Under conditions of continuous elicitation, words functioning as nouns took longer to lose meaning than the same words functioning as adverbs. It was suggested that a word can function more readily as an independent item in a nominal than in an adverbial usage, and that a word is likely to maintain its meaning longer to the extent that it can function as an independent item. This led to the further suggestion that a word should lose meaning more rapidly when part of a larger idiomatic expression than when functioning independently. Some data consistent with this suggestion are reported, and further work along these lines is urged.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Fillenbaum, E. (1964). Grammatical class as a variable in verbal satiation. J. Sp. Hrng. Res., 7, 299.
2.
Glanzer, M. (1962). Grammatical category: a rote learning and word association analysis. J. verb. Learn. verb. Behav., 1, 31.
3.
Lambert, W. E. and Jakobovits, L. A. (1960). Verbal satiation and changes in the intensity of meaning. J. exp. Psychol., 60, 376.
4.
Lambert, W. E. and Jakobovits, L. A. (1963). The case for semantic satiation (unpublished manuscript).
