On the Nature of the Word-Reduction Phenomenon: The Contribution of Bilingualism.

Sara Rodriguez-Cuadrado,Cristina Baus,Albert Costa

doi:10.3390/brainsci9110294

Abstract

Word reduction refers to how predictable words are shortened in features such as duration, intensity, or pitch. However, its origin is still unclear: Are words reduced because it is the second time that conceptual representations are activated, or because words are articulated twice? If word reduction is conceptually driven, it would be irrelevant whether the same referent is mentioned twice but using different words. However, if is articulatory, using different words for the same referent could prevent word reduction. In the present work, we use bilingualism to explore the conceptual or articulatory origin of word reduction in language production. Word reduction was compared in two conditions: a non-switch condition, where the two mentions of a referent were uttered in the same language, and a switch condition, where the referent was said in both languages. Dyads of participants completed collaborative maps in which words were uttered twice in Catalan or in Spanish, either repeating or switching the language between mentions. Words were equally reduced in duration, intensity, and pitch in non-switch and in switch conditions. Furthermore, the cognate status of words did not play any role. These findings support the theory that word reduction is conceptually driven.

Highlights

Word reduction shows that predictable words are likely to be shortened in a variety of ways, such as in their duration or intensity [1,2,3,4,5]
Mention (1st mention, 2nd mention non-switch, and 2nd mention switch), cognate status, and the interaction between them were introduced as fixed effects, and the random-effects structure was defined by a forward model selection
Second mentions were uttered either in the same or in a different language than first mentions, so word reduction could be elicited within languages or between languages

Summary

Introduction

Word reduction shows that predictable words are likely to be shortened in a variety of ways, such as in their duration or intensity [1,2,3,4,5]. The predictability of words can come from different sources, such as their lexical frequency, sentence context, or previous mentions in a discourse; word predictability can be manifested in shorter durations and lower intensities, or in a decrease in mean pitch [2,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. The aim of the present work is to explore the nature of the word-reduction phenomenon by examining conceptual and articulatory influences. There are some studies that have provided indirect evidence to account for conceptual or articulatory influences in word reduction [4,15,16,17,18,19,20]. Content and function words can be informative about the origin of word reduction

Objectives

Results

Conclusion