GRAMMAR IN CORPORA

Abstract

First, we must operationally define the structure itself in such a way that we (and other researchers) can reliably categorize potential instances as manifesting the structure or not. This may be relatively straightforward in the case of simple grammatical structures that can be characterized based on tangible and stable characteristics, such as particular configurations of grammatical morphemes and/or categories occurring in sequences that reflect hierarchical relations relatively directly. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, with complex structures, especially in frameworks that characterize such structures with recourse to abstract, non-tangible and theory-dependent constructs.