The definition texts of a machine-readable pocket dictionary were analyzed to determine the disambiguated word sense of the kernel terms of each word sense being defined. The resultant sets of word pairs of defined and defining words were then computaCionally connected into t~o taxonomic semi- lattices ("tangled hierarchies") representing some 24,000 noun nodes and 11,000 verb nodes. The study of the nature of the "topmost" nodes in these hierarchies. and the structure of the trees reveal information about the nature of the dictionary's organization of the language, the concept of semantic primitives and other aspects of lexical semantics. The data proves that the dictionary offers a fundamentally consistent description of word meaning and may provide the basis for future research and app...

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