Core Concepts Lecture 1 LEXICAL FREQUENCY Frequency With

Core Concepts Lecture 1 LEXICAL FREQUENCY

Frequency �With a partner or in a small group, discuss: �What is the most frequently used word in English? Support your answer. Why do you think that word is the most frequent? The

Frequency �How frequent do you think it is? What percentage of written texts is accounted for by ‘the’? This means, in a 100 -word section, how many times would you expect to see ‘the’? Is speaking different from writing in this respect?

The answer: �‘The’ accounts for at least 5% of all words used in English. �That means that out of every 20 words, you can expect to see ‘the’ at least once (or 5 times every 100 words).

Frequency Now, can you guess the top 10 most frequently used words in English? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. the of and a to in is you that it � http: //www. duboislc. org/Education. Watch/First 100 Words. html

�We have seen that ‘the’ accounts for at least 5% of English What percentage do you think the top-ten words account for?

Bo. E 1 the 2 of 3 and 4 a 5 to 6 in 7 is 8 you 9 that 10 it 448, 496, 824 Frequency Percent 24, 780, 121 5. 5 11, 559, 219 2. 6 10, 608, 346 2. 4 9, 925, 232 2. 2 11, 218, 716 2. 5 8, 143, 020 1. 8 4, 206, 880 0. 9 2, 248, 154 0. 5 4, 558, 144 1. 0 3, 994, 942 0. 9 91, 242, 774 20. 3 Bo. E = Bank of English (held by Collins Publishing and The University of Birmingham)

one-third �“The first 25 make up about ____ of all printed material in English. one-half �The first 100 make up about ____ of all written material, about 65% �and the first 300 make up _____ of all written material in English.

Lexical Words and Function Words �Function words (often called grammatical words) determiners, pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, prepositions �Lexical words (often called content or meaning words) nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs

Lexical Words and Function Words �We usually say that function words do not actually mean anything. They have functions instead of meanings We use them to help create meaning in a sentence

Function/Grammatical Words �How many function words are in this sentence? The cat sat on the mat.

Lexical Words and Function Words �In that short sentence, 50% of the words are functional. �That means that 50% of the words are lexical. The cat sat on the mat.

Lexical Words and Function Words �Look again at the top 10 most frequent words in English (20% or so of English). What do you notice about this list? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. the of and a to in is you that it Article Preposition Conjunction Article Preposition/infinitive particle Preposition Copula Verb Pronoun Adjective/pronoun

�In the top ten, there are no: Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs �The top ten are all function words! �Let’s look at the top 25:

Lexical Words vs. Function Words the 2. of 3. and 4. a 5. to 6. in 7. is 8. you 9. that 10. it 11. he 12. was 13. for 1. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. on are as with his they I at be this have from � These are all function words, too! � Look at the top 100 again and try to find the first occurrence of: A lexical verb A noun

The First Hundred 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. the of and a to in is you that it he was for on are as with his they I at be 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. this have from or one had by word but not what all were we when your can said there use an each 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. which she do how their if will up other about many then them these so some her would make like him 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. into time has look two more write go see number no way could people my than first water been call who oil http: //www. duboislc. org/Education. Watch/First 100 Words. html 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. its now find long down day did get come made may part

1. the In addition to ‘to 2. of possess’, ‘have/had’ 3. and can also be an 4. a auxiliary verb. 5. to Which usage do you 6. in think accounts for 7. is this position in the 8. you list? 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. that it he was for on are as with his they I at 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. an 64. make be 44. each this 65. like 45. which have 66. him 46. she from 67. into 47. do or 68. time 48. how one 69. has 49. their had 70. look 50. if by 71. two 51. will word The first lexical noun 72. more 52. up but 73. write 53. other not 74. go 54. about what 75. see 55. out all 76. number 56. many were 77. no 57. then we 78. way 58. them when 79. could 59. these your 80. people 60. so can 81. my 61. some said The first unambiguously lexical verb. 82. than 62. her there 83. first 63. would use 84. water 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. been call who oil its now find long down day did get come made may part

The First Verb �An unambiguously lexical verb does not occur until 40. Said This is interesting because: � It indicates (potentially) that reported speech is somehow ‘important’ in English. � It is in the simple past tense. What does this indicate about English verb usage, in general?

The First Noun �In this list, the first lexical noun is word (30 th). In most lists, the first noun is time (68 th in this list): Does this tell us anything about the English language or English speaking cultures?

So What? �Why is frequency data important? �What does it tell us? �How can we use frequency data as students? �How can teachers use frequency data? �How can textbook writers use frequency data?