Clarification on linguistic applications of Fuzzy Set Theory to natural language analysis
Li Ma · 2011
Within the linguistic field, the phenomenon found by Fuzzy Set Theory application is called “fuzziness”. Linguistic study on fuzziness has lagged behind the multitudinous literature on vagueness and ambiguity. However, as an unconventional form of semantics and the entity of imprecision and rationality, the study of fuzziness remains a valuable area to explore. As fuzziness is a phenomenon existing in real world, as well as in natural language, the fuzzy set theory lighted up by linguistic method can serve as a tool to study language in turn. The close kinship created by linguistics and the birth of fuzzy sets in turn help to fetch the essence of fuzziness and resume the study of linguistics along the same line. Since there hasn't been generally agreed approach to Fuzzy Linguistics up till now, the linguistic application of Fuzzy Theory to natural language is clarified in this paper, and a working definition of linguistic fuzziness is provided.