Corpus word

searches
 Language corpora

A corpus is a collection of written or spoken texts. With the use of computers it is possible to compile
large amounts of authentic written and spoken language. This compilation of online text can then be
analysed in various ways to establish patterns of grammar and vocabulary usage. The usual computer
programming tool to perform the language analysis is called a concordancer. The corpora (or corpuses)
permit the use of an online concordancer to investigate the text they contain.
Ghost
Written
• Nicola, 23, claims the ghost has also thrown a kitchen chair at her.
• Room 89 is haunted, according to the security guard, by the ghost of an RAF batman who still
brushes his master's phantom uniform. The most fearsome invader today is Japanese knot-weed,
which has swamped Lady Quilter's sunken rose garden, complete with concrete pill-box, its
machine-gun slit pointing seawards.
Spoken
• You know those white flowers have died. The other chrysanths are fine but those white daisy
things.. Mm? have given up the ghost. 
• And he (unclear) oh that's, that's a free life for them, you punch it and it's the ghost that kills him,
you can't get away from the ghost.
 Frequency list

Written
 ghost  1228

Spoken
ghost  89
Salt
Written
• When your skin becomes damaged by sunburn it loses heat and moisture more easily and when it
is extensive then sunstroke follows when someone is dehydrated and lacking salt.
• I watched as they laughed behind her back, mocked her, walked out of rooms when she appeared,
and looked the other way when she spoke to them. Salt was poured into her drinking water, silly
letters were sent to her, and any attempt to win their friendship was met with sullen silences or
rebuffs
Spoken
•  How did you manage to keep the meat, erm, without refrigerators?
 Oh er, we'd got a cellar and it was a real good'un, you could er leave it down there, salt, salted you
see.
 Frequency list

Written
salt  2651

Spoken
salt  293
Interesting
Written
• Mellor's political clout, rather than his pale and interesting physique, which became 31-year-old
Antonia's aphrodisiac.
•  The cast of characters was less interesting: mostly Japanese honeymoon couples, travelling en
masse, and train buffs.
Spoken
• I'm actually also hoping to get, someone who was erm concerned at the (unclear) campaign to
come to the meeting, cos I think it would be very useful to have someone who's been through it
and to say how, how they tackled it, so I think it should an interesting meeting, hopefully we'll get
a few, you know interesting people to come along and we can spend from that
meeting (unclear) campaign. Erm, there's also, I just wanted to say a bit about the ambulance er.
•  It's about as interesting as a financial report from anybody. It's a promotional document. That's
right. (unclear) way even less (laughing) interesting
 Frequency list

Written
interesting  7937

Spoken
 interesting  1506
Illegal
Spoken
• ..say anything about this by the way cos it's illegal.
• I know it's illegal.  
pretty good like. I'm sure, it's illegal.
Sure it is. Well, quite sure it
Written
• Ecstasy, which has been illegal since 1977, is used by many on the rave scene. 
• There will still be spot checks for drugs and other illegal goods. 
 Frequency list

Written
 illegal  2286

Spoken
 illegal  101
Finger
Written
• She looked down at the sandal and with one worn finger gently moved the heel to and fro
on its fragile shred of skin.
• The gold-ringed finger on her left hand confirmed it.
Spoken
• Point the finger Paul, come on!
• Erm I don't know the answer to his question but I think he's put his finger upon a point.
 Frequency list

Written
finger  283

Spoken
 finger  2772
Pretty
Written
• He was unable to observe, however — as he would have liked to do in his ever-observant way —
just what the expression on Jilly Jonathan's pretty face might have been.
• I had previously spent about two years asking local social services and friends for help and not
having it happen, so my flat had become pretty run down.
Spoken
• Well it seems pretty pointless, me sort of saying oh here, you know, they're never gonna get the
hang of negative numbers and Judith saying, oh I've got an excellent work sheet, and you think
well, you know
• Pretty awful!
 Frequency list

Written
 pretty  6089

Spoken
 pretty  1458
Spoken
Spoken
• And erm I'd also like to introduce Keith Mardell from the Longman spoken corpus who's going to
be recording our meeting.
• Longmans, the well-known publishers are producing something called the spoken corpus which is
er a [pause] a record of the way in which English is used.
Written
• n the motivations of Romeo in terms of today's values, but we can bring a contemporary handling
to the words that will make the imagery blaze afresh each time it is spoken.
• Yet each to be written and spoken as though the last.
 Frequency list

Written
spoken  3210

Spoken
spoken  316
Mouth
Spoken
• I haven't actually got a, a poem for this, I was saying to you that I would use this, I intend using
this as a writing exercise, because the, the colour of her mouth and the colour of the piece of boot
in the background, just stands out to me, it says, its about to me hidden desire of some sort, either
the artist's or hers or [pause] mine I don't know [pause]
• You can breathe it in through the lungs [pause] you can swallow it through the mouth, you can
inject it through the skin and you can also absorb it through the skin.
Written
• This person with the HIV infection has developed a sore mouth
• Unusual soreness or redness around the mouth, nose or eyes.
 Frequency list

Written
mouth  8284

Spoken
 mouth  486
Error
Spoken
• I think in fact that is a [pause] an error on the officer's part.
• Now could I ask, if there are any erm matters on there where you have found and error and it's an
error of fact, can I just stress that at this stage?
Written
• The art of safe piloting is to learn to avoid the initial error whenever possible.
• I would like to correct a serious error made by Noel Johnson Leach in his article ‘On the bleach’
 Frequency list

Written
error  3659

Spoken
error  144
Sea
Spoken
• Well we, we, I remember [unclear] about your age and [pause] having to knit sea boot stockings
with very very thick, white wool.
• And they never forgot [pause] how important the sea was in their lives.
Written
• We all know the face and hands of the figure, set in its marble chair, in that circle of fantastic
rocks, as in some faint light under sea.
• The sea soughed on the shore.
 Frequency list

Spoken
 sea  477

Written
sea  12097
 Most frequent spoken
words
#1. that #2. for #3. where
that  1118985 for  878727    105557
where

#4. an #5. it
 an  336804  it  1054279
Thank you for your
attention!