Semantic properties of word associations to Italian verbs

This work is concerned with an investigation of verb associations, i.e., the words spontaneously called to mind in response to a given stimulus verb. We performed an elicitation task where native speakers were asked to spontaneously list semantic associations for a list of Italian verbs. Starting from the assumption that the associations reflect highly salient linguistic and conceptual features of the verbs, the investigation is directed toward specifying the structural and conceptual types of associations by distinguishing and quantifying the relationships between stimuli and responses*.