Chapter 4 - Processing of Finnish Compound Words in Reading

Abstract

This chapter examines data from four experiments on the identification of Finnish two-noun compound words during reading. The primary processing measures were the durations and locations of eye fixations landing on the compound word. The data showed that the frequency of the initial constituent influences the duration of first fixation on the target word and on later processing also. Effects of the second constituent frequency do not show up until the second fixation, whereas the word frequency emerged with the second constituent effect even earlier. This pattern of data is consistent with a parallel dual-route model that assumes that identification of compound words occurs via a direct look-up route and a decomposition route operating in parallel. The locations of fixations are affected both by the constituent length and constituent frequency. The pupil size on first fixation on the target word is larger than that on the second fixation, possibly indicating that the identification process of long words requires more effort during the initial than in the later stages.