1
Where did you say that? The positional
features of words as a characteristic of meaning
Matthew Brook ODonnell Michael Hoey Mike
Scott Michaela Mahlberg
2
In the news recently
Tony Blair has already announced that he is
going to announce, next week, when he is going to
announce his retirement. Guardian, May 4, 2007

• Are words distributed evenly across texts or do
  they have preferred positions?
• Hoeys lexical priming theory argues that words
  can be textually primed and that one such priming
  is textual colligation (i.e. the position(s) in a
  text unit where a word tends to be found)
• Can this claim be supported?

3
Textual Priming ProjectAims

• to investigate how many (and what types of)
  lexical items are primed to appear in
  text-initial or paragraph-initial position
• to identify lexico-grammatical patterns and see
  how these patterns can be functionally
  interpreted in the textual contexts
• to relate these lexical and corpus-driven facts
  to current textual descriptions of (hard) news
  stories that might provide explanations for the
  positive primings of relevant lexis

thanks to the AHRC
4
Approach

• Corpus Guardian news archive (1998-2004)
• 650,000 articles
• News
• Home news, overseas, features, sport, obituaries,
  etc.
• Paragraph and other structural divisions in
  markup
• Sentence tokenization identify sentences by
  position
• Create frequency lists (words clusters) and
  carry out keyword procedure

5
Subdividing the corpus

• TISC Text initial sentences
• PISC Paragraph initial sentence
• not in TISC and at para contains 2 sentences
• SISC Paragraphs of one sentence
• not in TISC
• NISC Non-paragraph initial sentences
• HISC Headline, sub-headline, etc..

6
Anatomy of a news article
Pope 'deeply sorry' but Muslim protests spread
(1) Italian police were yesterday ordered to
tighten security at potential Catholic targets
across the country as the leaders of the Roman
Catholic church anxiously waited to see if a
personal expression of regret by Pope Benedict
would assuage Muslim fury over his remarks on
Islam. (2) The Pope's speech in Germany last
week, in which he quoted a medieval ruler who
said Muhammad's innovations were "evil and
inhuman", has led to widespread condemnation in
the Muslim world. (3) Last night the controversy
seemed to have claimed its first victims when
gunmen killed a 65-year-old Italian nun and her
bodyguard at the entrance to a hospital where she
worked in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu. (4)
A doctor said the nun, who was named as Sister
Leonella Sgorbati, from Piacenza in northern
Italy, had been shot four times in the back by
two men with pistols. (5) The attack was linked
by some to the Pope's remarks.
Guardian Sept 18, 2006
7
Anatomy of a news article
(6) A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico
Lombardi, said he hoped it was "an isolated
event", adding "We are worried about the
consequences of this wave of hatred and hope it
doesn't have grave consequences for the church
around the world." (7) The pontiff appeared to
risk causing fresh controversy during his speech
yesterday when he cited a passage from St Paul
that risked being interpreted as hostile - not by
Muslims, but by Jews. (8) It described the
crucifixion of Jesus as a "scandal for the
Jews". (9) At Castel Gandolfo in the hills east
of Rome, where the Pope has his summer residence,
armed police kept watch from a balcony on the
town hall as he prepared for the most nervously
awaited statement of his 17-month papacy. (10)
Some of the pilgrims entering the courtyard of
his residence to listen to his traditional Sunday
address were searched by police, who confiscated
metal-tipped umbrellas and some bottles of
liquid. (11) Plainclothes officers dressed as
tourists filmed the gathering using video
cameras.
Guardian Sept 18, 2006
8
Summary of positional subcorpora Guardian Home
News 1998-2004

TISC PISC SISC NISC
tokens 3,122,037 12,521,902 17,129,694 19,338,590
types 58,432 127,038 137,322 141,793
sentences 113,288 607,125 555,641 1,064,493
mean (in words) 28 21 31 18
std.dev. 11.11 9.68 23.8 9.88

9
Summary of positional subcorpora Guardian Home
News 1998-2004

Tokens
Sentences

TISC 4.8 PISC 25.9 SISC 23.7 NISC 45.48
TISC 6 PISC 24 SISC 32.9 NISC 37.1
10
YESTERDAY
11
YESTERDAY Sentence Position
(1) George Bush yesterday suffered a blow to his
argument (P1S1, Sept 27, 2006) (2)
Bulgaria and Romania yesterday received the green
light to join the EU in January
(P1S1, Sept 27, 2006) (3) Yesterday, the
paper shelved its plan to give (P2S2, Apr
3, 1998) (4) Yesterday the prime minister was
taunted by Iain Duncan Smith. (P8S2, Apr
25, 2002)
  TISC PISC SISC NISC
First word 0.2 13.4 10.9 13.5
Last word 25.7 15.4 9.8 19.9
12
Method Keywords TISC v NISC
13
ANNOUNCED
14
Method Collocates
15
Method Key collocates
TISC NISC keyness
YESTERDAY 1091 213 861.19
NIGHT 211 37 178.0108
GOVERNMENT 237 109 84.0128
BY 282 147 81.0536
UNDER 80 13 71.4139
HOME 101 35 51.8469
SECRETARY 134 60 49.4379
TODAY 101 39 45.5142
DAVID 57 15 40.0084
IT 445 389 28.7815
OFFICE 47 15 27.5559
BRITISH 44 13 27.1526
PLANS 113 71 23.7985
LAST 234 195 19.7673
TONY 34 13 18.0609
MINISTERS 24 7 17.0068
TOMORROW 22 7 15.0965
16
Method Key collocates
TISC NISC keyness
BE 210 360 -15.6221
JUST 6 34 -17.1042
DECISION 10 42 -17.4009
WOULD 92 193 -19.37
NOT 22 72 -19.4695
HAVE 23 74 -20.616
HAS 73 169 -22.61
BEFORE 8 44 -22.8778
AND 160 316 -25.0903
HE 213 398 -25.1276
WHICH 19 74 -25.8644
WEEK 51 143 -29.6473
BEEN 15 75 -32.1544
ON 90 222 -33.7874
BUT 7 58 -35.9151
HAD 70 203 -43.5247
WILL 86 235 -44.3124
THAT 343 678 -51.6176
17
Method Key collocates
TISC NISC keyness
YESTERDAY 1091 213 861.19
NIGHT 211 37 178.0108
GOVERNMENT 237 109 84.0128
BY 282 147 81.0536
UNDER 80 13 71.4139
HOME 101 35 51.8469
SECRETARY 134 60 49.4379
TODAY 101 39 45.5142
DAVID 57 15 40.0084
IT 445 389 28.7815
OFFICE 47 15 27.5559
BRITISH 44 13 27.1526
PLANS 113 71 23.7985
LAST 234 195 19.7673
TONY 34 13 18.0609
MINISTERS 24 7 17.0068
TOMORROW 22 7 15.0965
18
ANNOUNCED TIME
TISC (2026) NISC (2535)
yesterday 1091 53.85 213 8.40
last night 158 7.80 33 1.30
today 101 4.99 39 1.54
tomorrow 22 1.09 7 0.28
67.7 11.5
19
ANNOUNCED TIME
TISC (2026) NISC (2535)
week 51 2.52 143 5.64
month 25 1.23 66 2.60
year 37 1.83 77 3.04
months of year 5 0.25 213 8.40
days of week 0 76 3.00
5.8 22.7
20
Method Key collocates
TISC NISC keyness
YESTERDAY 1091 213 861.19
NIGHT 211 37 178.0108
GOVERNMENT 237 109 84.0128
BY 282 147 81.0536
UNDER 80 13 71.4139
HOME 101 35 51.8469
SECRETARY 134 60 49.4379
TODAY 101 39 45.5142
DAVID 57 15 40.0084
IT 445 389 28.7815
OFFICE 47 15 27.5559
BRITISH 44 13 27.1526
PLANS 113 71 23.7985
LAST 234 195 19.7673
TONY 34 13 18.0609
MINISTERS 24 7 17.0068
TOMORROW 22 7 15.0965
21
PLANS
  TISC PISC SISC NISC
raw 2446 3713 5918 4155
per 10000 wds 7.83 2.97 3.45 2.15
per 100 sents 2.16 0.61 1.07 0.39
of occs 15.07 22.87 36.46 25.60
expect.occs 972.46 3900.34 5335.58 6023.62
22
Method Patterns

• under X (to be) announced

TISC NISC
78 10

under plans 24 1
under proposals 9 3
under a (X) scheme 9 1
under measures 5
under a plan 3
under a (x) deal 3
under a programme 2
under a procedure 2
under guidelines 2
under guidance 2
23
Method Patterns

• under X (to be) announced
• sentence position

Sent. Position TISC NISC
gt90 31.00 9.31
gt75 42.35 19.57
gt50 66.68 44.58
gt25 86.62 77.99
BUT very rough measure because of variable
sentence length and longer sentences in TISC
24
Method Patterns

• under X (to be) announced
• sentence position
• it was announced TIME (recency)

25
It was V-ed

it was 3004 13469 14613 28236
REVEALED 274 121 185 118
ANNOUNCED 245 161 50 83
CLAIMED 111 43 85 92
DISCLOSED 111 21 21 22
REPORTED 102 87 127 92
CONFIRMED 78 28 51 25
ALLEGED 25 36 40 65
31.49 3.60 3.82 1.76
26
Method Textual Functions

• PLANS ANNOUNCED in same sentence
• 2004 Home News section of Guardian
• TISC 45 Articles
• NISC 19 Articles
• How does pattern function at the text level?

27
National roundup Law 'No knives before 18'
proposal (1) The age at which knives can be
bought is to be raised from 16 to 18, under plans
to be announced by the home secretary, David
Blunkett, this week. (2) The move is expected to
be agreed on Wednesday with police chiefs at a
Downing Street summit to discuss progress in
dealing with gun crime and other violent
offences. (3) The plan will also include
imposing stiffer penalties on teenagers who are
found to be carrying knives when they are
searched on the street. (4) Mr Blunkett wants to
introduce a maximum five-year sentence for
carrying a knife on the street. (5) The summit
will be used to discuss the proposal with senior
representatives of Britain's chief
constables. (6) But the home secretary is said
to be keen to push ahead with the changes. (7)
"We must do everything we can to get knives off
the streets, including strengthening the law,"
said Mr Blunkett. (8) He added "I think there
is a very strong argument for having to be 18 to
buy a knife, just as with alcohol and fireworks.
(9) The education secretary, Charles Clarke, and
I are working together to tackle the dual menace
of young people carrying knives in our schools
and on our streets." (10) The outgoing
Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John
Stevens, has been pushing for tougher punishment
for violent crimes involving knifes. (11) He said
earlier this month that gun crime had been
reduced in London, but that the problem had moved
on to knives. (12) Sir John believes those who
carry knives "for the wrong reasons" should
receive a mandatory sentence of up to three years.
28
National roundup Law 'No knives before 18'
proposal (1) The age at which knives can be
bought is to be raised from 16 to 18, under plans
to be announced by the home secretary, David
Blunkett, this week. (2) The move is expected to
be agreed on Wednesday with police chiefs at a
Downing Street summit to discuss progress in
dealing with gun crime and other violent
offences. (3) The plan will also include
imposing stiffer penalties on teenagers who are
found to be carrying knives when they are
searched on the street. (4) Mr Blunkett wants to
introduce a maximum five-year sentence for
carrying a knife on the street. (5) The summit
will be used to discuss the proposal with senior
representatives of Britain's chief
constables. (6) But the home secretary is said
to be keen to push ahead with the changes. (7)
"We must do everything we can to get knives off
the streets, including strengthening the law,"
said Mr Blunkett. (8) He added "I think there
is a very strong argument for having to be 18 to
buy a knife, just as with alcohol and fireworks.
(9) The education secretary, Charles Clarke, and
I are working together to tackle the dual menace
of young people carrying knives in our schools
and on our streets." (10) The outgoing
Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John
Stevens, has been pushing for tougher punishment
for violent crimes involving knifes. (11) He said
earlier this month that gun crime had been
reduced in London, but that the problem had moved
on to knives. (12) Sir John believes those who
carry knives "for the wrong reasons" should
receive a mandatory sentence of up to three years.
29
Schools urged to extend classroom links across
the world (1) All schools will be urged to
develop formal links with others throughout the
world as part of a ground-breaking new strategy
to be unveiled by ministers today. (2) The
education secretary, Charles Clarke, will give
practical examples of how teachers can give a
much-needed "international dimension" to school
life and promote better understanding of the
world by building relationships with partner
schools abroad. (3) A report to be published
today by the Department for Education and Skills
- Putting the World Back in World-Class Education
- will set out ways that both primary and
secondary schools can work with others by using
technology such as video-conferencing, alongside
more traditional tools such as encouraging
pen-pals. (4) Crucially, the DfES wants to
persuade some 7,000 schools to win one of the
British Council's international school awards -
which recognise work abroad - within three years.
(5) Somewhat ambitiously, it wants every school
to have done so by 2010. (6) Central to the
drive is a new website which will act as an
international "introductory agency" to schools.
(7) The government has developed strategic
partnerships with more than 30 countries
including the US, Saudi Arabia and much of
Europe, to help develop more formal links. (8)
Higher education is also to be targeted. (9) Mr
Clarke hopes to reverse the decline in the
numbers of youngsters studying foreign languages
- which under Labour's new policy they are
allowed to drop from the age of 14. (10) Last
week the Conservative leader, Michael Howard,
announced plans to offer pounds 2,000 bursaries
to talented linguists wanting to study languages
at degree level, along with other subjects such
as physics, chemistry and engineering.
30
Textual Hypothesis

• ANNOUNCED PLANS TIMErecency
• in TISC is associated with nucleus (topical)
• ANNOUNCED PLANS (TIME-recency )
• in NISC is a component of contextualization
  (supporting)
• Position is meaningful in a textual pattern (the
  local textual functions)

31
Summary

• Use of specialized corpus with large number of
  relatively homogenous whole texts allows
  examination of textual position
• Initial findings suggest that certain words are
  primed for text initial position
• Requires examination of patterning of collocates,
  colligations (including sentence position) and
  local textual functions
• Findings suggestive of link between these
  primings, patterns and text level descriptions