cqp:practice-complex-queries-solutions [Linguistics Resources]

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**[ [[cqp:introduction|Collection: Introduction to CQP]] ]**

===== Formulating Complex Queries – Solutions ===== 

==== Exercise 1 ==== 

''%%[class="ADJ"][hw="snow|rain" & class="SUBST"]%%'' (82 matches)

''%%[pos="AJ."][hw="snow|rain" & pos="NN."]%%'' (63 matches)

==== Exercise 2 ==== 

''%%[word="going" %c][hw="to"][class="VERB"]%%'' (1583 matches)

==== Exercise 3 ==== 

''%%[pos="XX0"][word="about"][word="to"]%%'' (6 matches) 

==== Exercise 4 ==== 

The exact name of the of the value of the structural attribute is ''W:ac:medicine''. 

This query should return **61 matches** in the BNC-BABY:
''%%[hw="heart"] :: match.text_genre="W:ac:medicine"%%'' 

**Which common constructions can be seen in the matches?** 

From a cursory look at the concordance, one could see that “heart failure” is common in //medical texts//, whereas constructions such has "her heart sank", "her heart leaped", "her heart dropped" seem more common in //prose//. 

==== Exercise 5 ==== 

There are two ways to match past participles via pos-tags in the BNC-BABY, as the CLAWS-5 tagset differentiates between the past participle of the verbs //to have// ''VHN'', //to be// ''VBN'' and //to do// ''VDN'' and the participle of "lexical verbs" ''VVN'', i.e. all others.  

Depending on whether you included the past participles of non-lexical verbs or not, you might end up with either one of the constructions. 

''%%[hw="have"][pos="VVN"]%%'' (22699 matches)

''%%[hw="have"][pos="VVN|VHN|VBN|VDN"]%%'' (33527 matches) 

To generate a frequency list of lemmas in the participle slot: ''count Last by word %c on match[1]''

First ten entries of the frequency list of the first query: 

	4541    got  
	808     gone  
	590     seen  
	477     come  
	476     made  
	441     taken  
	391     said  
	304     become  
	229     given  
	225     told 

First ten entries of the frequency list of the second query: 

	8822    been  
	4541    got  
	1155    had  
	850     done  
	808     gone  
	590     seen  
	477     come  
	476     made  
	441     taken  
	391     said 

==== Exercise 6 ==== 

This query may have to be adjusted gradually, these are possible ways to start out: 

''%%[hw="drive"][pos="PNP|NP0"]%%'' (92 matches)

''%%[hw="drive"][class="SUBST"][class="ADJ"]%%'' (53 matches)


The previous queries match too many sentences that aren’t instantiations of the constructions. This is a possible way to narrow it down to people in the noun slot. Note that ''PNP'' is the pos-tag for personal pronouns and ''NP0'' is the pos-tag for proper nouns, like //Michael// or //NHS//: 

''%%[hw="drive"][pos="PNP|NP0"][class="ADJ"]%%'' (13 matches)

**Which of the construction’s slots remain the same, which are variable?**

The lemma //drive// stays the same, the host-class is adjective. Note, however, that this query would not match instantiations like "driving me bananas".

**What is the meaning of the construction?**

To cause someone to "lose their mind", as it were, to be angry or upset. 

==== Exercise 7 ==== 

Query for //venomous//: ''%%[hw="venomous"][class="SUBST"]%%'' (91 matches)

First ten entries of the frequency list for //venomous//: 

	count Last by hw on match[1]
	
	18	snake  
	7 	animal  
	5 	attack  
	4 	bite  
	3 	look  
	3 	shot  
	3 	spine  
	2 	creature  
	2 	dart  
	2 	glance  

Query and first ten entries of the frequency list for //toxic// (956 matches):

	[hw="toxic"][class="SUBST"] 
	
	286	waste  
	80	chemical  
	46	substance  
	45	shock  
	43	effect  
	28	gas  
	26	fume  
	16	material  
	16	metal  
	15	emission  

Query and first ten entries of the frequency list for //poisonous// (290 matches):

	[hw="poisonous"][class="SUBST"] 
	
	31	gas  
	15	snake  
	13	plant  
	13	substance  
	10	chemical  
	9 	waste  
	8 	animal  
	7 	creature  
	6 	fume  
	5 	atmosphere  
	4 	bite  
	4 	secretion  

**Compare lists. What differences do you see?**

  - //venoumous// tends to occur with animals or animal-related words 
  - //toxic// tends to occur with substances and inanimate objects 
  - //poisonous// tends to occur with both substances and animals

==== More exercises ====

Continue here: [[cqp:repetition-operators|6b. Queries with Repetition Operators (RegEx)]].