English Language

Names Studies

I am a lexicographer and corpus linguist, currently based at the Institute for Formal and Applied Linguistics at the Charles University in Prague. I also hold a visiting professorship at the University of the West of England (Bristol).

From 1990 to 2000 I was chief editor of current English dictionaries at Oxford University Press. In the 1980s I was managing editor of the Cobuild project and chief editor of Collins English dictionaries.

My main research interests are:

  1. lexical analysis -- mapping meaning onto use -- corpus-based syntagmatic analysis of lexical regularities;
  2. similes and metaphors: creative and innovative use of language;
  3. personal names: origin and history, convention and creativity in naming.

With colleagues, I am currently compiling a Pattern Dictionary of English Verbs, using a technique called Corpus Pattern Analysis (CPA). The basis principle of this work is to attach meanings to patterns, rather than to individual words.

Contact emails:

hanks@fi.muni.cz
patrick.w.hanks@gmail.com
hanks@ufal.mff.cuni.cz