17.2977, Diss: Applied Ling/Lexicography: Pycroft: 'Exploring the Boundaries...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2977. Wed Oct 11 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.2977, Diss: Applied Ling/Lexicography: Pycroft: 'Exploring the Boundaries...'

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1)
Date: 10-Oct-2006
From: Kelly Pycroft < kellypycroft at hotmail.com >
Subject: Exploring the Boundaries of Formulaic Sequences: A corpus-based study of lexical substitution and insertion in contemporary British English 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:21:20
From: Kelly Pycroft < kellypycroft at hotmail.com >
Subject: Exploring the Boundaries of Formulaic Sequences: A corpus-based study of lexical substitution and insertion in contemporary British English 
 


Institution: University of Sheffield 
Program: Department of English Language and Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2006 

Author: Kelly Pycroft

Dissertation Title: Exploring the Boundaries of Formulaic Sequences: A
corpus-based study of lexical substitution and insertion in 
contemporary British English 

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Lexicography

Subject Language(s): English (eng)


Dissertation Director(s):
Susan Fitzmaurice

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis presents an investigation into formulaic sequences; namely
multi-word prefabricated phrases of either literal (e.g. good morning) or
non-literal (e.g. kick the bucket) reading. A property of such sequences is
variation. Formulaic sequences can be subject to varying degrees of lexical
substitutions, grammatical variations, and insertions. This thesis
investigates the boundaries of variation: the limits of lexical
substitution and insertions for formulaic sequences, i.e. how much
variation can occur before the sequence stops being fixed and becomes
context-dependent. The boundaries between one formulaic sequence and
another and the boundaries between a literal and non-literal reading are
also explored. 

The formulaic sequences for investigation were chosen from The Longman
Idioms Dictionary (1998) and were explored using the British National
Corpus (BNC). To investigate the limits of variation, I developed and used
a technique that I term the chaining process. This is a systematic method
of searching for sequences to find the maximum lexical substitutes and
insertions. The frequencies of variant forms found during the study were
recorded and analysed to highlight both so that both common and rare
lexical substitutions and insertions could be examined, and their limits
explored.

A result of using the chaining process was that sequences could be seen to
"link" together. Formulaic sequences with the same underlying meaning and
similar lexical set were found to form groups. Use of the chaining process
showed how different formulaic sequences with similar meanings could link
together in networks via common lexical substitutes, e.g. flip your lid and
blow your top link via flip your wig ? lose your wig ? lose your temper and
blow your temper. The use of the chaining process shows that formulaic
sequences are more similar than different in terms of semantics as well as
construction. Sequences are not autonomous; networks show that the
boundaries of sequences are not as fixed as idiom dictionaries may lead us
to believe. These phrasal networks formed via the chaining process provide
a regular method of grouping formulaic sequences. This technique and
analysis contribute to lexicography and inform cognitive models of storing
and organizing language. 




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