You wrote:
>> I would need a list of English empty words...
There is a list of "function" or "grammatical" words in Michael Stubbs'
article on "Lexical Density".
(Full Reference: M. Stubbs, "Lexical Density: A Technique and some Findings",
in Malcolm Coulthard, Talking about Text. Birmingham: English Language
Research 1986; pp. 27-42.)
I have a slightly modified version of the list on file, in case you want to
save the typing. (Can't send it before next week, though!) If you are
retrieving automatically, be careful with the likes of "can" and "will",
which are modal in 95% of occurrences (depending on text, of course) but do
occur as nouns as well.
Good Luck! - Gunter.
Gunter Lorenz, M.A. Tel: 0(+49)-821-598-751
Didaktik des Englischen Fax: 0(+49)-821-598-5501
Universitaet Augsburg
Universitaetsstr. 10 Gunter.Lorenz@phil.uni-augsburg.de
D-86135 Augsburg