Prototype Semantics, Crossword Puzzles and Memory

Prototype semantics again. Just one final note. The reason prototype categories are so semantically useful in solving crossword puzzles has much to do with memory and the way the brain functions. It has been shown that categorization increases recall and recall is better for high frequency items in a category than items lower in frequency. High frequency items, as the term is used in the previous sentence, should be recognized to mean the more prototypical members of a category. In addition, long term human memory relies mostly on semantic coding, as opposed to short term memory, which relies more on phonemic coding. Following is a quote from Psychologist Endel Tulving (1972) that sums up rather well the mutual importance and cooperation of categorization, memory and word meaning; “Semantic memory is a system for receiving, retaining and transmitting information about meaning of words, concepts and classification of concepts.”

Prototype Semantics and Crossword Puzzles

Returning to yesterday's post - an example of how prototype semantics are used on a daily basis is exhibited by some of the common methods used in solving crossword puzzles. Prototype semantic categories are an important part of the mental process people use in solving a crossword puzzle clue. Though it may not seem obvious, the use of these categories goes well beyond synonymous word clues. Prototype categories are also called upon when solving hyponymous, “a kind of” clues. This can be seen by the example clue: a kind of oven. The answer could be oast or kiln as they are both types of ovens. The answer a solver comes up with would depend on what that solver thinks is a more prototypical example of the category oven. When you think about it, a case really could be made for the use of prototype semantics in answering just about every type of clue based on the fact that a solver always looks for the best exemplar to fit the category of every answer. Prototypes can even be considered with the syntactic meanings of clue forms. For example, a clue in the plural will prototypically have an answer that ends in “s” as will a past tense clue prototypically have an answer that ends in “ed”. However, more challenging puzzles often use irregular plurals and tenses so they are not syntactically prototypical. So remember - when working a crossword puzzle the clue answers may not always be the most prototypical ones, but that is usually the best place to start.

Crossword Puzzle Clues and Semantics

I have always been a huge fan of crossword puzzles and, in a round-about way, my love of crossword puzzles was partly responsible for my decision to study linguistics in graduate school. So naturally, I tend to semantically analyze crossword puzzle clues while working a puzzle. As a result, I believe that the relationship between crossword puzzles and semantics should be seen as reciprocal because working a puzzle not only calls on semantic knowledge, it also reinforces and adds to a person's semantic knowledge, whether consciously or not.

The role semantic knowledge plays in solving a crossword should become clear by looking at some of the common crossword puzzle clue categories and the semantic concepts with which they can be compared.

Traditional dictionary definitions = reference
Thesaurus = synonymy
Encyclopedic = reference
Names = reference
Opposites = antonymy
Puns and wordplay = vagueness and ambiguity, polysemy
“A kind of” = hyponymy
Indirect = vagueness and ambiguity

Pragmatics and Crossword Puzzles

Where crossword puzzles are concerned, pragmatics can be viewed as the ability of the solver to interpret correctly the meaning or sense the constructor had in mind when writing a clue. When a clue appears as a single word without other words to give it a context, the puzzle itself can be thought of as the context. Oftentimes, even a multi-word clue can leave open more than one interpretation of the meaning or sense of the clue and this is part of the art of writing clues.

A constructor can intentionally use a vague expression in a clue to challenge the solver by not giving an appropriate amount of information. Ambiguities, too, are used in a similar way because the possible alternative denotations provide the challenge. With homonyms, it is specifically homographs that pose a problem to solvers because in written language they can not be distinguished without context, whereas homophones can. Polysemes are similarly problematic as they too have the same spelling for different senses of a word.

A perfect example of how a constructor can creatively mislead a solver even with some contextual information would be the homographic clue; bank deposit. The answer could be cash if the referenced bank is a financial institute or silt if the referenced bank is a river bank. An example of misleading with a one-word clue using a polysemic word is the clue; hire. The answer could be engage or employ. With both examples each possible answer has the same number of letters and each of the answers would be acceptable for the clue. It is in instances such as these that a solver must also take into consideration answers from the crossing clues in the grid to help them choose the best response.

Linguistic Hedges and Crossword Puzzles

A hedge is a linguistic device that is used by a speaker, or writer to communicate his or her feelings regarding the degree of accuracy or truth in a statement. Hedges can be in the form of adjectives, adverbs and, my favorite, phrases. As you readers already know, crossword puzzles are another one of my favorite things. A few weeks ago the Detroit Free Press ran a great crossword puzzle with phrasal hedges as the theme. Boy, was that a fun one. Following are the clues and answers:

Don't know for sure, but... So they say
Don't quote me, but... The word is
According to the grapevine... Reportedly
From people in the know... Rumor has it

Word Play and Crosswords

If I haven't yet mentioned it, the topic of crossword puzzles is one of my favorites. I actually wrote a paper about the semantics of crossword puzzles while working on my master's degree. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoy doing the daily crossword puzzles, mainly because of the word play involved. As is the case with many things, some puzzles are better than others when it comes to the creativeness of the word play.

Last week my daily newspaper ran a crossword puzzle with a very clever theme . The theme involved creative word play with the use of synonyms to describe how a person would steal different items in different venues (not that I condone stealing, I don't).

The clues and answers are as follows:

Steal books? palm readers

Steal produce? bag groceries

Steal coins? pinch pennies

Steal gym equipment? lift weights

For the clue steal coins?, my first thought was, pocket change (which actually did fit the spaces and would have worked semantically, to).

This was one of the better thematic crosswords involving word play I have seen in quite a while. If you are interested in seeing the puzzle in its entirety, it is a Tribune Crossword that was printed in the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday, June 4.