Linguistically Packaging Opinion: A Quantitative Token-Based Analysis of Adjective Structures in English

Antoni Brosa-Rodríguez

doi:10.18778/1731-7533.23.22

Authors

Antoni Brosa-Rodríguez Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona (Spain)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1731-7533.23.22

Keywords:

evaluative adjectives, syntactic distribution, opinion markers, corpus linguistics, information structure

Abstract

This study examines the distribution and characteristics of three linguistic structures across three different semantic types of adjectives in English: opinion-based (evaluative), mixed (dimensional), and non-opinion (objective) adjectives. While previous research has explored the perception of subjective adjectives in varied linguistic environments through experimental methods, our research provides quantitative corpus-based evidence from Universal Dependencies English corpora. The analysis focuses on three syntactic structures: modification of a noun (Adj+Noun), predicative construction with nexus (Nexus+Cop+Adj), and predicative construction with noun subject (Noun+Cop+Adj). Results reveal significant patterns: opinion adjectives display greater structural flexibility, appearing with meaningful frequency in both attributive and predicative positions, while dimensional adjectives strongly favor attributive position. The study also identifies consistent positional patterns across all adjective types, with attributive structures typically appearing later in sentences than predicative constructions. Furthermore, register variations were observed, with web language showing distinctive distributional patterns for opinion adjectives compared to more varied texts.

Author Biography

Antoni Brosa-Rodríguez, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona (Spain)

Antoni Brosa-Rodríguez holds a PhD in Humanities with International Mention from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (2024), with the thesis “GLU – A Gradient Model for Language Universals: A Computational Revisitation of Greenberg Universals,” awarded the 2025 Extraordinary Doctorate Prize (URV) and the National Award for Best Doctoral Thesis (Spanish Linguistics Society). His career combines theoretical and computational linguistics, linguistic typology, mathematical linguistics, and university teaching in various international contexts (Spain, France, Italy, and Poland). He has published fifty articles in high-impact journals in Web of Science such as AIMS Mathematics, Mathematics, and in the proceedings of ACL and COLING. He is a member of the Mathematical Linguistics Research Group (GRLMC) and has participated in multiple regional, national, and European research projects such as COST UniDive (CA21167) and OPINION (CA21129).

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