Ambiguous grammatical forms and power relations. A statistical analysis of Latvian corpora
Keywords: Corpus linguistics, corpus statistics, corpus driven research, Latvian language, ambiguity in language
Abstract: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Latvian laws and policy documents has identified grammatical forms that make texts ambiguous (Kruk 2021; 2024). The reason is that some grammatical forms combine the characteristics of different parts of speech. It is up to the receiver to decide whether a particular word is to be interpreted as a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Meanwhile, the sender reserves the possibility to reject the interpretation as wrong. Ambiguity therefore can maintain power relations since it permits the sender to bear no responsibility for the content. The paper seeks a statistical foundation for such a claim in corpora of the Latvian language. If ambiguous grammatical forms (AGF) are helpful in power relations, then they must be less frequent in those specialized corpora and subcorpora whose primary topic is not the maintenance of power relations. The frequencies of four AGFs (nominalizations, indeclinable participles, cascades of genitive and subjunctive mood) were counted in 19 specialised sub/corpora using the Sketch Engine programme. The extracted data were normalised per million words and processed in SPSS. The two-step cluster analysis identified four clusters. The lowest incidence of AGF was found in fiction, poetry, literary and children’s magazines; the highest was found in legal documents and Ph.D. dissertations. Linear regression has found a strong dependence of indeclinable participles on nominalizations. Qualitative analysis of randomly selected fragments reveals that the overuse of AGF by legislators and doctoral students weakens the illocutive force of propositions. Creating an impression of ‘serious’ discourse, the authors, in fact, conceal the sense of propositions. They can blame critical readers for their inability to find the appropriate information in the text and for the lack of adequate expertise to grasp the complex language structures of the law or academic discipline.
The paper discusses the applicability of corpus-driven approach in critical discourse analysis.
References
Kruk, S. (2020). Uzticības, sadarbības un vienotības konceptu izpratne Nacionālajā attīstības plānā 2021.–2027. gadam. Akadēmiskā Dzīve 56: 131–147.
Kruk, S. (2024). Ambiguous grammars of legal discourse. Lettonica 53.
Submission Number: 52
Loading