Compound words are decomposed regardless of semantic transparency and grammatical class: An fMRI study in Persian

Lingua ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 103120
Author(s):  
Mohammad Momenian ◽  
Narges Radman ◽  
Hossein Rafipoor ◽  
Mojtaba Barzegar ◽  
Brendan Weekes
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Grammatical Class ◽  
Fmri Study

scholarly journals Semantic transparency effects in German compounds: A large dataset and multiple-task investigation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Guenther ◽  
Marco Marelli ◽  
Jens Bölte
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Distributional Semantics ◽  
Semantic Model ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Dimensional Approach ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Multiple Task

In the present study, we provide a comprehensive analysis and a multi-dimensional dataset of semantic transparency measures for 1,810 German compound words. Compound words are considered semantically transparent when the contribution of the constituents’ meaning to the compound meaning is clear (as in airport), but the degree of semantic transparency varies between compounds (compare strawberry or sandman). Our dataset includes both compositional and relatedness-based semantic transparency measures, also differentiated by constituents. The measures are obtained from a computational and fully implemented semantic model based on distributional semantics. We validate the measures using data from four behavioral experiments: Explicit transparency ratings, two different lexical decision tasks using different nonwords, and an eye-tracking study. We demonstrate that different semantic effects emerge in different behavioral tasks, which can only be capturedusing a multi-dimensional approach to semantic transparency. We further provide the semantic transparency measures derived from the model for a dataset of 40,475 additional German compounds, as well as for 2,061 novel German compounds.

Is buttercup a kind of cup? Hyponymy and semantic transparency in compound words

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 104110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina L. Gagné ◽  
Thomas L. Spalding ◽  
Patricia Spicer ◽  
Dixie Wong ◽  
Beatriz Rubio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Compound Words

The role of semantic transparency in the processing of Finnish compound words

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 261-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Pollatsek ◽  
Jukka Hyönä
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Compound Words

The role of semantic transparency in the processing of English compound words

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Frisson ◽  
Elizabeth Niswander-Klement ◽  
Alexander Pollatsek
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Compound Words

scholarly journals Is a Step through the Door a Way to Take a Doorstep? A Psycholinguistic Study on Polish Compound Words

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 205-230
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Hwaszcz
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Test Current

The present study concentrates on the organization of the mental lexicon with regard to semantic transparency in the representation of Polish compounds. Its aim was to test current approaches to the processing of morphologically complex words in a lexical decision experiment with the use of visually presented Polish compound and simple words. The existing psycholinguistic approaches centre around the same question: are complex words parsed into their constituent parts or are they stored as full-word representations in the human mental lexicon? I referred to five widely acknowledged models of morphological processing to account for the outcomes of the present study. The data reveal that: i transparent compounds primed by words semantically related to the heads of these transparent compounds elicited faster response times than opaque compounds within the same condition; and ii priming speeds up the processing for both transparent and opaque compounds. The results indicate that the processing of Polish compound words is influenced by semantic transparency and that both transparent and opaque compounds are decomposed into their constituents prior to lexical access.

scholarly journals Dissociating Morpheme Form and Meaning: Evidence for Morphological Decomposition of Compound Words during Reading

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teon L Brooks ◽  
Peter C. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Prime Word ◽  
Compound Words ◽  
First Pass ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Prior Processing

Compound words have two free morphemes whose individual meanings can have a transparent (e.g., roadside) or opaque (e.g., butterfly) relationship to the overall meaning. It is unclear when meaning is accessed during lexical processing of compounds (and other morphologically complex words), with conflicting results from priming in lexical-decision studies and from reading-time studies that examine how the characteristics of a compound affect its processing. The present studies examined eye-movement measures on target words in a sentence as a function of their relation in form and meaning to a prime word that occurred earlier in the sentence. In Experiment 1 the primes were transparent or opaque compounds and the targets were the first constituent of the compound (e.g., doll preceded by dollhouse vs. container; and brief preceded by briefcase vs. portfolio). First-pass measures showed that target-word recognition was facilitated by prior processing of the compound but that the amount of facilitation was not affected by semantic transparency, a pattern that suggests that there is a stage of processing where compounds are decomposed into their constituent morphemes regardless of their composite meaning. Experiment 2 used first constituents as primes and compounds as targets. First-pass measures showed priming on recognition of both transparent and opaque compounds. Priming facilitation persisted on later measures of lexical processing for transparent compounds but became inhibitory for opaque compounds. These results show that compounds are initially decomposed into their constituent words independently of meaning, but that later in processing activation of the meaning of a constituent word facilitates comprehension of semantically consistent compounds but competes with comprehension of semantically inconsistent compounds.

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