Early
Common-words frequencies, Shakespeare's style, and the Elegy by W. S.: figures and tables
Hugh Craig
University of Newcastle, New South Wales
Hugh.Craig@newcastle.edu.au

Craig, Hugh. "Common-words frequencies, Shakespeare's style, and the Elegy by W. S.: figures and tables". Early Modern Literary Studies 8.1 (May, 2002): 3.1-42 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/08-1/craifigs.htm>.

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Return to Article text

Table 1

Poems in the textbase
Author Year of Birth Title
"W.S." ?? Elegy
Campion, Thomas 1567 Two Books of Airs, Book I
Carew, Thomas 1595 Poems (1640), first 25
Chapman, George ca. 1560 Epicede
Chapman, George ca. 1560 Hero and Leander
Daniel, Samuel 1562 Delia
Donne, John 1572 section of Poems
Donne, John 1572 First Anniversary
Donne, John 1572 Second Anniversary
Drayton, Michael 1563 Endimion and Phoebe
Fulke Greville 1554 Treatise of Religion
Herbert, George 1593 The Church-Porch
Herbert, George 1593 The Church Militant
Herbert, George 1593 20 from The Temple
Herbert, Mary 1562 Sonnets, 44-63
Herrick, Robert 1591 Hesperides, 1-50
Heywood, Thomas ca. 1570 A Funerall Elegye
Jonson, Ben 1572 The Forrest
Jonson, Ben 1572 The Famous Voyage
Lanyer, Aemilia 1569 "Eve's Apology", "Cookham"
Marlowe, Christopher 1564 Hero and Leander
Nashe, Thomas 1567 Choise of Valentines
Raleigh, Sir Walter 1552 Poems (not "Cynthia")
Shakespeare, William 1564 Sonnets
Shakespeare, William 1564 The Rape of Lucrece
Shakespeare, William 1564 Venus and Adonis
Sidney, Sir Philip 1554 Astrophel and Stella
Southwell, Robert 1561 St Peter's Complaint
Spenser, Edmund 1552 The Faerie Queene, Book 1, Cantos 1-3
Webster, John ? 1582 A Monumental Column
Wroth, Lady Mary ? 1587 Pamphilia to Amphilanthus, 1-48

Table 2

Plays in the textbase
Author Title       Date         (from Annals)
Beaumont, F and J. Fletcher The Maid's Tragedy 1610
Beaumont, Francis The Knight of the Burning Pestle 1607
Cary, Elizabeth Mariam 1604
Chapman, George The Revenge of Bussy d'Ambois 1610
Dekker, Thomas A Shoemaker's Holiday 1599
Fletcher, John Valentinian 1614
Fletcher, John and Massinger The Bloody Brother 1617
Fulke Greville Mustapha 1596
Goffe, Thomas The Courageous Turk 1619
Greene, Robert Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay 1589
Greene, Robert I Selimus 1592
Heywood, Thomas A Woman Killed with Kindness 1603
Jonson, Ben The Case is Altered 1597
Jonson, Ben Every Man in his Humour 1598
Jonson, Ben Every Man out of his Humour 1599
Jonson, Ben Cynthia's Revels 1600
Jonson, Ben Poetaster 1601
Jonson, Ben Sejanus his Fall 1603
Jonson, Ben Volpone 1606
Jonson, Ben Epicoene 1609
Jonson, Ben The Alchemist 1610
Jonson, Ben Catiline his Conspiracy 1611
Jonson, Ben Bartholomew Fair 1614
Jonson, Ben The Devil is an Ass 1616
Kyd, Thomas The Spanish Tragedy 1587
Marlowe, Christopher Dido, Queen of Carthage 1586
Marlowe, Christopher I Tamburlaine the Great 1587
Marlowe, Christopher The Jew of Malta 1589
Marlowe, Christopher Doctor Faustus 1592
Marston, John Antonio's Revenge 1600
Marston, John Sophonisba 1605
Middleton, Thomas The Phoenix 1604
Middleton, Thomas A Trick to Catch the Old One 1605
Middleton, Thomas A Mad World, my Masters 1606
Middleton, Thomas Michaelmas Term 1606
Middleton, Thomas Your Five Gallants 1607
Middleton, Thomas No Wit, no Help Like a Woman's 1611
Middleton, Thomas A Chaste Maid in Cheapside 1613
Middleton, Thomas The Witch 1613
Middleton, Thomas More Dissemblers Besides Women 1615
Middleton, Thomas Hengist, King of Kent 1618
Peele, George King David and Fair Bethsabe 1594
Porter, Henry Two Angry Women of Abingdon 1598
Rowley, William A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed 1611
Rowley, William All's Lost by Lust 1619
Shakespeare, William King John 1591
Shakespeare, William Richard III 1592
Shakespeare, William The Comedy of Errors 1592
Shakespeare, William Two Gentlemen of Verona 1593
Shakespeare, William Love's Labours Lost 1595
Shakespeare, William Richard II 1595
Shakespeare, William Romeo and Juliet 1596
Shakespeare, William The Merchant of Venice 1596
Shakespeare, William I Henry IV 1597
Shakespeare, William II Henry IV 1597
Shakespeare, William The Merry Wives of Windsor 1597
Shakespeare, William Henry V 1599
Shakespeare, William Julius Caesar 1599
Shakespeare, William Hamlet 1601
Shakespeare, William Twelfth Night 1601
Shakespeare, William Troilus and Cressida 1602
Shakespeare, William All's Well that Ends Well 1603
Shakespeare, William Measure for Measure 1604
Shakespeare, William Othello 1604
Shakespeare, William King Lear 1605
Shakespeare, William Antony and Cleopatra 1607
Shakespeare, William Coriolanus 1608
Shakespeare, William Cymbeline 1609
Shakespeare, William The Winter's Tale 1610
Shakespeare, William The Tempest 1611
Tourneur, Cyril Atheist's Tragedy 1611
Webster, John The White Devil 1612
Webster, John The Duchess of Malfi 1614
Wilmot, Robert, and others Tancred and Gismund 1591
Wilson, Robert The Three Ladies of London 1581

 

Table 3

Word-types counted

In ascending order of number of zero counts in select set (and descending order of frequency
in full set)

1-10           the  and  I  of  a  is  it  in(p)  to(i)  to(p)
11-20         not  will(v)  with  be  he  his  but  this  have  for(p)
21-30         as  him  all  thou  what  are  thy  that(d)  do  shall
31-40         if  now  by(p)  that(c)  or  we(tp)  they  thee  no(adj)  she
41-50         her(adj)  so(ad)  at  from  would  was  their  then  here  there
51-60         how  more  them  which(r)  our(tp)  on(p)  well  when  one  may
61-70         for(c)  yet  make  must  were  had  such  us(tp)  did  hath
71-80         where  these  some  an  like(p)  most  time  made  being  who(r)
81-90         though  you  that(r)  good  o  come  let  love  so(am)  see
91-100       should  than  know  can  too  take  nor  could  might  many
101-110     my  me  upon(p)  out  up(a)  much  life  men  thus  so(c)
111-120     fair  your  give  think  doth  cannot  down  live  her(pp)  man
121-130     why  say  tell  great  again  away  been  done  thine  look
131-140     who(int)  hear  go  mine(adj&pp)  art(v)  in(a)  back  unto  himself  am
141-150     above  speak  on(a)  will(n)   through  having  myself  soon  themselves  lord
151-160     dost  thyself  no(e)  shalt  dare  wilt  over  under  by(a)  canst
161-170      itself  king  herself  methinks  like(v)  like(n)  sir  ye  aye  to(a)
171-180      yours  yourself ourselves  for(a)  son  wouldst  like(a)  shouldst  art(n) mayst
181-190      yourselves  self  today does  tomorrow  has  durst  sirra  wert  which(int)
191-194      upon(a)  doing  wast  ours(tp)

Word-types with more than fifty-four zero counts:

195-200        our(rp)  we(rp)  hers  ought  tonight  couldst
201-210        darest  us(rp) methought  theirs  mightst  its  beest  sire ours(rp)  ourself
211-219        up(p)  dared  selves  methoughts  mought  mine(n)  mowe  oughtst  wolle

Abbreviations: (a) adverb, (adj) adjective, (adj&pp) adjective and personal pronoun, (ad)
adverb of degree, (am) adverb of manner, (c) conjunction , (d) demonstrative, (e)
exclamation, (i) infinitive, (int) interrogative, (n) noun, (p) preposition, (pp) personal
pronoun, (r) relative, (rp) royal plural, (tp) true plural, (v) verb.

Table 4

 
Comparison of t-test probabilities for common-words variables
Notes: Low values indicate marked differences between Shakespeare and non-Shakespeare texts.
Equal variances are not assumed.
set 1 (variables chosen by Foster) set 2 (rejected by Foster)
and but not so that most like by in to with
plays 0.72 0.21 0.02 0.15 0.14 0.12 0.16 0.00 0.31 0.46 0.80
poems 0.10 0.44 0.64 0.18 0.88 0.35 0.48 0.42 0.67 0.75 0.16
all texts 0.13 0.04 0.00 0.50 0.77 0.19 0.81 0.11 0.49 0.19 0.94
t-test means: set 1 set 2
plays 0.22 0.39
poems 0.44 0.50
all texts 0.35 0.43

 

Table 5

Foster, Elegy, Table 1.17 (p. 144). Retyped.

.
combined works
probable range
control group
most probable
 .
.
low
1
high
2
low
3
high
4
low
5
high
6
low
7
high
8
Elegy
9
and
TGV
24.1
H5
38.4
23.6
37.6
Cym.
24.5
Tmp.
29.6
24.3
29.3
109
25.2
but
Lr
5.1
MM
9.3
5.6
10.1
Tmp.
7.0
WT
9.1
7.6
9.9
37
8.6
not
H5
7.9
JC
13.4
6.2
10.5
Tmp.
9.7
WT
12.4
7.6
9.7
41
9.5
so
Wiv.
4.7
WT
7.9
5.9
9.9
Cor.
5.1
WT
7.9
6.4
9.9
28
6.5
that
Wiv.
9.8
TGV
16.9
11.9
20.4
Tmp.
11.8
Cym.
13.6
14.3
16.5
62
14.4

 

Table 6

"Shakespearean" ranges for eleven common-words variables

Notes: Format is based on Foster, Elegy, Table 1.17. Rounded values as shown are used for calculations.
Base counts are from the textbase compiled by the present author. Ranges on which the Elegy "passes" are shaded in blue.

  .
combined works
.
probable range
.
control group
.
most probable
.
x
 
p/d
ratio
low
1
high
2
low
3
high
4
low
5
high
6
low
7
high
8
Elegy
9
and
1.03
TGV
23.8
H5
36.8
24.5
37.9
Cym.
24.2
Tmp.
29.1
24.9
30.0
108
25.0
but
1.10
Lr
4.9
MM
9.2
5.4
10.1
Tmp.
7.0
WT
9.0
7.7
9.9
38
8.8
not
0.75
H5
7.8
JC
13.3
5.9
10.0
Tmp.
9.6
WT
12.2
7.2
9.2
41
9.5
so
1.25
Wiv.
4.6
WT
7.8
5.8
9.8
Cor.
5.0
WT
7.8
6.3
9.8
28
6.5
that
1.17
Wiv.
10.9
TGV
18.0
12.8
21.1
Cor.
12.5
Cym.
14.0
14.6
16.4
62
14.4
.
most 0.57 .
Wiv.
0.4
Ham.
2.7
.
0.2
1.5
.
Cym.
1.7
Tmp.
2.6
.
1.0
1.5
.
11
2.5
like 1.67
Oth.
0.8
Ham.
2.5
1.3
4.2
WT
1.7
Cor.
2.2
2.8
3.7
8
1.9
by 1.19
Wiv.
3.0
R III
6.0
3.6
7.1
Cor.
3.9
WT
5.0
4.6
6.0
41
9.5
in 1.28
WT
10.2
H V
16.6
13.1
21.2
WT
10.2
Cor.
13.5
13.1
17.3
138
32.0
to 1.05
H IV
118.4
MM
26.6
19.3
27.9
Tmp.
18.6
Cor.
26.0
19.5
27.3
132
30.6
with 1.42
AW
6.6
R II
10.5
9.4
14.9
Cym.
7.7
Cor.
9.7
10.9
13.8
25
5.8

 

 

Table 7

 
Passes and fails for nine poems using the Shakespeare "most probable frequency" range
Elegy Venus and Adonis Rape of Lucrece Shakes. Sonnets Heywood Elegy Webster Elegy Chapman Epicede First Anniv. Second Anniv.
and p f p p p f f f f
but p p f p f f f f f
not f p f f p p f f f
so p p p p f p p p f
that f f p f p f f f f
most f f f f f f f p f
like f f p f f f p f f
by f p f p f f f p p
in f p p f p f f p p
to f f p p f f p p p
with f p f f f f f f f
passes overall 3 6 6 5 4 2 3 5 3
passes in first 5 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 0

 

 

Figure 1

Figure 1 Proximities to Shakespeare using progressively larger variable sets

Figure 2

Figure 2 Proximities to Shakespeare using selected individual word-variables

Figure 3

Figure 3 Proximities to Shakespeare for individual poems