow
18 is like a virus. It's all over the place . Rampant corruption. Everybody's 18 only in Danzig. In other words, this place has even a kind of apocalyptic
19 so, yes. The one your contact in the Place of Power mentioned might be coming 19 of safety and plenty. We offer this place to you." Apparently it worked. Old-
20 and palmists to the ghat, the place of cremation at the water's edge, 20 in 1821 varied greatly from place to place ; one lot of islanders who proved
21 dotted unobtrusively about the place and reporting back to control." As
22 like to be fighting Hearts for third place in Scottish football but it is too
23 to pay thousands of dollars to place their ads on such prime locations Datafile 17_theplace.doc
24 military two and the moneyed six took place in Kuwait last month, to no avail,
25 Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 took place in an atmosphere of general public 1 The place was run like a prison camp. From the moment we arrived, this little
man made our life a misery.
2 Definitely the flat, but I am so rarely there ... Every time I walk through the
door, it is like seeing the place for the first time.
3 The people who run the place are pitching for local trade with the promise of
Park Road ambience making its way northside.
Datafile 17_place2.doc 4 on strict condition you do not mention the place for fear hordes of Australian
tourists will descend, spoiling it.
1 spot price. Alternatively, you can place an order for later delivery; in 5 I'd sold myself cheap and I knew it. Teddy was never really big on selling the
2 recruiters of graduates continue to place emphasis on spring recruitment, place, you know. He just didn't want the responsibility.
3 The report also calls for society to place less value on slimness. This 6 players know he will show them no favours while he is sorting the place out.
4 down at our end." Never again will I place a bet on a Group match. No wonder Success? It's not just this season that Aberdeen have been underachieving.
5 both singles and doubles would place a heavy burden on one player, and 7 My God have you seen the place? ... It's pretty grim isn't it.
6 great power. Such limitations can place a strain on the strongest of 8 A. my mum's sister kept saying you know Well you are going to move here like
7 a foreign land. Of course he should place more trust in his captain, eventually erm so you might as well just leave.
8 the real estate market which would place further pressure on banks and would B. Mm.
9 lives. To value something means to place importance on it. Of course, A. you know I mean like Julie here to get you know so they get used to the
10 is expected to urge them to place restrictions on the sale of alcohol place
11 In the old church people do not place their hearts and faith in God, but
B. Mm.
12 in this case, the premium that women place on economic and material resources,
9 I had seen one or two women about the place. It was an insupportable situation
13 Japan, and the government managed to place the blame on Roosevelt, who had
and Felicity was a fool to go on enduring it.
14 votes, the administration agreed to place limits on mandatory spending
10 Neighbours Celebrate As Child Molester Is Butchered At Home; Revenge Mob
Kill Perv. Local councillor John Wilson read them all with a sense of outrage. "I
lived there for 23 years and I didn't recognise the place".
11 Everyone laughed at us when the motormouth manager, John Sitton, sacked the
captain half-way through a match and challenged the whole team to a fight in
front of the TV cameras. Barry Hearn bought the club, tidied up the place...
12 Well, the place seems pretty normal... Lots of dykes of all ages colours and
descriptions, but so far no weirdos.

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 Reading Concordances

Datafile 17_tomyplace.doc Task 17

1 Sparky,' said Sillett. 'He came to my place and did some work on my house,
2
3
each way to get from my home
in the past when he'd commute
to
to
my place
my place
of business at Milton. If the
and just sit by my shoulder and
Key
4 I'd feel better if we went to my place .' 'Colma?' She nodded. 'If
5 she said. You could go down to my place in the Cities." I'm staying. But
6 noticed. 'No, I'm going on back to my place . But could you maybe just tuck it 1. The commonest word is take and its inflections, to the left of place: there
7 it felt natural. I walked back to my place and knelt down for the first time are eight instances.
8 asked if she could come back to my place . She got her overnight bag and we
9 What was I to do? I took her to my place and left her asleep in my spare
10 to invite him (and my friend) to my place for drinks." THE VERDICT: 'I liked 2. To take place means to occur; it is a typical example of an IDIOM because
11 if it took two hours to get to my place . So we could go back and get the usual meanings of take and place are quite different, and the meaning
12 the television, then returned to my place beside Sylvie. She snuggled close "occur" cannot be worked out from them. Also the idiom does not allow
13 airplane. Jim brought him up to my place and said, you know, 'Here's my another word in between take and place, and although take can be inflected,
14 rings and bring everything over to my place to cook. Come over when you've got
to my place , make love and it's awful. He's a
place is invariable, and there is no phrase take places.
15 further. Then we go back
16 for me, she would come to my place for the poems. Today, after I'd got Of the other meanings and uses of place in this concordance, only one
17 is begin to make my way back to my place . It's quite a walk from here. I'll occurs more than twice, in my analysis. In nos. 6, 8 and 11 place is modified
18 and followed me downstairs to my place . The first thing I did was make - in no. 6 by the ordinal numeral first, and in the others by an adjective, perfect
19 I think so Come up to my place and let me show you my homunculi."
and safer. The structure is roughly:
20 smoke is gone, l e t ' s go to my place because I'll be happy,' he had
21 drink? Or shall we just go back to my place ?" I should have been outraged, but
to my place tomorrow and you can show me the PLACE-NAME BE ARTICLE ADJECTIVE place . . .
22 Why don't you come round
23 and Muslim girls). Fancy coming to my place , or fancy coming to see some of my
Other repeated meanings are:

• a social or political position relative to others: nos. 1 and 10

• a location which is deliberately kept vague: nos. 2 and 3
• a title or a definition in the phrase a place o f . . . : nos. 19 and 20.

Answer to Question A

Our conclusion has to be, on the basis of this evidence, that the commonest
meaning of place is in the idiom take place, which means roughly "occur". In
the largest collections of English the idiom accounts for more than one in
every six occurrences of the word place, and since this word combines in many
different ways to make a lot of meanings, it is unlikely that any of the other
meanings is more frequent than this one.
If you did not guess this, it is not surprising; our intuitions are trained to see
meanings as attached to single words, as in a dictionary (where you will find^
this meaning only as a minor usage under take or place). So when we are
thinking about the meaning of place we do not automatically think of combina-
tions of words.

3. Rephrasing of the lines in 17_place2.doc:

1. . . . you can order for later delivery

2. . . . continue to emphasise spring recruitment
3. . . . to value slimness less »

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Reading Concordances Common words

4. Never again will I bet on a Group match sound much more natural with the verb-object structure. In no. 9, the English
5. . . . would burden one player heavily .. . verb "import" used to mean "have importance", but it would not have fitted
6. . . . can strain the strongest... this cotext.
7. . . . he should trust his captain more This almost accidental feature of English thus allows the verb place to be
8. . . . which would pressure banks further... removed without a lot of damage to the creation of meaning. It is not the only
9. [not possible] example, because place is often used in a kind of support role. You may have
10. . . . urge them to restrict the sale of alcohol noticed that in 17_placcl.doc the instances of the structure:
11. [not possible]
12. [not possible] ADJ place
13. . . . managed to blame Roosevelt...
14. . . . agreed to limit mandatory spending . . . could be rephrased without place:

(?) An inquest may not be perfect to decide . . .

No. Noun object Change Notes the world would be safer if...
1 order order (verb) noun and verb are identical
I have queried the first instance because the following infinitive is almost
2 emphasis emphasise cognate verb
3 value value (verb)
ungrammatical in this combination - " . . . perfect for deciding'..." sounds
noun and verb are identical
4 bet bet (verb) noun and verb are identical much more natural.
5 burden burden (verb) noun and verb are identical
heavy —> heavily adjective —» adverb Answer to Question B
6 strain strain (verb) noun and verb are identical
7 trust trust more noun and verb are identical Where the word place has a support role it can often be omitted in a rephras-
adjective and adverb are identical ing, though the result may not always sound natural. English seems to prefer
8 pressure pressure (verb) noun and verb are identical transitive clauses to intransitive ones, and place is often used to "carry" a noun
further adjective and adverb are identical
object, even when the same word could stand as an intransitive verb. English
9 importance [none] no cognate verb in modern English
10 restrictions restrict cognate verb
also seems to prefer adjectives to be attached to nouns, and place is one of the
11 hearts and faith [none] no cognate verb common nouns that are used just to "carry" an adjective.
12 premium [none] no cognate verb
13 blame blame (verb) noun and verb are identical 4.
14 limits limit (verb) noun and verb are identical
No. Text referent Mechanism Notes

1 [in wider cotext] such a backward reference continues; see comment

Conclusion Blacksark a . . . called naming
2
3 a . . . to stay infinitive phrase identifies the kind of place
A large number of words in English can be used as either nouns or verbs, and the building itself a . . . like this this is direct reference to location of
4
in their uninflected forms are identical. In these cases the structure: utterance
5 the region a n . . . to live place carries adjective attractive
place ARTICLE NOUN PREPOSITION . . . 6 the car shared knowledge of a location
7 [supermarket] a... place carries adjectives dingy, etc.
can be rephrased as: 8 This This is direct reference to location of
utterance
VERB PREPOSITION . . . 9 Southampton a . . . for us . . . place carries adjective good, etc.
10 [the South Pole] ... to... heading of a news story
11 [a funeral] It backward reference continues
and place disappears from the sentence. In other cases the noun and verb may America the one . . . forward reference
12
not be identical but are COGNATE, in that they are obviously related historically 13 place that curious instance of writing about "place"
to each other. The meaning changes very little, though several of the sentences 14 [embassy] its . . . the . . . to see comment

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j
Reading Concordances Common words

possible. So in the following instance a place occurs on its own but clearly
No. Text referent Mechanism Notes
refers to apartments:
15 the .. . where where clause identifies the location
16 [passage] the infinitive phrase identifies the kind of place People mainly live in apartments, which are all very stylish and beautifully
17 this this is direct reference to location of equipped with German gadgets. Half the population rent a place and half
utterance own one.
18 Danzig... this this is direct reference to location of
utterance
19 this direct reference to location - see comment In any case these are uncommon events. Nevertheless it is clear that many
20 from... t o . . . phrase from place to place gives vague accomplished users of English are not aware that place rarely refers to a
location location; a textbook for teaching English contains the instruction:

) Think of three places near your school.

Cases for comment
There is no such thing as "a place" in this usage without further specification
• No. 1. The referent is a long way back in the cotext; it refers to a point of of what kind of place is meant; the sentence as it stands is ungrammatical.
decision in mountain climbing. To summarise, the simple answer to Question C is "No, not without support
• No. 14. There is a familiar phrase "the X to Y", which we interpret as "the for the meaning, because places have to be identified in texts and not in the
X you should Y" - corpus examples include, among hundreds, the place to world."
visit, the movie to see this week, the album to go for.
• No. 19. The previous cotext is:
5.
Picture, for instance, the potting shed and say temptingly, "We ask you to Pejorative/dismissive/casual
No. Evidence/clue
move to a place of safety and plenty...."
1 prison camp . . . misery pejorative
It could be argued that the reference of place in no. 19 is a backward 2 dismissive reference to the place where he lives
reference to the potting shed, but the likelihood is that the utterance is made 3 pitching for uncomplimentary reference to new shop
in a location in or near the potting shed, and so the instance is best inter- 4 hordes . . . spoiling prediction about decline
preted as a direct reference to a location in the outside world. 5 cheap distancing - neither party interested
6 no favours . . . sorting .. . pejorative
out. . . underachieving
Answer to Question C 7 My God . . . pretty grim pejorative
8 get used to casual, in very informal conversation
If the instances we have examined are typical of the way English is used - and 9 insupportable . . . fool dismissive - not a good place to be
we have no reason to suspect that they are not - then we conclude that place 10 . . . Mob Kill Perv . . . , etc. dismissive and distancing
is not used to refer directly to a location in the world. Let us review the 11 tidied up, etc. pejorative
evidence in the table above; there are five instances in which direct reference is 12 dykes . . . weirdos pejorative - normal is ironic
made to a location, and in all cases it is the immediate location of the utter-
ance. The referring word is this, not place. In the other fifteen instances - 75%
- the referent of place is to be found in the text, before or after, or there is no Although the range of meaning is quite considerable, all the instances show
clear referent at all, as in nos. 6 and 20. a negative SEMANTIC PROSODY. It can be merely a matter of distancing a
It is clear from these instances that place is one of the many important location from the speaker/writer, or casual as in no. 8, but it is always on
nouns in English which are rarely used alone. (For an account of them, see the negative side. There are occasional instances - not in the selection above
Sinclair et ai, 1990, page 19.) By "used alone" is meant occurring as the - where it refers affectionately to a location; fewer than 1% of instances
entire subject or object of a structure, with an article only if the noun is show place collocating with love, but there is often another element of mean-
countable and singular. There are no such instances of place in our con- ing around that suggests insincerity or some major qualification. Instances
cordance, and they are only likely to occur when a wider cotext makes them include: £«p

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Reading Concordances Common words

he quickly fell in love with the place with its leafy luncs and umari houses. . . . and followed One) are all semantically close to the two principal collocates,
But it was a while before he discovered the flip side of the pcucclul village. and invite rclcrs to another aspect of someone's home.
With this evidence we can postulate the existence of a LEXICAL ITEM as
I fell in love with the place despite its position. follows:

I always said I'd never move back to London but I love the place, I really (a) The CORE consists of a possessive adjective, principally my., followed by
do. the word form place.
(b) As well as this COLLIGATION within the core, there is another colligation
The words But, despite and really show the qualifications. with a preposition, of which the COLLOCATE to. is the typical realisation.
The answer to Question D is that when the place is used without any other The preposition comes just in front of the core.
modifier or qualifier, it is nearly always at least a little dismissive, and often (c) There is also an optional colligation with certain adverbs, COLLOCATES
quite a lot. back, round, over and home, positioned just in front of the preposition.
This sub-class of adverb overlaps significantly with locational prepositions.
6. In all the instances, place means where the speaker or writer lives. Although (d) There is a semantic PREFERENCE for movement, often realised by one of
my is likely to be very frequent here, any of the possessive adjectives (except the two commonest verbs of movement, "come" and "go", taking a posi-
its) will provide the necessary COLLIGATION. Also you may have noticed in tion to the left of the colligations.
no. 9 of 17_placel.doc the following: (e) The overall semantic PROSODY of this item is to give a little of the informal
warmth of someone's home, used mainly in invitations, and different from
his girlfriend Jessica Pagent's place is his second home. "home" in that it is less permanent and may physically be just the apart-
ment that a person is staying in for a time. The essence is the personal
This instance suggests that a noun group naming a person, with the possessive nature of the invitation.
marker Is attached to it, can also fulfil the requirements of colligation. This is
confirmed in the corpus in instances such as: 8. The response to this item has to be personal, because it depends on your
knowledge of English and of linguistics, and the kind of interest you take in
We ended up going to Mum and Dad's place. languages generally. I give my own response below, but since I have worked
on this word for some time my recollection may not be typical.
Turning to the preposition to, it is easy to show that several other prepositions The knowledge that take place is the commonest use of place is category
can occur there without disturbing the meaning of place. At. from and in are (b); I would not have retrieved this or guessed it, but when I see the evidence
quite frequent, though to is the commonest. The instance quoted above from it is no surprise; however, I have been noticing for many years that the most
17_placel.doc contributes to this query also, because in that instance place is frequent use of a word is in a phrasal combination, so I am almost expecting it.
the head of the noun group which is subject of the clause, and so there will be Dictionaries are clearly not expecting it; it usually occurs towards the end of an
no preposition. This is not common, but quite a normal structure. entry.
We can conclude from this that the CORE of the phrase meaning where The use of place in phrases such as place an order is category (c). I was
someone lives is: aware that place is a very common verb, and as such it can almost be predicted
to have a support role; but the systematic relationship between the verb-object
possessive place construction and the intransitive verb, where the object and the intransitive
verb are the same word or cognates, is an interesting feature of English, and I
and that another typical colligation is with a preposition, notably to. had not noted it in relation to place.
The information that place is not used to refer directly to locations in the
7. The adverbs back (6) and up (2) recur, and from a larger selection I can world was completely new to me, and I think it will be new for most lexico-
add over, down, home and round, which are single occurrences in this small graphers, grammarians and language teachers, because I cannot find any men-
concordance but quite frequent as collocates of to my place. So almost half of tion of it in reference works. Most dictionaries consider this "meaning" as the
the instances have this additional adverb. Also repeated are forms of the verb main one, although the corpus evidence is that it does not exist. This informa-
"come", which we can add to the verbs found at the next place to the left. The tion is category (d).
prominent verbs are forms of "come" and "go"; of the others, get, commute. The dismissive quality of the place is partly category (a) and part (b). Because
walked, took her, returned, brought (him), bring (everything), make my way of phrases like "all over the place" I was not surprised to meet this meaning,

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Reading Concordances

but I could not have recalled the detail; the apparent counterexamples like I fell Task 18
in love with the place are still to be explored.
I already knew that place could mean home (category (a)) and I could have
exemplified this with a sentence like "Come round to my place", without
Singular and plural
knowing which words were necessary and which just helped the atmosphere.
So the whole lexical item, and its role as an invitation, are in category (b) -
available to me, but not consciously. We are taught to think of grammatical choices like singular versus plural,
active versus passive, as delivering a piece of information that makes only
minor and consequential changes to the meaning of the words in their cotexts.
So we can expect the singular of a countable noun like "clock" to occur with
the article "a", whereas the plural "clocks" will not occur with "a" except in a
few well-known cases like "a few clocks".
Otherwise the patterns of usage of the two words are expected to be rather
similar. So we assume that there is in the vocabulary of English an item
that we call the noun "clock", which has two forms "clock" and "clocks"
(and maybe "clock's" and "clocks'" as well). The only difference in meaning
between the forms is that of grammatical number - that is implicit in the
idea of recognising two forms of the same word. In computational lin-
guistics there is a similar distinction made between an individual FORM and
a LEMMA; in lexicography a similar distinction is made between word-form
and HEADWORD.
Let us examine this assumption a little more closely, particularly the
assumption that the meaning does not radically change when the form does.

1. The datafile 18_dock_colls.doc contains fifty of the most important colloc-

ates of the word form "clock", selected from a large corpus by a statistical test
called T-SCORE. The datafile 18_clocks_colls.doc has the same information for
the plural "clocks". Compare the two and note which collocates they share.
Does this overlap support the idea that the two forms have the same range of
meanings?

2. Look at the remainder of the 18_clock_colls.doc file. Are these words

also likely to appear with clocks, or do you think they particularly go with
clock? Do the same for 18_clock_colls.doc with respect to clock.

3. Now repeat steps 1 and 2 using the collocation files for

(18_eye_colls.doc) and eyes (18_eyes_colls.doc).

4. Study the collocation file for eye a little more; can you suggest some idio-
matic phrases that would account for otherwise unusual collocations?

5. Can you think of an explanation of the relationship between eye and eyes
from a collocational perspective?

Page 1 Pag* 167

Datafile 18 clock colls.doc Task 18
0 eight night twelve against
at
morning
five
news
ticking
clock
11
minutes
wall
10
Key
the back afternoon till hour
nine seven about tower up
six on turn after when 1. There are nine words that appear in both collocation files:
round three time before 00
around alarm evening biological grandfather alarm back biological grandfather hour ticking time wall watch(es)
ten eleven until working shortly
four two one miles watch Central to the notion of a clock is time, and the main divisions of a clock are
the hours. An alarm clock is one of the commonest types, and in earlier times
the grandfather clock was popular. Older clocks could be heard ticking, and
Datafile 18_clocks_colls.doc
this is so closely associated with clocks that many of the modern electronic
and timepieces grandfather put tick ones have ticks although they do not need them. Many modern clocks hang on
watches our other go jewellery a wall. When clocks go fast, or when we change to a winter time, we turn the
time clocks all wall glass clocks back. The idea of a biological clock is fairly new but widely used. A
alarm forward set clock inner small version of a clock is called a watch, but we must not jump to conclusions
biological accurate midnight silver strike
here since watch is also a common verb for observing something, and quite
body reset ticking these lamps
atomic cuckoo antique were when often clocks are what are watched.
back furniture up stop exports All these collocates provide evidence to confirm that the meaning of clock
their hour including through barometers and clocks is very similar.
are internal your circadian mirrors

2. O'clock is the most significant collocation in the concordance of clock,

occurring in more than half the lines, and many of the collocations of clock
Datafile 18_eye_colls.doc: the most frequent collocates of eye
(but not clocks) are connected with o'clock: in fact its cotext shows that it is
a an bird black blind best seen as part of a different lexical item from clock. The written forms of all
blink cast catch catching caught the numbers from one to twelve, and the figures K) and H are all prominent,
close contact corner eagle eye and words to do with periods of the day, afternoon, evening, morning and
for her his keep keeping
night, are also attracted by o'clock, and, in relation to radio broadcasts, news.
kept left level look meets midnight
mind my naked on one None of these words are in the top fifty collocates of clock without o \
opener private public right s Among the collocations of clocks there are some other plural nouns -
see shadow sharp the turn barometers, lamps, mirrors, timepieces, watches - and some mass nouns whose
turned twinkle under view watchful meaning is a grouping of individual items - collection, furniture, glass, jewellery.
with witness witnesses your
There is also a small set of words that recall the practice in many societies of
putting clocks back an hour in the autumn and forward an hour in the spring:
Datafile 18_eyes_colls.doc: the most frequent collocates of eyes back, forward, reset, set, midnight.
There is thus little evidence that the singular and plural of the lemma "clock"
and before black blue bright have different meanings; most of their differences in collocation can be ascribed
brown close closed dark ears to the difference between singular and plural, and the separate lexical item
eyes face fixed green grey whose CORE is o'clock.
hair he head her him
his into light lips look
looked me met mouth my nose
3. Collocational analysis of eye and eyes.
open opened our pale rolled
s saw see she shut A. There are nine word forms that appear in both files:
skin staring tears their through
were wide with your black close her his look my s see with *

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Reading Concordances Singular and plural

Related forms occur also: eyes has closed, he, him. looked, 111C. open, opened :re.) Certainly there are some words of sight and seeing, like blink, twinkle
and saw: while eye has opener, making the compound noun cye-opcucj;. and watchful, but most of these are specific types of seeing; only look is
Eye collocates with itself - that is to say, it occurs twice in a short space of general.
text. Eyes does the same, but the two forms do not collocate with each other.
Compare clocks, which collocates with both clocks and clock. 4. The absence of ordinary and expected collocates like colours and body
The other shared words - the preposition with and possessives her, his, my parts gives rise to a suspicion that the singular form is not typically used to
and Is - are so common that they are unlikely to distinguish meanings unless refer to the organ of sight. But if the collocates are combined, like bird and
there is a very clear separation, which does not appear to be the case here. The view, or turn and blind, we see the skeletons of some fairly fixed idiomatic
verbs "look" and "see" express what most people would take to be part of the phrases - here are the main ones that include words from the collocation list:
CORE meaning of eye, and close and "open" refer to the fact that the eyes can
be covered by the eyelids. • a bird's eye view
The remaining shared word, black, is interesting because although it colloc- • turn a blind eye
ates with both forms it has a very different lexical function; a black eye is an • in the blink of an eye (and some NEG blink an eye)
eye injured by a blow or an accident, and may not always be coloured black, • cast an eye over (variants: an adjective - cold, critical.... ; on instead of
while black eyes are more commonly eyes which are naturally coloured black. over)
Here black eye is a component of an idiomatic phrase, and black eyes is just a • catch my eye (variants: any possessive adjective, and the eye o f . . . phrases;
reasonably common collocation. POSS eye <was> caught)
• eye contact
B. We will examine first the collocations of eyes, ignoring the pronouns and • out of the corner of his eye (variants: from and any possessive adjective)
possessives. These can be roughly classified as "colours", "body parts" and • eagle-eye or eagle-eyed
"relevant verbs"; those shared with eyes are bracketed. • with an eye for (variants: has or got instead of with, an adjective modifying
eye)
colours, hues, etc. • keep an eye on; keep an eye out for
(black), blue, brown, green, grey; bright, dark, pale; wide • at eye level
• look him in the eye (variants: him can be any person or animal)
body parts • a look in her eye (any possessive adjective)
ears, face, hair, head, lips, mouth, nose, tears • meets his eye (variant: his can be any possessive adjective)
• the mind's eye (variant: the can be any possessive)
relevant verbs • with the naked eye (variant: to)
(close, closed, open, opened, see, saw), shut, staring • private eye
• in the public eye
The colours are all the normal eye colours, and the hues are also familiar • eye-shadow
collocates, and wide relates to the degree of opening of the eyes. • a sharp eye
The body parts are those in the vicinity of the eyes, except tears which • a twinkle in his eye (variant: any possessive adjective)
appear in the eyes. • under the watchful eye o f . . .
The verbs express the facts that eyes can be covered by eyelids, moved in • eye witness (witnesses)
different directions, and focus on one place for a long time. The expression of
the basic function of sight is shared with eye. If we ignore Midnight Eye because it is the name of a US musical ensemble,
In summary, the collocates of eyes are confirmed by the intuition as familiar we have shown at least the principal patterning of the collocates of eye. They
and relating to the meaning of the eye as the organ of sight. are largely unlike those of eyes because their meaning is much more complex
than a reference to an organ of sight; they concern monitoring, critical exam-
C. The picture with eye is rather different; perhaps the first thing to note is the ination and various points of view. Where eye refers to an organ of sight it is
absence of collocates like those we have just seen occurring with eyes. Words often modified by left or right and deals with injury or disease.
such as bird, cast, contact, corner, eagle, keep, meet, mind, naked, private.
public and witness have little to do with sight. (There is a rather rare word 5. Once the above facts are established by the collocations, it is clear that there
"cast" for a disease of the eyes, which has no effect on the patterns recorded is a lot more difference in meaning between eye. and eyes than just singular

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Reading Concordances

and plural. It is easy enough to understand why this might have happened; since
eyes normally occur in pairs then the singular form will not be much used, and Glossary of terms in corpus
so it is available for combining into figurative phrases like those above.
To a competent user of English, this fact is immediately confirmed by what
linguistics used in this book
we call intuition; whereas "blue eyes" is normal, there is something odd about
"blue eye". In a narrative or conversation no-one will misinterpret "I caught
his eye" as implying that he threw one of his eyes at me; "I caught his eyes" ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE
will not occur, although in the physical situation both of his eyes are likely to An adjective that comes in front of a noun which it modifies - contrast with
be involved. PREDICATIVE. [Task 12]
However, we seem to be able to use intuition to confirm corpus evidence,
but not always to predict it accurately. When we think of the pairs "clock, COGNATE
clocks" and "eye, eyes" we do not think of them as having a different semantic Where words from two word classes are clearly related to each other they are
relationship, but when the corpus evidence shows how different they are we called cognates; so the adjective nice and the adverb nicely are cognates, and
can immediately confirm this. The corpus has helped us to bring out latent the verb decide and the noun decision are cognates, the second one being
knowledge about the language. formed from the first. Sometimes cognates are identical, as in the many words
in English which in their uninflected forms are either nouns or verbs - run.
shout, drive, etc. [Task 17]

COLLIGATION
Colligation is similar to COLLOCATION in that they both concern the co-
occurrence of linguistic features in a text. Colligation is the occurrence of a
grammatical class or structural pattern with another one, or with a word or
phrase. "Negative", "possessive" and "modal" are the kinds of largely gram-
matical categories that figure in colligation. The term was first used by J. R.
Firth, and has been widened a little for corpus work. [Tasks 10, 16 and 17]

COLLOCATION
This is a general term for two or more words occurring near each other in a
text. It is used in several rather different ways by different writers on lexis;
some reserve it for collocations which are statistically significant, and use
the term CO-OCCURRENCE for the simple physical event; others require that
a collocation must map precisely onto a complete grammatical structure, like
a noun phrase. [Task 13]

CONCORDANCE
A concordance is an index to the places in a text where particular words and
phrases occur. In modern corpus linguistics, the normal format of presentation
is KWIC.

CO-OCCURRENCE
Any two or more words occurring in a text within a small SPAN is a co-
occurrence. This is the most basic term for lexical patterning - see also
COLLIGATION, COLLOCATION, CO-SELECTION.

CORE
The CORE is one of the obligatory elements of the structure of a lexical item,
and it consists of one or more words which are either invariable or subject to
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certain grammatical variations. Variation beyond the limits makes il impossible from which it is often considered to be derived by "extension". So the literal
for the lexical item to create its meaning or even to be recognised. The permitted meaning of "summit" is the top of a hill, but in modern journalism it more
variation - in some cases only - is (a) grammatical inflection, and (b) member- often means a meeting of important people. Metaphors of height are used in
ship of a specified grammatical class or a lexicalisation of this class. organisations to express importance, and the facts that climbing a mountain is
difficult, and few people do it, add to the figurative meaning.
"CORE MEANING" Idiomatic phrases usually have a FIGURATIVE meaning, and that has another
This term is taken from general discussions about vocabulary, and is quite feature to it, often considered as the defining feature of an IDIOM. The phrase is
different from the CORE of a lexical item. The CORE MEANING of a word is interpreted as a single unit whose meaning may seem unrelated, or only loosely
said to be an intuitive notion about what is its main literal meaning. So, related, to the words that make it up. So the phrase "turn a blind eye to"
for example, "eye" means the part of the body in the face that is used for something means to ignore it. Once the meaning is known (but not before) the
vision, and the eye of a storm, the centre of it, is considered a FIGURATIVE words can often be related to aspects of the meaning, and this process is
extension of the meaning. People sometimes also consider the core meaning sometimes used as an explanation of the relation between the literal and
to be the earliest recorded meaning in the historical development of the word, figurative types of meaning. But the example given arises out of a known
and expect that it will be the commonest meaning in texts. Neither of these historical event during the Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Lord Nelson,
impressions is consistently supported by evidence. who had lost an eye in previous warfare, put his telescope to his blind eye and
claimed he did not see a signal from his superior to withdraw. This is not
CO-SELECTION retrievable from the words that make up the phrase.
In English orthography, the letter g must be followed by u. All the other
letters, including u, are by comparison much less restricted; certainly there are FOCUSING
many combinations that do not occur or that occur very rarely, but there are This is a type of CO-SELECTION between an adjective and a noun, where the
so many combinations that do occur that the overall impression is that of adjective does not narrow the referential range of the noun (as "red" in "red
freedom. pencils" does) but combines with the noun so that they make a meaning together.
The basic notion of a word is that it is a "free form" - it can occur without At times the adjective will draw attention to an aspect of the meaning of the
any requirements on the cotext. No other word is required in its vicinity. noun, and at times it will indicate which of several possible meanings of the
Nevertheless we note many exceptions to this notion - for example, the verb noun are relevant in the cotext; in some cases a noun meaning is hardly
dote has to name the object of the doting. In most cases this is done by using possible without the adjective, and in others the adjective acts like a catalyst in
a prepositional phrase with on, occasionally over. chemical reactions, providing a supportive environment for a particular noun
The letters q and u are a co-selection, and so is dote on. despite the slight meaning to be indicated. See SELECTIVE. [Task 5]
variability of the latter, CO-SELECTION is a type of COLLOCATION.
Students of a language, and many users, are aware of the relatively fixed co- FORM
selections like dote on: but there can be a lot of variation among co-selected (also called "WORD FORM"). A sequence of characters chosen from letters of
words, as the verb incur demonstrates [Tasks 8 and 14]. the alphabet, the apostrophe and the hyphen, that occur between spaces and
other punctuation marks. Forms are the physical realisations of WORDS. This is
COTEXT the simplest item for the computer to search on, and still the commonest
The COTEXT of a word or phrase is the group of words that occur on either starting point for corpus investigation. See also LEMMA and HEADWORD.
side of it in a text. It can also be called the "verbal context" or the "verbal
environment". The number of words in the cotext is not fixed, because indi- HEADWORD
vidual words vary in the influence they exert on the cotext, the range and There are two quite different uses of this term, showing how rarely lexico-
direction of their influence. For practical purposes a fairly arbitrary figure is set graphers and grammarians get together.
of four or five words on either side; experience shows that this size of cotext
(called the SPAN) is sufficient for most descriptive purposes, and not so large (a) In a dictionary, the headwords are the words that begin entries; they are
that a great deal of extraneous material is also collected. [Task 15] usually printed a little bigger than the other words, and often stick out into
the margin to make the entry easy to find. By convention, the headword is
FIGURATIVE the uninflected form, so that the headword "steal" stands for the forms
The FIGURATIVE meaning of a word is one which concerns abstract ideas rather "steal", "steals", "stealing", "stole" and "stolen". See LEMMA for a very
than concrete physical ones, and it is used in contrast to the LITERAL meaning, similar notion.

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Glossary Glossary

(b) In a grammar, a headword is the main word in a noun group or phrase; and "He is unable to come." are very close in meaning; the first uses the choice
usually a noun, that comes after the articles, adjectives, etc., but before of negative (as against positive) and the modal can, while the second uses
qualifying clauses and phrases. So in "a savings account for all children", a word that contains a negative prefix and the meaning of ability; "He is
"account" is the headword. prevented from coming." is quite similar again.
When choices of ordinary words are found making the same meanings as
IDIOM grammatical choices, we call those choices lexicalised. Linguistic descriptions
Everyone knows, in a way, what IDIOMS are, but it is very difficult to define will not be complete unless the grammatical and lexical choices are related to
them. There is something quite specific and local about their meaning. The each other. [Task 11]
most popular definition of an idiom is that it is a phrase that has a meaning
that cannot be predicted from the individual meanings of the words that make LITERAL
it up. Idioms that are often quoted to illustrate this unique kind of meaning The literal meaning of a phrase is the one where each word is understood in its
are, for example, kick the bucket, red herring and it's raining cats and dogs. most characteristic sense, and there is no extra meaning that comes from
These mean, respectively, to die, an irrelevant diversion, and it's raining very putting the words next to each other. Literal meaning is often contrasted with
heavily. Although some of the words keep their normal meaning, e.g. raining, FIGURATIVE meaning, where the phrase is interpreted as a single unit whose
it is not possible to guess the meaning of the phrase as a whole. meaning may seem unrelated, or only loosely related, to the words that make it
This kind of definition is wholly inadequate, since after studying corpora we up. See also METAPHORICAL. [Tasks 4, 12, 15]
have no reason to believe that a word has "a" meaning that it keeps for itself,
METAPHORICAL
or even several meanings from which one is chosen in a cotext. The kind of
A metaphor is a word or phrase which is interpreted not in a direct or LITERAL
idioms instanced above are merely fairly prominent examples of the need for a
way, but with reference to a comparison. So if I say I have a mountain of
number of words to occur together to establish a meaning.
paperwork to get through, I am not suggesting that the paper is thousands of
Many idioms show restrictions on the normal choices of word order and
metres high and so solid that it can be climbed, but that to me sitting at my
inflection - see Task 17, especially Key §2.
desk it feels like a climber feels at the bottom of a mountain - that there is a lot
of strenuous work ahead. In this example we say that "mountain" is used
KWIC
metaphorically. Metaphorical meaning is similar to FIGURATIVE meaning, but a
"Key Word In Context" is the name of the best known organisation of a
little more specific. [Task 12]
computer-generated CONCORDANCE, and it has been around for over forty years.
The concordances in this book follow KWIC layout, in that the NODE word is NODE
placed in the centre of the citation and the whole set of citations is aligned by In a KWIC concordance, the instances are aligned centrally around the word
the first letter of the node word. that has been the subject of the query; this word is called the NODE word; it is
purely a device for helping the researcher and has no linguistic significance.
LEMMA, LEMMATISED Collocation is between two or more collocates, and it is arbitrary which the
LEMMA is the term in computational linguistics for a collection of word forms, researcher selects as node in any particular investigation.
normally inflections, which vary in form according to morphological rules If the query concerns a phrase, one word in the phrase is chosen as the node.
without (it is assumed) the meaning undergoing radical change. In lexico- See SPAN for the way positions are calculated. [Task 2]
graphy the lemma is called the HEADWORD, and in common usage, if we refer
to a "word" we usually mean the lemma and not the form. PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVE
In this book the distinction is carefully maintained, with word forms under- One which occurs as complement to a verb, and does not modify a noun.
lined and lemmas within quote marks. Task 18 examines the relationship Contrast with ATTRIBUTIVE.
between form and lemma.
PROSPECTION
LEXICALISED Sometimes as we are reading or listening to language we encounter words and
Meaningful choices can be made in different ways; when a grammar is separ- phrases that give us an idea of what lies ahead. The form of a question, for
ated from the rest of language patterning, we see a network of choices, usually example, tells us that an answer is solicited, but not only that - it tells us that
fairly simple and discrete, like number (singular and plural) and voice (active whatever is said next will be interpreted as some sort of reaction to the question.
and passive). But very much the same choices can be made without the gram- All possible responses are thus pre-classified, and the mechanism by which
matical apparatus, using the meanings of ordinary words. So "He cannot come." language does this is called PROSPECTION.

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 Glossary

There is a lexical aspect to prospection also. Sometime* u phrnsing sets up SIMILE

an expectation about what we are going to be told next. h>r example, it you A figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of one thing to another of a
read or hear that a country is "on the brink of" something, the words that will different category, usually introduced by as or like. {Collins English Diction-
come into mind to complete the phrase will almost certainly refer to unpleasant ary, 1998)
things like war or recession.
SINGLETON
REVERSAL A word form that occurs once only in a set that is derived from a concordance.
Sometimes the particular choice of words close to each other in a text produces The general name for such words in running text is hapax legomena.
a meaning that is not found in the individual meanings of the words chosen.
When this happens regularly to the same phrase, it is called an IDIOM, but SPAN
it often happens that a phrasing temporarily creates a meaning from the text The distance between two collocating words, measured in words, is called the
that is not inherent in the normal usage of the individual words. These are SPAN. If there are more than two the distance from the first to the last is the
unique meanings that will never be recorded in reference books. Corpus span. In the KWIC concordances that are presented in this book, the span is
study suggests that reversal - when the text makes the meaning - is a much measured from the NODE to the COLLOCATE.
more frequent event than is commonly supposed. See Task 6 Key §5, and Positions in a span may be identified by calling the node "N", and using "+"
Task 12. and "—" for right and left; so the formula N+3 refers to the position three words
to the right of the node word. If the node consists of more than one word, then
SELECTIVE N+1 is the first word to the right of the last word of the node.
In contrast to FOCUSING, this is the familiar relationship between an adjective
and the noun it modifies. In a referential view of meaning, the noun designates T-SCORE
a set of objects or events and the adjective designates a subset - so "water", The t-score is a statistical measure of the likelihood that two or more words
"cold water", "hot water". [Task 5] occur together by chance. It is a popular measure in corpus linguistics because
compared with other measures it gives prominence to the very common words.
SEMANTIC PREFERENCE To find out more about it, the paper by Stubbs (1995) is a good start. [Task 3]
Sometimes in the structure of a phrase there is a clear preference for words
of a particular meaning. The word class is not important, and any word with TOKENISATION
the appropriate meaning will do (though there are often collocational patterns The computer has problems with what is a word, and different corpora
within semantic preference). While the majority of the choices will show the follow different conventions. In The Bank of English, it regards the shortened
preference clearly, there may be a small number of marginal cases where the negative verbs like can't as two words, leaving nit as an English word,
preferred meaning has to be interpreted in a rather elastic fashion, and some and curious forms like ca and wo. Whatever decision is taken produces results
which appear to be exceptions. For this reason we do not use a word like that do not entirely match our intuitions; this is because for users of English
"restriction" instead of "preference". See Tasks 9 and 16. (and most languages) "word" is not a precisely defined notion. Humans do
not face problems every few seconds as to what is a word; educated people
SEMANTIC PROSODY have learned fairly consistent conventions for where to put word-spaces, and
A corpus enables us to see words grouping together to make special meanings they do not consider whether hyphens or apostrophes divide words or just
that relate not so much to their dictionary meanings as to the reasons why they morphemes.
were chosen together. This kind of meaning is called SEMANTIC PROSODY; it In grammar this causes occasional problems; the status of the possessive
has been recognised in part as connotation, pragmatic meaning and attitudinal ' " s " in English is very dubious; there are arguments for considering the so-
meaning, but it rarely appears in reference works that do not derive their called phrasal verbs like "look up" (meaning "consult") to be single words except
evidence from corpora. The notion of prosody is taken from phonology; a that other words can come between the verb and the particle - and so on.
prosody is a meaningful event that is not necessarily located in a particular unit Suddenly we are in a complex area; the computer has no linguistic intuition
of expression, but may spread over several. and so has to be told everything precisely; the decisions we take at this early
The recognition that semantic prosody is a constant feature of text is one of stage have far-reaching consequences and yet we do not want the computer's
the most important contributions of corpus work so far. Tasks 3, 14 and 16 "word" to be too abstract a concept. This difference between the human way of
show some of its operation, but it is present in most of the sections because it seeing language and the machine one has to be remembered throughout corpus
is central to the creation of meaning. study, because it can affect our interpretations of the results of queries. |Task 11 ]

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Glossary

WORD
This is a general word in the language, and it would he con!using to try to
allocate a precise definition to it. It covers the meanings of FORM, WORD FORM,
LEMMA and HEADWORD in this book.

WORD FORM
See FORM. A string of characters between spaces in a text. This is the simplest
item for the computer to search on, and contrasts with LEMMA, which is a
collection of systematically related word forms that are thought to share the
same meaning.

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