READING CONCORDANCES
This book is by John Sinclair, published
in September 2003 by Longman. It is a
book of tasks that introduce the user to simple and reliable ways of extracting
information about language from a corpus.
The tasks all concern current English, and are presented in a detailed,
step-by-step format, with a discursive Key to each task that gives guidance on
how it can be done.
The data in the book is contained in 43
files, mostly in KWIC concordance format.
The files are printed in the book, and the web page that follows offers
an electronic version of them that is much more flexible, and allows you to
examine the files from various perspectives, to sort the lines and omit some
when they become irrelevant to the argument.
We hope that using this facility will
enhance your appreciation of the book and its purpose.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This web page contains the datafiles
that are printed in the book 'Reading Concordances'. This electronic version allows you to study
them independently of their position in the book, and with the associated
software to process them in various ways.
The files are given as plain text files,
and they are not intended to be used in that format. They have to be reformatted by one of the
several available concordancing packages, and we recommend that you use
ConcApp, implemented by Chris Greaves, which is available free of charge. You
can download ConcApp from its official website: www.edict.com.hk.
The procedure we recommend is as
follows:
1. Download ConcApp
2
Download one of the files below
(a)
click on the link using the right mouse button
(b)
move the cursor down to 'Save Target As'
(c)
follow the instructions that appear
3. Open your file in ConcApp in the
normal way (click on "file" and then "open")
4. Make a concordance using
"search" and the keyword of the file.
5 Use the facilities of ConcApp to edit,
sort and process the concordance.
I am grateful to Chris Greaves for allowing
his excellent software to be associated with this service.
Level 1
Task 1 How meanings are shown 3
Theme: meaning distinction
Word/phrase:
block
Datafile:
Task 2 Underlying regularity 9
Theme: regularity and
variation
Word/phrase:
gamut
Datafiles:
Task 3 Words as liabilities 17
Theme: semantic prosody
Word/phrase:
regime
Datafiles:
Task 4 Literal and
metaphorical 23
Theme: meaning in phrases
Word/phrase:
free hand
Datafile:
Task 5 Meaning focus 31
Theme: co-selection
Word/phrase:
physical
Datafile:
Level 2
Task 6 Specialised meaning 43
Theme: lexical item
Word/phrase:
brook
Datafile:
Task 7 Subtle distinctions 51
Theme: meaning in phrases
Word/phrase:
best thing
Datafile:
Task 8 Meaning flavour 57
Theme: co-selection
Word/phrase:
incur
Datafile:
Task 9 Extensions of grammar 63
Theme: grammar and lexis
Word/phrase:
borders on
Datafile:
Task 10 Meaning and
cotext 73
Theme: meaning in
proximity
Word/phrase:
lap
Datafiles:
Level 3
Task 11 Words difficult
to define 83
Theme: lexical item
Word/phrase:
budge
Datafile:
Task 12 Ad hoc meaning 91
Theme: meaning in
proximity
Word/phrase:
veritable
Datafiles:
Task 13 Grammatical
frames 105
Theme: regularity and
variation
Word/phrase:
about as
Datafiles:
Task 14 Hidden meanings 117
Theme: semantic prosody
Word/phrase:
happen
Datafiles:
Level 4
Task 15 Closely related
meanings 129
Theme: meaning distinction
Word/phrase:
manage
Datafiles:
Task 16 One and one is
not exactly two 141
Theme: lexical item
Word/phrase:
true feelings
Datafiles:
Task 17 Common words 153
Theme: meaning in phrases
Word/phrase:
place
Datafiles:
Task 18 Singular and
plural 167
Theme: grammar and lexis
Word/phrase:
eye/clock
Datafiles: