# Conceptual similarity and communicative need shape colexification: an experimental study

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.11024 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.11024/

## Key facts

- Cited by 14 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 89 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Mar 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Enriching Word Vectors with Subword Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.04606/) (2016)
- [SimLex-999: Evaluating Semantic Models with (Genuine) Similarity Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1408.3456/) (2014)
- [Time-Out: Temporal Referencing for Robust Modeling of Lexical Semantic Change](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.01688/) (2019)
- [Where New Words Are Born: Distributional Semantic Analysis of Neologisms and Their Semantic Neighborhoods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.07740/) (2020)
- [Unsupervised Multilingual Word Embeddings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.08933/) (2018)
- [Color naming reflects both perceptual structure and communicative need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.06165/) (2018)
- [Semantic categories of artifacts and animals reflect efficient coding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.04562/) (2019)
- [Evolutionary forces in language change](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.00938/) (2016)
- [Quantifying the dynamics of topical fluctuations in language](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.00699/) (2018)
- [The Typology of Polysemy: A Multilingual Distributional Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.01966/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Machine-assisted quantitizing designs: augmenting humanities and social sciences with artificial intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14379/) (2023)
- [Compression ensembles quantify aesthetic complexity and the evolution of visual art](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.10271/) (2022)
- [NeLLCom-X: A Comprehensive Neural-Agent Framework to Simulate Language Learning and Group Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.13999/) (2024)
- [Large Language Models are Easily Confused: A Quantitative Metric, Security Implications and Typological Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13237/) (2024)
- [Evolving linguistic divergence on polarizing social media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.01659/) (2023)
- [Expertise elevates AI usage: experimental evidence comparing laypeople and professional artists](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12374/) (2025)
- [Tracing Semantic Variation in Slang](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.08635/) (2022)
- [Colexifications for Bootstrapping Cross-lingual Datasets: The Case of Phonology, Concreteness, and Affectiveness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.02646/) (2023)
- [A Computational Model for Machine Thinking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.08122/) (2022)
- [LEXpander: applying colexification networks to automated lexicon expansion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.15850/) (2022)
- [Patterns of Closeness and Abstractness in Colexifications: The Case of Indigenous Languages in the Americas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11069/) (2023)
- [Patterns of Persistence and Diffusibility across the World's Languages](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01698/) (2024)
- [Investigating Lexical Change through Cross-Linguistic Colexification Patterns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.13407/) (2025)
- [From sunblock to softblock: Analyzing the correlates of neology in published writing and on social media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.13123/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Colexification refers to the phenomenon of multiple meanings sharing one word in a language. Cross-linguistic lexification patterns have been shown to be largely predictable, as similar concepts are often colexified. We test a recent claim that, beyond this general tendency, communicative needs play an important role in shaping colexification patterns. We approach this question by means of a series of human experiments, using an artificial language communication game paradigm. Our results across four experiments match the previous cross-linguistic findings: all other things being equal, speakers do prefer to colexify similar concepts. However, we also find evidence supporting the communicative need hypothesis: when faced with a frequent need to distinguish similar pairs of meanings, speakers adjust their colexification preferences to maintain communicative efficiency, and avoid colexifying those similar meanings which need to be distinguished in communication. This research provides further evidence to support the argument that languages are shaped by the needs and preferences of their speakers.