Early Form Based Morphological Decomposition in Tagalog: MEG Evidence from Reduplication, Infixation and Circumfixation

Abstract Neuro- and psycholinguistic experimentation supports the early decomposition of morphologically complex words within the ventral processing stream, which MEG has localized to the M170 response in the (left) visual word form area (VWFA). Decomposition into an exhaustive parse of visual morpheme forms extends beyond words like “farmer” to those imitating complexity (e.g. “brother”, Lewis et al. 2011), and to “unique” stems occurring in only one word but following the syntax and semantics of their affix (e.g. “vulnerable”, Gwilliams & Marantz 2018). Evidence comes primarily from suffixation; other morphological processes have been under-investigated. This study explores circumfixation, infixation, and reduplication in Tagalog. In addition to investigating whether these are parsed like suffixation, we address an outstanding question concerning semantically empty morphemes. Some words in Tagalog resemble English “winter” as decomposition is not supported (wint-er); these apparently reduplicated pseudoreduplicates lack the syntactic and semantic features of reduplicated forms. However, unlike “winter,” these words exhibit phonological behavior predicted only if they involve a reduplicating morpheme. If these are decomposed, this provides evidence that words are analyzed as complex, like English “vulnerable”, when the grammar demands it. In a lexical decision task with MEG, we find that VWFA activity correlates with stem:word transition probability for circumfixed, infixed and reduplicated words. Furthermore, a Bayesian analysis suggests that pseudoreduplicates with reduplicate-like phonology are also decomposed; other pseudoreduplicates are not. These findings are consistent with an interpretation that decomposition is modulated by phonology in addition to syntax and semantics.

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Morpheme frequency effects in Dutch complex word reading: A developmental perspective

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716411000178 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 483-498 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

LUDO VERHOEVEN ◽

ROB SCHREUDER

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Word Reading ◽

Word Identification ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Decision Task ◽

Word Form ◽

Word Forms ◽

Grade 3 ◽

Complex Words

ABSTRACTThis study examined to what extent advanced and beginning readers, including dyslexic readers of Dutch, make use of morphological access units in the reading of polymorphemic words. Therefore, experiments were carried out in which the role of singular root form frequency in reading plural word forms was investigated in a lexical decision task with both adults and children. Twenty-three adult readers, 37 8-year-old children from Grade 3, 43 11-year-old children from Grade 6, and 33 11-year-old dyslexic readers were presented with a lexical decision task in which we contrasted plural word forms with a high versus low frequency of the singular root form. For the adults, it was found that the accuracy and speed of lexical decision is determined by the surface frequency of the plural word form. The frequency of the constituent root form played a role as well, but in the low-frequency plural words only. Furthermore, a strong developmental effect regarding the accuracy and speed of reading plural word forms was found. An effect of plural word form frequency on word identification was evidenced in all groups. The singular root form frequency also had an impact of the reading of the plural word forms. In the normal reading and dyslexic children, plurals with a high-frequency singular root form were read more accurately and faster than plurals with a low singular root frequency. It can be concluded that constituent morphemes have an impact on the reading of polymorphemic words. The results can be explained in the light of a word experience model leaving room for morphological constituency to play a role in the lexical access of complex words as a function of reading skill and experience and word and morpheme frequency.

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Evidence for Early Morphological Decomposition in Visual Word Recognition

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21296 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (9) ◽

pp. 2042-2057 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

Olla Solomyak ◽

Alec Marantz

Keyword(s):

Word Recognition ◽

Letter String ◽

Visual Recognition ◽

Transition Probability ◽

Visual Word ◽

Morphological Properties ◽

Decision Task ◽

Early Processing ◽

Form Features ◽

Complex Words

We employ a single-trial correlational MEG analysis technique to investigate early processing in the visual recognition of morphologically complex words. Three classes of affixed words were presented in a lexical decision task: free stems (e.g., taxable), bound roots (e.g., tolerable), and unique root words (e.g., vulnerable, the root of which does not appear elsewhere). Analysis was focused on brain responses within 100–200 msec poststimulus onset in the previously identified letter string and visual word-form areas. MEG data were analyzed using cortically constrained minimum-norm estimation. Correlations were computed between activity at functionally defined ROIs and continuous measures of the words' morphological properties. ROIs were identified across subjects on a reference brain and then morphed back onto each individual subject's brain (n = 9). We find evidence of decomposition for both free stems and bound roots at the M170 stage in processing. The M170 response is shown to be sensitive to morphological properties such as affix frequency and the conditional probability of encountering each word given its stem. These morphological properties are contrasted with orthographic form features (letter string frequency, transition probability from one string to the next), which exert effects on earlier stages in processing (∼130 msec). We find that effects of decomposition at the M170 can, in fact, be attributed to morphological properties of complex words, rather than to purely orthographic and form-related properties. Our data support a model of word recognition in which decomposition is attempted, and possibly utilized, for complex words containing bound roots as well as free word-stems.

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Neurodegeneration of the visual word form area in a patient with word form alexia

Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience ◽

10.1111/ncn3.12516 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Adithya Chandregowda ◽

Joseph R. Duffy ◽

Mary M. Machulda ◽

Val J. Lowe ◽

Jennifer L. Whitwell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Word ◽

Word Form ◽

Visual Word Form Area

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A tale of two recognition systems: Implications of the fusiform face area and the visual word form area for lateralized object recognition models

Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.08.024 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Joseph Dien

Keyword(s):

Object Recognition ◽

Visual Word ◽

Word Form ◽

Fusiform Face Area ◽

Visual Word Form Area ◽

Face Area ◽

Recognition Systems

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STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF DISHES IN GERMAN RESTAURANT DISCOURSE

Tyumen State University Herald Humanities Research Humanitates ◽

10.21684/2411-197x-2021-7-2-96-119 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 96-119

Author(s):

Nadezhda G. KANTYSHEVA ◽

Inna V. Solovyova

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

Semantic Features ◽

Institutional Discourse ◽

The World ◽

Different Types ◽

Complex Words ◽

First Time ◽

Comprehensive Study

This article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the structural and semantic features of dish names and their descriptions in German in the field of restaurant discourse. The study employs cognitive discourse analysis, elements of comparative and contextological approaches, taking into account linguocultural parameters. The relevance of the comprehensive study of the names of dishes in restaurant discourse is due to an increased interest in the parameterization of lexical units in different types of institutional discourse. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that for the first time, within the framework of a restaurant menu, not only the nomination of a dish is considered, but also the structural and semantic characteristics of its description are analysed. An attempt is made to analyse a connection between the nominations of dishes and their description in the restaurant menu, as well as to determine the semantic dominants of the genre under study. It is concluded that the text of the menu as a whole presents a combination of the language for special purposes and the language of advertising. In interaction with extralinguistic factors, the nominations of dishes and their descriptions not only document the culture of food in society, but also reflect the ethnocultural picture of the world. Based on the analysis of the menu texts, it is established that structurally the names of dishes are complex words or phrases, built mainly according to the attributive model. The description of dishes performs the function of verbalizing the sensations of taste and clarifying the method of preparing dishes, characterizing the quality of dishes, their ingredients, and the intensity of taste. Evaluative parameters in descriptions are expressed at the lexical, grammatical, syntactic and stylistic levels.

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Spoken language coding neurons in the Visual Word Form Area: Evidence from a TMS adaptation paradigm

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.11.014 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 186 ◽

pp. 278-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Chotiga Pattamadilok ◽

Samuel Planton ◽

Mireille Bonnard

Keyword(s):

Spoken Language ◽

Visual Word ◽

Word Form ◽

Visual Word Form Area

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Cortical selectivity driven by connectivity: Innate connectivity patterns of the visual word form area

10.1101/712455 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jin Li ◽

David E. Osher ◽

Heather A. Hansen ◽

Zeynep M. Saygin

Keyword(s):

Resting State ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Visual Word ◽

Functional Specialization ◽

Word Form ◽

Visual Word Form Area ◽

Connectivity Patterns ◽

Set Up ◽

Language Network

AbstractWhat determines the functional organization of cortex? One hypothesis is that innate connectivity patterns set up a scaffold upon which functional specialization can later take place. We tested this hypothesis by asking whether the visual word form area (VWFA), an experience-driven region, was already connected to proto language networks in neonates scanned within one week of birth. With resting-state fMRI, we found that neonates showed adult-like functional connectivity, and observed that i) language regions connected more strongly with the putative VWFA than other adjacent ventral visual regions that also show foveal bias, and ii) the VWFA connected more strongly with frontotemporal language regions than with regions adjacent to these language regions. These data suggest that the location of the VWFA is earmarked at birth due to its connectivity with the language network, providing evidence that innate connectivity instructs the later refinement of cortex.

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Intraoperative localization and preservation of reading in ventral occipitotemporal cortex

10.1101/2021.11.11.21266202 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Oscar Woolnough ◽

Kathryn M Snyder ◽

Cale W Morse ◽

Meredith J McCarty ◽

Samden D Lhatoo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rapid Assessment ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Word Form ◽

Gamma Activation ◽

Reading Deficits ◽

Visual Word Form Area ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Eloquent Cortex ◽

Occipitotemporal Cortex ◽

Intraoperative Localization

Resective surgery in language-dominant ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC) carries the risk of causing impairment to reading. As it is not on the lateral surface, it is not easily accessible for intraoperative mapping and extensive stimulation mapping can be time consuming. Here we assess the feasibility of using task-based electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings intraoperatively to help guide stimulation mapping of reading in vOTC. In 11 patients undergoing extraoperative, intracranial seizure mapping we recorded induced broadband gamma activation (70 - 150 Hz) during a visual category localizer. Word-responsive cortex localized in this manner showed a high sensitivity (72%) to stimulation-induced reading deficits, and the confluence of ECoG and stimulation positive sites appears to demarcate the visual word form area. In two additional patients, with pathologies necessitating resections in language-dominant vOTC, task-based functional mapping was performed intraoperatively using subdural ECoG, alongside direct cortical stimulation. Cortical areas critical for reading were mapped and successfully preserved, while enabling pathological tissue to be completely removed. Data collection is possible in <3 minutes and initial intraoperative data analysis takes <3 minutes, allowing for rapid assessment of broad areas of cortex. Eloquent cortex in ventral visual cortex can be rapidly mapped intraoperatively using ECoG. This method acts to guide high-probability targets for stimulation, with limited patient participation, and can be used to avoid iatrogenic dyslexia following surgery.

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