Concordancing

This entry offers an introduction to concordancing, a key tool used within the field of corpus linguistics. With the aid of several examples, the entry begins by detailing what a concordance is, and how individual lines are read through both vertical and horizontal reading. It then examines different ways that concordance lines are used within different areas of corpus linguistics, including lexicography, data-driven learning, and corpus-assisted discourse studies. The entry finishes with some caveats and limitations to consider when carrying out analyses and writing them up for publication, concluding with some reflections on the future of concordancing.