W.N. FRANCIS’s research while affiliated with Brown University and other places

A LARGE BODY OF EDITED PRESENT-DAY AMERICAN ENGLISH, FROM A RANDOM SAMPLE OF MATERIAL PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1961, WAS PREPARED IN A FORMAT BY WHICH IT CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO MAGNETIC TAPE FOR USE IN DIGITAL DATA-PROCESSING EQUIPMENT. FIVE HUNDRED SAMPLES, OF 2,000 WORDS EACH, OF INFORMATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE PROSE WERE CHOSEN, EXCLUDING VERSE, DRAMA, AND LONG PASSAGES OF PROSE DIALOGUE BECAUSE THESE TEND TO CARRY HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE IMAGINATIVE MEANINGS. PUNCTUATION WAS CODED AND RECORDED ALSO. THE BODY OF MATERIAL THUS PROVIDED SHOULD PROVE HELPFUL TO GRAMMARIANS, LEXICOGRAPHERS, AND LINGUISTS WHO WISH TO STUDY CONTEMPORARY USAGE OF AMERICAN ENGLISH.