Speaker: Lauren Fonteyn
Affiliation: Leiden University Centre for Linuistics, Department of English Language and Culture, Arsenaalstraat 1, 2311CT, Leiden, the Netherlands
Title: What about Grammar? Using BERT Embeddings to Explore Functional-Semantic Shifts of Semi-Lexical and Grammatical Constructions
Abstract: The aim of this short paper is to extend the application of embedding-based methodologies beyond the realm of lexical semantic change. It focuses on the use of unsupervised BERT-embeddings and uncertainty measures (Classification Entropy), and assesses whether (and how) they can be used to (semi-)automatically flag possible functional-semantic changes in the use of the construction [ BE about ] in the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA).
