Theoretical overview of the evolution of corpus linguistics

Abstract

The starting point of corpus linguistics can be traced by considering the issue of observable data and how this has been handled in different periods and across different theoretical schools. The contrast between this position and the theoretical assumptions of corpus linguistics is obvious: corpus linguistics represents a definite shift towards linguistics of parole; the focus is on 'performance' rather than 'competence'. It was not the linguistic climate but the technological one that stimulated the development of corpora. Writing a little after Leech, Halliday foresaw the signs of a qualitative change in the results of the quantitative studies opened up by corpus research. Corpus linguistics started from the same premises as text-linguistics in that texts were assumed to be the main vehicle for the creation of meaning. The development of bilingual and multilingual corpora was initially tied to the perceived needs of mechanical translation, the original goal of computational linguistics.

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