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ON “FUZZY” ADJECTIVES

ON “FUZZY” ADJECTIVES Linguistics 196, pp. 57-64. © Mouton Publishers, 1977. FRED J. DAMERAU A number of linguists and semanticists have, at various times, considered the question of "vagueness", particularly in regard to the meaning of adjectives such as tall, e.g., Sapir (1958), Katz (1967). Bierwisch (1967, 1970), Ross (1970), and most recently Lakoff (1972). At least one computational linguistics project has provided for vague predicates (Carboneil, et al, 1973). Lakoff s proposal is closely tied to the ideas of Zadeh (1973, 1974) on the applicability of "fuzzy sets" to explicating the vague notion of "vagueness". It is this most recent proposal that I want to focus attention on first, before considering the others. As a preliminary, it is necessary to describe Zadeh's work briefly, although interested readers should consult directly at least the papers by Zadeh cited above. A "fuzzy set" is similar to an ordinary set, but associated with each member of the set is a number, usually between 0 and 1, which indicates the "grade of membership" of the element in the set. "As an illustration, suppose that U = l + 2 + . . . + 10 Then a fuzzy subset of U labeled several may http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Linguistics - An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences de Gruyter

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Walter de Gruyter
ISSN
0024-3949
eISSN
1613-396X
DOI
10.1515/ling.1977.15.196.57
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Linguistics 196, pp. 57-64. © Mouton Publishers, 1977. FRED J. DAMERAU A number of linguists and semanticists have, at various times, considered the question of "vagueness", particularly in regard to the meaning of adjectives such as tall, e.g., Sapir (1958), Katz (1967). Bierwisch (1967, 1970), Ross (1970), and most recently Lakoff (1972). At least one computational linguistics project has provided for vague predicates (Carboneil, et al, 1973). Lakoff s proposal is closely tied to the ideas of Zadeh (1973, 1974) on the applicability of "fuzzy sets" to explicating the vague notion of "vagueness". It is this most recent proposal that I want to focus attention on first, before considering the others. As a preliminary, it is necessary to describe Zadeh's work briefly, although interested readers should consult directly at least the papers by Zadeh cited above. A "fuzzy set" is similar to an ordinary set, but associated with each member of the set is a number, usually between 0 and 1, which indicates the "grade of membership" of the element in the set. "As an illustration, suppose that U = l + 2 + . . . + 10 Then a fuzzy subset of U labeled several may

Journal

Linguistics - An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciencesde Gruyter

Published: Jan 1, 1977

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