A Study on Linguistic Features of Lin Daiyu’s Discourse Based on Word Frequency

Abstract

In the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng in Chinese), Lin Daiyu, one of the novel’s heroines, has captivated scholarly attention with her distinctive linguistic features. Existing researches on her linguistic features are predominantly conducted through textual case analysis. Few scholars have adopted an integrated approach combining qualitative analysis and quantitative study. What’s more, due to the limitations of general-purpose word segmentation tools, quantitative analysis of vernacular texts (Bai Hua Wen in Chinese) are facing significant challenges in practical quantitative research applications, for example in word segmentation and sentiment analysis, thus resulting in difficulties in objective, systematic and quantitative researches into linguistic features of vernacular literature. This study, based on a selfbuilt corpus of Lin Daiyu’s dialogue, will make use of the online text-analysis tool MiniWordCloud to conduct analysis of linguistic features in Lin Daiyu’s dialogues. This study aims to provide quantitative evidence for exploring her linguistic artistry while offering a novel methodology for classical literary research.