# Distributional Hypothesis

The distributional hypothesis suggests that words that occur in similar contexts tend to have similar meanings \[1]. Let us examine the following two sentences with blanks:

> A: I sat on a \_\_
>
> B: I played with my \_\_

The blank for A can be filled with words such as {_bench_, _chair_, _sofa_, _stool_}, which convey the meaning "something to sit on" in this context. On the other hand, the blank for B can be filled with words such as {_child_, _dog_, _friend_, _toy_}, carrying the meaning of "someone/thing to play with." However, these two sets of words are not interchangeable, as it is unlikely that you would sit on a "friend" or play with a "sofa".

This hypothesis provides a potent framework for understanding how meaning is encoded in language and has become a cornerstone of modern computational linguistics and natural language processing.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Q1**: Assuming that your corpus has only the following three sentences, what context would influence **the meaning of the word** "chair" according to the distributional hypothesis?

1. I sat on a chair.
2. I will chair the meeting.
3. I am the chair of my department.
{% endhint %}

## References

1. [Distributional Structure](https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1954.11659520), Zellig S. Harris, Word, 10 (2-3): 146-162, 1954.
