Introduction to Oxford WordSmith Tools

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oxford wordsmith tools

 

Oxford WordSmith Tools is an integrated suite of programs for looking at how words behave in texts. You will be able to use tools to find out how words are used in your own texts, or those of others.

 

The WordList tool lets you see a list of all the words or word-clusters in a text, set out in alphabetical or frequency order. The concordancer, Concord, gives you a chance to see any word or phrase in context -- so that you can see what sort of company it keeps. With KeyWords you can find the key words in a text.

The tools are used by Oxford University Press for their own lexicographic work in preparing dictionaries, by language teachers and students, and by researchers investigating language patterns in lots of different languages in many countries world-wide.

 

Getting Help

 

Online step-by-step screenshots showing what WordSmith does.

 

Most of the menus and dialogue boxes have help options. You can often get help just by pressing F1 or , or by choosing Help (at the right hand side of most menus). Within a help file (like this one) you may find it easiest to click the Search button and examine the index offered, or else just browse through the help screens.

 

See also: getting started straight away with WordList, Concord, or KeyWords.