Corpus analysis and conceptual relation patterns

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the notion of “conceptual relation pattern” via corpus analysis experiments. On the basis of this bottom-up approach, three major points are discussed. First the degree of dependency between conceptual relation patterns and corpus is examined. This dependency may range from insignificant to complete; it may also be related to corpus genre. Then, the limits of a purely binary conception of relations are examined through the description of patterns taking into account argument structure. Finally, an example in which application may influence pattern choice is presented. Some generally admitted classical assumptions are discussed and revisited under the light of empirical results.