Quantitative Methods and the History of English
Bohmann A, Sommerer L (2025)
Publication Type: Authored book
Publication year: 2025
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781009205450
DOI: 10.1017/9781009205443.030
Abstract
This chapter surveys the role of quantitative methods in diachronic studies which investigate the past and present stages of English. We begin with simple bivariate analyses, such as tracing frequency developments, discuss inferential models and explain the advantages of multifactorial (including hierarchical) modelling. Moreover, we trace changing productivity, association strengths, lexical biases and collocational preferences within constructions. We also discuss methods for exploratory analysis of multidimensional data and provide a brief overview of methods drawing from machine learning and other scientific disciplines (e.g. word embeddings and agent-based modeling). To illustrate our methodological points, we include small-scale hands-on analyses on the variation between will and be going to constructions as markers of future-time reference from the ARCHER and COHA corpora.
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Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Bohmann, A., & Sommerer, L. (2025). Quantitative Methods and the History of English. Cambridge University Press.
MLA:
Bohmann, Axel, and Lotte Sommerer. Quantitative Methods and the History of English. Cambridge University Press, 2025.
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