Homophone Effect Research Articles

Homophones facilitate lexical development in a second language

This study examined how previously learned words affect the acquisition of new words in a second language (L2). Twenty L1 English adults in a second semester L2 Mandarin Chinese class performed a three-day word learning experiment involving 10 tonal monosyllabic minimal pairs (e.g., ku4 ‘warehouse’ – ku1 ‘to cry’). Half of the words were homophonous with previously learned words, while the other half were not. Half of the words contained syllables with high token frequencies, while the other half contained syllables with low token frequencies. Daily training included self-paced sound-image associations presented via headphones and computer, followed by a 4-alternative-forced-choice word identification task. A naming task was included on Day 3. On Day 1, participants showed a facilitative homophone effect: new words that were homophonous with previously learned words were more accurately identified than those that were not homophonous. On Day 2 and 3, new words that were homophonous with previously learned words were recognized faster than those that were not homophonous. Syllable token frequency did not affect accuracy or response time; neither homophone status nor syllable token frequency affected naming accuracy. Thus, previously acquired phonological and lexical information can positively affect L2 lexical development.

On the production of interlingual homophones: delayed naming and increased N400

ABSTRACTBilinguals take longer to identify interlingual homophones than control words. For example, Dutch–English bilinguals take longer to identify an English word like “leaf” ([li:f]), a homophone of the Dutch word “lief” ([lif]; meaning “sweet”), than to identify a control word like “branch”. This homophone-delay effect, observed with both visual and auditory presentation, has been interpreted as evidence in favour of language non-selective lexical access. The present article examines whether a homophone effect is also present in word production. Theoretically, homophone production may profit from feedback from a phonemic level back to a lexical level, but may suffer from a semantic conflict during a process of output monitoring. In line with the latter view, the results show (a) a delay in the production of homophones in the second language, (b) an increased error percentage in the production of homophones in both the first and second language, (c) a reduction in P200 amplitude in the production of homophones in the second language and (d) an increase in the N400 in the production of homophones in both languages of the bilingual.

Accessing characters in spoken Chinese disyllables: An ERP study on the resolution of auditory ambiguity

Chinese differs from most Indo-European languages in its phonological, lexical, and syntactic structures. One of its unique properties is the abundance of homophones at the monosyllabic/morphemic level, with the consequence that monosyllabic homophones are all ambiguous in speech perception. Two-morpheme Chinese words can be composed of two high homophone-density morphemes (HH words), two low homophone-density morphemes (LL words), or one high and one low homophone-density morphemes (LH or HL words). The assumption of a simple inhibitory homophone effect is called into question in the case of disyllabic spoken word recognition, in which the recognition of one morpheme is affected by semantic information given by the other. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to trace on-line competitions among morphemic homophones in accessing Chinese disyllables. Results showing significant differences in ERP amplitude when comparing LL and LH words, but not when comparing LL and HL words, suggested that the first morpheme cannot be accessed without feedback from the second morpheme. Most importantly, analyses of N400 amplitude among different densities showed a converse homophone effect in which LL words, rather than LH or HL words, triggered larger N400. These findings provide strong evidence of a dynamic integration system at work during spoken Chinese disyllable recognition.

Phonological mediation in language processing: An investigation into homophone effect on broad and specific (narrow) categorisation tasks

th , 2014 The study investigated and compared homophone effect in a semantic categorisation task involving broad and specific categories. The Open University DD303 Psychology Course students were participants. Results confirmed Van Orden’s homophone effect on specific categories and more false positive errors on homophones. There was some interaction between homophony and category size. Homophone effect on specific category was due to priming. Longer response times confirmed the presence of homophone confusions caused by phonological mediation in language comprehension. Category size mediated homophone effect. Interaction between homophony and category size was limited to spelling controls. The more specific the category, the greater the homophone effect on language comprehension. Future studies could focus on homophone effect in categorisation tasks involving broad and specific categories controlled for frequency.

Do semantic sentence constraint and L2 proficiency influence language selectivity of lexical access in native language listening?

We investigated whether language nonselective lexical access in bilingual auditory word recognition when listening in the native language (L1) is modulated by (a) the semantic constraint of the sentence and (b) the second language (L2) proficiency level. We report 2 experiments in which Dutch-English bilinguals with different proficiency levels completed an L1 auditory lexical-decision task on the last word of low- and high-constraining sentences. The critical stimuli were interlingual homophones (e.g., lief [sweet] - leaf /li:f/). Participants recognized homophones significantly slower than matched control words. Importantly, neither the semantic constraint of the sentence, nor the proficiency level of the bilinguals interacted with this interlingual homophone effect. However, when we compared the slow and fast reaction times (RTs), we observed a reduction in the homophone interference effect when listening to high-constraining sentences in L1 for the slow RTs, but not for the fast RTs. Taken together, this provides strong evidence for a language-nonselective account of lexical access when listening in L1, and suggests that even when low-proficient bilinguals are listening to high-constraint sentences in L1, both languages of a bilingual are still activated.

What the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) says about homophone frequency inheritance

The present study uses tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states as a unique source of evidence to test the hypothesis of lexical access benefits for homophones--that is, whether low-frequency homophones, such as tee, inherit the lexical access benefits of their high-frequency homophonic counterparts, such as tea. We compared retrieval success rates for low-frequency homophones, for matched low-frequency controls, and for high-frequency controls with the combined frequency of the homophone set. In correct retrievals, low-frequency homophones behaved according to their specific frequency, not differing from the low-frequency controls. However, retrieval failures revealed a different kind of homophone effect. When retrieval failed for targets with a homophone partner, access difficulties tended to be less profound than for low-frequency controls, ending closer to target retrieval more often than low-frequency controls (at Step 2; in a self-resolved TOT or in a TOT with a strong feeling of knowing), and ending far away from target retrieval less often than low-frequency controls (at Step 1; in a notGOT). These results provide evidence against the notion of shared word-form representations for homophonic targets but leave open a door for a weaker form of homophone effects, possibly arising from feedback activation that influences retrieval only when access is sufficiently slowed (as when retrieval fails).

The homophone effect during visual word recognition in children: an fMRI study

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate the role of phonology in visual word recognition (VWR). A group of children between the ages of 7 and 13 participated in a lexical decision task in which lexical frequency and homophony were manipulated. A significant homophone effect was observed for the high-frequency condition, indicating that phonology does indeed play a significant role in VWR. The brain activation patterns also support this idea in that regions that have been linked to phonological processing, the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobe, also revealed a homophone effect. Additionally, the posterior superior temporal cortex showed a homophone effect; however, this activation is argued to be related to lexical competition generated by the high-frequency homophone via the activation of multiple semantic representations.

Homophone effects in visual word recognition depend on homophone type and task demands.

This experiment examined how the characteristics of homophones and their mates influence homophone effects, as a function of task demands. Two types of homophones were presented: 1) low-frequency homophones with higher-frequency mates that are not animal names (e.g., maid--made), and 2) low-frequency homophones with mates that are, on average, of equivalent frequency and are animal names (e.g., foul--fowl). We observed a double dissociation: In the lexical decision task (LDT), there was a homophone effect for the first type of homophones but not for the second, whereas in the semantic categorization task (SCT) the opposite was true. These results suggest that in these tasks the effects of homophony arise when the homophone's mate creates competition in terms of the type of processing emphasized in the task, namely, orthographic processing in the LDT and semantic processing in the SCT.

The Homophone Effect in Semantic access Tasks using Kanji Words: Its Relation to the Articulatory Suppression Effect

The present study examined whether articulatory suppression influences homophone effects in semantic access tasks using Japanese kanji words. In Experiment 1, participants were required to decide whether visually presented word pairs were synonyms. This experiment replicated the homophone effect observed in previous research that showed more false positive errors in response to nonsynonym homophone pairs than to controls. The present study found that this homophone effect was also obtained under an articulatory suppression condition. In Experiment 2, participants performed a semantic decision task, in which they had to judge whether a visually presented target word was an exemplar of a definition that was shown immediately before presentation of the target word. The homophone effect observed in previous studies was replicated--that is, longer response times and more false positive errors were associated with homophones of correct exemplars than with nonhomophone control words. This homophone effect was also obtained under an articulatory suppression conditions. These results suggest that the phonological processing that produces the homophone effects in semantic access tasks using Japanese kanji words does not include articulatory mechanisms.

Multiple meanings are not necessarily a disadvantage in semantic processing: Evidence from homophone effects in semantic categorisation

The ambiguity disadvantage (slower processing of ambiguous words relative to unambiguous words) has been taken as evidence for a distributed semantic representational system like that embodied in parallel distributed processing (PDP) models. In the present study, we investigated whether semantic ambiguity slows meaning activation, as PDP models would predict, by examining homophone effects in semantic categorisation tasks. We observed a homophone effect in a go/no-go semantic categorisation task, but not in a yes/no semantic categorisation task. Our results suggest that previously reported ambiguity effects may have been due to the decision phase of the semantic categorisation task and not to the semantic processing phase, in which case the interpretation of the ambiguity disadvantage will need to be reconsidered.

The activation of phonological representations by bilinguals while reading silently: Evidence from interlingual homophones.

These experiments investigated whether bilinguals activate phonological representations from both of their languages when reading silently in one. The critical stimuli were interlingual homophones (e.g., sank in English and cinq in French). French-English and English-French bilinguals completed an English lexical decision task. Decisions made by French-English bilinguals were significantly faster and more accurate for interlingual homophones than for matched English control words. In subsequent experiments, the homophone facilitation effect in the latency data disappeared when distractors were changed to pseudohomophones, when cognates and interlingual homographs were added to the experiment, and when the proportion of critical stimuli was decreased. However, the homophone effect in the error data remained. In contrast, English-French bilinguals revealed little evidence of an interlingual homophone effect. Several attempts were made to increase the saliency of the nontarget language, however these manipulations produced only a small effect in the error data. These results indicate that the activation of phonological representations can appear to be both language-specific and nonspecific depending on the proficiency of the bilinguals and whether they are reading in their weaker or stronger language.

Multiple meanings are not necessarily a disadvantage in semantic processing: Evidence from homophone effects in semantic categorisation

The ambiguity disadvantage (slower processing of ambiguous words relative to unambiguous words) has been taken as evidence for a distributed semantic representational system like that embodied in parallel distributed processing (PDP) models. In the present study, we investigated whether semantic ambiguity slows meaning activation, as PDP models would predict, by examining homophone effects in semantic categorisation tasks. We observed a homophone effect in a go/no-go semantic categorisation task, but not in a yes/no semantic categorisation task. Our results suggest that previously reported ambiguity effects may have been due to the decision phase of the semantic categorisation task and not to the semantic processing phase, in which case the interpretation of the ambiguity disadvantage will need to be reconsidered.

An fMRI investigation of strategies for word recognition

A common procedure used to study visual word recognition is the lexical decision task (LDT). Behavioral studies have demonstrated that overall performance in this task is modulated by the type of foils presented. There are divergent claims about the impact of different types of foils on overall processing strategies in the LDT: some researchers claim that pseudohomophone foils (e.g., BRANE) encourage participants to selectively de-emphasize phonological processing, while other researchers claim that pseudohomophone foils encourage participants to engage in more extensive processing of all types (orthographic, phonological, and semantic). To evaluate these claims, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Participants ( N = 18) completed three lexical decision tasks, each with a different foil type: consonant strings (e.g., BVRNT), pseudowords (e.g., BLINT), and pseudohomophones (e.g., BRANE). We presented homophones (e.g., MAID) and nonhomophones (e.g., MESS) on word trials in order to be able to calculate the homophone effect as a marker of phonological processing for word stimuli in each foil condition. Comparison of behavioral results in the different foil conditions showed that reaction times were longest, error rates were highest, and homophone effects were largest in the LDT with pseudohomophones. Imaging results showed the greatest magnitude of activity in several regions, including the inferior frontal cortex, during the LDT with pseudohomophone foils. A comparison to inferior frontal activity produced during an additional task (rhyme judgment) supported the conclusion that LDT with pseudohomophone foils is a difficult task in which readers engage in an overall response strategy involving extensive processing of phonological information.

Phonological effects in visual word recognition: investigating the impact of feedback activation.

P. M. Pexman, S. J. Lupker, and D. Jared (2001) reported longer response latencies in lexical decision tasks (LDTs) for homophones (e.g., maid) than for nonhomophones, and attributed this homophone effect to orthographic competition created by feedback activation from phonology. In the current study, two predictions of this feedback account were tested: (a) In LDT, observe homophone effects should be observed but not regularity or homograph effects because most exception words (e.g., pint) and homographs (e.g., wind) have different feedback characteristics than homophones do, and (b) in a phonological LDT ("does it sound like a word?"), regularity and homograph effects should be observed but not homophone effects. Both predictions were confirmed. These results support the claim that feedback activation from phonology plays a significant role in visual word recognition.

Ambiguity and visual word recognition: can feedback explain both homophone and polysemy effects?

In a lexical-decision task (LDT), Hino and Lupker (1996) reported a polysemy effect (faster response times for polysemous words [e.g., BANK]), and attributed this effect to enhanced feedback from the semantic system to orthographic units, for polysemous words. Using the same task, Pexman, Lupker, and Jared (in review) reported a homophone effect (slower response times for homophonic words [e.g., MAID]) and attributed this effect to inconsistent feedback from the phonological system to orthographic units, for homophones. In the present paper we test two predictions derived from this feedback explanation: Polysemy and homophone effects should (a) co-occur in a standard LDT (with pseudoword foils) and (b) both be larger with pseudohomophones (e.g., BRANE) as foils in LDT. The results supported both predictions.

From print to meaning: An electrophysiological investigation of the role of phonology in accessing word meaning

This study investigated the role and time-course of phonology in accessing meaning during silent reading. In Experiment 1, the homophone effect was replicated in a semantic categorization task in French. When deciding whether a stimulus belonged to a semantic category (FOOD), subjects made more errors to homophones (MEET) than to orthographic controls (MELT). In Experiment 2, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to study the online development of this effect. If access to meaning was mediated by phonology, smaller N400 components should be obtained to homophones than to orthographic controls. The ERP data exhibited a full-blown N400 component to homophones that did not differ from the N400 to controls. No differences between homophones and controls were found before the N400. After the N400, however, homophones differed from controls, with ERPs to homophones being similar to those of correct category exemplars. The results suggest that the final selection of a word's meaning does not depend on its phonological form. This result is incompatible with a strong phonological view according to which the only way to meaning is via a word's phonology.

Evidence for the use of assembled phonology in accessing the meaning of printed words.

The role of assembled phonology in visual word recognition was investigated using a task in which participants judged whether 2 words (e.g., PILLOW-BEAD) were semantically related. Of primary interest was whether it would be more difficult to respond "no" to "false homophones" (e.g., BEAD) of words (BED) that are semantically related to target words than to orthographic controls (BEND). (BEAD is a false homophone of BED because-EAD can be pronounced /epsilon d/.) In Experiment 1, there was an interference effect in the response time data, but not in the error data. These results were replicated in a 2nd experiment in which a parafoveal preview was provided for the 2nd word of the pair. A 3rd experiment ruled out explanations of the false homophone effect in terms of inconsistency in spelling-to-sound mappings or inadequate spelling knowledge. It is argued that assembled phonological representations activate meaning in visual word recognition.

The Homophone Effect in Written French: The Case of Verb-Noun Inflection Errors

Sometimes people miswrite a word that sounds like the target word (e.g. “there” instead of “their”). This homophone effect is interesting in that it is one of the rare cases in which grammatical classes can be violated. In five experiments, we provided evidence that the homophone effect can be experimentally induced in French adults. This effect manifested itself through the occurrence of noun-verb inflection errors. These inflection errors were elicited by presenting subjects with “pronoun1 pronoun2 verb” sentences and asking them to recall these sentences by writing them down. In these sentences, when the verb had a noun homophone whose frequency was higher than that of the verb, the erroneous inflection was most often -s, the plural mark of nouns. The first three experiments showed that this homophone effect was enhanced when working memory was overloaded. The last two experiments showed that the homophone effect increased when the meaning of the noun was primed by a relevant semantic context. The present findings are interpreted in the framework of an activation model.

When a ROWS is a ROSE: Phonological Effects in Written Word Comprehension

When skilled readers make speeded categorization judgements about printed words, errors occur to homophones of real category exemplars. In Experiments 1 and 2, for example, subjects incorrectly accepted both the word STEAL (as a member of the category A METAL) and the nonword JEAP (as A VEHICLE) significantly more often than incorrect non-homophonic items matched in orthographic similarity to real exemplars. Experiment 3 demonstrated equivalent error rates for homophone targets differing from real exemplars by various types of single-letter change, but reduced error rates, especially for non-word homophones, when subjects were instructed to accept only correctly spelled instances. Experiments 4 and 5 established that the magnitude of the homophone effect is predicted by the degree of orthographic similarity between homophonic mates but not by spelling-sound regularity of the presented homophone. The results suggest that automatic phonological activation plays a major role in the comprehension of written words.

Phonologically mediated access to meaning for Kanji: Is a rows still a rose in Japanese Kanji?

It is generally assumed that access to phonology for words written in logographic Japanese Kanji must be mediated by access to their meaning. This proposal was examined in a semantic categorization task with homophones. If the assumption about Kanji processing were true, then homophony should have no effect on semantic judgments. However, there was a significant homophone effect: Reaction times (RTs) were longer and more errors occurred to homophone foils than to control foils. There was also a significant effect of visual similarity: Incorrect target words that were virually similar to correct exemplars of the category names yielded longer RTs and higher error rates. The effects of both visual similarity and homophony were obtained even under conditions of pattern masking (though only on errors)