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British National Corpus
The British National Corpus provides an online search interface for its collection of British English language data.
About British National Corpus
The British National Corpus (BNC) is a collection of samples of written and spoken British English from the late twentieth century. The BNC1994 edition contains 100 million words drawn from a wide range of sources. The site lists several online services that search or explore the corpus, including Audio BNC, BNCWeb, CQPweb, English-corpora.org and Phrases in English. BNC1994 is also available in Sketch Engine for subscribers. The full BNC1994 and a 4 million word sample, BNC Baby, can be downloaded from the Oxford Text Archive.
The external search services are provided by other institutions. The University of Oxford states that it cannot answer queries about them. BNCWeb requires registration, and Sketch Engine access is limited to subscribers.
Key features
- Links to several online interfaces for searching the BNC1994
- Audio BNC service for accessing and streaming spoken corpus audio files
- Full BNC1994 download from the Oxford Text Archive
- BNC Baby, a 4 million word sample available for download
- BNC1994 available within Sketch Engine for subscribers
- Phrases in English interface for exploring the corpus
Best for: Linguists, researchers and students who want to search or download a corpus of British English.
Good for
- Provides both online search interfaces and a full download option
- Offers a smaller 4 million word sample for a lighter starting dataset
Watch out for
- The site cannot answer queries about the external search services, which other institutions provide
- BNCWeb requires registration, and BNC1994 access in Sketch Engine is limited to subscribers
British National Corpus at a glance
- Website
- natcorp.ox.ac.uk
- Category
- Research & Data › Academic Search
- Type
- Website
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Platforms
- Web
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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British National Corpus FAQ
Can the site answer questions about the external search services?
No. The services are provided by other institutions, and the site states that it cannot answer queries about using them.
What does the BNC1994 contain?
It is a 100 million word collection of samples of written and spoken language from a wide range of sources, designed to represent British English from the late twentieth century.
Is there a smaller version of the corpus available?
Yes. BNC Baby, a 4 million word sample of the BNC1994, can be downloaded from the Oxford Text Archive.
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