This paper proposes a method for measuring semantic similarity between words as a new tool for text analysis. The similarity is measured on a semantic network constructed systematically from a subset of the English dictionary, LDOCE (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English). Spreading activation on the network can directly compute the similarity between any two words in the Longman Defining Vocabulary, and indirectly the similarity of all the other words in LDOCE. The similarity represents the strength of lexical cohesion or semantic relation, and also provides valuable information about similarity and coherence of texts.
REF also proposed a word similarity measure by spreading activation on a semantic net composed by the online dictionary LDOCE.
Similarity Between Words Computed By Spreading Activation On An English Dictionary
Conference Of The European Association For Computational Linguistics
Computer Science