how do i discover the repeated words in a passage to identify the main keywords ?

BeeRye
BeeRye Member Posts: 21 ✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

is there a way to do this easily. Also will it show me the pronouns as well.....eg if Jesus is repeated but also 'he' refers to Jesus would they show all that?? 

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  • Thomas Ball
    Thomas Ball Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,261

    Hi Brian,

    If you limit your search proximity to the desired portion of the text (John 1:1-3:4 for instance), and can use the Factbook search query shown in the "cookbook" (<Person Jesus>) it will display all search results for Jesus' name and pronouns. This is dependent on your package, but if you have access to the Factbook tool, you should see the "cookbook" in the search window when there are no search results. 

    My example search: https://ref.ly/logos4/Search;kind=Bible;q=$3CPerson_Jesus$3E;match=stem

     

  • Mark Smith
    Mark Smith MVP Posts: 11,835

    Brian Ramdhan said:

    is there a way to do this easily

    Brian, lest we overlook the obvious, reading the passage, underlining or highlighting repeated words, and then reflecting on how those words relate to the message of the passage is the best way to find key words. If I do this reading in Logos I use a highlighter to underline or highlight repeated or what I think are significant words.

    A key word can't always be discovered by word count alone. Sometimes the key word for a passage appears only once or twice. Some years back Logos had a keyword locator tool. It wasn't too helpful as it relied on repetitions of words only. It is not longer a part of Logos software.

    I cannot think of an automated way to discover key words, sorry.

    Pastor, North Park Baptist Church

    Bridgeport, CT USA

  • Brian Ramdhan
    Brian Ramdhan Member Posts: 1 ✭✭
    https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/885201#Comment_885201

    okay guys so the closest thing i have found is using visual filters and selecting corresponding words and it highlights different words as you over one.....you will have to do it separately for pronouns though but i guess it is the closest....

  • Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)
    Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :) MVP Posts: 23,165

    Brian Ramdhan said:

    is there a way to do this easily.

    Morph Query can search for lemma and root repetition (albeit lacks pronoun back to noun):

     

    Thread => more inductive symbols has visual filter example for inserting graphic next to repeating themes and topics.

    Keep Smiling [:)]

  • Phil Gons (Logos)
    Phil Gons (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 3,803

    Brian Ramdhan said:

    is there a way to do this easily. Also will it show me the pronouns as well.....eg if Jesus is repeated but also 'he' refers to Jesus would they show all that?? 

    Two recommendations on how I'd approach this (outside of the manual route already suggested):

    1. Run a concordance on the passage (i.e., Tools > Concordance [under Reference]).
    2. Use the corresponding words visual filter and click/hover on the words to see them repeated in broader context.

    Happy to expand on either of these if you'd like some help.

    Update: I missed how you already discovered corresponding words. Give Concordance a look though. I think you'll find it helpful.

  • Simon’s Brother
    Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭
    https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/885201#Comment_885201

    Totally agree Mark, engaging directly with the text on our own first is the best approach to identifying key words, and ideas in a passage. The software provides us with lots of great tools and reports to take short cuts and save time but if we must not use them as a replacement for getting our hands and heart into the text itself. 

    Mark Smith said:

    Brian Ramdhan said:

    is there a way to do this easily

    Brian, lest we overlook the obvious, reading the passage, underlining or highlighting repeated words, and then reflecting on how those words relate to the message of the passage is the best way to find key words. If I do this reading in Logos I use a highlighter to underline or highlight repeated or what I think are significant words.

    A key word can't always be discovered by word count alone. Sometimes the key word for a passage appears only once or twice. Some years back Logos had a keyword locator tool. It wasn't too helpful as it relied on repetitions of words only. It is not longer a part of Logos software.

    I cannot think of an automated way to discover key words, sorry.

  • JJ Miller
    JJ Miller Member Posts: 103 ✭✭

    Thanks for these suggestions. 

    When I think of repeated words and phrases, I am using this primarily to observe structure and importance, and then secondly to determine if these are also "key words" or simply part of the author's structural or thematic composing. 

    Therefore, simply reading in English often misses important repetitions in a chapter or book, because even in a highly literal rendering (NASB, for example) the same word is translated widely...even theological significant words, like "forgive." So, we tend to miss it when "forgive" is translated as "permit" or "release" or "allow" all within one larger passage. 

    So, back to the O.P.'s original question, how can we "see" these fairly easily, even before we determine whether they may (or may not) be important or "key".  

    Thanks for some of these ideas. I wonder if a Key Word map would allow analysis of a larger passage without creating the actual visual map? And if such a tool would allow a more rustic / organic "mapping" that simply identifying the repetitions within the text of "selected" passage itself??? 

    Thanks for all these useful comments (above). I think I will go play with the concordance tool....

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