A CORPUS-BASED INVESTIGATION OF COLLOCATION, SEMANTIC PROSODY, AND SEMANTIC PREFERENCES OF A HIGH-FREQUENCY NOUN VALUE IN BRITISH ACADEMIC WRITTEN ENGLISH (BAWE)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejals.v9i1.679Keywords:
collocation, semantic prosody, semantic preferences, high-frequency noun value, British Academic Written English (BAWE)Abstract
This paper examines the collocations, semantic prosody, and semantic preferences of the high-frequency abstract noun value in British Academic Written English (BAWE) using Sketch Engine. The analysis is based on a neo-Firthian corpus-linguistic approach in which the recurring grammatical patterns across disciplines, such as adjectival modifiers, verb-noun constructions, noun compounds, and prepositional structures, are discussed. The results demonstrate that value is largely associated with quantitative and methodological meanings in STEM-based writing, where it expresses mostly neutral semantic prosody. In contrast, in the social sciences, humanities, and business discourse, value is typically evaluative, normative, and strategic and exhibits less systematic prosodic tendencies. The semantic preference analysis uncovers stable associations with domains of measurement, evaluation, ideology, and market orientation, which are reflective of disciplinary epistemologies. By combining collocation, semantic prosody, and semantic preference to analyse a single high-frequency noun, this paper contributes to corpus-based studies of academic discourse and offers a pedagogical implication for teaching discipline-specific academic writing and developing collocational competence.
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