Here's how I'm going to attack the background section for my paper, by writing it backwards.
Overview of the rest of the paper
Purposes of this paper/study
to illustrate this methodology using data from a language everybody's familiar with (English)
to have a set of data/analysis in English for words that correspond to those of my PI's prior study with Finnish, because comparison fun times
to demonstrate that synonyms differ not only in their valency patterns and constructional frames that they belong in, but more importantly in the semantic patterning of ther agents, patients, modifiers, and functions
Things that have been done with this methodology
The three-stage structure of this "contextual profiling" method
From collocations to more sophisticated statistical methods
Using corpora to study word contexts
Structural vs. semantic views of context
How there's really no such thing as "true" synonyms but rather just words that are closer or farther apart in meaning ... depending on context
How differences in word meaning is dependent on word contexts
Okay, now how do I write this by the end of the week? I can borrow a sizeable bit from my BA thesis for the ... hmm ... last three or four points, but I wouldn't want to borrow all of it and just revise and then add the new stuff.
Markus got a couple of days off work for when I arrive so we can run around and get myself set up as much as possible. I get free rein over his flat until I get mine the next week ;) I think I was also supposed to make lettuja for him or something.
Definitely going to need to invest in a gaming-quality cooling mat for this laptop, because I'm uncomfortable with the internals being at 93°C when I'm actually trying to play Guild Wars 2.
