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image of Exploring the evolution of the concept of liberty in the U.S. presidential inaugurals

Abstract

Abstract

As daily news unveils, fundamental human values such as equality and liberty can be expressed through various terms influenced by multiple factors, reaching significant levels of disparity, ambiguity and controversy, particularly in specific socio-political contexts. This article employs advanced corpus analysis tools to examine the lexical and semantic configuration of the “right to liberty” as expressed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and as North American presidents have transmitted it throughout their presidential inaugural addresses. The corpus of speeches is analyzed diachronically to identify the prevalent terms, connotations, and associated semantic categories and observe their differences and evolution. This research provides a comprehensive understanding of the concept of liberty in this context and highlights its startling malleability in American politics.

Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
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2024-10-21
2025-06-16
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: American presidents ; human rights ; political discourse ; applied linguistics
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