Alireza Mashaghi


2025

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Semantic Topology: a New Perspective for Communication Style Characterization
Barbara Scalvini | Alireza Mashaghi
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2025

We introduce semantic topology, a novel framework for discourse analysis that leverages Circuit Topology to quantify the semantic arrangement of sentences in a text. By mapping recurring themes as series, parallel, or cross relationships, we identify statistical differences in communication patterns in long-form true and fake news. Our analysis of large-scale news datasets reveals that true news are more likely to exhibit more complex topological structures, with greater thematic interleaving and long-range coherence, whereas fake news favor simpler, more linear narratives. These findings suggest that topological features capture stylistic distinctions beyond traditional linguistic cues, offering new insights for discourse modeling.