A Corpus Is a Body of Text
A corpus is a collection of writings gathered for study. Linguistics uses them to find out what people actually say.
A corpus is a body of texts assembled for analysis. Corpus linguistics changed how dictionaries are written: instead of relying on editors' judgement about usage, lexicographers can search hundreds of millions of words of real speech and writing to see which senses are common, which are rare and which have quietly changed.
- A collection of texts. *A spoken corpus.*
- A body of work. *The corpus of his novels.*
- A body (anatomy). *Corpus callosum.*
- Corpus delicti — the evidence of a crime. *Establishing the corpus delicti.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | corpus | A large corpus. |
| Plural | corpora | Two corpora. |
| Adjective | corporal | Corporal punishment. |
| Related | corpse | A corpse was found. |
| Related | corporation | A large corporation. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The corpus contains a billion words.Linguistics.
- Corpora is the Latin plural.Corpuses is also used.
- The corpus callosum joins the brain's hemispheres.Anatomy.
Words from *corpus*, body
- Corpse — a dead body
- Corporation — a body of people treated as one in law
- Corporal — of the body, as in corporal punishment
- Corps — a body of troops, with the P and S silent
- Corpulent — having a large body
From Latin *corpus*, body. Corpus linguistics developed as a field once computers could search large text collections, from the 1960s onwards.
Corpora or corpuses?
Corpora is the Latin plural and usual in linguistics. Corpuses appears in general use.
How did corpora change dictionaries?
They let editors base definitions on real recorded usage in bulk, rather than on collected citations and personal judgement.