A Sea of-Noun vs. a Mountain of-Noun: A Quantitative Corpus-Based Study of Two Metaphorical Constructions

Jarosław Wiliński

doi:10.18290/rh23716.20

Published : 2023-08-31

Vol. 71 No. 6 (2023)

A Sea of-Noun vs. a Mountain of-Noun: A Quantitative Corpus-Based Study of Two Metaphorical Constructions

Jarosław Wiliński

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3136-6529

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh23716.20

Abstract

Applying the perspective of Construction Grammar and the corpus-based method known as Distinctive-Collexeme Analysis, this study seeks to identify nouns that indicate a strong preference either for the sea of-noun-construction or the mountain of-noun-construction. Based on the data extracted from the corpus, this study reveals that the constructions convey subtle nuances of meaning, reflect different degrees of metaphoricity, and have a strong tendency to occur with specific nouns.

Keywords:

COCA, construction, distinctive collexeme analysis, Fisher’s exact test

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