Discovering regularity and mechanisms of word sense acquisition in childhood.
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| Title: | Discovering regularity and mechanisms of word sense acquisition in childhood. |
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| Authors: | Li, Jiangtian1 jiangtian.li@utoronto.ca, Armstrong, Blair C.1,2, Xu, Yang3 |
| Source: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 5/19/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 20, p1-12. 38p. |
| Subjects: | Language acquisition, Semantic computing, Lexicology, Children's language, Categorization (Linguistics), Emergence (Philosophy), Cognitive development |
| Abstract: | How does language use inform the emergence of word meanings in early life? Prior work in developmental psychology and the cognitive sciences typically focuses on studying word acquisition in children without specifying how different senses within a word emerge through time. To shed light on word sense acquisition, we propose a framework grounded in state-of-the-art computational methodologies of contextual word embedding to characterize how different senses of a word unfold as children acquire their lexicon. Our framework identifies word senses automatically by forming semantic clusters through natural language use, and analyzes 1,270 words from approximately 4 million utterances produced by children (19 to 144 mo) and their caretakers. The psychological validity of these senses was assessed based on a combination of dictionaries, human judgment of semantic similarity, and evaluation from a large language model. We then tested three hypotheses motivated by existing work on word sense emergence in language evolution. First, concrete senses of a word tend to emerge earlier than more abstract senses in child language. Second, word senses grow incrementally in semantic space across development. Third, algorithms of semantic chaining--how words spawn new senses by extending from existing senses--recapitulate the order of word senses in development. We find support for all three hypotheses. Our work suggests that the development of word meaning in language acquisition resembles that in language evolution and offers a converging view on the cognitive principles and mechanisms across timescales in the ontogeny and phylogeny of word sense emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 194071154 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Discovering regularity and mechanisms of word sense acquisition in childhood. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Jiangtian%22">Li, Jiangtian</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> jiangtian.li@utoronto.ca</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Armstrong%2C+Blair+C%2E%22">Armstrong, Blair C.</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Xu%2C+Yang%22">Xu, Yang</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+National+Academy+of+Sciences+of+the+United+States+of+America%22">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</searchLink>. 5/19/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 20, p1-12. 38p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Semantic+computing%22">Semantic computing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Lexicology%22">Lexicology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children's+language%22">Children's language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Categorization+%28Linguistics%29%22">Categorization (Linguistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emergence+%28Philosophy%29%22">Emergence (Philosophy)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+development%22">Cognitive development</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: How does language use inform the emergence of word meanings in early life? Prior work in developmental psychology and the cognitive sciences typically focuses on studying word acquisition in children without specifying how different senses within a word emerge through time. To shed light on word sense acquisition, we propose a framework grounded in state-of-the-art computational methodologies of contextual word embedding to characterize how different senses of a word unfold as children acquire their lexicon. Our framework identifies word senses automatically by forming semantic clusters through natural language use, and analyzes 1,270 words from approximately 4 million utterances produced by children (19 to 144 mo) and their caretakers. The psychological validity of these senses was assessed based on a combination of dictionaries, human judgment of semantic similarity, and evaluation from a large language model. We then tested three hypotheses motivated by existing work on word sense emergence in language evolution. First, concrete senses of a word tend to emerge earlier than more abstract senses in child language. Second, word senses grow incrementally in semantic space across development. Third, algorithms of semantic chaining--how words spawn new senses by extending from existing senses--recapitulate the order of word senses in development. We find support for all three hypotheses. Our work suggests that the development of word meaning in language acquisition resembles that in language evolution and offers a converging view on the cognitive principles and mechanisms across timescales in the ontogeny and phylogeny of word sense emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1073/pnas.2525788123 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 38 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Language acquisition Type: general – SubjectFull: Semantic computing Type: general – SubjectFull: Lexicology Type: general – SubjectFull: Children's language Type: general – SubjectFull: Categorization (Linguistics) Type: general – SubjectFull: Emergence (Philosophy) Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive development Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Discovering regularity and mechanisms of word sense acquisition in childhood. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Li, Jiangtian – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Armstrong, Blair C. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Xu, Yang IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 19 M: 05 Text: 5/19/2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00278424 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 123 – Type: issue Value: 20 Titles: – TitleFull: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Type: main |
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