Abstract
Languages may differ in terms of the functional units of word-form encoding used in spoken word production. It is widely accepted that segments are the primary units used in Indo-European languages. However, it is controversial what the functional units (syllables or segments) in Chinese spoken word production are. In the present study, Mandarin Chinese speakers named pictures while ignoring distractor words presented simultaneously, which shared atonal syllables, bodies or rhymes, or were unrelated with the name of the target pictures. Behavioral results showed that naming latencies in the 3 phonologically-related conditions were significantly shorter than those associated with the unrelated condition. EEG data indicated that the syllable-related condition modulated event-related potentials (ERPs) in a time window of 320–500 ms, the body-related condition modulated ERPs from 370–420 ms, while the rhyme-related condition modulated ERPs from 400–450 ms. The starting points for evident syllable, body, and rhyme priming effects were 322 ms, 368 ms, and 408 ms (by the Guthrie & Buchwald method) or 340 ms, 372 ms and 403 ms (by the jackknife procedure), respectively. Our findings provide a relative temporal course of syllable and segment encoding in Chinese spoken naming: Syllables are retrieved before segments, and constitute the primary processing units during the early stage of word-form encoding. Furthermore, segments and their order are retrieved incrementally from left to right when producing Chinese spoken words.
Highlights
Speech production involves conceptual preparation, lexical selection, word-form encoding, and articulation processes
Emerging evidence offers some support for the possibility that for Chinese speakers, syllables rather than phonemes constitute the primary units of word-form encoding
A similar finding[26] was observed for an implicit priming paradigm which showed that phoneme repetition evoked more positive event-related potentials (ERPs) in the time window of 180–300 ms post-target picture onset
Summary
Speech production involves conceptual preparation, lexical selection, word-form encoding, and articulation processes. Emerging evidence offers some support for the possibility that for Chinese speakers, syllables rather than phonemes constitute the primary units of word-form encoding This was supported by earlier behavioral findings of a reliable syllabic priming effect but a phoneme priming null effect during word production of Mandarin[2,3,18,19,20,21,22,23]. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study[27], distinctive brain regions were found to exhibit neural adaptation effects for phonemes (bilateral basal ganglia) and syllables (bilateral superior temporal gyrus) Taken together, these results suggest that phonemes constitute functional units of phonological encoding even in Chinese spoken word production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
