Corpus-Based Research of Semantic Aspects of Laul-Stem Words in Estonian, Focused on Past Newspaper Texts and Folk Song Lyrics

This study examines conceptions of singing across various Estonian cultural spheres through corpus-based analysis of the singing-related vocabulary. The words with the stem laul ‘song’/‘sing’ are analysed in five linguistic corpora, with a detailed focus on two of them: the Estonian Media Corpus (EMC), comprising 1890s newspaper texts from the Corpus of Written Estonian (Eesti Kirjakeele Korpus: 1890ndad; see CWE 2018), and the Regilaul corpus from the Estonian Runosongs’ Database (Eesti Regilaulude Andmebaas, ERAB). Our methodology combines quantitative word analysis with qualitative examination of lexical categories and semantic associations. The analysis reveals differences in the usage and frequency of the singing-related vocabulary between the two main corpora, offers new insights into singing in Estonian society and shows how distinct conceptualisations of singing and modes of expression in oral and written traditions are reflected in the vocabulary.