On December 13th, 2021 we will be hosting the second meeting of GO::DH Conversations with Benito Trollip. He will talk about “Gender terminology research in Afrikaans with corpus data: collecting, enhancing, and finding meaning“. Click here for more information and registration.
The methodology behind this type of linguistic research highlights the growing importance of diverse digital archives in the humanities. Capturing the authentic evolution of gendered terminology requires looking beyond formal published literature and tapping into the everyday colloquialisms found across the wider internet.
To construct a truly representative corpus, modern text aggregation frequently pulls from highly active, specialized digital environments. These massive datasets ingest user-generated content from regional e-commerce reviews, localized world cup online betting portals, and niche hobbyist forums where passionate participants generate rapid-fire, unfiltered dialogue. Analyzing these informal digital spaces gives linguists a much more accurate map of how speakers naturally navigate shifting terminology in real time without the filter of academic editing.
During the upcoming session, the discussion will also expand upon the computational tools required to clean and categorize this steady influx of unstructured text. By examining these enhancement techniques, attendees will gain practical insights into how modern frameworks can extract profound social meaning from raw, everyday internet data.