Representing meaning: a feature-based model of object and action words

The representation of word meaning has received substantial attention in the psycholinguistic literature over the past decades, yet the vast majority of studies have been limited to words referring to concrete objects. The aim of the present work is to provide a theoretically and neurally plausible model of lexical-semantic representations, not only for words referring to concrete objects but also for words referring to actions and events using a common set of assumptions across domains. In order to do so, features of meaning are generated by naïve speakers, and used as a window into important aspects of representation. A first series of analyses test how the meanings of words of different types are reflected in features associated with different modalities of sensory-motor experience, and how featural properties may be related to patterns of impairment in language-disordered populations. The features of meaning are then used to generate a model of lexical-semantic similarity, in which these different types of words are represented within a single system, under the assumption that lexical-semantic representations serve to provide an interface between conceptual knowledge derived in part from sensory-motor experience, and other linguistic information such as syntax, phonology and orthography. Predictions generated from this model are tested in a series of behavioural experiments designed to test two main questions: whether similarity measures based on speaker- generated features can predict fine-grained semantic similarity effects, and whether the predictive quality of the model is comparable for words referring to objects and words referring to actions. The results of five behavioural experiments consistently reveal graded semantic effects as predicted by the feature-based model, of similar magnitude for objects and actions. The model's fine-grained predictive performance is also found to be superior to other word-based models of representation (Latent Semantic Analysis, and similarity measures derived from Wordnet)

Empirical studies on word representations

One of the most fundamental tasks in natural language processing is representing words with mathematical objects (such as vectors). The word representations, which are most often estimated from data, allow capturing the meaning of words. They enable comparing words according to their semantic similarity, and have been shown to work extremely well when included in complex real-world applications. A large part of our work deals with ways of estimating word representations directly from large quantities of text. Our methods exploit the idea that words which occur in similar contexts have a similar meaning. How we define the context is an important focus of our thesis. The context can consist of a number of words to the left and to the right of the word in question, but, as we show, obtaining context words via syntactic links (such as the link between the verb and its subject) often works better. We furthermore investigate word representations that accurately capture multiple meanings of a single word. We show that translation of a word in context contains information that can be used to disambiguate the meaning of that word

Representational similarity analysis reveals commonalities and differences in the semantic processing of words and objects.

Understanding the meanings of words and objects requires the activation of underlying conceptual representations. Semantic representations are often assumed to be coded such that meaning is evoked regardless of the input modality. However, the extent to which meaning is coded in modality-independent or amodal systems remains controversial. We address this issue in a human fMRI study investigating the neural processing of concepts, presented separately as written words and pictures. Activation maps for each individual word and picture were used as input for searchlight-based multivoxel pattern analyses. Representational similarity analysis was used to identify regions correlating with low-level visual models of the words and objects and the semantic category structure common to both. Common semantic category effects for both modalities were found in a left-lateralized network, including left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LpMTG), left angular gyrus, and left intraparietal sulcus (LIPS), in addition to object- and word-specific semantic processing in ventral temporal cortex and more anterior MTG, respectively. To explore differences in representational content across regions and modalities, we developed novel data-driven analyses, based on k-means clustering of searchlight dissimilarity matrices and seeded correlation analysis. These revealed subtle differences in the representations in semantic-sensitive regions, with representations in LIPS being relatively invariant to stimulus modality and representations in LpMTG being uncorrelated across modality. These results suggest that, although both LpMTG and LIPS are involved in semantic processing, only the functional role of LIPS is the same regardless of the visual input, whereas the functional role of LpMTG differs for words and objects.This work was supported by the European Research CouncilThis is the final version of an article originally published in the Journal of Neuroscience and available online at http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/48/18906.abstract

The Semantic Role of Gender: Grammatical and Biological Gender Match Effects in English and Spanish

How does language affect thought? Do the grammatical structures of the language we speak influence the way we think about objects and ideas? The linguistic relativity hypothesis (Whorf, 1956) proposes that the specific language we speak affects the way we think about reality. Predictions made under this hypothesis (e.g., Boroditsky, Schmidt, & Phillips, 2003) posit that grammatical gender is an example of a linguistic structure that affects other aspects of thought. Specifically, because speakers of languages like Spanish denote a grammatical gender to every noun, including those with inanimate referents, this systematic distinction is thought to become part of the meaning representation of objects. Under this hypothesis, pairs of words that match in grammatical gender would be considered as more similar in meaning than pairs that do not share a gender. In four experiments we examined the role of grammatical gender, as well as biological gender, as an organizing dimension of the semantic representation of speakers of Spanish and English. With respect to biological gender, as denoted by English, we found that native English speakers consider pairs of words that share a biological gender (e.g., queen-cow) to be more similar in meaning than pairs that do not share a gender (e.g., king-waitress) (Experiment 1). However, match in biological gender was not sufficient to produce a priming effect in a lexical decision task (Experiment 4). With respect to grammatical gender, as denoted by Spanish, we found that in contrast to the predictions made under the linguistic relativity hypothesis, pairs that match in grammatical gender (e.g., 'camisa' (f) - 'mesa' (f), shirt-table respectively) did not elicit higher semantic similarity ratings by native Spanish speakers compared to unmatched pairs (Experiment 2), and furthermore these pairs were not processed more quickly or accurately in a primed naming task (Experiments 3A and 3B). We discuss the theoretical and practical considerations that may underlie these effects

The Fractal Geometry of Invention

Fractals are geometric objects of inexhaustible detail. Fractal structures have been found in the contours of mountain ranges, the patterns of veins on a leaf, and the fluctuations of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The endeavor of inventing new technologies, consisting of a hierarchical network of practical inquiries, exhibits fractal properties as well. Among these are multiplicity, latency, and self-similarity. Multiplicity means that a single inventive idea may lead to an immense and diverse array of technological artifacts. Latency means that the potential of an inventive idea to yield practical embodiments only reveals itself in time, and may never be fully known. Self-similarity means that invention is not scale-dependent; in other words, breakthroughs and refinements may be difficult, in principle, to distinguish. Invention, as a whole, resembles an ever-expanding fractal island of promontory upon promontory. Patent law assigns a particular inventor legal rights to a portion of that intricate coastline. The fractal properties of multiplicity, latency, and self-similarity contribute to many of the perennial difficulties in patent law, including fixing the meaning of claim language, properly applying the enablement and written description requirements, and identifying “abstract ideas” that cannot be patented. Understanding the fractal properties of invention is an important step in addressing these issues

Comparative analysis of semantic distinctions between synonymous adjectives in Tatar and English

Many linguistic researches are devoted to the issues of defining the valid criteria of emergence and preservation of semantically synonymous relations between words, the conditions of their system-based organization in a synonymic row. The aim of the paper is to indicate and analyze the types of semantic distinctions between synonymous adjectives in Tatar and English, thus determine features common for the two non-related languages. Based on the broad review of the theoretical data it is stated in the paper that a synonymic row represents a specific type of word relations based on the sameness/ similarity of meaning and distinction. The distinctions which bear semantic, expressive and stylistic nuances, that serve to preserve gradation inside a synonymic row, are called shades of meaning. The comparative analysis of the examined data let us identify types of semantic distinctions in gradation, motivating circumstances, duration and frequency, nature of outward expression of the quality, range of described objects, semantic associations, evaluative attitude, logical emphasis, emotional coloring. We believe the paper findings may be useful for researchers who deal with contrastive linguistics, typology of non-related languages, lexicographic practice and may help those who study the English language to solve the difficulty of choosing the appropriate word in the communication discourse.peer-reviewe

Somali Paremias and Their Russian Equivalents

It has long been noticed that paremias (proverbs, sayings etc., with all the differences of languages and cultures of the peoples who created them, are alike. This is due to the nature of paremias. As Russian folk-lorist G. L. Permyakov established, “they are signs and models of certain situations or certain relations between objects.” And since the situations that people encounter are the same everywhere, the paremias, invented by them to describe these situations, coincide in meaning. This fully applies to Somali and Russian proverbs and sayings. Some of them coincide al-most textually, some others differ in the images used in them. Proverbial sentences can be closed (proverbial class) and open (proverbial phrases class). At the same time, depending on the type of the motivation of their general meaning (transferred, direct or not immediate), they are divided into six subclasses: proverbs proper, folk aphorisms, non-divided sentences, proverbial phrases proper, by-words and non-divided phrases. In addition, proverbial sentences can be simple and complex (syn-tactically), they have different “goals of utterance” (that is, they can be affirmative or negative), they have a modality (they can be narrative, hortatory and interrogative). Thus, the Somali and Russian paremias, which coincide in meaning, may differ not only in the images used in them, but also in their linguistic and paremiological structures. Of the three main structures of all proverbs and sayings – linguistic (and compositional) structure, logical (and semiotic) structure and object-im-age structure, the coincidence in their logical structure and in the types of things opposed in them, i.e, the coincidence in their meaning, is cru-cial for determining their similarity

Somali Paremias and Their Russian Equivalents

It has long been noticed that paremias (proverbs, sayings etc., with all the differences of languages and cultures of the peoples who created them, are alike. This is due to the nature of paremias. As Russian folk-lorist G. L. Permyakov established, “they are signs and models of certain situations or certain relations between objects.” And since the situations that people encounter are the same everywhere, the paremias, invented by them to describe these situations, coincide in meaning. This fully applies to Somali and Russian proverbs and sayings. Some of them coincide al-most textually, some others differ in the images used in them. Proverbial sentences can be closed (proverbial class) and open (proverbial phrases class). At the same time, depending on the type of the motivation of their general meaning (transferred, direct or not immediate), they are divided into six subclasses: proverbs proper, folk aphorisms, non-divided sentences, proverbial phrases proper, by-words and non-divided phrases. In addition, proverbial sentences can be simple and complex (syn-tactically), they have different “goals of utterance” (that is, they can be affirmative or negative), they have a modality (they can be narrative, hortatory and interrogative). Thus, the Somali and Russian paremias, which coincide in meaning, may differ not only in the images used in them, but also in their linguistic and paremiological structures. Of the three main structures of all proverbs and sayings – linguistic (and compositional) structure, logical (and semiotic) structure and object-im-age structure, the coincidence in their logical structure and in the types of things opposed in them, i.e, the coincidence in their meaning, is cru-cial for determining their similarity