Testing agreement between lexicographers: A case of homonymy and polysemy

  Authors

Maziarz, Marek ; Bond, Francis ; Rudnicka, Ewa

 Date issued

2021-01-01

 Type

languageDescription

 Language(s)

English

 Description

In this paper we compare Oxford Lexico and Merriam Webster dictionaries with Princeton WordNet with respect to the description of semantic (dis)similarity between polysemous and homonymous senses that could be inferred from them. WordNet lacks any explicit description of polysemy or homonymy, but as a network of linked senses it may be used to compute semantic distances between word senses. To compare WordNet with the dictionaries, we transformed sample entry microstructures of the latter into graphs and crosslinked them with the equivalent senses of the former. We found that dictionaries are in high agreement with each other, if one considers polysemy and homonymy altogether, and in moderate concordance, if one focuses merely on polysemy descriptions. Measuring the shortest path lengths on WordNet gave results comparable to those on the dictionaries in predicting semantic dissimilarity between polysemous senses, but was less felicitous while recognising homonymy.

 Publisher

Global Wordnet Association

 Subject(s)

wordnet WordNet polysemy homonymy Merriam Webster Oxford Lexico

 Collection(s)

CLARIN-PL

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