A System for Word Usage Change Detection: Its Use in Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51663/pnz.65.3.07Keywords:
word usage change, semantics, meaning shifts, sociolinguisticsAbstract
This paper presents a system for detecting changes in Slovene word usage, enabling the automatic identification of semantic and other shifts across different time periods. We first introduce the system’s technical design and requirements, the methodology for detecting changes, and the graphical user interface, which ensures a user-friendly experience. We then demonstrate how the system can be implemented on the reference corpus of Slovene, Gigafida 2.0, and used to search for and analyse changes in word usage across various time periods. The system’s results are evaluated through a cognitive-linguistic and lexical analysis of the most changed adjectives and nouns, where we examine and categorise word meanings and usages within the detected clusters based on their semantic motivation and representation in dictionaries. Finally, we apply the system to a case study of migration representation in different time periods with manually defined boundaries, which have significantly influenced attitudes toward migration and migrants in Slovenia, thereby testing its applicability for sociolinguistic research. From a linguistic perspective, we observe that the system distinguishes between semantic, syntactic, and other contextually distinct usages, demonstrating its ability to detect both short-term and long-term changes. Furthermore, we observe that the system clearly illustrates the impact of external factors on language and discourse in specific time periods, making it a valuable tool for sociolinguistic analysis.
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