A Study on Polysemous Verb Comprehension in Aphasic Subjects

― Categorizing Polysemous Verb Meanings Based on Familiarity ―

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess comprehension of polysemous verbs（verbs with multiple meanings）in aphasic subjects. The subjects were 22 aphasic patients with low- and mid-level comprehension. The meanings of polysemous verbs used in the assessment were assigned one of three values: high familiarity（L1）, moderate familiarity（L2）, or low familiarity（L3）. Comparing correct response rates of the three levels of polyseme familiarity, comprehension was significantly higher for meanings that were highly familiar, followed by moderate familiarity, with low familiarity meanings having the lowest comprehension rate. These results suggest that, for aphasic subjects with low-/mid-level comprehension, the level of familiarity between meanings of polysemous verbs has an effect on comprehension.