Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Hardcover Where Words Get Their Meaning: Cognitive Processing and Distributional Modelling of Word Meaning in First and Second Language Book

ISBN: 9027208018

ISBN13: 9789027208019

Where Words Get Their Meaning: Cognitive Processing and Distributional Modelling of Word Meaning in First and Second Language

Words are not just labels for conceptual categories. Words construct conceptual categories, frame situations and influence behavior. Where do they get their meaning? This book describes how words acquire their meaning. The author argues that mechanisms based on associations, pattern detection, and feature matching processes explain how words acquire their meaning from experience and from language alike. Such mechanisms are summarized by the distributional hypothesis, a computational theory of meaning originally applied to word occurrences only, and hereby extended to extra-linguistic contexts. By arguing in favor of the cognitive foundations of the distributional hypothesis, which suggests that words that appear in similar contexts have similar meaning, this book offers a theoretical account for word meaning construction and extension in first and second language that bridges empirical findings from cognitive and computer sciences. Plain language and illustrations accompany the text, making this book accessible to a multidisciplinary academic audience.

Recommended

Format: Hardcover

Temporarily Unavailable

We receive fewer than 1 copy every 6 months.

Related Subjects

Language Arts

Customer Reviews

0 rating
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured