title: Imageability of Norwegian nouns, verbs and adjectives in a cross-linguistic perspective.
abstract: In this article, we present a study of imageability ratings for a set of 1599 Norwegian words (896 nouns, 483 verbs and 220 adjectives) from a web-based survey. To a large extent, the results are in accordance with previous studies of other languages: high imageability scores in general, higher imageability scores for nouns than for verbs, and an inverse relation between frequency and imageability. A more surprising finding is the low imageability of low-frequency verbs. Also, imageability ratings increase systematically and significantly with informant age, reminding us that conceptual learning continues and changes throughout life. This has consequences for our expectations of different linguistic skills in a life span perspective. These findings have an obvious clinical relevance both for choice of items in test construction, for evaluation of performance in clinical groups and for development of therapy material.
authors: Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway. h.g.simonsen@iln.uio.no
authors: Hanne Gram
authors: HG
authors: Simonsen
authors: Marianne
authors: M
authors: Lind
authors: Pernille
authors: P
authors: Hansen
authors: Elisabeth
authors: E
authors: Holm
authors: Bjørn-Helge
authors: BH
authors: Mevik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D020407:Internet; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult