Using the rank-frequency distribution in analysing proper names in fiction

Abstract

The paper deals with the proper names of the characters from Lesser Town Short-Stories (Povídky malostranské) by Jan Neruda; it analyses these via the newly designed methods of primary and secondary anthroponym-based text concentrations. They stem from similar formulae which are used in analysing thematic structures of texts, and are based upon rank-frequency distributions of language units (most frequently, words or lemmata). The goal of the article is both to present the methods, and to apply them in the analysis of the short-story collection; the attention will be paid to the relation between the two indexes, the foci of individual stories, and to the anthroponymy structure of the entire book. The counts will be accompanied by sketches of literary-criticism interpretations. The methods could be used in investigating authorial styles and narrative techniques.

Keywords

• anthroponymy-based thematic concentration
• anthroponym
• quantitative linguistics
• Jan Neruda