![\"Context](\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/mindthegap\/files\/2013\/02\/context.jpg\")
<\/a>Context plays an important role in the understanding of language patterns.<\/p><\/div>\n
If you asked me to connect literature and electronic textual analysis a few days ago, I would have been at a loss for words. Just the very sounds of these two different terms seem to represent two polar opposites. However, according to Adolphs, this sort of analysis can reveal much more about a textual work than can be deciphered through a sequential analysis of the language. For example, Adolphs points out that by analyzing a word in relation to another word within the same context, we are able to learn more about the word’s importance and meaning: “”Adding a context word to a concordance search allows us to study patterns that are not restricted to a continuous sequence”(115).<\/p>\n
Looking beyond literature or even the written word, electronic textual analysis proves the importance of context by looking into the way that our brain understands and processes language. Often phrases or cliches that we use are stored in our brain as a single item. Adolphs\u00a0emphasizes\u00a0the important role that concordance analysis has within the study of language patterns:<\/p>\n
“Concordance analysis has a key place in language description and lexicography,\u00a0especially\u00a0because such an analysis can reveal patters of co-occurrence and association that not only challenge some traditional beliefs about language as a slot and filler system, but also lead to insights that are not easily generated on the basis of intuition alone”(127)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Contextual analysis is now expanding beyond the larger and more general spectrum of written themes and styles. By looking at the context of specific word pairings and associations, we are now able to further understand and interpret the meaning and importance of individual linguistic styles. Adolphs uses the example of the character Anna from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. <\/em>We are able to assess her character merely by the words that precede and follow her name within the text. This is a simple example that demonstrates the potential of using context in electronic textual analysis.<\/p>\n
Language patterns, frequencies, and word clusters all have an important role to play in both an analysis of a work and the way we use spoken words. Looking at semantic prosodies can “be useful in uncovering the speaker’s real attitude even where he is at pains to conceal it”(142). In addition, we need to understand that we learn and use “multi-word”(122) units everyday With the electronic text analysis, it is easier than before to understand context within individual words, proving useful not only in literature, but in also in our use of spoken language.<\/p>\n
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It is common knowledge that different authors have defining styles of writing. Hemingway was known for his use of simple and accessible language. Mark Twain was known for his social satire and his use of dialect to create memorable characters. … Continue reading