What Are Word Meanings?
Abstract
Chapter 1 sets the stage by describing several linguistic and psychological aspects of word meaning, with emphasis on those that have received the most attention in cognitive neuroscience. Specific topics include the treatment of word meanings as public concepts for social coordination; the decomposition of word meanings into semantic features; the characterization of word meanings in terms of frames, prototypes, mental models, and background situations; the nature of word associations and co-occurrence patterns; the influence of context on interpretation; and the importance of crosslinguistic similarities and differences.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Categorization
perception
and language
Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Syntax
Semantics
Linguistic Variation
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Pages
- 1–23
- Publication date
- 27 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter