Formal and semantic constraints on the interpretation of the suffix ‑s in reading Dutch nominal compounds

Abstract

This study addresses the interpretation of a Dutch homonymic suffix, s, as it appears in Dutch compounds. In a series of reading experiments we manipulated the presence versus absence of this suffix in existing compounds as well as in compounds with a pseudoword as left constituent. We observed an asymmetry in the effects of addition and deletion, with deletion not affecting response latencies, and addition leading to increased identification latencies and, conditional on the phonological structure of the left constituent, to a plural interpretation of the left constituent. Our results illustrate how phonological and semantic constraints conspire to induce a plural interpretation of this homonymic suffix.