In 2021 and 2022 we received a small research grant to develop a tool for the automatic analysis of concreteness in texts. To this end, in addition to the existing concreteness list of Brysbaert et al. (2014), we had a substantial number of words (approx. 2000) assessed for concreteness and specificity. The latter was an addition to a longer-term project (Spooren et al., 2015), and has proven to be particularly useful for lie detection research in particular. In 2022 we worked on an extension of the previous system. The interface (available via cesar.science.ru.nl > Tools > TABLET) now makes it possible to select different concreteness scores for homonyms, depending on the meaning in context, non-separable multiword expressions are adequately regulated and the manual has been optimized.
In 2023, four issues still need to be optimized: (i) implementation of concreteness scores for time and position determinations; (ii) the implementation of concreteness scores for separably composed multiword expressions; (iii) the order in which the sub-modules of TABLET are called should be optimized; (iv) the facility to add/change concreteness scores as a researcher must be implemented.
We will also have an interface (e.g. in the form of an app) developed that uses TABLET to give users an indication of the concreteness of their text (in which, for example, abstract words, sentences or paragraphs are highlighted in red and concrete ones in green).