Language Corpora and Aphasia Research

Czech version

Authors: Mgr. Michal Láznička, Ph.D.
Authors‘ workplace: -0001-8220-2121 ⁰⁰⁰⁰
Published in: Listy klinické logopedie 2026; 10(1): 39-48
Category: Miscellaneous
doi: https://doi.org/10.36833/lkl.2026.010

Overview

The existence of language corpora –⁠ large collections of texts enriched with different types of metadata –⁠ allows for language to be studied as it is actually used by speakers in different situations, providing a good estimate of how common linguistic items are in different contexts. This is related to the ways in which linguistic knowledge is organised and processed. This paper presents an overview of the possibilities of employing corpus linguistic data and tools in the study of language in aphasia, as well as in clinical practice. Corpus linguistics and corpora are discussed here mainly as sources of reference data, which can be used to predict and explain language processing in aphasia (e.g. better lexical retrieval of high-frequency words), as well as an approach to the collection and processing of aphasic data. An analysis of bigram production using a corpus of Czech aphasia is presented. Using keyness analysis, the construction using tam být (‘there be’) was identified as a structural and communicative support for two speakers with nonfluent aphasia. An analysis of fluency shows that higher bigram frequency predicts more fluent production to a comparable extent in both typical speakers and speakers with aphasia.

Keywords:

aphasia, linguistics, language corpora, frequency of linguistic items, fluency, keyness analysis, language usage

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