Cover not available

In:Lexical Variation and Knowledge Construction across Historical, Methodological, and Cultural Ecologies
Edited by Rossella Latorraca, Rita Calabrese, Jacqueline Aiello and Dirk Geeraerts
[Terminology and Lexicography Research and Practice 25] 2026
► pp. 88–105

Usury or interest?

Reconstructing early modern English economics discourse (1572–1664) via historical corpus linguistics

 | Sapienza University of Rome
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter aims to explore the lexical variation of the terms usury and interest in the historical microlinguistic ecology of early modern English economics discourse (1572–1664). The case study presents an attempt to apply the quantitative and qualitative approaches from corpus linguistics to examine the role that multiple factors played in the linguistic systematisation of the two concepts. Specific indexes of variation and argumentativeness have functioned as systemic variables with genres in bivariate correlation analysis to determine the impact of a non-standardised microlanguage on the identification of discrete terminological usage. Results confirm that selected systemic factors of the early modern English microlanguage of economics created the conditions for discrete usage of these terms.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Variation in lexical usage and systematisation
    • 3.2Historical non-standardised microlinguistic ecology
  • 4.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (38)
References
Appolloni, Remo. 2024. “Opportunities and Threats of Historical Evidence and Data via Corpus-based Software: A Case Study on Gerard Malynes.” Linguistica Silesiana 45: 55–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2025. “The Standardisation of Suffixes and Definitions in Noun Taxonomies: A Preliminary Corpus-based and Data-based Analysis of the Early Modern English Microlanguage of Economics (1572–1664).” Version 1.2. Zenodo: unpublished PhD thesis: Defended at Sapienza Università di Roma and Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach.
Balboni, Paolo. 2000. Le Microlingue Scientifico-Professionali: Natura e Insegnamento. Torino: UTET Libreria.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baron, Alistair. 2011. “Dealing with Spelling Variation in Early Modern English Texts.” Lancaster University: Unpublished PhD thesis, accessed June 01, 2024, [URL]
Baron, Alistair, Paul Rayson, and Dawn Archer. 2009. “Word Frequency and Key Word Statistics in Historical Corpus Linguistics.” Anglistik 20: 41–67.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beal, Joan C. 2016. “Standardization.” In The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics, edited by Merja Kytö and Päivi Pahta, 301–317. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brezina, Vaclav. 2018. Statistics in Corpus Linguistics. A Practical Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brezina, Vaclav, Tony McEnery, and Stephen Wattam. 2015. “Collocations in Context. A New Perspective on Collocation Networks.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 20 (2): 139–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Condorelli, Marco. 2021. “The Standardisation of i and y in Early Modern English (1500–1700).” English Studies 102 (1): 101–123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2023. “What is Spelling Standardization?” In The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Orthography, edited by Marco Condorelli and Hanna Rutkowska, 265–282. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunning, Ted. 1993. “Accurate Methods for the Statistics of Surprise and Coincidence.” Computational Linguistics 19 (1): 61–74. Accessed June 01, 2024, [URL]
Durkin, Philip. 2016. “The OED and HTOED as Tools in Practical Research: A Test Case Examining the Impact of Loanwords on Areas of the Core Lexicon.” In The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics, edited by Merja Kytö and Päivi Pahta, 390–406. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erikson, Emily, Keniel Yao, and Daniel Karell. 2023. “Salvation into Nation: Topic Modeling early Modern Economic Writings.” Œconomia 14 (1): 357–392. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gadet, Françoise, and Steve Pagel. 2018. On the Notion of Natural in Ecological Linguistics. Edited by Ralph Ludwig, Steve Pagel and Peter Mühlhäusler. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gotti, Maurizio. 2012. “Malthus’ Discussion of Definitional Criteria.” In A Journey through Knowledge: Festschrift in Honour of Hortensia Pârlog, edited by Loredana Frăţilă and Codruța Goșa, 81–93. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Specialized Discourse. Linguistic Features and Changing Conventions. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, Stefan Th. 2020. “Analyzing Dispersion.” In A Practical Handbook of Corpus Linguistics, edited by Magali Paquot and Stefan Th. Gries, 99–118. Cham: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hardie, Andrew. 2012. “CQPweb — Combining Power, Flexibility and Usability in a Corpus Analysis Tool.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 17 (3): 380–409. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. “Log Ratio: An Informal Introduction.” Lancaster: ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS), accessed July 03, 2024, [URL]
Haugen, Einar. 1966. “Dialect, Language, Nation.” American Anthropologist 68: 922–935. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1972. The Ecology of Language. Standford: Standford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Historical Thesaurus of English (2nd edition online, v. 5.0), edited by Christian Kay, Marc Alexander, Fraser Dallachy, Jane Roberts, Michael Samuels, Irené Wotherspoon. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2020, accessed October 14, 2025, [URL]. © University of Glasgow, 2025. Used with permission.
. s.v., “03.12.21.02|02. (n.) Money-lending: money-lending at interest: usury,” © University of Glasgow, 2025. Used with permission, accessed October 14, 2025, [URL]
. s.v., “03.12.21.02|02.03 (n.) Money-lending: money-lending at interest: interest,” © University of Glasgow, 2025. Used with permission, accessed October 14, 2025, [URL]
Jenset, Gard B., and Barbara McGillivray. 2017. Quantitative Historical Linguistics. A Corpus Framework. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kay, Christian, Jane Roberts, Michael Samuels, and Irené Wotherspoon. 2009. Historical thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lehto, Anu, Raisa Oinonen, and Päivi Pahta. 2010. “Explorations through Early Modern English Medical Texts: Charting Changes in Medical Discourse and Scientific Thinking.” In Early Modern English Medical Texts: Corpus description and studies, edited by Irma Taavitsainen and Päivi Pahta, 151–166. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Magnusson, Lars. 1994. Mercantilism. The Shaping of an Economic Language. London and New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McEnery, Anthony, and Helen Baker. 2017. Corpus Linguistics and 17th-Century Prostitution. Computational Linguistics and History. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McIntyre, Daniel, and Brian Walker. 2019. Corpus Stylistics: Theory and Practice. Edinburgh: Edinburg University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nevalainen, Terttu. 2006. An Introduction to Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peacey, Jason. 2007. “The Politics of British Union in 1642 and the Purpose of Civil War Pamphlets.” Historical Research 80 (210): 491–517. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Raymond, Joad. 2003. Pamphlets and Pamphleteering in Early Modern Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rayson, Paul, and Amanda Potts. 2020. “Analysing keyword lists.” In A Practical Handbook of Corpus Linguistics, edited by Magali Paquot and Stefan Th. Gries, 119–139. Cham: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robbins, Lionel. 2000. A History of Economic Thought. Edited by Steven Sedema and Warren J. Samuels. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smitterberg, Erik. 2016. “Extracting Data from Historical Material.” In The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics, edited by Merja Kytö and Päivi Pahta, 181–200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smitterberg, Erik, and Merja Kytö. 2015. “English Genres in Diachronic Corpus Linguistics.” In From Clerks to Corpora: Essays on the English Language Yesterday and Today, edited by Peter Sundkvist, Philip Shaw, Britt Erman and Gunnel Melchers, 117–133. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taavitsainen, Irma. 2010. “Discourse and Genre Dynamics in Early Modern English Medical Writing.” In Early Modern English Medical Texts, edited by Irma Taavitsainen and Päivi Pahta, 29–54. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue