Original scientific paper
Cultural-Anthropological Relevance a a of Word Frequency Parameters (American vs. British English)
Željko Bujas
Abstract
Reliable word counts, now available for major European languages, reveal frequential patterning as a significant constituent of their lexical structure. This patteming shows an intriguing uniformity and
has a striking cultural-anthropological relevance. The ten or so nouns, topping the rank lists of these languages consistently refer to the concepts bclonging to what this paper terms "Man's fundamental
preoccupations" (Man, Time, Space). American-English and British- English rank lists show, as expected, a close correspondence of both the nouns occurring and their rank positions. As one goes down the rank lists (into the second and third hundred), the rank position divergence between nouns found on the lists is encountered. A pronounced or drastic divergence is a sure indication of cultural
differences (as illustrated in the paper), and as such an efficient tool of research into the lexical differences between American English and British English.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
121575
URI
Publication date:
26.9.1988.
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