A statistical and structural approach to extracting collocations likely to be of relevance in relation to an LSP sub-domain text
Bjarne Blom · DSpace repository (University of Tartu) · 1998
b b @ ln g .h h a .d k 1. Background.T h is article* sk e tc h e s a m e th o d b y m e a n s o f w h ic h lik e ly te x t-re le v a n t c o llo c a tio n a l w o rd strin g s m a y b e e x tra c te d fro m su b -d o m a in L S P -te x ts.B e c a u se o f th e re p e titiv e n a tu re o f c o llo c a tio n s , a sta tistic a l a n d stru c tu ra l a p p ro a c h is su g g ested .T h e g o a l o f th is p ro je c t is tw o -fo ld : (a ) to e x p lo re th e d e g re e to w h ic h c o m p u ta tio n a l m e th o d s a re su ita b le fo r e x tra c tin g c o llo c a tio n s; ( b ) to e x p lo re th e d e g re e to w h ic h it is p o s sib le to e x tra c t in fo rm a tio n p a rtic u la r to th e o v e ra ll to p ic o r d o m a in o f a L S P te x t, i.e. te rm in o lo g y , b y m e a n s o f k n o w le d g e -p o o r te c h n iq u e s.A s th is s tu d y h a s ru n o n a tim e -lim ite d b a s is , m o s t im p o rta n c e h a s b e e n p la c e d o n (a).2. What is understood by **coIIocation", A " c o llo c a tio n " is o fte n d e fin e d as e ith e r "an a rb itra ry a n d re c u rre n t w o rd c o m b in a tio n " (B e n s o n 1990) o r "th e c o o c c u rre n c e o f tw o o r m o re w o rd s w ith in a sh o rt sp a c e o f e a c h o th er" (S in c la ir 1 9 9 1 ) .H o w e v e r, su c h d e fin itio n s te n d to le a v e tw o im p o rta n t q u e s tio n s o u t o f c o n sid e ra tio n , cf. th e tw o fo llo w in g e x a m p le s : (a ) ... s h o u ld n 't h a v e d o n e that.T h is p ro m p te d ........ (b ) ......... se e m s u n lik e ly th a t th is sh o u ld b e th e case T h e tw o d e fin itio n s a b o v e , w h ic h a re in e ffe c t fa irly re p re se n ta tiv e o f th e m a jo r p a rt o f d e fin itio n s o ffe re d , d o n o t ta k e tw o p o in ts in to c o n sid e ra tio n s, n a m e ly th e d is tin c tio n b e tw e e n le x ic a l c o llo c a tio n s lik e p r im e m in is te r a n d s y n ta c tic c o llo c a tio n s lik e th a t th is -o r th e issu e w h e th e r w o rd s s h o u ld b e a llo w e d to c ro ss se n te n c e b o u n d a rie s.R e ly in g o n e ith e r o f th e a b o v e d e fin itio n s w o u ld re s u lt in m a s s iv e o v e rg e n e ra tio n , so c o n s e q u e n tly w e w ill d e fin e th e c o n c e p t o f "c o llo c a tio n " a s to b e tte r s u it a q u a n tita tiv e a p p ro a c h : A c o llo c a tio n is a w o rd strin g c o n sistin g o f a m in im u m o f tw o w o rd s ' w ith th e fo llo w in g c h a ra c te ristic s: *This is a brief description o f the method designed and the findings made in connection with the research project UDOG (Udforskelse af Dansk Ordforråd og Grammatik -Exploration of Danish Vocabulary and Grammar) under fhe auspices of The Danish Research Council for the Humanities.A broader outline is given in Danish in Blom 1997 and (1998 -forthcoming).'For the purposes o f this study, we will impose the restriction on the minimum word string length that it must contain at least one content word, cf.section six.