LINGUIST List 23.4254

Thu Oct 11 2012

Diss: Comp Ling/ Lexicography/ Semantics/ Text/Corpus Ling/ English: 'Can You Really Know a Word by the Company It Keeps?...'

Editor for this issue: Lili Xia <lxialinguistlist.org>


Date: 11-Oct-2012
From: Nikola Dobric <Nikola.Dobricuni-klu.ac.at>
Subject: Can You Really Know a Word by the Company It Keeps? An Investigation into the Contextual Influence on Aspects of Polysemy
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Institution: Universitat Klagenfurt Program: L 792 343 - Dr.-Studium der Philosophie Anglistik und Amerikanistik Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2012

Author: Nikola Dobric

Dissertation Title: Can You Really Know a Word by the Company It Keeps? An Investigation into the Contextual Influence on Aspects of Polysemy

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics                             Lexicography                             Semantics                             Text/Corpus Linguistics
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Dissertation Director:
Allan Richard James Veronica Zima-Smith
Dissertation Abstract:

One of the most pressing issues in lexical semantics is surely the lack ofsolid empirical criteria in accounting for sense distinction. The fact that todate the only viable mode of word sense disambiguation has been basedon the researcher's own judgment implies that clearly defining theboundaries of different interpretations of a polysemous lexeme andexpressing such a statement in empirical (linguistic) criteria is practicallyimpossible. The methodology explored within the thesis promises a fullycriteria-based account of word senses based on the use of representativelanguage corpora. The paper aims to test this claim, raised once again bythe recently re-emerging corpus-based decompositional approaches toword sense disambiguation (WSD), prototypicality of senses, and sensenetworks. Through the application of one of the most recent versions ofthis methodology, namely Behavioral Profiling, to the polysemous verblook, the paper will try to show how reliable the methodology is in itspromise of an objective and purely linguistic account for word senses.


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