scholarly journals The origins of Zipf's meaning-frequency law

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 1369-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho ◽  
Michael S. Vitevitch
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Frequency

Lexical accessing for ambiguous words among advanced Chinese L2 learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-231
Author(s):  
Helen H. Shen
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Access ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Contextual Cues ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Word Analysis ◽  
Ambiguous Words ◽  
The Us ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Meaning Frequency ◽  
Polysemous Words

Abstract This study investigated factors associated with and strategies used by advanced Chinese L2 learners in accessing the meanings of commonly used polysemous words (lexically ambiguous words) in sentential reading. The participants included 26 learners of Chinese from a Midwest university in the US. The results showed that word frequency, meaning frequency of polysemous words, and learners’ knowledge of polysemous words affected successful lexical access in sentential contexts. Learners mainly used five types of strategies to solve lexical ambiguity problems, of which three were more frequently used: contextual cues, the intra-word analysis method, and the dominant meaning cue. Contextual cues were the most frequently used strategy.

scholarly journals NEW EMPIRICAL RESULTS OF SOME PROCESSES HIGHLIGHTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEXICAL ABILITIES IN 8 TO 11-12 YEAR OLDS

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Luigi Aprile
Keyword(s):  
Item Analysis ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Fifth Grade Students ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Frequency Relationship ◽  
Meaning Frequency

We have verified the hypothesis claiming the presence of less advanced cognitive processes in the development of lexical abilities, in primary school children. The empirical data was gathered from a sample of 472 third grade students, 495 fourth grade students and 521 fifth grade students, with an approximate male-female gender balance; students belong to a middle range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and do not present learning, reading, or writing disabilities or difficulties. The study was conducted in a two-phase experimental design. The first phase saw the gathering of word definitions from a sample of 100 participants, both female and male, for each grade from third to fifth, belonging to the same demographic constituency and sharing the same scholastic qualities as the subjects of the second phase. The second phase involved the completion of 8 tests already verified through item analysis, each with 4 multiple-choice answers evaluating lexical abilities, in which the less advanced processes were among the wrong answers. We verified the presence of said processes, such as tautologies, graphophonemic linking, consecutive effects, image values, and dominant meaning-frequency relationship in the development of lexical abilities of the participants.

The Effect of Meaning Frequency on Processing Lexically Ambiguous Words: Evidence from Eye Fixations

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 296-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara C Sereno ◽  
Jeremy M Pacht ◽  
Keith Rayner
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Frequency Control ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Ambiguous Word ◽  
Prior Context ◽  
Eye Fixations ◽  
Lexical Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Ambiguous Words ◽  
Subordinate Meaning ◽  
Meaning Frequency

Subjects read sentences containing lexically ambiguous words while their eye movements were monitored Biased ambiguous words (those that have one highly dominant sense) were used in sentences containing a prior context that instantiated their subordinate sense Control words were matched in frequency both to the dominant and to the subordinate meaning of the ambiguous word (high- and low-frequency controls) Subjects fixated longer on both the ambiguous word and the low-frequency control than on the high-frequency control When the target was ambiguous, however, the duration of posttarget fixations was longer and the likelihood of making a regression to the target was greater than when the target was an unambiguous control The results are discussed in relation to current models of lexical ambiguity resolution

scholarly journals A comparison of homonym meaning frequency estimates derived from movie and television subtitles, free association, and explicit ratings

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 1399-1425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin A. Rice ◽  
Barend Beekhuizen ◽  
Vladimir Dubrovsky ◽  
Suzanne Stevenson ◽  
Blair C. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Free Association ◽  
Meaning Frequency

scholarly journals University of Alberta norms of relative meaning frequency for 566 homographs

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie C. Twilley ◽  
Peter Dixon ◽  
Dean Taylor ◽  
Karen Clark
Keyword(s):  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Relative Meaning Frequency ◽  
Meaning Frequency

scholarly journals Token Frequency Effects in Homophone Production: An Elicitation Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 466-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Conwell
Keyword(s):  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Natural Production ◽  
Elicitation Study ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Story Completion ◽  
Meaning Frequency

In natural production, adults differentiate homophones prosodically as a function of the frequency of their intended meaning. This study compares adult and child productions of homophones to determine whether prosodic differentiation of homophones changes over development. Using a picture-based story-completion paradigm, isolated tokens of homophones were elicited from English-learning children and adult native English speakers. These tokens were measured for duration, vowel duration, pitch, pitch range, and vowel quality. Results indicate that less frequent meanings of homophones are longer in duration than their more frequent counterparts in both adults and children. No other measurement differed as a function of meaning frequency. As speakers of all ages produce longer tokens of lower frequency homophones, homophone differentiation does not change over development, but is included in children’s early lexicons. These findings indicate that production planning processes alone may not fully account for differences in homophone duration, but rather that the differences could be learned and represented from experience even in the early stages of lexical acquisition.

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