Tracking the Emergence of New Words Across Time and Space

Synopsis: Podcast. Dr Jack Grieve, Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, asserts that very little is known about how new words spread in language. New words are regularly identified by lexicographers, linguists, and the news media, but until recently we have not had access to sufficiently large geo-coded and time-stamped datasets that would allow for the detailed analysis of the geographical diffusion of lexical items in real time. However, with the rise of social media and smart phones, it is now possible to compile very large corpora that meet these requirements, allowing for new words to be identified and mapped across time and space and for the first time. In this presentation, Grieve identifies numerous newly emerging words based on a multi-billion word corpus of American tweets from 2013-2014 and maps their geographical spread across the United States.
Series: Institute of Historical Research Podcasts
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2015
Year of production: 2015
Subjects: English language and literature; Media studies
Keywords: social history; Linguistics; Lexicography

URI: http://www.history.ac.uk/podcasts/digital-history/tracking-emergence-new-words-across-time-and-space
Price: free
Delivery: Streamed/Download

Name: Institute of Historical Research
Web: http://www.history.ac.uk/ External site opens in new window
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Notes: The Institute of Historical Research is one of nine member Institutes of the School of Advanced Study, part of the University of London.

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