Similarity between Words Computed by Spreading Activation on an English Dictionary

Hideki Kozima; Teiji Furugori

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arXiv · cmp-lg/9601004

Similarity between Words Computed by Spreading Activation on an English Dictionary

Hideki Kozima·Teiji Furugori

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Abstract

This paper proposes a method for measuring semantic similarity between words as a new tool for text analysis. The similarity is measured on a semantic network constructed systematically from a subset of the English dictionary, LDOCE (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English). Spreading activation on the network can directly compute the similarity between any two words in the Longman Defining Vocabulary, and indirectly the similarity of all the other words in LDOCE. The similarity represents the strength of lexical cohesion or semantic relation, and also provides valuable information about similarity and coherence of texts.

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Hideki Kozima, Teiji Furugori. 1996-01-23. Similarity between Words Computed by Spreading Activation on an English Dictionary. https://arxiv.org/abs/cmp-lg/9601004

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