Abstract
SUMMARY Recent developments in semantic theory, such as the work of Labov (1973) and Lakoff (1973), have brought into question the assumption that meanings are precise. It has been proposed that the meanings of all terms are to a lesser or greater degree vague, such that, the boundary of the application of a term is never a point but a region where the term gradually moves from being applicable to nonapplicable. Developments in fuzzy set theory have made it possible to offer a formal treatment of vagueness of natural language concepts. In this article, the proposition that natural language concepts are represented as fuzzy sets of meaning components and that language operators—adverbs, negative markers, and adjectives— can be considered as operators on fuzzy sets was assessed empirically. In a series of experiments, we explored the application of fuzzy set theory to the meaning of phrases such as very small, sort of large, and so on. In Experiment 1, subjects judged the applicability of the set of phrases to a set of squares of varying size. The results indicated that the group interpretation of the phrases can be characterized within the framework of fuzzy set theory. Similar results were obtained in Experiment 2, where each subject's responses were analyzed individually. Although the responses of the subjects, in general, could be interpreted in terms of fuzzy logical operations, one subject responded in a more idiomatic style. Experiments 3 and 4 were attempts to influence the logical-idiomatic distinction in interpretatio n by (a) varying the presentation mode of the phrases and by (b) giving subjects only a single phrase to judge. Overall, the results were consistent with the hypothesis that natural language concepts and operators can be described more completely and more precisely using the framework of fuzzy set theory.
Keywords
VaguenessSet (abstract data type)Natural (archaeology)Natural languagePsychologyFuzzy logicFuzzy setNatural language processingLinguisticsCognitive psychologyArtificial intelligenceComputer scienceCognitive scienceProgramming languagePhilosophyHistory
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1976
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 254-276
- Citations
- 309
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Harry M. Hersh,
Alfonso Caramazza
(1976).
A fuzzy set approach to modifiers and vagueness in natural language..
Journal of Experimental Psychology General
, 105
(3)
, 254-276.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.105.3.254
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1037/0096-3445.105.3.254