Corpus-driven Cognitive Semantics : Introduction to the field

International audienceIs quantitative empirical research possible for the study of semantics?1 More specifically, can we use corpus data to produce testable and falsifiable results for the description of meaning? If so, what are the advantages and what are the limitations of such an approach? Such questions are often heard and it would seem they are behind much of the reticence and scepticism for corpus-driven techniques in the broader Cognitive Linguistic community. This volume grew out of the workshop Usage-Based and Quantitative Methodology in Cognitive Semantics at the International Cognitive Linguistics Conference 2007, in Kraków, where the participants were asked to answer these very questions. This book both critiques and supports the application of such techniques to the study of meaning in languag