Abstract
Unlike in English, the role of phonology in word recognition in Chinese is unclear. In this event-related potential experiment, we investigated the role of phonology in reading both high- and low-frequency two-character compound Chinese words. Participants executed semantic and homophone judgment tasks of the same precede-target pairs. Each pair of either high- or low-frequency words were either unrelated (control condition) or related semantically or phonologically (homophones). The induced P200 component was greater for low- than for high-frequency word-pairs both in semantic and phonological tasks. Homophones in the semantic judgment task and semantically-related words in the phonology task both elicited a smaller N400 than the control condition, word frequency-independently. However, for low-frequency words in the phonological judgment task, it was found that the semantically related pairs released a significantly larger P200 than the control condition. Thus, the semantic activation of both high- and low-frequency words may be no later than phonological activation.
Highlights
One critical issue for any model of visual word recognition and reading is the specification of the role of phonology during lexical access (Carreiras et al, 2014)
For the semantic judgment task, the behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) response to target words preceded by homophones and irrelevant words can be compared to reveal when and whether phonology interferes with semantic access
In the semantic judgment task, participants need to judge whether the preceding word and the target word are semantically related
Summary
One critical issue for any model of visual word recognition and reading is the specification of the role of phonology during lexical access (Carreiras et al, 2014). Most research into the role of phonology in reading has focused on alphabetic languages and have explored this primarily through behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) experiments. Many findings were consistent with the view that phonology is activated early and used for semantic access, as seen in English (Pollatsek et al, 1992; Grainger et al, 2006; Ashby and Martin, 2008; Ashby, 2010; Wilson et al, 2011); Hebrew (Frost et al, 2003); French (Ferrand and Grainger, 1992, 1994); and Spanish (Pollatsek et al, 2005; Carreiras et al, 2009). To examine the influence of phonological effects during lexical access, most ERP studies have applied priming procedures. In the experiment of Carreiras et al (2009), two sets of priming words similar in
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
