Resources - The Grammar Lab

1,000,000 Word Sample Corpora

Category : Corpora

Below are links to some corpora that I’ve put together using random sampling techniques. The idea is to take a...

AntConc Walk-Through

This is a walk-through to introduce to a couple of AntConc’s basic functions: word lists, keyword lists, and concordances. Bear...

Can We Quantify “Bad” Writing?

Category : Mini Experiments

In one of classes, my students were talking about the Sean Penn’s article in which he interviewed the Mexican drug...

Corpus of Presidential Speeches (CoPS) and a Clinton/Trump Corpus (Updated!)

Category : Corpora

In this election season, both linguistics and the popular press have shown an interest in candidates’ speaking styles — particularly...

Figuring out Your Research Topic

Category : Project Guides

This is, of course, difficult if you don’t have much of a background in the field. And it’s doubly tricky...

MICUSP for AntConc and WordSmith

Category : Corpora

The Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers is a collection of advanced undergraduate and and graduate student writing. The University...

Normalizing Word Counts

Category : Statistics

One of the things we often do in corpus linguistics is to compare one corpus (or one part of a...

Song Lyrics Data Tables

Category : Corpora

(Download links are below.) Recently, a student of mine who is interested in analyzing song lyrics pointed me to the...

Understanding Keyness

Category : Statistics

In order to identify significant differences between 2 corpora or 2 parts of a corpus, we often use a statistical...

What Data Do I Need?

Category : Project Guides

The type of data you will need to carry out a particular project will depend on a number of factors:...

Workshop: Introduction to Text Analysis with R

Category : Workshops

If you are planning on attending the workshop at Wake Forest University, follow the 11 steps under the “To do...

Writing Up Your Linguistics Project

Category : Project Guides

If you’re new to linguistics, committing your analysis to paper can be anxiety producing. What follows are some tips to...

Language Tweets

Language Log 4 hours ago

Intentional mistranslation?: Photograph accompanying Jun Mai, "Why Beijing isn’t Marxist enough for China’s radical millennials: President Xi Jinping may have called for a recommitment to Karl Marx’s ideology, but excuse some young Marxists if they are… dlvr.it/QV5z4M

test Twitter Media - Intentional mistranslation?: Photograph accompanying Jun Mai, "Why Beijing isn’t Marxist enough for China’s radical millennials: President Xi Jinping may have called for a recommitment to Karl Marx’s ideology, but excuse some young Marxists if they are… https://t.co/qYBbys8Gg7 https://t.co/lvSnVwQ1MP

Ben Zimmer 7 hours ago

Vog! Laze! As Hawaii's Kilauea volcano continues its eruption, volcanic lingo is spewing forth as well. My latest for @WSJ. bit.ly/voglaze

Oxford Dictionaries 7 hours ago

For an illustration of how effective and subtle iconography - a term that literally means 'image writing' - can be, we need look no further than the Statue of Liberty. 🗽 bit.ly/2krs00d

Language Log 9 hours ago

Yanny vs. Laurel, pt. 2: Just when you thought you'd never have to worry about this vexing acoustic phenomenon again, "Yanny vs. Laurel: an analysis by Benjamin Munson" (5/16/18) and the comments thereto having carried out such a probing, exhaustive… dlvr.it/QV46vT

test Twitter Media - Yanny vs. Laurel, pt. 2: Just when you thought you'd never have to worry about this vexing acoustic phenomenon again, "Yanny vs. Laurel: an analysis by Benjamin Munson" (5/16/18) and the comments thereto having carried out such a probing, exhaustive… https://t.co/2wAzNDP1Fe https://t.co/Nv14IFZznu

Oxford Dictionaries 10 hours ago

That’s a pretty dress. I’m pretty sure I locked the car. Her new watch cost a pretty penny. We came to a pretty pass in our negotiations. How does 'pretty' manage to mean ‘attractive’, ‘considerably’, ‘expensive’, and ‘difficult’ all at once? bit.ly/2GNBk7i

Oxford Dictionaries 12 hours ago

'Lip bite' is the new side eye. 'Laze' on holiday might not actually be desirable. and 'oomf' is an acronym... @mashedradish educates and entertains on the latest #WeeklyWordWatch: bit.ly/2sbkFVT

The OED 14 hours ago

OED Word of the Day: Jock Tamson's bairns, n. Sc. Mankind, common humanity bit.ly/2LlLkrJ

Oxford Dictionaries 16 hours ago

Word of the Day: uncinate en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/unc…

test Twitter Media - Word of the Day: uncinate
https://t.co/8H9WmRW21b https://t.co/dOKPdAS4a7

Ben Zimmer 1 day ago

Delightful episode of @DirtyWordsCast on the dirty words that competitive Scrabble players get to play (featuring @stefanfatsis of course) verybadwords.com/shows/the-poo-…

Jesse Sheidlower 1 day ago

Great headline for an interesting article about language-learning analytics: Who chooses to study the official or majority language of the country they live in, and why? qz.com/1284859/langua…

The OED 1 day ago

You can now hear over 400,000 pronunciations on OED! Spoken pronunciations have featured alongside transcriptions since December 2015. blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/12/18/dic…

Language Log 1 day ago

Sanskrit and Pseudo-Sanskrit Daoist incantations: Joshua Capitanio has written a fascinating, pathbreaking article on a highly esoteric, but also tremendously significant, topic: "Sanskrit and Pseudo-Sanskrit Incantations in Daoist Ritual Texts", History… dlvr.it/QTxrVc

Oxford Dictionaries 2 days ago

Would you recognize these seven as being loanwords from French? bit.ly/2GLIk4r

The OED 2 days ago

OED Word of the Day: Rowton, n. Rowton house: a type of cheap lodging house intended to provide accommodation of a decent standard for single workingmen bit.ly/2KFU2Qs

Oxford Dictionaries 2 days ago

Word of the Day: pernickety en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/per…

test Twitter Media - Word of the Day: pernickety
https://t.co/7YdM7XHmfZ https://t.co/ES2Av7sUs3

Language Log 2 days ago

Lant: The "Frequency Illusion", introduced here in 2005, has made the big time in today's SMBC: The aftercomic: The mouseover title: ""I found out about 'lant' on the lovely podcast, Lexicon Valley, by the always-brilliant John McWhorter." Arnold… dlvr.it/QTsndT

test Twitter Media - Lant: The "Frequency Illusion", introduced here in 2005, has made the big time in today's SMBC: The aftercomic: The mouseover title: ""I found out about 'lant' on the lovely podcast, Lexicon Valley, by the always-brilliant John McWhorter." Arnold… https://t.co/X6HNVVcbFt https://t.co/dgGShaUAUL

Ben Zimmer 2 days ago

Looks like Rod Rosenstein consulted the @MerriamWebster definition of "pile on" (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pil…): "to join other people in criticizing something or someone in usually an unfair way" qz.com/1286606/rod-ro…

Ben Zimmer 2 days ago

For those of you interested in machine-learning approaches to Trump's Twitter feed... @andrewmcgill's @TrumpOrNotBot has been getting a lot of attention, but didtrumptweetit.com is also worth checking out. I wrote about it for @TheAtlantic in December. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Ben Zimmer 2 days ago

RIP, Philip Roth. He'll be remembered for many things, but I'll always admire his crowning achievement in "shithole" literature. theatlantic.com/entertainment/…

Jesse Sheidlower 2 days ago

The late Philip Roth is cited over 100 times in @OED, from 1959's Goodbye, Columbus (cheesy, lay-up) to 2010's Nemesis (alliterate v.), with most (40) from Portnoy's Complaint (brainless, come n., dick, hand-job, kibitz, punim, schlong, whack off)