ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces some basic techniques for analysing corpora. It shows how we can use both quantitative and qualitative analysis to understand different items of language in texts found within different corpora. The chapter outlines key principles which can inform basic corpus analysis and then demonstrates how we can use frequency analysis to better understand words, keywords and formulaic sequences. It also shows how we can examine language in context within concordance lines and also within extended texts.
Each section draws upon examples from either open-access corpora or uses freely available corpus analysis tools to show how readers can work with their own data. This is an attempt to reflect a current reality (where many corpora are open-access) and also to show the possibilities for constructing and analysing smaller-scale, specialised corpora. There is also an attempt to show that analysing corpus data does not need to be limited to searching for single words. Such searches can be useful starting points, but it is also helpful to search for longer sequences in context in order to better analyse form and function.
