TRACING VERBAL AGGRESSION
[AND OTHER FACEWORK STRATEGIES]
OVER TIME, USING THEMES DERIVED FROM
THE HISTORICAL THESAURUS OF ENGLISH
Dawn Archer and Bethan Malory
Previous work …
◦ Confirmed that automated content analysis tools (Wmatrix3) can be used
to trace pragmatic phenomena such as verbal aggression (Archer, 2014)
Archer (2104) procedure:
◦ Prioritization of SIX semtags … Q2.2 (speech acts), A5.1+/- (‘good/bad’
evaluation), A5.2+/- (‘true/false’ evaluation), E3- (‘angry/violent’),
S1.2.4+/- (‘im/politeness’), and S7.2+/- (‘respect/lack of respect’) … as
opposed to, e.g., focussing on most frequent words / statistical key words
◦ Use of ‘expand context’ facility to re-contextualise PFAIs (= “potential
face aggression indicators”)
Underlying assumption …
◦That tools such as Wmatrix3 are usable in this
way because a semantic field and a pragmatic
space are both understood and analysed in
relation to neighbouring expressions
(Jucker & Taavitsainen, 2000: 74)
Teething problems experienced …
◦ Time intensive … because of targeting individual semtags
within a given dataset (as opposed to combinations of …)
◦ Tagset’s basis in The Longman Lexicon of Contemporary
English (McArthur, 1981) sometimes led to a mis-assignment
of words which have been subject to significant semantic
change over time (e.g., politely used to describe the deftness
with which a thief picked his victim’s pocket!)
Proposed solutions?
◦ Prioritizing of PFAIs within portmanteau strings (= for semtags specifically)
◦ Tagging historical datasets semantically, using new themes derived from
the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary (HTOED).
◦ Identified as part of SAMUELS
(AHRC/ESRC funded project, Grant Ref AH/L010062/1).
◦ Identification of ‘meaning chain[s]’, i.e., sequences of ‘themes’
(PLUS semtags and/or POS) analogous to DNA strings.
Meaning chains
Verbal aggravation, conflict,
impoliteness, etc., made
up of specific combinations
of semantic fields and POS…
◦ DNA string
(made up of combinations of A/T, C/G base pairs)
Datasets analysed
Source of sub-corpora
EEBO
Hansard Commons
Periods covered
1678-1681
‘War of 1812’ (1 June 1812-1 March 1815)
‘1880 General Election’ (1 April 1879-30 April 1880)
‘WW1’ (28 June 1914-28 June 1919)
‘Winter of Discontent’ (1 July 1978-30 April 1979)
‘War of 1812’ (1 June 1812-1 March 1815)
‘1880 General Election’ (1 April 1879-30 April 1880)
‘WW1’ (28 June 1914-28 June 1919)
‘Winter of Discontent’ (1 July 1978-30 April 1979)
st
st
st
th
th
st
Hansard Lords
th
st
th
st
st
th
th
th
st
th
SOME RESULTS …
Sub-corpus
War of 1812
(Hansard Lords)
1880 General Election
(Hansard Lords)
A5.1+ (411), A5.1++
(101), A5.1+++ (117),
A5.1+/A2.1 (52),
A5.1+/A2.2 (4), A5.1(67), A5.1--- (14),
X2.1/A5.1- (12),
A5.1-/A2.1 (4), A5.1–
(2), A5.1 (10)
A5.1+ (7945), A5.1+++ (1730),
A5.1++ (1352), A5:1+/A2:1 (1264),
N3:2/A5:1+ (16), A5:1+/A8 (14),
A5.1- (1074), A5.1--- (369),
X2:1/A5:1- (196), A5.1– (164), A5:1/A2:1 (83), S7:1+/A5:1- (48), A5:1/A2:2 (15), X4:1/A5:1- (5). A5.1
(350)
A5.2+ (212), A5.2(49), A10+/A5.2- (2),
Q1.2/A5.2- (2)
A5.4+ (101)
A5.2+ (4355), A5.2+++ (3), A5.2(599), A10+/A5:2- (14), Q1:2/A5:2(11), A5:2-/X2:1 (9), A5:2-/A8, (7),
G2:2-/A5:2- (7), Q2:1/A5:2- (3),
A5:2-/Q2:2 (2), A5:2-/X4:1 (2),
A5:2/A7 (2)
WW1
(Hansard Lords)
Winter of Discontent (1979)
(Hansard Lords)
size
Frequencies
of
PFAI
semtags
Portmanteau tags
E3- (81), E3-/Q2:2
(7), E3-/S7:1 (6)
Q2.2 (1396), Q2:2/Z6
(39), Q2:2/E2- (32),
Q2:2/E3- (31),
Q2.2/A5.2 (12),
Q2:2/S1:2:4- (9),
S1:2:3+/Q2:2 (8),
A6:1-/Q2:2 (6),
Q2.2/A5.2- (6),
A2:1/Q2:2 (4),
Q2:2/T1:1: 3 (4),
Q2:2/A6:1- (3),
Q2.2/S1.2.4+ (3),
A10-/Q2:2 (2),
Q2.2/G2.2- (2)
S1.2.4+ (76), S1.2.4(4)
S7.2+ (125),
S7:2+/Q2:2 (19),
S7.2- (17)
E3- (2847), E3-/Q2:2 (190), E3-/S7:1
(134), E3-/O1 (11), A1:1:2/E3- (3),
S7:3+/E3- (3), E3-/S2mf (2)
Q2:2 (32380), Q2:2/E2- (1145),
Q2:2/E3- (592), Q2:2/A5:2 (244),
Q2:2/Z6 (995), Q2:2/S1:2:4- (158),
Q2:2/G2:2- (111), Q2:2/A6:1- (45),
Q2:2/G2:2 (44), A6:1-/Q2:2 (38),
Q2:2/S1:2:4+ (35), S1:2:3+/Q2:2
(30), Q2:2/A5:2-(24), A2:1/Q2:2
(15), A11:1-/Q2:2 (10), E2-/Q2:2 (7),
G2:2-/Q2:2 (7), Q2:2/X3:2- (7),
E6+/Q2:2 (5)
S1.2.4+ (718), S1.2.4- (126), S1:2:4/Q2:2 (14), S1.2.4 (3)
S7.2+ (1382), S7:2+/Q2:2 (61),
S7:2+/S2mf (11) S7.2- (227)
A5.1+ (15795), A5.1+++ (3846), A5.1++ (3256),
A5:1+/A2:1 (1698), N3:2/A5:1+ (88),
X2:6/A5:1+/S1:2 (40), X2:6+/A5:1+ (37),
A5:1+/A2:2 (33), A5:1+/A8 (26), X2:6+/A5:1+mf
(10), X2:1/A5:1+++/S2mf (4), A5:1+/Q2:2 (2),
X2:1/A5:1+++ (2), A5.1- (1992), X2:1/A5:1- (623),
A5:1--- (546), A5:1-- (293), A5:1-/A2:1 (131),
X2:6/A5:1- (23), A5:1-/A2:2 (11), X4:1/A5:1- (6),
A5:1-/A6 (1), A5:1--/A2:2 (3), S7:1+/A5:1- (3),
S9/A5:1- (2), A5.1 (869), A5:1+/Q2:2 (1)
A5:2-/Q2:2 (9)
E3- (4588), E3-/Q2:2 (186), A1:1:2/E3- (70), E3/S1:2 (18), E3-/S7:1 (17), E3-/S2mf (11), E3-/O1
(10), E3– (7), S7:3+/E3- (3), E3-/A1:1:1 (2), E3/S1:1:2+ (2), E3– (1)
Q2.2 (67383), Q2:2/E2- (2375), Q2:2/E3- (1399),
Q2:2/Z6 (1182), Q2:2/A10+ (695), Q2:2/S2mf
(463), N5:2+/Q2:2 (386), Q2:2/A5:2 (241),
Q2:2/G2:2- (184), Q2:2/S1:2:4- (145), S8+/Q2:2
(144), Q2:2/S1:2:4+ (134), Q2:2/A6:1- (94),
Q2:2/A5:2- (78), A6:1-/Q2:2 (66), Q2:2/G2:2 (59),
Q2:2/G2:1 (44), A11:1-/Q2:2 (41), S1:2:3+/Q2:2
(30), E2-/Q2:2 (16), Q2:2/X3:2- (14), G2:1/Q2:2
(2), Q2:2/S6+ (7), Q2:2/X3:2++ (7), Q2:2/X7- (5),
G2:2-/Q2:2 (3), A1:2:4-/Q2:2 (2), A6:2-/Q2:2 (2).
Q2:2/A5:1- (1)
S1.2.4+ (1418), S1.2.4- (242), S1:2:4-/Q2:2 (10),
S1.2.4 (2)
S7.2+ (2531), S7:2+/Q2:2 (109), S7:2+/S2mf (11),
S7.2- (206), S7:2-/Q2:1 (2), S9/S7:2- (2)
A5.1+ (7975), A5.1++ (2014), A5.1+++ (1999),
A5:1+/A2:1 (1911), X2:6+/A5:1+ (46), N3:2/A5:1+ (45),
X2:6/A5:1+/S1:2 (44), A5:1+++/A2:2 (32), A5:1+/A8
(25), A5:1+/A2:2 (24), X2:1/A5:1+++ (7), X2:1/A5:1+++
(7), A5:1+++/S5+c (6), X2:6+/A5:1+mf (5),
A5:1+++/S2mf (4), Y1/A5:1+++ (4), X2:6+/A5:1+/N5:2+
(3), A5:1+++/A4:1 (2), A5:1+++/X4:1 (2),
X2:1/A5:1+++/S2mf (2), X2:6/A5:1+mf (2). A5.1- (1515),
A5:1--- (330), X2:1/A5:1- (272), A5:1– (198), A5:1-/A2:1
(123), X2:6/A5:1- (27), A5:1-/A2:2 (26), A5:1--/A2:2
(23), X4:1/A5:1- (7), A5:1-/A6 (4), A5:1-/S2:1f (2),
S1:2/A5:1- (2), A5.1 (1307), A5:1/A6:1- (10), A5:1/N6+
(8)
A5.2+ (6823), A5:2+/A8 (57), A5.2- (1866), A5:2-/A8
(25), A5:2-/X2:1 (23), G2:2-/A5:2- (23), A5:2-/Q2:2
(22), A10+/A5:2- (15), Q1:2/A5:2- (13), A5:2-/X2:2 (6),
A5:2-/S2mf (3), Q2:1/A5:2- (3), A5:2++ (2 ), A5:2/G2:1- (2)
E3-, E3-/Q2:2 (268), E3-/S2mf (20), E3-/O1 (13), E3/S1:2 (10), A1:1:2/E3- (5), E3-/A1:1:2 (3), G2:1-/E3- (3)
Q2.2 (44767), Q2:2/E3- (1038 ), Q2:2/E2- (1010 ),
Q2:2/Z6 (572), Q2:2/S1:2:4+ (280), S8+/Q2:2 (127),
Q2:2/G2:2- (100), Q2:2/A5:2 (97), N5:2+/Q2:2 (95),
Q2:2/S1:2:4- (92), Q2:2/A5:2- (87), Q2:2/A6:1- (29),
A6:1-/Q2:2 (26), A11:1-/Q2:2 (25), A2:1/Q2:2 (19),
Q2:2/G2:2 (17), E2-/Q2:2 (15), Q2:2/X3:2++ (14),
Q2:2/A5:2+ (10), S1:2:3+/Q2:2 (9), A7-/Q2:2 (7), G2:1/Q2:2 (6), Q2.2- (6), Q2:2/A5:3- (5), Q2:2/E4:1- (3),
Q2:2/E4:1+ (2), Q2:2/X3:2- (2), G2:1/Q2:2 (1),
Q2:2/X3:2- (2), Q2:2/X7- (2), Q2:2/E4:2- (1)
S1.2.4+ (2578), S1.2.4- (127), S1:2:4-/Q2:2 (8), S1.2.4
(1)
S7.2+ (1529), S7:2+/Q2:2 (69), S7:2+/S2mf (13)
S7.2- (191)
Archer’s (2015) Facework Scale
FEA as (or becoming) primary goal of S
FEA recognised by H
FTA as (or becoming) primary goal of S
FTA recognised by H
P
R
O
T
O
T
Y
P
I
C
A
L
I
M
P
O
L
I
T
E
N
E
S
S
Intentional
i.e., primary intent is
to attack/threaten face
Ambiguous
-as-to S’s
FT intent
due to [potential]
multiple goals
Incidental
i.e., no tangible/
planned intent
to enhance or
to aggravate face
= acting according
to “norms” of
role, context, etc.
Accidental “offenses” committed by S
Inc. H-constructed “offenses” (?)
Ambiguous
-as-to S’s
FE intent
due to [potential]
multiple goals
Intentional
i.e., primary intent is
to enhance face
= speech relating to/signalling respect
Facework strategies involving glorifi* (S7.2+/Q2.2)
◦ If I may be allowed to say so with great respect to the gentleman who is to
be, as I understand, the new Minister, the Minister of Reconstruction is going
to be a glorified Under-Secretary of the Prime Minister (WW1, H Lords, S5LV0026P0_00787)
◦ I think in the minds of all of us…is that it demands in the foreground and in
the background the support of public opinion: I have never been addicted
to undue glorification of public opinion, because I have very often found
myself a minority; I have never been addicted to a glorification of the
infallibility of public opinion: But public opinion is not half as fallible as the
individual opinion of Monarchs, Pontiffs, or even Prime Ministers: It is the root
of the matter that the Government must lean on public opinion, good or
bad: Then I ask how in the world are you to get and lean upon a free, full,
and correct public opinion unless the public has free […] (WWI, Hansard Lords, S5LV0020P0_00321)
Using HTOED themes to trace FTAs --- FEAs
AO18a
AO21c
(Hostile
action/attack)
(Violent action)
AR45g
AS06
AO22d
(Bad behaviour)
AP03b
AP03b03
AR21a
AR:33:a
(Disorder)
(disharmony,
incongruity)
(hair-splitting,
quibbling)
(nonsense,
rubbish)
AS06a
AS14
AS14a
AS14b
AU:45
(Bias, prejudice,
intolerance)
(Accusation,
charge)
(Disproof)
(Contempt)
(Derision, ridicule,
mockery)
(Disrespect,
disfavour, insult)
(Cowardice)
AS14e
(Denunciation,
invective)
AS15b01
AT10a
AT14
AU22
AU:46:a
(Slander, calumny)
(Ruffianly
conduct)
(Accursedness,
cursing)
AT20
(Spitefulness, ill-will)
(Displeasure)
(Intimidation)
AU23
(Annoyance,
vexation)
AU25
AU32
AU40a
AV04b02
AX13
BC:06:b
(Anger)
(Hostility, enmity)
AX24
AX26
BA05
(Humiliation)
(Obstinacy,
stubbornness)
(Protest,
remonstrance)
(Lawlessness)
BB09d03
BB10a
BB10a01
BD:05:g:02.*
(Denial, dissent)
(Malediction)
(Attack)
(Compulsion)
(Unruliness)
(Disorder/riot)
AR37.*
AR22.*
AC:01:g.*
AR24a & b
AY:06:b:03.*
AY:06:b:04.*
(socially inferior)
(a – low/vulgar)
(b – lout/boor)
BD:05:g:03.*
AS12b
AX14
AI:16:f.*
(Respect)
(Agreement,
consent)
(Dirtiness…)
(Ignorance)
(Lack of
understanding)
(mental illness)
BB09d02a
AO21d
AO22c
(Submission)
(lack of violence/
severity/ intensity)
(Good behaviour)
(oafishness
& foolishness)
AS07
(Evaluation,
estimation,
appraisal)
(Unchastity …)
(Moral/spiritual
impurity …)
AY:06:b:04:b.* (lout/boor)
[…] who was speaking, as he said, for the other Members of the EEC: I
believe that the Government may find that they have caused more
damage to Britain by this tiff than any advantage likely to be gained by
separate representation at this conference: My Lords, the right honourable
gentleman the Prime Minister has recently been delving into anthropology:
He has made some barbed references to Piltdown Man and, for that
reason, I can not refrain from pointing out that at the moment he appears to
be giving a good imitation of Neanderthal Man, beating his breast as a way
of expressing his willingness to trust and co-operate with his neighbours: If it is
any consolation, Neanderthal Man is described in an encyclopaedia as the
most primitive known European (HL, S5LV0366P0_01278)
Not in the theme(s) … name calling?
◦ 01.02.01.02.01.03 (n) - 01 Mental Deficiency (e.g. natural fool, idiot) – 02.01 Person (e.g. moron)
◦ 01.03.02.06.02 (n) – Homosexuality – 07.01 Male (e.g., fairy, faggot, fruit, queer, ginger beer)
◦ 01.05.05.21.05.06 (n) Violent Behaviour – 02 Person (e.g., tyrant, ruffian, bully, hooligan, yobo)
◦ 01.05.05.22.02.01 (n) – 06.02.01 With Skill to Hide/Deceive – 06.02.11 (e.g. slyly)
◦ 01.05.05.22.01.01 (n) – cunning
◦ 02.07.06/10.14 (n) – poor person of any colour [contempt.] (e.g., nigger)
◦ 02.01.09.06 (n) – Stupid/Foolish/Inadequate person
◦ 02.01.09.06.01 (n) Stupid Person, Dolt, Blockhead
◦ 02.01.09.06.01.01 (n) Lout, Oaf, Booby (e.g., brute)
OTHERS …?
◦ 02.01.09.06.02 (n) – Foolish Person, Fool
◦ 02.01.09.06.02.01 (n) – Fool, Simpleton
◦ 02.01.09.06.03 (n) – 03 Simpleton – 04 Idiot, Crazy Person (e.g. ratbag, ding-a-ling, flake)
◦ 02.01.12.07 (n) – Want of Knowledge/Ignorance – 06 Ignorant Person (e.g., know-nothing)
AR:24:a.* []* PPY (you)
No one who has done any ordinary grass-roots canvassing, would deny that
at least four out of every five votes are cast against something or somebody,
rather than for anything: This is how we have to behave under an electoral
system which was described yesterday by The Times as "a lethal gamble":
This rough, oafish game depends essentially upon fear: You have to frighten
people into believing that the other lot are going to be even worse than you
have already shown yourselves to be, and in order to pull off this
propaganda trick you need bugaboos or bogeymen: You need a name to
make the flesh creep: The late and very much respected Aneurin Bevan
served the party opposite in that capacity very well for some time: Once,
noble Lords may remember, in a lean year they had to make do with Harold
Laski: But look what the Wembley conference has given them …
(HL, S5LV0417P0_01590)
Observation respecting new themes?
As THEMEs are more detailed than SEMTAGs, a single ht_thm
will tend to provide many genuine examples of FTAs/FEAs …
Theme
Results Theme
returned
Contempt [AS:14]
2,462
Lack of violence […] [AO21d]
Results
returned
161
Bad behaviour [AO:22:d]
853
Good behaviour [AO:22:c]
3,828
Derision, ridicule, mockery [AS:14:a]
387
Evaluation, estimation, appraisal [AS:07]
2,154
Denunciation, invective [AS:14:e]
252
Agreement, consent [AX:14]
3,619
Disrespect, disfavour, insult [AS:14:b]
543
Respect [AS:12:b]
Respect [(AS:23:b) & (pos !=“W”)]
1,751
1,061
Winter of Discontent, Hansard Commons
GRAPH – Hansard Commons
◦ Showing number of instances per million words of individual HT themes relating to the
four Hansard Commons sub-corpora
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Bad behaviour
Contempt
Bias, prejudice,
intolerance
1812
1880
WWI
Displeasure
WoD
Annoyance,
vexation
GRAPH – Hansard Lords
◦ Showing number of instances per million words of individual HT themes relating to the
four Hansard Lords sub-corpora
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Bad behaviour
Contempt
Bias, prejudice,
intolerance
1812
1880
WWI
Displeasure
WoD
Annoyance,
vexation
GRAPH – EEBO (Popish Plot 1678-71)
Showing number of instances per million words of individual HT themes
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Another observation re: themes?
They may reveal potential differences in levels of pragmatic phenomena, e.g. aggression,
across our datasets. The graph below shows number of instances per million words of
individual HT themes across all datasets (Hansard and EEBO).
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Popish Plot
Bad behaviour
1812
Contempt
1880
Bias, prejudice, intolerance
WWI
Displeasure
WoD
Annoyance, vexation
SOME EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT TYPES
OF FACEWORK STRATEGIES …
Example using AX:13. (protest)
◦ What we seem to have now in this report is a report from the Procedure
Committee, wanting to go over the whole principle again: This really is not
good enough, and I strongly protest and say that the House should not be
treated in this way by one of its Committees and that an offer honestly
made and honestly accepted by those who had worked hard on the
Select Committee on Practice and Procedure should not take so long to
be carried out: Indeed, it seems that it is going to be two or three years
before a simple recommendation of one experiment is put into effect: I
personally do not agree to accepting this Report from the Committee:
It is time the House itself had in front of it … (HL, WOD, S5LV0396P0_00994)
Example using AR:21:a. (hair-splitting, quibbling)
If I may say so, though perhaps it is discourteous to suggest it, this was
professional jealousy or perhaps just a subtle red herring by the noble Lord
who is speaking on behalf of the Government: One has, of course,
enormous respect for the Law Societies of Scotland and England: From
the consumer's point of view , they have done a tremendous service, and
indeed their members also do a tremendous service: But what they are
not qualified for, quite frankly, is to be valuers: That is the simple argument:
I do not intend to press this case on solicitors tonight, but I would ask your
Lordships to look … (HL, WOD, S5LV0399P0_00503)
STRATEGIC FEA AND FTA …?
AO:21:d – … violence/severity (lack of)
◦ My hon: Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr: Pavitt) was quite
right to castigate the right hon Member for Wanstead and Woodford
(Mr: Jenkin): He made not even a veiled attack but an open,
unconcealed attack on the trade unions, separately and
collectively: As a sponsored Member, I take very strong exception to
those attacks: There is no more responsible or moderate trade union
operating within the Health Service than the Confederation of
Health Service Employees: It is dedicated to the preservation and
improvement of the NHS, and nowhere more so than in the mental
health service, the Cinderella of the Service WoD
(HC,
, S5CV0953P0_00595_xml)
Examples of FTAs using AS:14:a.* [derision/ridicule/mockery…] EEBO
◦ … I think no man … can doubt the verity of it [the Plot]: Indeed at the first
many thought to cast a suspicion upon what Oates and Bedlow inform 'd,
as being two persons of an idle life and conversation; but how ridiculous is
this? As if such Rogues would trust such a Villany with honest men, or any
but those that had been as bad as themselves; you might as well expect a
Highway-man should go and acquiant my Lord Chief Justice, or my Lord
of Canterbury, when he meant to commit the next Robbery; but a bad
shift is better than none at all: So that from the nature of the Evidence, or
credit of the Informants, no man can take exception against the
Information either of Dr: Oates, Mr: Bedlow … (A28432)
◦ … the City of Paris … had now declared it self his Enemy, and having
derided and defamed his Name, had also gone on to conspire against his
Person: that he knew very well that those Plots were contrived by
strangers, and that the good people who were originally of the City
consented not unto them, … (A37246)
“ATTACK” versus a report of …?
Collocates of [AS:14:a.*] (Derision/ridicule/mockery)
N.
Word
1
is
2
Total no. in this subcorpus
Expected collocate
frequency
Observed collocate
frequency
In no. of texts
Log-likelihood
126,968
36.229
118
111
118.145
fun
33
0.009
8
4
94.104
3
sneer
17
0.005
5
5
60.938
4
makes
1,281
0.366
12
11
60.689
5
it
89,126
25.431
73
70
59.834
8
amount
1,759
0.502
7
7
23.94
9
situation
3,961
1.13
9
9
21.65
10
make
9,272
2.646
13
10
20.742
12
at
28,245
8.06
21
17
14.42
13
Members
12,814
3.656
13
13
14.338
14
how
5,576
1.591
8
7
13.048
15
Opposition
4,475
1.277
7
7
12.396
16
position
3,869
1.104
6
5
10.538
17
whole
4,142
1.182
6
5
9.875
18
rather
3,138
0.895
5
3
9.003
19
into
9,061
2.586
8
8
7.259
Some [AS:14:a.*] example collocates …
People outside the House have no respect for Members who
… got into this "referendums" situation, which rather
blabber
makes fun
of
away on matters about which they think …
the whole concept of the sovereignty of Parliament …
It is all right to sneer and
jeer,
but the public and many firms understand this
Mr: Aitken Labour Members may
scoff,
but they are clearly not concerned about the
a party which commits itself to such drivel is held in
more I see of this Bill, the more I think how
derision
throughout Europe and elsewhere
ridiculous
it is to waste the time of this House
derisory
amount and is totally irrelevant in the context of
pay is not permitted to the Ulster workers: That is a
ridiculous
situation and one which I can not countenance
It sounded good sense to me and I resented the remarks and
barracking
Whichever way one looks at it, that is a
ill-considered legislation merely brings Parliament and the law into disrepute and
ridicule:
from the Opposition Benches …
There is a better chance that
Notice the tendency to use the third person to criticise others …
Notice, too, evidence of impression management …
Question(s) still to be answered:
representative of Hansard in general?
Other datasets?
An issue: we’re still getting false positives
◦ Therefore experimenting once again with meaning chains
e.g., combinations of:
THEMEs,
THEME(s) + SEMTAG,
THEME(s) + POS,
THEME + SEMTAG + POS
Winter of Discontent (Hansard Commons)
ht_thm []* ht_thm
Results
returned
ht_thm []* sem
Results
returned
ht_thm []* pos
Results
returned
Bad behaviour [AO:22:d] []*
[AT:10:a] Ruffianly conduct
24
Bad behaviour [AO:22:d] []*
[Q2:2] Speech acts
462
Bad behaviour [AO:22:d] []*
[PPY] You
13
Bad behaviour [AO:22:d] []*
[AP:03:b] Disorder
17
Disorder [AP:03:b] []* [Q2.2]
Speech acts
50
Disorder [AP:03:b] []* [PPY]
You
30
Truthfulness/veracity [AR:39.*]
[]* [AP:03:b] Disorder
75
Truthfulness/veracity
[AR:39.*] []* [Z6] negative
1809
Truthfulness/veracity
[AR:39.*] []* [Z6] []* [PPY]
negative You
23
Respect [AS:12:b.] []* [AX:24.*]
Denial/dissent
60
[AS:12:b.] []* [AX:24.*] []*
[Q2:2] Speech acts
24
Respect [AS:12:b.] []* [Z6]
negative []* [PPY] You
20
6
Contempt [AS:14.*] []* [PP.*]
[]* [AU:23.*] Pronouns
Annoyance/vexation
5
Contempt [AS:14.] []* [PP.*]
Pronouns
2,106
71
Evaluation/appraisal
[AS:07.*] []* [Z6] negative
949
Evaluation/appraisal
[AS:07.*"] []* [Z6] negative
[]* [PPY] You or [PPIS.*] I/we
11
And
501
Contempt [AS:14.*] []* [AU:23.*]
Annoyance/vexation
Respect [AS:12:b] []*
[AO:22:c.] Good behaviour
… but we need to be aware of the
‘Mystery of vanishing reliability’
(Rissanen, 1989)
◦ Belief that annotations which are too detailed will probably tell
us little in regard to more general language usage …
◦ The positive side: meaning chains do eradicate many false
positives.
◦ The flip side: they also seem to be eradicating genuine FTA/FEA
examples.
◦ The answer? To continue experimenting with different codes –
and find a way of undertaking simultaneous searches of 4+
codes
INTENTIONAL
rd
(3
person) FTA
“In my right honourable Friend 's reply to the right honourable Lady the
Leader of the Opposition, was he not rather unsympathetic, especially
now that she appears to be the last pro-Marketeer in Britain? Is not this
disturbance manifested by her use of the word ‘abrasiveness’? For the
right honourable Lady to protest a dislike of abrasiveness is rather like
Count Dracula professing a distaste for blood. (Winter of Discontent Sub-corpus, 1978-9)
String:
[ht_thm = "AR:39.*"] Truthfulness, veracity
[]* [ht_thm = "AP:03:b.*"] Disorder
[]* [sem = "Q2:2.*"] Speech act
Third person other-attack
“Nevertheless, I can not help expressing my free opinion on the motives which
seem to have dictated this wretched Motion: It appears to be the latest outcome
of that wild and frantic agitation which began with ‘Bulgarian atrocities,’ and which
has been continued since by the Party out of Office, in so random and reckless a
manner, that the whole country has been thrown into a state of confusion by the
various misrepresentations made as to the policy of the Ministry: There is hardly any
sophism which they have spared; there is scarcely a single mis-statement to which
they have not resorted in their endeavour to inflame the public mind: But their
audacity on the present occasion exceeds all their former daring: The Mover of
these Resolutions simply asks us to stultify ourselves; to undo all that we have
hitherto done, because we thought it right to do…” (Run-up to 1880 General Election):
String:
[ht_thm = "AO:22:d.*"] Bad behaviour
[]* [ht_thm = "AP:03:b.*"] Disorder
[]* [sem = "Q2:2.*"] Speech act
Direct (second-person) FTA
You cruelly punished them because you have had to remit the brutal
and blackguard sentences inflicted upon these men for breach of
discipline by your visiting justices: The first thing to do was to inquire why
was Belfast selected as the venue for the torture of these men? The
complaint arose because you selected not merely a Belfast prison but
a prison from which you had practically shifted the Catholic warders
and where the Governor was an English soldier…” (WWI Subcorpus, 1914-1919)
String:
[ht_thm = "AO:22:d.*"] Bad behaviour
[]* [ht_thm = "AS:06.*"] Accusation, charge
[]* [sem = "Q2:2.*"] Speech act
To censure that proceeding not from the manner in which the right has
been exercised, but because it has been exercised at all, savours not a little
of that spirit of intolerance and bigotry which has been at various times, too
justly imputed to the professors of that religion whom it is sought to admit to
a share of political power, hitherto deemed inconsistent with the laws and
the constitution: How far, Sir, the conduct of the Roman Catholics in Ireland
has contributed to produce this expression of the public opinion, to increase
the jealousies and fears of every class and description of the Protestant
community, I will not now enquire, because I am unwilling to enter into any
discussion, or even to utter an expression, that can hurt the feelings of a
large and respectable part of our fellow subjects (Anglo-American War of 1812 Subcorpus(1812-1815)
String:
[ht_thm = "AS:14.*"] Contempt
[]* [ht_thm = "AR:45:g.*"] Bias, prejudice
[]* [sem = "Q2:2.*"] Speech act
But the Prince of Conde, either through the inconsiderateness of his age, or
a natural fierceness derived from his Ancestors, in his answer made shew
of opposing the Kings commands, saying, He desired only that no violence
might be used against his Conscience; whereat the King exceedingly
displeased, reproved him bitterly, often calling him insolent, mad, stubborn
Traitor, Rebel, and Son of a Rebel, and threatned to take away his life, if he
did not within three days turn Catholick, and give evident signs of his
repentance; so guards were placed both upon him and the King of
Navarre, all their chief Servants being taken from them, and presently cut
in pieces; in whose places new ones were provided by the King according
to his own mind” (Popish Plot Sub-corpus, 1678-81)
String:
[ht_thm = "AO:12:d.*"] Opposition
[]* [ht_thm = "AU:22.*"] Displeasure
[]* [sem = "Q2:2.*"] Speech act
GRAPH – Hansard Commons
◦ Showing number of instances per million words, of strings comprising two HT themes
and the semtag Q2.2, in the four Hansard Commons subcorpora.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Bad behaviour;
Accusation/charge; Speech
act
Bad behaviour; Disorder;
Speech act
WoD
WWI
Disorder; truthfulness/veracity;
Speech act
1880
1812
Bias/prejudice/intolerance;
Contempt; Speech act
GRAPH – Hansard Lords
◦ Showing number of instances per million words, of strings comprising two HT themes
and the semtag Q2.2, in the four Hansard Lords subcorpora.
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Bad behaviour;
Accusation, charge;
Speech act
Bias, prejudice,
intolerance; Contempt;
Speech act
1812
1880
Displeasure; Opposition;
Speech act
WWI
WoD
Spitefulness, ill-will;
opposition; Speech act
Popish Plot (EEBO) graph: Showing number of instances per million words, of strings
comprising two HT themes and the semtag Q2.2.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Still to do
◦ Link to what we know about facework and historical periods
◦ Link to what we know about facework and parliamentary discussions –
see, e.g., work of Cornelia Ilie (parliamentary forms of address), Chris
Christie (gender, transgressions, apologies), Sandra Harris (Prime Minister’s
Question Time), etc.
◦ Interrogate the quantitative results in detail to:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Assess types of facework strategies (and their frequencies) in various datasets
Determine how often the utterances are “heard” as being impolite (cf. Harris)
Determine what types of FTAs/FEAs are self-focussed and/or other-focussed
Explore the use of the third-person directed FTAs/FEAs
References
◦ D. Archer (forthcoming). Slurs, insults, (backhanded) compliments and other strategic
facework moves. Language Sciences.
◦ Archer, D. 2014. ‘Exploring verbal aggression in English historical texts using USAS: The
possibilities, the problems and potential solutions’ In: Taavitsainen, I., A.H. Jucker and J.
Tuominen (eds.). Diachronic Corpus Pragmatics. John Benjamins, pp.277-301.
◦ Jucker, A. and I. Taavitsainen. 2000. Diachronic speech act analysis: Insults from flyting
to flaming. Journal of Historical Pragmatics 1(1): 67-95.
◦ McArthur, T. 1981. Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English. Longman.
◦ Rayson, P. 2008. “Wmatrix: A Web-based Corpus Processing Environment.” Computing
Department, Lancaster University. Online: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/wmatrix/.
◦ Rissanen, M. 1989. ‘Three problems associated with the use of diachronic corpora’.
ICAME Journal 13: 16-19.
Idealistic (X2.1/A5.1+++) [subject: conscientious objectors]
◦ […] what exactly does the community desire to do with these
men? Does it hope with people of inflexible determination, to
make good soldiers of them? That seems to be wildly idealistic:
Does it desire to shoot them? If so, the simplest thing is to say so
at once and shoot them out of hand, which would cause fewer
of these disgraceful scenes: I understood that there was in the
Military Service Act a clause which it was stated in another
place provided that persons who conscientiously objected to
and refused to perform any kind of military service were not
liable to be shot […]
(WWI, Hansard Lords, S5LV0020P0_01931)