Computer resources for linguists
Programs for general concordancing and searching
Concordance programs search a text or corpus and arrange the results. Hits can be arranged on screen either with the search term aligned (KWIC = 'Key Word In Context') or otherwise, and most programs can sort, count and export the data, as well as calculate various frequency measures. Corpora with their own search software (like BNC and ICE-GB) usually have concordance functions built in.
- MonoConc
An elegant and fast Windows program written by Michael Barlow, which will work its way through any (group of) text(s), direct from the web by URL or stored locally. (On first use its default directory for corpus files is the English_corpora folder.) MonoConc Pro, licensed for 15 users at the University, was bought in March 2002 and is available on the Linguistic Resources menu. It is the recommended general-purpose concordance program for linguistic work.
- WordSmith
Another widely-used Windows program, written by Mike Scott and now published by OUP. An older version was provided with the ICAME CD-ROM. Version 3.00.00 (1998) is available on the Linguistic Resources menu. For newer versions and downloads see the WordSmith home page.
- Corpus Presenter
A comprehensive suite of Windows programs written by Raymond Hickey, intended for both student and advanced use, especially with corpora like Irish English and the Helsinki Corpus. Earlier versions were somewhat awkward to use and unstable, but some Helsinki research groups are using it successfully. A 'Lite' version can be downloaded without charge.
- Concordance
A Windows program written by R. J. C. Watt at Dundee. Concordance's home page offers a trial version and gives information on pricing.
- AntConc
A multi-platform program (Windows, Mac, Linux) written by Laurence Anthony, and freeware.
- TACT ('Textual Analysis Computing Tools')
A DOS-based program provided with the ICAME CD-ROM. For current information see the TACT page at Toronto University, and for a web version, this page at McMaster.
This page last updated 3 Jun 2011.