Data modelling in corpus linguistics: how low may we go?

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior
Marjolein H van VelzenPeter P de Deyn

Abstract

Corpus linguistics allows researchers to process millions of words. However, the more words we analyse, i.e., the more data we acquire, the more urgent the call for correct data interpretation becomes. In recent years, a number of studies saw the light attempting to profile some prolific authors' linguistic decline, linking this decline to pathological conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, in line with the nature of the (literary) work that was analysed, numbers alone do not suffice to 'tell the story'. The one and only objective of using statistical methods for the analysis of research data is to tell a story--what happened, when, and how. In the present study we describe a computerised but individualised approach to linguistic analysis--we propose a unifying approach, with firm grounds in Information Theory, that, independently from the specific parameter being investigated, guarantees to produce a robust model of the temporal dynamics of an author's linguistic richness over his or her lifetime. We applied this methodology to six renowned authors with an active writing life of four decades or more: Iris Murdoch, Gerard Reve, Hugo Claus, Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Harry Mulisch. The first three were diagn...Continue Reading

References

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Oct 8, 2005·Neurocase·C SemenzaM T Sgaramella
May 13, 2008·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Samrah AhmedJohn R Hodges
Apr 19, 2013·Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders·V Condret-SantiH Amieva

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Citations

Nov 7, 2015·Behavioural Brain Research·Carl W S PintzkaAsta K Håberg
Mar 25, 2014·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Peter Garrard, Brita Elvevåg
Aug 26, 2015·Best Practice & Research. Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism·Nigel P MonganIeuan A Hughes
Jul 6, 2020·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Natasha ClarkePeter Garrard

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