Similar Sounding Words Research Articles

Underlying dimensions of real-time word recognition in cochlear implant users

Word recognition is a gateway to language, linking sound to meaning. Prior work has characterized its cognitive mechanisms as a form of competition between similar-sounding words. However, it has not identified dimensions along which this competition varies across people. We sought to identify these dimensions in a population of cochlear implant users with heterogenous backgrounds and audiological profiles, and in a lifespan sample of people without hearing loss. Our study characterizes the process of lexical competition using the Visual World Paradigm. A principal component analysis reveals that people’s ability to resolve lexical competition varies along three dimensions that mirror prior small-scale studies. These dimensions capture the degree to which lexical access is delayed (“Wait-and-See”), the degree to which competition fully resolves (“Sustained-Activation”), and the overall rate of activation. Each dimension is predicted by a different auditory skills and demographic factors (onset of deafness, age, cochlear implant experience). Moreover, each dimension predicts outcomes (speech perception in quiet and noise, subjective listening success) over and above auditory fidelity. Higher degrees of Wait-and-See and Sustained-Activation predict poorer outcomes. These results suggest the mechanisms of word recognition vary along a few underlying dimensions which help explain variable performance among listeners encountering auditory challenge.

Wayward associations: When and why people think of similar-sounding words

Words with similar meanings sometimes sound similar, which carries both risks, such as confusion, and rewards, such as ease of comprehension. It has been argued that languages evolve to balance these competing pressures, so words more often overlap in both form and meaning when they are less likely to be confused. By measuring the phonological similarity of responses to English cues in a word association megastudy, we provide evidence of a tendency to activate similar-sounding words in response to words that reside in sparse semantic neighbourhoods and in response to words for abstract concepts. Crucially, we provide evidence that the availability of similar-sounding associates helps people retrieve and represent the meanings of words from sparse neighbourhoods and words for abstract concepts, as measured by reaction time in semantic decisions and by accuracy in recognition memory. We propose that phonological connections compensate for weak semantic connections when representing word meanings, which we discuss in terms of multiplex networks, models of word-meaning access, and theories of language evolution.

Обучение хорватских учащихся лексике русского языка с опорой на родной язык

This article discusses the main reasons underlying the difficulties and errors experienced by Croatian native speakers in mastering the lexical structure of another Slavic language, specifically Russian, in the initial stage of learning. The author's attention is focused on the student’s substitution of meanings of lexical units in Russian with words of the native language, due to interlingual or linguistic paronymy. In teaching Russian to Croatian native speakers, it is important to maintain the thematic and situational principle of teaching, the principle of sufficiency, and the principle of relying on the mother tongue. This paper provides examples of effective vocabulary mastering: the use of visual clarity, reliance on similar sounding words in the native language, internationalisms, archaisms, application of the tacit (implicit) knowledge mechanism, unconscious reliance on equivalent, similar sounding words from close South Slavic languages, particularly Serbian and Slovenian (as positive interference). Attention is focused on the development of logical thinking and independence, the correct use of the dictionary, and working with audio recordings and video materials. The article focuses on words with connotative meaning, linguocultural lexis, non-equivalent and partially equivalent lexis, and speech etiquette.

The role of phonology in non-native word learning: Evidence from cross-situational statistical learning

Abstract Adults often encounter difficulty perceiving and processing sounds of a second language (L2). In order to acquire word-meaning mappings, learners need to determine what the language-relevant phonological contrasts are in the language. In this study, we examined the influence of phonology on non-native word learning, determining whether the language-relevant phonological contrasts could be acquired by abstracting over multiple experiences, and whether awareness of these contrasts could be related to learning. We trained English- and Mandarin-native speakers with pseudowords via a cross-situational statistical learning task (CSL). Learners were able to acquire the phonological contrasts across multiple situations, but similar-sounding words (i.e., minimal pairs) were harder to acquire, and words that contrast in a non-native suprasegmental feature (i.e., Mandarin lexical tone) were even harder for English-speakers, even with extended exposure. Furthermore, awareness of the non-native phonology was not found to relate to learning.

Historic British Royal Memes

Historic British Royal Memes

Constraints on novel word learning in heritage speakers.

Recent research on word learning has found that adults can rapidly learn novel words by tracking cross-situational statistics, but learning is greatly influenced by the phonological properties of the words and by the native language of the speakers. Mandarin-native speakers could easily pick up novel words with Mandarin tones after a short exposure, but English-native speakers had specific difficulty with the tonal components. It is, however, unclear how much experience with Mandarin is needed to successfully use the tonal cue in word learning. In this study, we explored this question by focusing on the heritage language population, who typically are exposed to the target language at an early age but then develop and switch to another majority language. Specifically, we investigated whether heritage Mandarin speakers residing in an English-speaking region and speaking English as a dominant language would be able to learn novel Mandarin tonal words from statistical tracking. It helps us understand whether early exposure to the target feature is sufficient to promote the use of that feature in word learning later in life. We trained 30 heritage Mandarin speakers with Mandarin pseudowords via a cross-situational statistical word learning task (CSWL). Heritage Mandarin speakers were able to learn the pseudowords across multiple situations, but similar-sounding words (i.e., minimal pairs) were more difficult to identify, and words that contrast only in lexical tones (i.e., Mandarin lexical tone) were distinguished at chance level throughout learning. We also collected information about the participants' heritage language (HL) experience and usage. We did not observe a relationship between HL experience/usage and performance in tonal word learning, suggesting that HL exposure does not necessarily lead to an advantage in learning the target language.

Minimal gains for minimal pairs: Difficulty in learning similar-sounding words continues into preschool

A critical indicator of spoken language knowledge is the ability to discern the finest possible distinctions that exist between words in a language—minimal pairs, for example, the distinction between the novel words beesh and peesh. Infants differentiate similar-sounding novel labels like “bih” and “dih” by 17 months of age or earlier in the context of word learning. Adult word learners readily distinguish similar-sounding words. What is unclear is the shape of learning between infancy and adulthood: Is there a nonlinear increase early in development, or is there protracted improvement as experience with spoken language amasses? Three experiments tested monolingual English-speaking children aged 3 to 6 years and young adults. Children underperformed when learning minimal-pair words compared with adults (Experiment 1), compared with learning dissimilar words even when speech materials were optimized for young children (Experiment 2), and when the number of word instances during learning was quadrupled (Experiment 3). Nonetheless, the youngest group readily recognized familiar minimal pairs (Experiment 3). Results are consistent with a lengthy trajectory for detailed sound pattern learning in one’s native language(s), although other interpretations are possible. Suggestions for research on developmental trajectories across various age ranges are made.

Translating Linguistic Poetry: Mario Martín Gijón’s Rendicción in Polish, English and French

The lyrical work of Spanish poet Mario Martín Gijón is linguistic in the extreme. Not only does he juxtapose similar-sounding words, but he fuses them graphically into one, with parentheses containing a word fragment [me(re)ce, entreg(u)arme] or two fragments separated by a slash [conju(r/nt)os, in(v/f)ierno]; he also uses enjambment within words (cor / reo, tarde / seosa). These techniques result in a multiplication of readings, which constitutes a major challenge for translators. Terence Dooley, Miguel Ángel Real and the author of this essay (here in the dual role of translator and researcher) translated Martín Gijón’s poetry into English, French and Polish, respectively. Each translator had at their disposal language matter with very distinctive characteristics. The translator into French was able to take advantage of the largely convergent Romance roots, which made it possible to recreate many word games on a one-to-one scale or with only minimal changes. The English language afforded such a possibility much less frequently, and Polish, just once. As a result, the English and Polish translations are re-creations to a much larger extent than the French one. However, the significant differences between each of the versions stem not only from the properties of the target languages, but also from the different approaches of the translators.

Tracking the time-course of spoken word recognition of Cantonese Chinese in sentence context: Evidence from eye movements.

In this study, we conducted an eye-tracking experiment to investigate the effects of sentence context and tonal information on spoken word recognition processes in Cantonese Chinese. We recruited 60 native Cantonese listeners to participate in the eye-tracking experiment. The target words (phonologically similar words) were manipulated to either (1) a congruent context or (2) an incongruent context in the experiment. The resulting eye-movement patterns in the incongruent context condition clearly revealed that (1) sentence context produced a garden-path effect in the initial stage of the spoken word recognition processes and then (2) the lexical tone of the word (bottom-up information) overrode the contextual effects to help listeners to discriminate between different similar-sounding words during lexical access. In conclusion, the patterns of eye-tracking data show the interactive processes between the lexical tone (an acoustic cue within a Cantonese word) and sentence context played in different phases to the spoken word recognition of Cantonese Chinese.

German Language Teachers and Dyslexic Students

Dyslexia is a common disorder experienced by many students in Europe and worldwide. It is a specific learning disability, which also generates difficulties in foreign language acquisition. Publications presenting the etiology, pathomechanism, symptoms and types of dyslexia can be found in literature. There are also guidelines for parents and teachers of dyslexic children. This paper attempts to fill a gap in literature addressing teachers of specific school subjects, more specifically German language teachers, who have dyslexic children in their classes. The article points out the difficulties faced by both the teacher and the students. We present a synthetic review of the literature on dyslexia and the current research on the subject, followed by the key laws and regulations in the Polish legal system that relate to the situation of a dyslexic child at school, with particular emphasis on modern language (German) classes. The Polish legal system and the knowledge contained in the most recent literature set the framework for the conduct of educational institutions and indicate the principles of action of professionals, including Germanists, involved in the education of dyslexic students. Symptoms of specific foreign language learning difficulties include, for example, poor development of linguistic functions, difficulties in differentiating sounds and finding sounds in words, problems with dividing words into syllables or distinguishing similar-sounding words, difficulties in assimilating grammatical and spelling rules. Compilation of practical tips with guidelines for the assessment of dyslexic pupils, e.g., the use of descriptive assessment for written work, possible use a computer for written work, providing oral answers to questions from the bench rather than the middle of the classroom, asking simply formulated questions, is most essential for German language teachers. These teachers, as well as teachers of any modern language, should bear in mind the need to use pedagogical, legal and practical knowledge in their work with dyslexic students.

The role of systematicity in early referent selection.

Previous studies showed that word learning is affected by children's existing knowledge. For instance, knowledge of semantic category aids word learning, whereas a dense phonological neighbourhood impedes learning of similar-sounding words. Here, we examined to what extent children associate similar-sounding words (e.g., rat and cat) with objects of the same semantic category (e.g., both are animals), that is, to what extent children assume meaning overlap given form overlap between two words. We tested this by first presenting children (N = 93, Mage = 22.4months) with novel word-object associations. Then, we examined the extent to which children assume that a similar sounding novel label, that is, a phonological neighbour, refers to a similar looking object, that is, a likely semantic neighbour, as opposed to a dissimilar looking object. Were children to preferentially fixate the similar-looking novel object, it would suggest that systematic word form-meaning relations aid referent selection in young children. While we did not find any evidence for such word form-meaning systematicity, we demonstrated that children showed robust learning for the trained novel word-object associations, and were able to discriminate between similar-sounding labels and also similar-looking objects. Thus, we argue that unlike iconicity which appears early in vocabulary development, we find no evidence for systematicity in early referent selection.

Examining the Influence of Stress on Speech

This article explores English suprasegmental features, specifically stress placement and pronunciation in both single and compound words, using Roach's (2009) framework. Stress is crucial for conveying meaning in spoken language. Challenges faced by English learners, such as accurate stress, intonation, and pronunciation, are discussed. The article delves into stress placement in single words, illustrating its role in differentiating similar-sounding words and conveying nuances in questions, commands, and exclamations. It also covers stress hierarchy, including primary stress, secondary stress, and unstressed syllables. Complex words, involving affixes and compounds, are examined. Affixes' impact on stress in root words is discussed, as is the varied stress in compound words. In summary, mastering stress and pronunciation is vital for effective English communication. This article provides insights into stress principles, aiding learners and educators. Roach's (2009) research informs this critical aspect of language acquisition.

Speakers of different languages remember visual scenes differently.

Language can have a powerful effect on how people experience events. Here, we examine how the languages people speak guide attention and influence what they remember from a visual scene. When hearing a word, listeners activate other similar-sounding words before settling on the correct target. We tested whether this linguistic coactivation during a visual search task changes memory for objects. Bilinguals and monolinguals remembered English competitor words that overlapped phonologically with a spoken English target better than control objects without name overlap. High Spanish proficiency also enhanced memory for Spanish competitors that overlapped across languages. We conclude that linguistic diversity partly accounts for differences in higher cognitive functions such as memory, with multilinguals providing a fertile ground for studying the interaction between language and cognition.

Similar-sounding words flesh out fuzzy meanings.

Most words are low in frequency, yet a prevailing theory of word meaning (the distributional hypothesis: that words with similar meanings occur in similar contexts) and corresponding computational models struggle to represent low-frequency words. We conducted two preregistered experiments to test the hypothesis that similar-sounding words flesh out deficient semantic representations. In Experiment 1, native English speakers made semantic relatedness decisions about a cue (e.g., dodge) followed either by a target that overlaps in form and meaning with a higher frequency word (evade, which overlaps with avoid) or by a control (elude), matched on distributional and formal similarity to the cue. (Participants did not see higher frequency words like avoid.) As predicted, participants decided faster and more often that overlapping targets, compared to controls, were semantically related to cues. In Experiment 2, participants read sentences containing the same cues and targets (e.g., The kids dodged something and She tried to evade/elude the officer). We used MouseView.js to blur the sentences and create a fovea-like aperture directed by the participant's cursor, allowing us to approximate fixation duration. While we did not observe the predicted difference at the target region (e.g., evade/elude), we found a lag effect, with shorter fixations on words following overlapping targets, suggesting easier integration of those meanings. These experiments provide evidence that words with overlapping forms and meanings bolster representations of low-frequency words, which supports approaches to natural language processing that incorporate both formal and distributional information and which revises assumptions about how an optimal language will evolve. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Fungsi Pragmatik Permainan Kata pada Wacana Iklan Audiovisual “Santarou” Berbahasa Jepang

Wordplay or paronomasia is a type of verbal humor based on the ambiguity between two similar-sounding words or one word with multiple meanings. Wordplay is known for being used in advertisement, but it is still unclear what specific function it has in realizing the communicative purpose of the text, especially in regard to pragmatic function, that is, whether the text is informative, appellative, commissive, or contactive. This research aims to analyze how wordplay is used in the Japanese-language audiovisual advertisement titled “Santarou” and identify its pragmatic functions. It is qualitative research using the observation method for data collection and the identity method for data analysis. The results indicate that wordplay could be used to indirectly discuss the product being offered with ambiguous utterances in the case of informative and appellative advertisements, to connect the situation depicted in the advertisement with the product in the case of commissive advertisement, and to attract the audience’s attention and associate a characteristic with the brand in the case of contact advertisement.

Expanding functionality of the autonomous voice control system

The article describes the main advantages of voice control systems, notes the shortcomings of the first implemented voice control systems, their functional limitations, and limited use in comparison with modern voice assistants, and also formulates the shortcomings of modern voice control systems. It is noted that with the expansion of functionality, the scope of voice control systems is expanding significantly. The recommendations of leading companies that implement voice technologies, indicating the need to continue research and development in this area. Due to complex calculations in speech recognition, there is a need to use high-speed computers, which makes it difficult to create compact and autonomous voice control systems that work without an Internet connection. At the same time, the growing need for autonomous voice control systems requires a reduction in computational costs, an increase in the speed of calculations by simplifying the methods and algorithms of these systems, implemented in software and hardware in the form of autonomous electronic devices. Methods are distinguished that allow performing recognition with sufficient reliability, such as hidden Markov models and the method for determining mel-frequency cepstral coefficients. In addition, methods are proposed to reduce computational complexity by reducing the number of similar-sounding words included in the command and the commands themselves, and to increase the speed of calculations, the use of electronic components is proposed in the implementation of computational algorithms and their parts. The operability and the possibility of practical application of ways to expand functionality and reduce computational complexity for autonomous voice control systems have been tested and confirmed experimentally, and some of them correspond to the recommendations of leading companies implementing voice technologies.

The development of spoken word recognition in informative and uninformative sentence contexts

Although there is ample evidence documenting the development of spoken word recognition from infancy to adolescence, it is still unclear how development of word-level processing interacts with higher-level sentence processing, such as the use of lexical–semantic cues, to facilitate word recognition. We investigated how the ability to use an informative verb (e.g., draws) to predict an upcoming word (picture) and suppress competition from similar-sounding words (pickle) develops throughout the school-age years. Eye movements of children from two age groups (5–6 years and 9–10 years) were recorded while the children heard a sentence with an informative or neutral verb (The brother draws/gets the small picture) in which the final word matched one of a set of four pictures, one of which was a cohort competitor (pickle). Both groups demonstrated use of the informative verb to more quickly access the target word and suppress cohort competition. Although the age groups showed similar ability to use semantic context to facilitate processing, the older children demonstrated faster lexical access and more robust cohort suppression in both informative and uninformative contexts. This suggests that development of word-level processing facilitates access of top-down linguistic cues that support more efficient spoken language processing. Whereas developmental differences in the use of semantic context to facilitate lexical access were not explained by vocabulary knowledge, differences in the ability to suppress cohort competition were explained by vocabulary. This suggests a potential role for vocabulary knowledge in the resolution of lexical competition and perhaps the influence of lexical competition dynamics on vocabulary development.

Spoken Word Recognition in Listeners with Mild Dementia Symptoms.

Difficulty understanding speech is a common complaint of older adults. In quiet, speech perception is often assumed to be relatively automatic. However, higher-level cognitive processes play a key role in successful communication in noise. Limited cognitive resources in adults with dementia may therefore hamper word recognition. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of mild dementia on spoken word recognition in quiet and noise. Participants were 53-86 years with (n = 16) or without (n = 32) dementia symptoms as classified by the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Participants performed a word identification task with two levels of word difficulty (few and many similar sounding words) in quiet and in noise at two signal-to-noise ratios, +6 and +3 dB. Our hypothesis was that listeners with mild dementia symptoms would have more difficulty with speech perception in noise under conditions that tax cognitive resources. Listeners with mild dementia symptoms had poorer task accuracy in both quiet and noise, which held after accounting for differences in age and hearing level. Notably, even in quiet, adults with dementia symptoms correctly identified words only about 80% of the time. However, word difficulty was not a factor in task performance for either group. These results affirm the difficulty that listeners with mild dementia may have with spoken word recognition, both in quiet and in background noise, consistent with a role of cognitive resources in spoken word identification.

The ability to use contextual cues to achieve phonological constancy emerges by 14 months.

The ability to map similar sounding words to different meanings alone is far from enough for successful speech processing. To overcome variability in the speech signal, young learners must also recognize words across surface variations. Previous studies have shown that infants at 14 months are able to use variations in word-internal cues (i.e., acoustic cues within the target word) to form phonological categories and to learn words. The present study takes into consideration the fact that talker variability can easily lead to acoustic overlap between phonological categories, in which case reliance on word-external cues (i.e., acoustic cues in the context preceding and/or following the target word, also referred to as contextual cues) as a frame of reference is obligatory for successful talker adaptation. In a series of experiments, the present study examines when infants are able to use word-external cues to tune to different talkers for the benefit of word learning. Cantonese-learning 14-month-old, 18-month-old, and 24-month-old infants (N = 258) were tested on the associative learning of Cantonese Tone 1-Tone 3 contrast. Results showed that talker variability that yielded acoustic overlap between the two tonal categories compromised infants' ability to map the contrast onto word meanings. However, when given speaker-matched contextual cues, infants as young as 14 months of age demonstrated a certain degree of talker adaptation which may have subserved their use of phonetic details in novel word learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The development of lexical inhibition in spoken word recognition.

As a spoken word unfolds over time, similar sounding words (cap and cat) compete until one word "wins". Lexical competition becomes more efficient from infancy through adolescence. We examined one potential mechanism underlying this development: lexical inhibition, by which activated candidates suppress competitors. In Experiment 1, younger (7-8 years) and older (12-13 years) children heard words (cap) in which the onset was manipulated to briefly boost competition from a cohort competitor (cat). This was compared to a condition with a nonword (cack) onset that would not inhibit the target. Words were presented in a visual world task during which eye movements were recorded. Both groups showed less looking to the target when perceiving the competitor-splice relative to the nonword-splice, showing engagement of lexical inhibition. Exploratory analyses of linguistic adaptation across the experiment revealed that older children demonstrated consistent lexical inhibition across the experiment and younger children did not, initially showing no effect in the first half of trials and then a robust effect in the latter half. In Experiment 2, adults also displayed consistent lexical inhibition in the same task. These findings suggest that younger children do not consistently engage lexical inhibition in typical listening but can quickly bring it online in response to certain linguistic experiences. Computational modeling showed that age-related differences are best explained by increased engagement of inhibition rather than growth in activation. These findings suggest that continued development of lexical inhibition in later childhood may underlie increases in efficiency of spoken word recognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).