Article published In: Corpus studies of language through time: Special issue of the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 27:4 (2022)
Edited by Tony McEnery, Gavin Brookes and Isobelle Clarke
[International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 27:4] 2022
► pp. 428–450
Volatile concepts
Analysing discursive change through underspecification in co-occurrence quads
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Sheffield.
Published online: 6 September 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22005.fit
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22005.fit
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the value of studying co-occurrence ‘quads’ – constellations of four non-adjacent lemmas that consistently co-occur across spans of up to 100 tokens – for understanding discursive change. We map meaning onto quads as ‘discursive concepts’, which encompass encyclopaedic semantics, pragmatics, and context. We investigate a high-frequency quad with high co-occurrence strength in EEBO-TCP: world-heaven-earth-power. We conduct semantic and pragmatic analysis to generate hypotheses regarding discursive change. The quad’s components are semantically underspecified; thus, although the quad indicates a discursive concept, each instantiation of the quad is variable, contingent, and dependent upon context and pragmatic processes for interpretation. We observe how the vague lexemes that constitute building blocks of religious discourse are employed to generate new, timely secular discourses; and we argue that semantic underspecification is the site and source of discursive change. Indeed, the volatile, unstable nature of the component lexical meanings renders them indispensable to early modern debate.
Keywords: co-occurrence, semantics, pragmatics, discourse, Early Modern English
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Aggregated underspecification
- 3.Methodology
- 4.Analysis
- 5.Conclusion
References
References (29)
Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C., & McEnery, T. (2013). Sketching Muslims: A corpus driven analysis of representations around the word ‘Muslim’ in the British press 1998–2009. Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 255–278.
Burns, P. (2013). MorphAdorner (Version 2) [Computer Software]. Northwestern University. [URL]
Charles II (1685). Copies of two papers written by the late King Charles II of blessed memory. Text Creation Partnership.
Cruse, A. (2011). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Elys, E. (1690). Animadversions upon some passages in a paper, entituled, Some reasons humbly offered why the Quakers should be examined. Text Creation Partnership.
Fell-Smith, C. (2004). Thomas Taylor 1617/1618–1682. Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
Fitzmaurice, S. (forthcoming). From constellations to discursive concepts; or: The historical pragmatic construction of meaning in Early Modern English. Transactions of the Philological Society.
Fitzmaurice, S., Robinson, J. A., Alexander, M., Hine, I. C., Mehl, S., & Dallachy, F. (2017). Linguistic DNA: Investigating conceptual change in Early Modern English discourse. Studia Neophilologica, 891, 21–38.
Foucault, M. (2003). Society Must be Defended: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975–1976. Translated by David Macey. Picador.
Geeraerts, D. (2006). Vagueness’s puzzles, polysemy’s vagaries. In D. Geeraerts (Ed.), Words and Other Wonders (pp. 99–148). Mouton de Gruyter. (Reprinted from Cognitive Linguistics, 4–31, 223–272, 1993)
Hoey, M. (2004). Lexical priming and the properties of text. In A. Partington, J. Morley, & L. Haarman (Eds.), Corpora and Discourse (pp. 385–412). Peter Lang.
Kethe, W. (1548). A ballet declaringe the fal of the whore of babylone intytuled Tye thy mare tom boye w[ith] other and there vnto anexid a prologe to the reders. Text Creation Partnership.
McEnery, M., & Baker, H. (2017). The poor in seventeenth-century England: A corpus based analysis. Token: A Journal of English Linguistics, 61, 51–83.
Mehl, S. (forthcoming). Discursive quads: New kinds of lexical co-occurrence data with linguistic concept modelling. Transactions of the Philological Society.
(2019). Measuring lexical co-occurrence statistics against a part-of-speech baseline. In H. Parviainen, M. Kaunisto, & P. Pahta (Eds.), Corpus Approaches into World Englishes and Language Contrasts. VARIENG. [URL]
(2012). Thinking linguistically about keywords: Polysemy, semantic change and divergent identities. The Keywords Project. [URL]
N. A. (1658). Londons wonder being a most true and positive relation of the taking and killing of a great whale neer to Greenwich; the said whale being fifty eight foot in length, twelve foot high, fourteen foot broad, and two foot between the eyes. At whose death was used harping-irons, spits, swords, guns, bills, axes, and hatchets, and all kind of sharp instruments to kill her: and at last two anchors being struck fast into her body, she could not remoove them, but the blood gusht out of her body, as the water does out of a pump. The report of which whale hath caused many hundred of people both by land and water to go and see her; the said whale being slaine hard by Greenwich upon the third day of Iune this present yere 1658. which is largely exprest in this following discourse. Text Creation Partnership.
(1659). The true magistrate, or The magistrates duty, and power in matters of religion, or in things meerly relating to conscience. By a well wisher to a publick good. Text Creation Partnership.
Nerlich, B. (1992). Semantic Theories in Europe 1930–1930. John Benjamins.
Tadmor, N. (1996). The concept of the household-family in eighteenth-century England. Past and Present, 151(1), 111–140.
Taylor, T. (1667). A vvarning to the nations to lay aside all prejudice and enmity the ground of strife and wars and to come and embrace the light, Christ Jesus. Text Creation partnership.
Vane, H. (1656). The PROCEEDS of the PROTECTOR (so called) and his COUNCILL against Sir HENRY VANE, Knight. A late Eminent MEMBER of the COƲNCILL of STATE of the Common-wealth of ENGLAND: As touching his Imprisonment in the Isle of WIGHT. Together with his Testimony delivered in writing to the said Protector, by way of a peculiar addresse to himself, and faithfull advice of an old Friend and Acquaintance. Faithfully Transcribed and Attested out of the Original Copy’s, And published by a reall Well-wisher to SIONS Prosperity and ENGLANDS Liberty. Text Creation Partnership.
Cited by (5)
Cited by five other publications
Fitzmaurice, Susan & Seth Mehl
Robinson, Justyna A., Rhys J. Sandow & Roberta Piazza
Mehl, Seth
Fitzmaurice, Susan
2021. Looking for concepts in Early Modern English. Journal of Historical Pragmatics 22:2 ► pp. 282 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.