Lexical ambiguity of words used in english text

Publication

AuthorsBrittonOABruce K.

Year1978

JournalBehavior Research Methods

DOI10.3758/bf03205079

Abstract

Conducted 7 studies to determine lower bounds for the amount of lexical ambiguity of words used in English text. Two special types of ambiguity are described and quantified, and a refined method for quantifying the ambiguity of individual lexical units is presented. Results of the studies indicate that at least 32{\%} of the words used in English text were ambiguous; it is suggested, however, that this figure is probably conservative. Temporary word definitions established for special purposes occurred in 30{\%} of the sample of texts. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

LanguageEnglish

Stimuli typewords

Stimuli count257

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Lexical ambiguity of words used in english text

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