Course:COGS200/2017W1/NGramAssignment/2

Compare Words

b) demon,beast,monster,villain

c) Since the 1940s, the words demon, monster and villain seemed to be in a relatively stable state with minimal increases in usage. Conversely, beast has been in a very dynamic state, particularly in the early 1800s though it has been on a decline in usage.

d) The use of beast more in the past is likely due to the superstitious beliefs and elementary scientific knowledge of people during that time. We now know of many species of animals that have all be classified and named, whereas "beast" could have been a blanket term for undiscovered animal.

Wildcard Search

b) gay *

c) The more dynamic phrases were "gay with", "gay and" and "gay men." Relative to those the remaining phrases seem pretty stable from the 1800s to the late 1900s. "Gay with" saw a gradual increase in usage in the late 1800s peaking in 1900 then a gradual decrease in usage for the remainder of the given time period. "Gay and" saw a decline in popularity with a spike in the 1990s. "Gay men" was not a popularly used phrase up until the 1980s, peaking in the late 90s then declining in usage. "Gay people" and "gay or" show a slight increase in usage beginning in the 1990s.

d) The mid-1990s saw a drastic increase in usage of "gay men" and "gay and" likely because more books discussing the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the 80s were being written and published. The increase in "gay people" and "gay or" during the 1990s likely is associated with the increased acceptance of LGBT in society.

Inflection Search

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Search for a word using Part-of-Speech tags

b) combat_*

c) There seemed to be an attractor state in the late 1930s for the noun version of combat followed by a large spike in usage post-1940s. Adjective-combat remains unused up until the 1940s where usage has been increasing slightly. The verb form of combat seems to be on a gradual increase in usage since the 1900s.

d) All forms of combat saw an increase in usage in the 1940s, likely due to WWII. Adjective combat is likely more used now compared to the 1800s because of the discussion of new technologies associated with war, such as combat gear, etc.