Developing Linguistic Theories Using Annotated Corpora

Abstract

This paper aims to carve out a place for corpus research within theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics. We argue that annotated corpora naturally com-plement native speaker intuitions and controlled psycholinguistic methods and thus can be powerful tools for developing and evaluating linguistic theories. We also review basic methods and best practices for moving from corpus annotations to hy-pothesis formation and testing, offering practical advice and technical guidance to researchers wishing to incorporate corpus methods into their work.