Corpus

A corpus is a structured set of texts or spoken material used for linguistic analysis. It can refer to a collection of written works, such as books or articles, or to spoken language samples, often used in the fields of linguistics, grammar, and artificial intelligence to study language patterns, usage, and structures. Corpora may serve various purposes, including academic research, language learning, and developing natural language processing applications.

Corpus meaning with examples

• The linguist compiled a comprehensive corpus of contemporary English literature to study changes in syntax and vocabulary over the last fifty years, analyzing patterns that ensure a deeper understanding of language evolution. This corpus not only included novels and poetry but also academic articles to exhibit a wide range of styles and registers that represent the complexity of the English language throughout this period.
• In the field of natural language processing, researchers rely heavily on a diverse corpus of human dialogue to train artificial intelligence systems to understand and generate human-like conversation. This corpus consists of scripted dialogues, recorded conversations, and social media interactions, ensuring the AI can handle various scenarios, dialects, and informal language usage, making it a valuable resource for developing conversational agents.
• During her doctoral research, she turned to a historical corpus of legal texts to explore linguistic shifts in legal terminology and their sociopolitical implications over centuries. This investigation allowed her to trace the evolution of legal language in response to changing societal norms, revealing how language shapes and reflects the legal system and its undertakings.
• The educational software uses a designated corpus of language learners' spoken and written outputs to identify common errors, helping refine its language teaching methodologies. By analyzing the corpus, developers can adapt the software to provide personalized feedback, ensuring that it meets the distinct needs of its users based on their prevalent challenges and progress.