LSC-Eval: A General Framework to Evaluate Methods for Assessing Dimensions of Lexical Semantic Change Using LLM-Generated Synthetic Data

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Main Authors: Baes, Naomi, Merx, Raphaël, Haslam, Nick, Vylomova, Ekaterina, Dubossarsky, Haim
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Baes, Naomi
Merx, Raphaël
Haslam, Nick
Vylomova, Ekaterina
Dubossarsky, Haim
author_facet Baes, Naomi
Merx, Raphaël
Haslam, Nick
Vylomova, Ekaterina
Dubossarsky, Haim
contents Lexical Semantic Change (LSC) provides insight into cultural and social dynamics. Yet, the validity of methods for measuring different kinds of LSC remains unestablished due to the absence of historical benchmark datasets. To address this gap, we propose LSC-Eval, a novel three-stage general-purpose evaluation framework to: (1) develop a scalable methodology for generating synthetic datasets that simulate theory-driven LSC using In-Context Learning and a lexical database; (2) use these datasets to evaluate the sensitivity of computational methods to synthetic change; and (3) assess their suitability for detecting change in specific dimensions and domains. We apply LSC-Eval to simulate changes along the Sentiment, Intensity, and Breadth (SIB) dimensions, as defined in the SIBling framework, using examples from psychology. We then evaluate the ability of selected methods to detect these controlled interventions. Our findings validate the use of synthetic benchmarks, demonstrate that tailored methods effectively detect changes along SIB dimensions, and reveal that a state-of-the-art LSC model faces challenges in detecting affective dimensions of LSC. LSC-Eval offers a valuable tool for dimension- and domain-specific benchmarking of LSC methods, with particular relevance to the social sciences.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_08042
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle LSC-Eval: A General Framework to Evaluate Methods for Assessing Dimensions of Lexical Semantic Change Using LLM-Generated Synthetic Data
Baes, Naomi
Merx, Raphaël
Haslam, Nick
Vylomova, Ekaterina
Dubossarsky, Haim
Computation and Language
Lexical Semantic Change (LSC) provides insight into cultural and social dynamics. Yet, the validity of methods for measuring different kinds of LSC remains unestablished due to the absence of historical benchmark datasets. To address this gap, we propose LSC-Eval, a novel three-stage general-purpose evaluation framework to: (1) develop a scalable methodology for generating synthetic datasets that simulate theory-driven LSC using In-Context Learning and a lexical database; (2) use these datasets to evaluate the sensitivity of computational methods to synthetic change; and (3) assess their suitability for detecting change in specific dimensions and domains. We apply LSC-Eval to simulate changes along the Sentiment, Intensity, and Breadth (SIB) dimensions, as defined in the SIBling framework, using examples from psychology. We then evaluate the ability of selected methods to detect these controlled interventions. Our findings validate the use of synthetic benchmarks, demonstrate that tailored methods effectively detect changes along SIB dimensions, and reveal that a state-of-the-art LSC model faces challenges in detecting affective dimensions of LSC. LSC-Eval offers a valuable tool for dimension- and domain-specific benchmarking of LSC methods, with particular relevance to the social sciences.
title LSC-Eval: A General Framework to Evaluate Methods for Assessing Dimensions of Lexical Semantic Change Using LLM-Generated Synthetic Data
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.08042