Project information
Project manager
Claes Ohlsson
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Helge Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse
Timetable
1 sep 2024–31 dec 2025
Subject
Swedish (Department of Swedish, Faculty of Arts and Humanities)
More about the project
The project examines the concept of “budget” and how its usage impacts various contexts. This exploratory study aims to both map how “budget” is used and understood in Swedish texts and to develop a theoretical framework for analyzing activity-generating concepts, with budget as a case in point. “Budget” has been a part of the Swedish language since the early 1800s, with its core meaning as a plan for income and expenses. Today, the term is used in both economic and general contexts, from state budgets to household budgets. Its meaning has also broadened, appearing in expressions related to frugality, such as “budget airline.” This project investigates whether “budget” can be seen as an activity-generating concept—that is, if and how it takes on a guiding or influential role in various institutional settings, beyond the economic sense.
The goal is to explore the role and potential of the budget concept in Swedish public discourse, guided by the following research tasks:
- using corpus linguistics tools to map and describe how “budget” is used across contexts and over time.
- analyzing the discursive roles and functions attributed to the concept.
- critically examining “budget” as a potentially activity-generating concept based on these analyses.
The project combines linguistics and discourse studies with a conceptual-historical approach, viewing language and context as interlinked and considering concepts as both indicators of and actors in change. By analyzing “budget” in this way, the study explores how language users employ the concept as part of, and potentially influence, the activities in which it is used.
The project is part of the research in the Centre of Language for Specific Purposes research group.
