Work

Revisiting semantic ambiguity in English words: Nonarbitrary polysemy-form mappings influence lexical processing.

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: = 4,466), confirming that phonological features predict a significant proportion of variance (16.8%) in the number of senses conveyed by a word. A series of experiments using relative weight analyses of megastudy data sets of word recognition and production tasks demonstrates that these systematic polysemy-form mappings have a relatively important influence on lexical processing compared to other lexical and semantic variables. These findings suggest that polysemous word forms might be structured systematically to minimize cognitive costs and maintain a compact or kernel lexicon. Implications for current accounts of lexical ambiguity based solely on semantic similarity are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition

DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001483

Author: Greig I. de Zubicaray

Institution: Queensland University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Reading and Literacy Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Queensland University of Technology, Australian Research Council

Award: A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language