Deconstructing destruction: A Cognitive Linguistics perspective on a computational analysis of diachronic change

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to introduce a Cognitive Linguistics perspective into a computational analysis of near-synonyms.We focus on a single set of Dutch near-synonyms, vernielen and vernietigen, roughly translated as 'to destroy', replicating the analysis from Geeraerts (1997) with distributional models.Our analysis, which tracks the meaning of both words in a corpus of 16th-20th century prose data, shows that both lexical items have undergone semantic change, led by differences in their prototypical semantic core.

Authors 3

1. Karlien Franco

   KU Leuven · Research Foundation - Flanders

   Affiliation as printed

   KU Leuven & FWO Flanders

2. Mariana Montes

   KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   KU Leuven

3. Kris Heylen Aachen KU Leuven & Dutch Language Institute (INT) KU Leuven & Dutch Language Institute (INT

   KU Leuven · Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal

   Affiliation as printed

   KU Leuven & Dutch Language Institute (INT)

   KU Leuven & Dutch Language Institute (INT