NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ737583
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 18
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0889-4906
EISSN: N/A
Semantic Associations in Business English: A Corpus-Based Analysis
Nelson, Mike
English for Specific Purposes, v25 n2 p217-234 2006
This paper examines the semantic associations of words found in the business lexical environment by using a one-million word corpus of both spoken and written Business English. The key method of analysis is that of semantic prosody or semantic association; the notion that words associate with collocates that are themselves related, often either negatively or positively or belonging to a specific semantic set. The paper thus shows how words in the Business English environment interact with each other on a semantic level. After a brief introduction and literature review on semantic prosody, the main research based on an analysis of corpus data is presented. It shows that not only do words in the business environment have semantic prosodies, that is they are found to regularly collocate with word groups that share semantic similarity, they also have prosodies that are unique to business, separate from the prosodies they generate in the "general English" environment. It was also noted, however, that these prosodies are not all-consuming, and often only represent strong tendencies for lexical relations, rather than a firmly fixed relationship. The article ends by discussing the pedagogical consequences that this research may have when the results are introduced into the classroom.
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A