Curiouser & Curiouser:

An Exploration of Morphological versus Periphrastic

Adjectival Constructions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandra R. Kulick

76-451, English Usage

Professor Hopper

May 3, 2000

Final Project

            When someone asks us a question as to whether we prefer broccoli to brussel sprouts, why do we say, “broccoli is better than brussel sprouts” and not gooder or more good?  Why is it correct to say that George is more curious and not curiousER than the other monkeys?  Many aspects of the English language seem to us to be almost arbitrary or unexplainable phenomena; however, everyday speakers of the English language cannot be expected to question these aspects of our language, as they simply do not have the time or perhaps interest in pursuing them.  That is precisely what we, students of linguistics, are here to address.  In this particular study, my interest lies in the close examination of an array of comparative adjectives and their particular constructions.  Which adjectives take a morphological construction and which ones tend more toward the periphrastic?  What kinds of contexts and genres can one construction be found in over another?  Is this distribution of forms as arbitrary as we believe? 

            In order for us to adequately approach this study, it was necessary to consult the CobuildDirect corpus, where eleven different media are represented, from British transcribed conversational English to British books, newspapers, News Public Radio, American books and newspapers, pamphlets, etc.  In using such a diverse corpus, I hope to amass enough data to make this study a worthwhile one.  Not only does corpus work provide a wide array of statistical information but it also contributes to our overall understanding of how words are contextualized, with actual proof of everyday English usages. 

            Prior to consulting the corpus, it was necessary to fully understand what the terms morphological and periphrastic mean.  In Paul Hopper’s book, A Short Course in Grammar, he explains morphological to be “an adjective that takes a suffix –er . . . It is formed by changing the shape of the word” (Hopper, 165).  His definition of periphrastic is “an adjective preceded by ‘more’ . . . formed by using more than one word . . . A construction that is spread out over more than one word” (Hopper, 165).  Now that we understand what these terms mean, we can begin to test our knowledge of the inner workings of our English language.

            I first decided to test a vague hypothesis suggesting that monosyllabic words tended more toward a morphological construction.  For example, if I typed in the first query: <hotter> and in the second: <more+hot> I would find the frequency of the former to be significantly higher.  Not only would it appear more times in the entire corpus but it also would be more likely to appear in any spoken or written medium.  In order to fully develop this hypothesis, it was necessary to test many different monosyllabic adjectives and to then compare each query with its supposedly less frequent alternative.  To organize my data even further, I separated mono-syllabic adjectives into two groups: the “obstruent group,” which includes words such as red, clear, crude, hot, fat, etc. These words come to an abrupt stop at the end of them, as opposed to words with softer endings.  The second group is the “–y suffix group” which includes such words as lazy, happy, handy, shiny, etc.  Although words with a –y suffix on the end are not monosyllabic per se, they were grouped as such because the base of the words (without the suffix) contains one syllable.  This discrepancy was made to set them apart from the polysyllabic words as a completely separate group. 

My first query was <easier>, followed by its alternative <more+easy>.  See the Appendix on pages 9 – 16 for a sample of the query results.

(Tables on following page)

 

 

 

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

 

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukephem

309

 

98.9/million

 

usephem

1

 

0.8/million

 

usephem

89

 

72.7/million

 

bbc

2

 

0.8/million

 

ukspok

630

 

67.9/million

 

ukbooks

4

 

0.7/million

 

ukmags

331

 

67.5/million

 

ukspok

6

 

0.6/million

 

ukbooks

327

 

61.1/million

 

usbooks

2

 

0.4/million

 

usbooks

327

 

58.1/million

 

npr

1

 

0.3/million

 

times

293

 

50.8/million

 

today

1

 

0.2/million

 

npr

150

 

47.9/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

sunnow

260

 

44.6/million

 

times

1

 

0.2/million

 

oznews

217

 

40.7/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

today

199

 

37.9/million

 

ukmags

0

 

0.0/million

 

Query: 3210 occurrences of <easier>

 

 

sunnow

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Query: 19 occurrences of <more+easy>

 

 

As you can see in the above tables, easier appears 3210 times in the entire corpus while more+easy occurs 19 times, six of which were not comparative (leaving us with a mere 13 examples).  These numbers alone are impressive enough to suggest that my hypothesis is not far off.  I continued to explore the –y suffix group to further strengthen my predictions. 

Query

# Occurrences in all Corpora

easier

3210

 

 

more+easy

13

 

 

happier

557

 

 

more+happy

14

 

 

funnier

44

 

 

more+funny

2

 

 

merrier

25

 

 

more+merry

0

 

 

shinier

4

 

 

more+shiny

0

 

 

healthier

295

 

 

more+healthy

37

 

 

sillier

17

 

 

more+silly

2

 

 

heavier

349

 

 

more+heavy

3

 

 

rockier

7

 

 

more+rocky

0

 

 

 

            As we see in the table on page 3, with the small exception of words that did not appear often in the corpora, e.g., shinier, rockier, the morphological construction came up significantly more than the periphrastic did.  It is important to note that some periphrastic adjectives required substantial weeding of the data, as more+JJ  (adjective) did not always show adjectives used comparatively.  Instead, more could be substituted with such phrases as “an additional” or “an increase in . . . .”  Therefore, raw numbers are not always indicative of the actual frequency of a particular word form or combination in the corpus.

            Once I gathered all of my –y suffix adjective data, I wanted to look more closely at the contexts in which these word forms were used, to understand why morphological constructions are more frequent.  Studying our first query (with most occurrences), <easier>, I noticed an alarming amount of intensifiers preceding the node word.  For example, <a+lot+easier> occurred 132 times in the corpora and <much+easier> occurred 366, which is 11.4% of the total occurrences of easier.  To the left of the node word, the preposition than immediately followed easier 133 times and an alarming 1065 instances of verbs in the infinitive form came up, e.g., easier to follow, easier to understand, etc.  That is 33% of the total occurrences in all corpora.  Lastly, the phrase, “make . . . easy” is quite common; when I typed in the query: <make@+1,5easier> the corpora yielded 872 sentences or 27%, e.g., makes my life easier, made things easier, etc.  As you can see in the tables on page 5, I wanted to see the statistical measures of significance, using the t-score.  When looking at such a large amount of raw data, t-scores (and M.I scores) allow us to observe to what extent the node word (in this case easier) conditions its lexical environment by selecting particular words with which it will co-occur.  In the table, the first column is the collocate, the second is the total independent frequency of the collocate, the third is the frequency with which the node and collocate appear together, and finally the fourth column is the t-score.

it                  583732        453         19.750503

much           48372          366         18.989770

be                 293540       273         15.529489

s                   596267       214          12.349999

is                  499929       195          11.962757

lot                 26750        145          11.917401

an                168366       102            9.167507

life                37943         78             8.591576

any                59172         73             8.156821

was               430062        84            6.541825

bit                 18098         42             6.324618

little               32454         41            6.119765

been              134152       50             6.01041

far                  19873        38             5.984182

made              45730        40            5.920322

even                47997        33            5.277454

things              32931        25            4.631790

are                 240429       44             4.60686

become          15778         21             4.39008

becomes          3400         15            3.823905

getting             14765        14            3.521045

probably          14866       14            3.519536

job                   15532       14            3.509585

often                 15898      13            3.359043

always               26395      13            3.196280

to            1375856       1065      30.277341

for              482791        443      19.765181

than            75051         133      11.168738

and             1369241     114        3.507588

if               141581         68          7.286344

it               583732         44          1.713443

said             153840       41          5.059932

in               958631        39         -2.336834

by               230325       38          4.075550

with             364279      38          2.860694

but             284617       35           3.226480

when          131174       32           4.360470

because       69858        31           4.866315

the             2872094     30         -23.838379

at                292324      28            2.203012

on             393554        28          1.133487

Span 0:1 node: <easier>

Span 1:0 node: <easier>

 

Notice above how often much occurs before easier and the prepositions to, for, and than occur after it, giving an indication of comparison (especially than).

Now that we have a better understanding of the context in which this particular morphological adjective is used, some might be tempted to devise a cardinal rule of sorts to apply to all monosyllabic adjectives ending in –y.  Unfortunately, that is not the case, for every word is used in different contexts, and different genres, etc.  Therefore, it is important to take this information and to understand from it that the distribution of forms in our language are not always as arbitrary as we thought.  Some distributions are semantic, while others are syntactic or contextually based. 

            The next part of my investigation was of obstruent monosyllabic adjectives.  While this group of adjectives would appear as obvious as the –y suffix words, there are three particular “outliers” or exceptions that immediately come to mind.  They are good, bad, and far.  Why are these the only words that have superlatives: better, best, worse, worst, and farther/further, farthest/furthest?  While this might be a worthwhile endeavor, this study will not attempt to answer that question.  Therefore, we will not address them in this study. 

            In congruence with my initial claims, all monosyllabic (obstruent) adjectives generated morphological constructions, as shown in the table below.

Query

Number of Occurrences

 

in all Corpora

 

dumber

45

 

 

more+dumb

0

 

 

smarter

114

 

 

more+smart

0

 

 

fatter

64

 

 

more+fat

0

 

 

sharper

143

 

 

more+sharp

2

 

 

cleaner

589

 

 

more+clean

1

 

 

taller

243

 

 

more+tall

0

 

 

shorter

731

 

 

more+short

2

 

 

rounder

212

 

 

more+round

1

 

 

hotter

132

 

 

more+hot

0

 

 

colder

165

 

 

more+cold

1

 

 

clearer

379

 

 

more+clear

34

 

 

cruder

15

 

 

more+crude

2

 

 

 

At this point in the study, we can safely confirm my hypothesis that:

Ø      -y suffix adjectives take the morphological construction

Ø      monosyllabic obstruent adjectives take the morphological construction

 

The next step is to investigate polysyllabic adjectives, other than words with the suffixes –ful or –ing, as they  are clearly periphrastic.  Shortly after I began this part of my study, I found that the majority, practically all, of the polysyllabic adjectives took periphrastic constructions.  The only word that seemed to have defied this principle is narrow.  The only logical explanation for this anomaly could be attributed to its “soft” ending, as opposed to the harder obstruent endings.  In order to substantiate this claim, I searched for other polysyllabic adjectives with soft endings and the only ones: yellower and hollower did not occur in the corpora at all.  Therefore, we are left with the inference that monosyllabic words with obstruent endings take morphological constructions and polysyllabic words with softer endings, such as –ow, -ay, etc. take periphrastic constructions.

Results

            To recapitulate what has been established in previous sections, we now have a clearer (or more clear) understanding of morphological and periphrastic constructions with respect to comparative adjectives.  Why they occur more frequently with one type of word over another can be attributed to its entire context: words both preceding and following it.  Whether the next word begins with a vowel or a consonant, or the node word ends in –er and the next word begins with an r are all factors that play into the “preferred” or most common usage.  Therefore, it makes sense that polysyllabic words take periphrastic constructions, just as it is to simply add and –er onto the end of the word wet (plus a discretionary t).  Aside from the few unusual exceptions, these “rules of thumb” or “basic trends” observed in this study ring true for all alike adjectives.  In other words, we could safely say that ALL polysyllabic adjectives are periphrastic and all monosyllabic adjectives with a –y suffix are morphological.  In so doing, we understand that our language is not as arbitrary as we once believed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

 

Query: 3210 occurrences of <easier>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukephem

309

 

98.9/million

usephem

89

 

72.7/million

ukspok

630

 

67.9/million

ukmags

331

 

67.5/million

ukbooks

327

 

61.1/million

usbooks

327

 

58.1/million

times

293

 

50.8/million

npr

150

 

47.9/million

sunnow

260

 

44.6/million

oznews

217

 

40.7/million

today

199

 

37.9/million

 

Nicholson would like to make things easier for the law.  But I feel it

       said the oil slick was becoming easier to remove.   It's in a globular

 her a lot better which will make it  easier when we are both in the Blazers."

      it would make product support  easier.  Also easing the introduction

       of the Internet would be made  easier to unravel by the Microsoft

and would make computer upgrades easier for home users once systems built

           The Government will find it easier to fill the position of manager

          deficit.  But tax cuts are far easier to produce than expenditure cuts,

     in the Olympics year to make it easier for families to attend the Games in the

      the Sydney Games will make it easier for our young people to be part of

         Czech novelist.  It was much easier to make movies on the western

       traffic, it adapts itself to offer easier driving.  Through computer

  Institute says making the patches easier to obtain and incorporating them

        said Keren.  The seals are lot easier, a lot quicker to learn than people

                 engine.  The vehicle is easier to drive than a golf cart," says

       Paul Moller and his flying car easier to drive than a golf cart" The

much, running just seems so much easier."  The Cairns men's indoor

     a week to Hubbards.  It wasn't easier than high school.  It was pretty

million trees said the situation was easier in the supply from Fairbairn Dam but           

   photograph though this might be easier said than done when you've been

    in scientific journals become no easier, according to the Peterborough

 overseas The new area will make it easier for enthusiasts and tourists to

enough time to talk to everyone it's easier at the start of a tour because the

had been installed in some cells for easier observation of inmates.  In

      in Brisbane that it had become easier to get universities in the past two

     Egyptian hieroglyphics would be easier.  Under-eights love it, though.

also live in a situation where it is easier to be able to have sex.  I mean

     is just as beneficial and a lot easier to organize when I'm travelling I

  I'm playing on, which makes my job easier.  Robert Walls is still trying

                and there will be an easier process for employees to “opt out"

  tell you that sleep comes a little easier these days," Mr Kunkel told the

    the point of view of making life easier for myself: `Please, God, let No. 4

 to transfer from the Panthers a lot easier.  The guys have been great and

 on the headphones.  The Bloom is easier to spot, a surname lifted of course

  So if you can make his research easier, drop him a line care of me.

   you'd better go because the bat's easier to get along with than me," Ms

   were virtually assured of finding it easier to park and that irresponsible

 the microwave oven for 5minutes for easier preparation.  If using gas or

 excellent-quality product.  It's easier than making them at home and a

    rag style of journalism can find easier targets and be given greater

  cheaper, the project will never be easier, than it is right now Michael J.

    rag style of journalism can find easier targets and be given greater

 expected.  I think maybe it's an easier transition for a back than a

    

 

 

 

Query: 19 occurrences of <more+easy>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

usephem

1

 

0.8/million

 

bbc

2

 

0.8/million

 

ukbooks

4

 

0.7/million

 

ukspok

6

 

0.6/million

 

usbooks

2

 

0.4/million

 

npr

1

 

0.3/million

 

today

1

 

0.2/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

times

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

ukmags

0

 

0.0/million

 

sunnow

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

even more grateful because more easy to sell than

  it's very much I think it's much more easy to slag a woman off than a guy.

    and that are are more easy to to measure

  it's it's it's much a much more easy job of production

certainly is going to become far more easy for you to look forward at where you'

  year into next year it becomes more easy more natural to look forwards at

   higher notes are a little bit more easy to play, because of impedence

 and outside has become a little more easy after the Soviet military withdrawal

and of life instinct was rather more easy than speaking of sexuality and

consumer durables have been made more easy by the growth of consumer credit

  way of conquering them is much more easy than of civilizing them by fair

To the next abstinence; the next more easy; For use almost can change the stamp

 

 

Query: 91 occurrences of <narrower>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukbooks

21

 

3.9/million

 

usbooks

18

 

3.2/miollion

ukmags

9

 

1.8/million

 

times

10

 

1.7/million

 

ukephem

5

 

1.6/million

 

ukspok

14

 

1.5/million

 

usephem

1

 

0.8/million

 

oznews

4

 

0.7/million

 

sunnow

4

 

0.7/million

 

npr

2

 

0.6/million

 

bbc

1

 

0.4/million

 

today

2

 

0.4/million

 

 

 transom. The hull also appears narrower than it did in November. The

  certain instances, make wide feet narrower. Brisbane's &

   point where the road was getting narrower and I was blocked," he said.

  when the vessel could not clear a narrower bridge on the southern edge of the

  one type of environment are often narrower in their thinking and outlook than

  to consider a wider rather than a narrower range of products. Where

 your blood vessels and making them narrower. Being under stress can add to the

the heart. The blood vessels become narrower and eventually get blocked. This

 your blood vessels and making them narrower. Being under stress can add to the

hub on all three levels is another, narrower spoke containing stairs, bathrooms

       to focus attention on a much narrower common curriculum framework. AN

   a shorter focal length lens or a narrower aperture. This is a grrreat

   inches. The longer the lens, the narrower the angle of view so the more

         Suzi) a needle seven times narrower than a human hair injects the most

  designs, her lowest spreaders are narrower so that she can use overlapping

   out of the trousers which have a narrower leg. It is almost a sportswear

    spot every time. With the river narrower here I will fish just the one

   designed to tackle this problem. Narrower than standard models, it can be

 Of course they will also have er a narrower effect on the

  the higher the Wilder modulus the narrower the distribution of fracture

    much more Well much narrower range was it? A narrower

much narrower range was it? A narrower range. Yes. 

   we've made the handle bars narrower. How did you do that?

Yeah.  and women have narrower shoulders than men anyway so

    out which was you know erm much narrower than most originally thought. It's

 erm rather than to narrower scientific interests or given

    Right.  Which then is much narrower and they tend to

between the things but perhaps in a narrower context than

the er Atlantic is so much narrower than the Pacific. Right.

your tubes and everything are a bit narrower. I've got is chaemic

   which means that mine tend to be narrower anyway but then I've got that I'm

    Mm  the roads are actually narrower Yeah  You can't park as

      a shade that is up t one inch narrower than your inside window

two hundred and twenty-nine, a much narrower margin, though, than the last time

 Palestinians want did not seem any narrower than it was last month when Baker

    that his new government is much narrower than he had originally hoped.

the courtyard was another lower and narrower archway, leading into an inner

   would wave to one another at the narrower points. All over the Soviet

  their dirty hands. The alley grew narrower and then became a series of stone

                  owing to the much narrower production and income bases. In

     on the distinction between the narrower Leninist thesis and the general

  was even more fatalistic than the narrower original version: nations were

response to this is to focus on the narrower definition of paradigm – the

is that it subsumes all narrower definitions without excluding

    man". Our self-imposed task was narrower but more fundamental: a question

          A poet hymned an earlier, narrower moment of crisis in the life of

 dwarf. Prune if required to form a narrower outline, or for bonsai. Cones

Robusta", outstanding accent plant, narrower than Fastigiata", dark green

for the British climate. Slower and narrower than golden-leaved Fastigiata"

  across his abdomen, waist so much narrower than his shoulders - territory

  going through a tunnel that grows narrower and more distorted as it rapidly

    An alternative would be to have narrower beds, say 3 feet wide, which would

   It wasn't much smoother than the narrower road had been. Whenever they hit a

  the heights to meet them, growing narrower the farther up they went. At last

 where the alley was dissected by a narrower tributary. He knew all about the

        in Tsarang had perhaps been narrower than he admits, and he had clearly

    of climate research remains the narrower one that begins with the weather

   presence and force others into a narrower and narrower niche. Such changes

   force others into a narrower and narrower niche. Such changes from a human

         We are using the original, narrower sense here.) For the codependent,

  Canyon.”  The tributary seemed narrower now than it had when he and

The streets grew steeper and narrower. Most of them appeared to be named

    or they can be star-shaped with narrower, outspread segments. So-called

      familiar, but different too - narrower? Had the bushes grown in along the

Query: 4/7 usable occurrences of <more+narrow>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukephem

1

 

0.3/million

 

npr

1

 

0.3/million

 

ukmags

1

 

0.2/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukbooks

1

 

0.2/million

 

usbooks

1

 

0.2/million

 

times

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukspok

0

 

0.0/million

 

usephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

bbc

0

 

0.0/million

 

today

0

 

0.0/million

 

sunnow

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

 the board is leaning towards a more narrow focus on consumer products at the

to achieve success pursuing the more narrow routes with which we are more

  longer the lens, you use, the more narrow the angle of view, so careful

the other hand--on the somewhat more narrow issue of aid to Russia, it seems as

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Query: 379 occurrences of <clearer>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

usbooks

62

 

11.0/million

ukbooks

58

 

10.8/million

bbc

27

 

10.3/million

ukephem

27

 

8.6/million

 

npr

24

 

7.7/million

 

times

38

 

6.6/million

 

usephem

8

 

6.5/million

 

ukspok

49

 

5.3/million

 

oznews

27

 

5.1/million

 

ukmags

22

 

4.5/million

 

today

22

 

4.2/million

 

sunnow

15

 

2.6/million

 

 

 

or so the situation should be a lot clearer and next-of-kin should have been

         effects of the quake become clearer.  The 1054-point bucketing was

            with pictures to make it clearer.  The fat content of this

   Street railway goods yards became clearer this week with an announcement by

   The regulations could be made clearer, but their purpose is to ensure

veterans, came to Gallipoli to get a clearer picture of the stories passed down

   exhibition will give this group a clearer picture Those who participated

  to Australia and, until things are clearer, it is a major factor of

be determined, Cross' agenda is much clearer.  She will run in the London

 And there appeared to be a much clearer definition between homosexuals and

the difference in skin colour became clearer.  Te Velde said the time

 tougher response would send an even clearer message" to the French Government.

  These changes would give customers clearer signals about the least costly

  shape of professional rugby became clearer.  Campese is keen to play

    s accounts are now becoming much clearer and they show that the sharp

  episode to give television heads a clearer picture of what the sitcom was all

From there, we will have a clearer picture of what, if anything, the

   post-war urban planners had a far clearer vision of the way Australia's

    many points in Phoenix's life, a clearer, more nuanced portrait of the

   s financial policies are becoming clearer.  Last week in Melbourne, Mr

   point, hopefully, there will be a clearer indication of where interest rates

re designed to provide better and clearer career paths in the coal-mining

 Super League franchises will become clearer this month with the outcome of one

   from various sources to develop a clearer picture. The difficulty with

As more details leak out, it becomes clearer that Mrs Clinton, rather than her

As your thinking becomes clearer and as recces (see p.20) take

 the basis of charging interest much clearer, errors in computing interest

  sticky and opaque, then it becomes clearer, wetter and slippery so that sperm

 knowledge you have gained to form a clearer picture of the energy needs of the

 First of all, the format is clearer and less cluttered on larger pre-

  The new statement will be much clearer and less cluttered - more user-

 and things will look different too, clearer, less cluttered, more

Profit Forecast will give you a much clearer view of how your business will

   88 and the SNP only 29. It is now clearer than ever that the Liberal

    the most complex problems become clearer or even resolve themselves.

you with greater peace of mind and a clearer understanding of the financial

      bruising, to leave a smoother, clearer complexion. Ideal for treating

  providing information leaflets and clearer nutritional labeling. We

      you'll have faster connection, clearer lines, and access to these and

      from many customers to make it clearer and easier to understand. In the

so more space for storing food, and clearer-to-read labels. Modern `

make the structure of the Party much clearer than we do at the moment. To that

      you'll have faster connection, clearer lines, and access to these and

          T.V. and radio sharper and clearer. All you wear is a tiny `capsule"

        little invention could bring clearer hearing to your life.  PHILIPS

 

Query: 34 occurrences of <more+clear>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

npr

4

 

1.3/million

 

bbc

3

 

1.1/million

 

ukspok

10

 

1.1/million

 

ukmags

5

 

1.0/million

 

ukbooks

5

 

0.9/million

 

usephem

1

 

0.8/million

 

times

2

 

0.3/million

 

sunnow

2

 

0.3/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

usbooks

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

today

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

more obvious.  Nowhere is it more clear than in the current peace talks

        that homosexuality is no more clear cut than heterosexuality, with UK

 been more measured and the walk more clear, the general impression was of

     I knew my live was becoming more clear to me and I'd actually found

top honours. Alexander's win was more clear cut. After leading from the gun,

     I'm not sure. It seems much more clear in the I see how you mean.

 second question is more precise more clear in that respect. `Images such as"

 closer together er and becoming more clear about what it wants as a

 time Yeah. be more clear. Yeah. I mean one th I think

Yeah.  And that's more clear cut I mean now that there is less

Mhm. has been is more clear that that's been lower than was

As I go along it'll become a bit more clear Yes. Right what I'm

Right. Perhaps I should be a bit more clear on that

cleaner more free more confident more clear in your own mind than you've been

       and you would have a much more clear a much more confident view as to

      leg, the situation becomes more clear. Gerat advises that, if you feel

      Nowhere has this been made more clear than at the Russian Party

     in fact it couldn't make it more clear -- that the government is deeply

 for minority scholarships a lot more clear.  Dr.  Abip Shakir: A

   believes her authority is far more clear-cut when she is dealing with the

    a real effect, we would have more clear evidence of it.  Harris: On one

 

Query: 15 occurrences of <cruder>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukbooks

4

 

0.7/million

 

usbooks

3

 

0.5/million

 

times

3

 

0.5/million

 

ukspok

3

 

0.3/million

 

ukmags

1

 

0.2/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

usephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

bbc

0

 

0.0/million

 

npr

0

 

0.0/million

 

today

0

 

0.0/million

 

sunnow

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

 

angry selectors refer to in somewhat cruder terms. Their side for the

     with English.  Ours is a bit cruder, a bit brasher said the Australian

    look quite a bit Mm. cruder once you do this.

features we're able to get in those cruder models actually have

 I still think it's going to be much cruder bas more basic things that are

s  under her robes. There is a rather cruder mirror-image of this picture in the

 start, I recognized; one which felt cruder and older than these gods and lions

   the sun and crescent moon and, in cruder line-drawing, a vulgar deity

     later and earlier, made larger, cruder points, quick and easy to chip out

          of groups tends to be both cruder and more costly. Either an unsorted

 1920s signified a shift to pointed, cruder images and away from the logically

Dynasty in funny wigs, although much cruder, submerging the fascinating story

 for others need protection, and the cruder forms of self-assertion need to be

    has hitherto been linked to much cruder techniques.  If men living

 

Query: 2 occurrences of <more+crude>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

ukmags

1

 

0.2/million

 

today

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

oznews

0

 

0.0/million

 

ukspok

0

 

0.0/million

 

usephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

bbc

0

 

0.0/million

 

npr

0

 

0.0/million

 

ukbooks

0

 

0.0/million

 

usbooks

0

 

0.0/million

 

times

0

 

0.0/million

 

sunnow

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

 couture is getting more and more crude is because people are not

   are, however, not appreciably more crude than many First Division sides. And

 

Query: 557 occurrences of <happier>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

sunnow

116

 

19.9/million

today

85

 

16.2/million

ukbooks

62

 

11.6/million

ukmags

53

 

10.8/million

times

58

 

10.1/million

usbooks

48

 

8.5/million

 

ukspok

68

 

7.3/million

 

oznews

32

 

6.0/million

 

ukephem

14

 

4.5/million

 

bbc

11

 

4.2/million

 

usephem

4

 

3.3/million

 

npr

36

 

1.9/million

 

 

for, in the long run you may well be happier, with a lower mortgage hanging

     that will make me and the board happier than for him to make a lot of

     past few months I've never been happier, felt more fulfilled or had as

and many, including me, could not be happier with a return to the elegance of

        union contracts) players are happier than they were a month ago,but if

 McRae has made no secret that he is happier to be in Brisbane than playing for

  the community, where they would be happier and more likely to develop their

with the chicken and vegetables. Happier now, The Woman began discussing

  and network management couldn't be happier their man has suddenly become a

   her as strong but gracious, never happier than when surrounded by Christmas

   than I did when I was 45. I'm happier. Forty-five is hard. You'

rugby World last weekend couldn't be happier that he is about to be on the end

 willing to offer an opinion.  IN happier days Kit Culkin and Patricia

  taken to make home a healthier and happier place for all those who live

  yesterday he was feeling a `little happier" about numbers but he had run

    of this season. I feel a lot happier," Scott said.  I was at the

 disqualification row but hers had a happier ending.  She recorded the

     at the top.  We were so much happier before we were rich.  Now all I

      current committee could not be happier.  RON BARASSI the Sydney Swans

  north Queensland, Wendy had a much happier story to relate.  I do feel at

that men are generally healthier and happier when involved in relationships.

 Randwick yesterday.  It is a far happier Scriven now than on a visit to the

 

 

Query: 13 occurrences of <more+happy>

Corpus

Total Number

Average Number

 

of Occurrences

per Million Words

npr

2

 

0.6/million

 

times

3

 

0.5/million

 

ukspok

4

 

0.4/million

 

ukmags

2

 

0.4/million

 

bbc

1

 

0.4/million

 

oznews

1

 

0.2/million

 

sunnow

1

 

0.2/million

 

ukephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

usephem

0

 

0.0/million

 

ukbooks

0

 

0.0/million

 

usbooks

0

 

0.0/million

 

today

0

 

0.0/million

 

 

but if she decides not to I'd be more happy about that," Margaret says.  But

  about, it doesn't make you any more happy,  You can drive a car, or go and

  taken part in. `I suppose I am more happy than disappointed,' explained a

       men do feel  more happy within the sort of political role

 Oh yes. Yes.  I  I'm more happy about him  It'

at Old Trafford. They'll be even more happy now with their side two nil up.

  Quite happy yeah. I'd be more happy than I am now I know. I know.

     on the opposite wing are no more happy. Although many accept Mr Major's

   there's other things that I'm more happy about--giving a really big trophy

  They will know--happy--just no more happy Simon: They will laugh at you

 better. `I'm feeling healthier, more happy with myself and just in general,"

 it seemed Harrogate would be no more happy a hunting ground. In the elegant

    women hard to fathom and was more happy in the company of men. He was

   length of time. He said: `I'm more happy just being in the house doing