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Corpora Meaning: Definition, Examples, and Translations

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corpora

[ˈkɔːrpərə ]

Definition

Context #1 | Noun

linguistics data

Corpora are collections of written or spoken texts that are used for linguistic research and analysis. These collections can vary widely in size and scope, and may include books, articles, recordings, or transcripts of spoken language. Researchers use corpora to study language patterns, grammar, and usage in different contexts. Corpora can be specialized for certain genres or dialects, making them essential for understanding language variation and change.

Synonyms

collection, corpus, database.

Examples of usage

  • The linguist analyzed the corpora to identify usage trends.
  • Corpora provide invaluable data for language learners.
  • Researchers compiled various corpora to enhance their studies.

Translations

To see the translation, please select a language from the options available.

Interesting Facts

Education

  • Corpora are crucial in linguistic studies, helping researchers identify patterns in language use over time.
  • Students often use corpora for projects to compare language in literature, films, or everyday conversation.
  • Many language learning apps base their content on insights gained from analyzing vast corpora for effective teaching.

Technology

  • Corpora play a significant role in natural language processing, helping machines understand human language.
  • Search engines utilize corpora to improve language search results, making it easier to find relevant information.
  • Machine translation systems rely on large corpora to learn and predict the most accurate translations.

Linguistics

  • Researchers create specialized corpora, like child language corpora, to study language acquisition in young learners.
  • The British National Corpus is one of the largest and most diverse examples, encompassing 100 million words from various sources.
  • Corpora can show shifts in language, like changes in slang and expressions over different generations.

Pop Culture

  • Corpora that include dialogues from movies and TV shows can help analyze cultural trends in language.
  • In fan communities, specialized corpora may compile script languages or character dialogues to enable deeper analysis for discussions.
  • Many authors analyze corpora related to literature that influence their writing styles or thematic elements.

Origin of 'corpora'

Main points about word origin

  • The word 'corpora' comes from the Latin word 'corpus', meaning 'body', used to describe 'bodies of text'.
  • In academic contexts, 'corpora' refers to multiple collections, emphasizing the variety within language studies.
  • In linguistics, the term evolved to encompass large databases used to analyze language use in specific contexts.

The term 'corpora' is derived from the Latin word 'corpus', which means 'body'. In a linguistic context, 'corpus' refers to a body of text or speech that is collected for analysis. The concept of using collections of texts for linguistic study began to gain traction in the 20th century with the advent of computational linguistics and the need for empirical data in language research. The plural form 'corpora' became standard in the field to refer to multiple collections, as researchers sought to analyze vast amounts of language data available from different sources. Over time, the development of digital corpora further transformed the accessibility and usability of language data, leading to significant advancements in linguistic analysis and theory.

Word Frequency Rank

With rank #16,653, this word belongs to specialized vocabulary. While not common in everyday speech, it enriches your ability to express complex ideas.