Word frequency distributions and lexical semantics

✍ Scribed by R. Harald Baayen; Rochelle Lieber

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996-1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 925 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1574-020X
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00115137

✦ Synopsis

This paper addresses the relation between meaning, lexical productivity, and frequency of use. Using density estimation as a visualization tool, we show that differences in semantic structure can be reflected in probability density functions estimated for word frequency distributions. We call attention to an example of a bimodal density, and suggest that bimodality arises when distributions of well-entrenched lexical items, which appear to be lognormal, are mixed with distributions of productively created nonce formations.