Using recurrent word-combinations
to explore cross-linguistic differences
Jarle Ebeling, Signe Oksefjell Ebeling and Hilde Hasselgård
University of OsloThe present study explores phraseological differences between English and
Norwegian on the basis of a bidirectional parallel corpus, viz. The English-
Norwegian Parallel Corpus. The investigation starts from lists of recurrent
three-word combinations in English and Norwegian original and translated fic-
tion texts. The paper discusses methodological issues related to using recurrent
word-combinations as a point of departure for contrastive studies. Three case
studies arise from observed differences between original and translated texts, as
they emerged from the lists. The results point to constructional, semantic and
pragmatic differences between the languages. Moreover, the studies suggest that
the bootstrapping method applied may point to cross-linguistic differences that
might elude traditional contrastive corpus investigations.Keywords: phraseology, recurrent word-combinations, English-Norwegian,
corpus study, bootstrapping method- Introduction
Almost 20 years ago, Stig Johansson was instrumental in introducing a stron-
ger empirical dimension to contrastive analysis through his pioneering work on
the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus (ENPC) and the initiation of a Nordic
contrastive network. From Johansson and Hofland’s 1993 ICAME contribution
(Towards an English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus, 1994) to his monograph (Seeing
through Multilingual Corpora, 2007) 14 years later, Johansson published vastly
in the field, and inspired students and other scholars to carry out corpus-based
contrastive studies.
In this paper, we follow (some of ) Johansson’s later work, especially his paper
entitled ‘On communication by means of phrases’ (2009a) and his study of pat-
terns with way in a contrastive perspective (2009b). Thus, we wish to honour Stig