Statistical Evaluation of Style Dynamics: Lyrical Poems by V. Nabokov in the Mirror of Parts of Speech

Abstract

The article utilizes quantitative methods of analysis to obtain objective indices which make it possible to evaluate a separate text and the style of the author. The author applies the techniques of textometry (analysis of PoS ratio, type of description, cumulative sum) in order to establish the degree of text stability /dynamics and stability / variability of individual style in general. The database includes verse texts of Vladimir Nabokov created during different periods of creative activity. Poetry was an essential and inseparable part of his writing (as the writer and poet stated himself) which proves the non-accidental character of parameters of his poetic texts and their high relevance for the study of his style. Only texts not less than 30 lines are included in the database in order to avoid fluctuations in frequency of linguistic elements and ensure comparability of the research material. The use of Busemann and variability coefficients made it possible to define the ratio of verbal / nominal description in the texts, while analysis of cumulative sum – the ratio of nouns / verbs in the texts in dynamics (from the beginning to its end). The calculated power function provides precise approximation of the data. The obtained results support the conclusion about the existence of hidden tendencies in the distribution of words of different parts of speech in Nabokov's text, about the growth of variability of their frequencies in the second period of Nabokov’s creative activity, as well as about steady strengthening of the tendency of text verbality growth over the lifespan of the poet.