HIGH
a) Keyness
The lemma ‘high’ was the one hundred and forty-third most
significant key word in the BEC corpus.
|
N |
Word |
bec freq. |
bec.lst % |
bnc freq. |
bnc.lst % |
Keyness |
P |
|
143 |
HIGH |
968 |
0.09 |
1,012 |
0.05 |
178.5 |
0.000000 |
b) Semantic Prosody
Left: Three interrelated groups identified. All are
concerned with the nature of the high,
and most of the qualifiers refer to extremes
(e.g. 50 instances - 75.75% of the how
high prosodic group), e.g. extremely,
very, all-time (extremes belongs
to the how high group and is
separated by the broken line).
|
semantic prosody |
frequency/ 669
& % |
example |
|
how high |
66 - 9.86% |
relatively high |
|
extremes |
50 - 7.47% |
a ten-year high extremely high a record high |
|
nature of the high (negative) |
17 - 2.54% |
chronically high excessively high too high murderously high |
|
nature of the high (positive) |
16 - 2.39 % |
unfailingly high consistently
high |
Right: Five groups identified.
|
semantic prosody |
frequency/ 669
& % |
example |
|
money |
76 - 11.36% |
high interest rates high costs high savings high yield |
|
amount |
22 - 3.28% |
high volume high proportion of
businesses |
|
movement |
29 - 4.33% |
high speed high growth |
|
technology |
35 - 5.23% |
high-tech high technology |
|
quality |
62 - 9.26% |
high quality |
c) Three-word
clusters
|
N |
cluster |
Freq. |
|
1 |
is a high |
12 |
|
2 |
a high degree |
10 |
|
3 |
high degree of |
10 |
|
4 |
high level of |
10 |
|
5 |
the high street |
10 |
|
6 |
a very high |
9 |
|
7 |
a high level |
8 |
|
8 |
container high molecular |
8 |
|
9 |
high interest rates |
8 |
|
10 |
high molecular polyethylene |
8 |
|
11 |
molecular polyethylene of |
8 |
|
12 |
of high density |
8 |
|
13 |
polyethylene of high |
8 |
|
14 |
in high quality |
7 |
|
15 |
a high profile |
6 |
|
16 |
for easy operation |
6 |
|
17 |
graphics for easy |
6 |
|
18 |
high of # |
6 |
|
19 |
high quality graphics |
6 |
|
20 |
high seas trading |
6 |
|
21 |
menus in high |
6 |
|
22 |
on the high |
6 |
|
23 |
quality graphics for |
6 |
|
24 |
screen menus in |
6 |
|
25 |
the high-yield |
6 |
|
26 |
twelve o'clock high |
6 |
|
27 |
a high quality |
5 |
|
28 |
have a high |
5 |
|
29 |
high levels of |
5 |
|
30 |
in a high |
5 |
|
31 |
to a new |
5 |
|
32 |
a high percentage |
4 |
|
33 |
a new high |
4 |
|
34 |
and high quality |
4 |
|
35 |
as high as |
4 |
|
36 |
as well as |
4 |
|
37 |
at a high |
4 |
|
38 |
high dear firstname |
4 |
|
39 |
high of #p |
4 |
|
40 |
high quality products |
4 |
|
41 |
high-tech companies |
4 |
|
42 |
high-yield group |
4 |
|
43 |
in the high |
4 |
|
44 |
inner container high |
4 |
|
45 |
it's a high |
4 |
|
46 |
of high quality |
4 |
|
47 |
smooth blow moulded |
4 |
|
48 |
this is a |
4 |
d) Macro-generic
distribution
e) Colligation
Used overwhelmingly as an adjective/adverb, but 26 instances
(3.88% of sample) of use as a noun.
COBUILD Sense 2 (measure from bottom to top)
15 instances - 2.42% of sample
Patterns: Amount-adjective, noun-adjective
2250 mm high
COBUILD Sense 4 (great in amount, degree or intensity)
421 instances - 62.92% of sample
Patterns: Graded adjective
staff turnover was
very high, that brought interest rates as high as 15 per cent
COBUILD Sense 6 (noun - a high)
26 instances - 3.88% of sample
Patterns: Count noun - often noun-of-amount
all-time record high,
hit a near-ten-year high, a new high of 394p
COBUILD Sense 7 (high priority)
6 instances - 0.89% of sample
Patterns: Graded adjective - often adjective-on-noun
a high priority is
placed on technical training
COBUILD Sense 8 (high in a profession or society)
3 instances - 0.44% of sample
Patterns: Graded adjective: verb link-adjective-in -noun
never rose very high
in the ranks of local government
this is a high level
role with a direct report to the IT Director
COBUILD Sense 9 (something advanced or complex)
Patterns: Adjective, adjective-noun
35 instances - 5.23% of sample
two men invest in
high-tech equipment
COBUILD Sense 12 (high quality-very good indeed)
Patterns: Graded adjective
77 instances - 11.5% of sample
you are receiving a
consistently high standard
COBUILD Sense 17 (high on drink or drugs)
Patterns: Adjective, verb link-adjective, usually
adjective-on-noun
1 instance - 0.14% of sample
we were high on
adrenaline
Other COBUILD Entries:
high-flyer/-ing: 9
instances - 1.34% of sample, plus one example of high flying aircraft
high life: 1
instance - 0.14% of sample
high performance: 14
instances - 2.09% of sample
high school: 10
instances - 1.49% of sample
high seas: 13
instances - 1.94% of sample
high street: 23
instances - 3.43% of sample
high tech/technology:
35 instances - 5.23% of sample
Other patterns:
i) verb-ing + high + noun/noun phrase:
14 instances - 2.09% of sample
maintaining a high,
achieving high quality, creating high-wage jobs
ii) Very high tendency to form part of two-word
post-modified compound adjectives:
high-cost, high-flyer,
high flying, high-growth, high-level, high-performance, high-priority,
high-profile, high quality, high-speed.
iii) Some statistics:
Twelve o’clock high: 6 instances - 0.89% of sample
(the film)
High Wycombe: 9
instances - 1.34% of sample
high volume: 7
instances - 1.04% of sample
high-yield: 16
instances - 2.39% of sample
high quality: 62
instances - 9.26% of sample
high-level: 31
instances - 4.63% of sample
high profile: 22
instances - 3.28% of sample
f) Associates
The word ‘high’ was key in 8 files. The only associate >
=5 was ‘high’ itself.