Sense disambiguation in polysemous words: cognitive perspective

Abstract

1. IntroductionResolving polysemy has always been and remains one of the key issues in both traditional semantics and cognitive semantics. In cognitive semantics, a polysemous word is interpreted as a mental structure resulting from the complex nature of human experience, and our understanding and interpretation of it. Language crystalizes reality, and shows how it is perceived, categorised and construed by the human mind. Every word is a result of certain cognitive processes (Kubryakova, 1997, p.38).Polysemous words do not develop their senses at random, but follow certain cognitive paths or patterns that are natural to human cognition and that structure our acquisition of experience, knowledge of the world and (Nerlich et alt., 2003, p.7). Language is understood as a cognitive human activity which draws patterns that are regulated in accordance with a community's sociocultural practices (S.Cowley, 2011). Human knowledge of the world in all its complexity is stored in the mental lexicon.We can argue that the mental lexicon performs an important role in polysemy resolution, since it is the mental lexicon that concentrates various types of cognitive processes connected with perception, processing, storage, retrieval, usage and generation of knowledge. There is no unanimously accepted understanding of what the mental lexicon is and what functions it performs. Opinions vary: some consider it to be a mental store of information about words that includes semantic information (words' meaning), syntactic information (how words are combined to form sentences, and the details of word forms.) Some theories present the mental lexicon as an instrument for both language comprehension and production, while other theories distinguish between input and output lexica (M.Gazzaniga et alt., 2009, pp.389-390). There are also opinions that the mental lexicon is organized in the form of information-specific networks. It is often understood as a system of concepts and links between them which have been formed as a result of human cognitive activity. However, there is a general understanding that the mental lexicon is an inherent part of human memory; it is directly connected with language and the role it plays in cognition. On the one hand, the mental lexicon is a kind of analogue of a certain natural language. On the other, it is an integral part of the human mind, intellect and human memory (Kubryakova, 2004, p.379).Given that context is a key factor in resolving polysemy, the central question in the theory of polysemy is still that of what aspects of word meanings are predefined and invariant across multiple contexts, versus what other aspects are indeterminate and only realized in context (Ravin, Leacock, 2002, pp.5-6). The research presented in this article focuses on different types of cognitive contexts stored in the mental lexicon that are activated during the process of word sense disambiguation.2. Mental lexicon, cognitive contexts and polysemyThe formation of the mental lexicon takes place throughout life. From the age of 16 months, children acquire 10 or more new words daily (Eysenk, Keane, 2010, p.328), and a normal adult speaker has a passive vocabulary of about 50 000 words (M.Gazzaniga et alt., 2009, p.389). Bearing in mind that both passive and active vocabulary units are polysemous, polysemy resolution mechanisms never fail to attract attention. Multiple word senses are never a problem for human communication. Speakers unconsciously and quickly select the only polysemous word sense that suits a particular context. However, there is purposeful work of the brain behind every polysemy resolution task.The method of conceptual modelling allows the authors to reconstruct the process of the formation of certain fragments of the mental lexicon related to perception, processing, storage and retrieval of the information connected with particular senses of a polysemous word.Since most words in natural languages are polysemous, we may assume that every word has a complex mental representation associated with it. …