A Sociop agma ic S udy o Con en ional Similes in
Polish D ama (1772–1939): A Co pus-Based
App oach
Aleksand a Ryś
Uni e si y o Silesia in Ka owice, Poland
aleksand a. [email protected]
ees a
ees a
ees a
ees a
As clea as c ys al… o as da k as nigh ?
•Unique co pus:50 Polish d amas, c. 900.000
okens, sociolinguis ically anno a ed.
•Me hodological inno a ion: combining
p agma ics, co pus, and his o ical linguis ics.
•In as uc u e in ac ion: CLARIN ools make
c oss-disciplina y ques ions possible.
•Fu u e di ec ions: models ex endable o o he
languages, co po a, and domains.
E e y Simile is a Pin on he Map
Similes a e no jus o namen s o language. They a e sho cu s o hough — signals we
epea wi hou no icing. Each simile is like a pin on a social map, ma king he speake ’s
emo ions, iden i y, and socie al place. Bu how can such signals be aced ac oss
his o y?
Tha is whe e digi al co po a — and CLARIN — ma e . I use he Co pus o Polish
D ama ic Tex s (1772–1939), c ea ed h ough he coope a ion o he Uni e si y o Silesia
in Ka owice and CLARIN-PL. These plays imi a e e e yday speech, gi ing us a is ic alue
and sociolinguis ic au hen ici y.
This p ojec p esen s how in as uc u e and ools unlock hidden pa e ns o socie y —
u ning similes in o coo dina es on a his o ical map… and maybe e en a GPS o oday’s
language.
This esea ch p esen s how similes, mapped in a
his o ical co pus, e eal he in e play o gende ,
age, and social s a us — made isible h ough
CLARIN in as uc u e.
A simile is a ixed compa ison:
(as) X as Y. I ’s how languages
pain pic u es!
as i as a iddle
s a k wie ein Bä
nudny jak laki z olejem
忙得像热锅上的蚂蚁
(máng de
xiàng ègūo shàng de mǎyǐ)
Glossa y: Wha is a simile?
I ’s as easy as pie!
The Language CODE: Similes Ac oss Speech Ac s and Social Roles
Co pus O e iew: Ea esd opping on he Pas
F om Pas Rou es o Fu u e Voices
T ace he Road: How he Me hod Wo ks
→ (s ong symme y)
→ (clea hie a chy: op down)
→ / (c oss-g oup communica ion)
→ (symme y: equal pa ne s)
Key insigh s:
•Men domina e as sende s
in Con en and Displays.
•Women appea mo e o en
in Exchange and as ecei e s
in O de s.
•Hie a chy is mos isible
in O de s.
•Symme y domina es
in Con en and Exchange.
•C oss-g oup links (ac oss
gende /s a us) eme ge
especially in Displays.
Acknowledgemen
B edin, H. (1998). Compa isons and similes. Lingua, 105(1–2), 67–
78. Else ie .
Culpepe , J. (2010). His o ical Sociop agma ics. W: A.H. Jucke , I.
Taa i sainen ( ed.). His o ical P agma ics (69–94). De G u e
Mou on.
Mi enga B., Pas uch M., Wąsińska W., The Co pus o Polish
D ama ic Tex s (1772–1939) – s uc u e, speci ici y and applica ion
(in p ess).
Wie zbicka A. (1987). English Speech Ac Ve bs: A Seman ic
Dic iona y. Academic P ess Aus alia.