Corpus Linguistics and the Description of English - (Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language - Advanced) 2nd Edition (Paperback)

About the Book

An introduction to corpus linguistics for students of English language.

Book Synopsis

A lively hands-on introduction to the use of electronic corpora in the description and analysis of English - revised and updated. After introducing corpora and the rationale and basic methodology of corpus linguistics, the author presents a number of recent case studies providing new insights into vocabulary, collocations, phraseology, metaphor and metonymy, syntactic structures, male and female language, and language change. In a final chapter it is shown how the web and social media can be used as a source for linguistic investigations as well as including a section on creating your own corpus. Each chapter includes new study questions, exercises and updated suggestions for further reading.The second edition of this successful text provides an ideal introduction for university students of English at the intermediate level. Students planning papers, dissertations or theses will find the book a particularly valuable guide.

From the Back Cover

Praise for previous edition: "An excellent book for anyone wishing to become acquainted with corpus linguistics and its wide range of applications." Marlies Gabriele Prinzl, LINGUIST list "...offers informative and exciting step-by-step analyses that demonstrate how to use electronic corpora and what linguists can do with the results." Stacey Wizner, Qatar University, Corpora A lively hands-on introduction to the use of electronic corpora in the description and analysis of English - revised and updated Key features include: - New coverage on social media, DIY corpora and ethical concerns - New material on metonymy and pragmatics - Updated example investigations, corpus exercises and study questions - Examples of how to create your own corpus data - Information on new corpora with accompanying links The second edition of this successful text provides an ideal introduction for university students of English at the intermediate level. Students planning papers, dissertations or theses will find the book a particularly valuable guide. After introducing corpora and the rationale and basic methodology of corpus linguistics, the authors present a number of recent case studies providing new insights into vocabulary, collocations, phraseology, metaphor and metonymy, syntactic structures, male and female language, and language change. A final chapter shows how the web and social media can be used as a source for linguistic investigations and contains information on how to compile your own corpus. Each chapter includes study questions, exercises and updated suggestions for further reading.

Review Quotes

The updated edition of Corpus Linguistics and the Description of English makes an outstanding introductory book on corpus linguistics.--Xiaofei Lu, Pennsylvania State University "Journal of English Linguistics"

Two generations of corpus linguists teamed up for this edition, and the authors' profound expertise in research and teaching is clearly in evidence throughout, both in the concise discussion of key issues and the thoughtful methodology of exercises. Through its systematic structure, the book can easily and profitably be used as a week-by-week semester textbook or, alternatively, provides self-contained study units in specialist seminars that seek to integrate a corpus perspective.--Stefan Diemer, Trier University of Applied Sciences "ICAME, Volume 44, 2020"

Corpus Linguistics and the Description of English is a practical textbook that provides a vivid introduction to the field of corpus linguistics and the description of English... For anyone looking to do some hands-on investigations on language using existing corpora, this book can only be highly recommended. This textbook is a valuable addition to existing literature on corpus-linguistic methods of research and contributes greatly to making corpus linguistics more approachable to students.--Stephanie Ullmann "Corpus Pragmatics"

Corpus Linguistics and the Description of English is a most welcome addition to the existing range of textbooks in the field. It is a sensible practical introduction to an increasingly complex corpus-linguistic working environment and strikes the right balance between discussion of technical issues and the description of English.--Professor Christian Mair, Universität Freiburg

While it assumes a certain amount of background knowledge in grammar and linguistics, the textbook is accessible and sets a good pace for most readers who have an interest in learning how to use electronic corpora and in establishing what can be discovered through corpus research and analysis. Lindquist's book is organised clearly and uses interesting stepby-step examples to illustrate the benefits and limitations of corpus linguistics. Numerous tables and charts throughout the book make the author's examples meaningful and applicable. Each chapter includes study questions, online corpus exercises and suggestions for further reading. As a result of its hands-on approach and accessible prose, this book will be useful and enjoyable for students who are curious about language and intrigued by the capacity of corpora as a tool to investigate it. It offers informative and exciting step-by-step analyses that demonstrate how to use electronic corpora and what linguists can do with the results. The many graphs and charts not only explain the results of the searches conducted for this book, but also demonstrate to readers how to report the results of the studies they may conduct in future. Students will be excited to follow Lindquist as he describes how to investigate language using electronic corpora, and will be sufficiently well versed in the discussion of corpus data to analyse meaningfully and successfully their own data.y--Stacey Wizner, Qatar University "Corpora"

About the Author

Hans Lindquist is professor of English Linguistics at Malmö University, Sweden. He has taught English in Switzerland, the United States, Japan, New Zealand and the Gambia and co-edited volumes on translation theory, the major varieties of English, and corpora and grammaticalization.

Magnus Levin is Associate Professor of Languages at Linneaus University. His research interests include change and variation in English grammar and phraseology, pragmatics and translation studies.