Scholarly record
HOW TO STUDY SEMANTICS RELEVANT FOR SPOKEN WORD RECOGNITION?
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to describe and compare different approaches in lexical semantics and to find out which of them can be used to study semantic features that are necessary for a speaker and a listener while processing spoken word. We group the methods that can be used in semantic research according to three criteria:1) what aspects are in focus of a research: here we compare the studies of the relations between different concepts (such as a word association experiment) and the studies of the components of concepts (semantic features); 2) types of data used: a single word or a word along with its linguistic context (syntagmatic or paradigmatic); 3) methodology: who and how makes a decision about semantic features and relations between them; and here inter alia we differentiate between the studies where a researcher is responsible for the decision (which result in dictionary definitions and formal semantic descriptions) and psycholinguistic experiments with native speakers. In the second part of the paper, we shortly describe the two stages of a study we conducted in order to figure out what semantic features of Russian nouns are regarded as essential by native Russian speakers. 90 participants were asked to write down essential features of the concepts expressed by 10 Russian nouns. The answers obtained from different participants were grouped so that the words of one and the same root formed one group (for example, smeh laughter and smeshnoj funny). Then, the groups were ranked according to their frequency. A corpus-based study showed that the words denoting the most frequent features we got in the experiment are normally used together with the nouns from the experiment in casual Russian. It supports our hypothesis that these features can be used by a listener while processing spoken word.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References15
Nida E. A. A Componential Analysis of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantic Structures, The Netherlands / France, 1975.
Krongauz M. A. Semantics [in Russian], Russia, 2001, p. 93.
Melchuk I. A. A Trial Theory of Linguistic Models “MEANING-TEXT” [in Russian], Russia, 1999.
Zalevskaya A. A. Word Meaning through Experimental Paradigm [in Russian], Russia, 2011, pp. 87, 77.
Serzhan N. P. Experiment on Estimation of Meaning Association, Methods of Lexical Studies [in Russian], USSR, pp. 70-74, 1975.
Frumkina R. M., Mikheev A. V., Mostovaya A. D., Rumina N. A. Semantics and Categorization [in Russian], Russia, 1991, pp. 60-84.
Luria A. R., Vinogradova O. S. Objective research of the Semantic Systems Dynamics, Semantic Structure of a Word. Psycholinguistic Studies [in Russian], USSR, pp. 27–63, 1971.
Lucas M. Semantic Priming without Association: A Meta-Analytic Review, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, USA, vol. 7 (4), pp. 618-630, 2000.
Sakharnyj L. V. Introduction into Psycholinguistics [in Russian], USSR, 1989, pp. 94-100.
Apresyan Yu. D. Lexical Semantics, Selected Papers [in Russian], Russia, vol. 1, 1995.
Velichkovskiy B. M. Cognitive Science: Elements of Cognitive Psychology [in Russian], Russia, vol. 2, 2006, p. 91.
Kasevitch V. B. Semantics. Syntax. Morphology, Works on Linguistics [in Russian], Russia, vol. 1, 2006, p. 593.
Turney P. D., Pantel P. From Frequency to Meaning: Vector Space Models of Semantics, Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, USA, vol. 37, pp. 141-188, 2010.
McRae K., Cree G. S., Seidenberg M. S., McNorgan C. Semantic Feature Production Norms for a Large Set of Living and Nonliving Things, Behavior Research Methods, USA, vol. 37 (4), pp. 547-559, 2005.
Pilatova O. I. Experimental Research of Semantics for Spoken Word Recognition: Evidence from Russian, Linguistic Problems: Post-Proceedings of the Fifth Conference “Linguistic Problems: Young Researchers View” [in Russian], Russia, pp. 269-282, 2017.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
