Lexical density
Encyclopedia
In computational linguistics
, lexical density constitutes the estimated measure of content per functional (grammatical) and lexical units (lexeme
s) in total. It is used in discourse analysis
as a descriptive parameter which varies with register and genre. Spoken texts tend to have a lower lexical density than written ones, for example.
Lexical density may be determined thus:
Where:
Ld = the analysed text's lexical density
NLex = the number of lexical word tokens (nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs) in the analysed text
N = the number of all tokens (total number of words) in the analysed text
(Please note that the variable symbols applied herein are by no means conventional, they are simply random chosen designations that serve to illustrate the example in question.)
Computational linguistics
Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the statistical or rule-based modeling of natural language from a computational perspective....
, lexical density constitutes the estimated measure of content per functional (grammatical) and lexical units (lexeme
Lexeme
A lexeme is an abstract unit of morphological analysis in linguistics, that roughly corresponds to a set of forms taken by a single word. For example, in the English language, run, runs, ran and running are forms of the same lexeme, conventionally written as RUN...
s) in total. It is used in discourse analysis
Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis , or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken, signed language use or any significant semiotic event....
as a descriptive parameter which varies with register and genre. Spoken texts tend to have a lower lexical density than written ones, for example.
Lexical density may be determined thus:
Where:
Ld = the analysed text's lexical density
NLex = the number of lexical word tokens (nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs) in the analysed text
N = the number of all tokens (total number of words) in the analysed text
(Please note that the variable symbols applied herein are by no means conventional, they are simply random chosen designations that serve to illustrate the example in question.)
Further reading
- Ure, J (1971). Lexical density and register differentiation. In G. Perren and J.L.M. Trim (eds), Applications of Linguistics, London: Cambridge University Press. 443-452.
External links
- Lexical Density Test definition NOTE: This page gives an incorrect formula and confuses lexical density with type/token ratio.
- Lexical density 'Textalyser'