Features of low functional load in mono- and bilinguals’ lexical access: evidence from Swedish tonal accent

Phonetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Althaus ◽  
Allison Wetterlin ◽  
Aditi Lahiri
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Functional Load ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Regional Dialects ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Multiple Input

Abstract Swedish makes use of tonal accents (Accents 1 and 2) to contrast words, but the functional load is very low, with some regional dialects not even exhibiting the contrast. In particular given the low number of minimal pairs, the question is whether tonal word accent is used in lexical access. Here we present two cross-modal fragment semantic priming studies in order to address this question. Both experiments use first syllable fragments in order to prime semantically related targets. Experiment 1 utilises words whose first syllable occurs with both accent patterns, creating a situation in which there is lexical competition between words that differ solely in terms of accent. Experiment 2 removes this competition by using words that have no such accent competitors. Our results show that native speakers of Swedish use tonal word accent in lexical access: Accent mispronunciations failed to prime semantically related targets, regardless of whether primes had accent competitors or not. Results for a group of early bilingual speakers (who grew up with one Swedish-speaking parent and one other non-tonal language) showed no differences in processing compared to the monolinguals. This indicates that the extraction of accent features during acquisition and their use in lexical access is robust, even in a scenario where multiple input languages lead to tonal word accent being a useful feature for only some of the lexical items that are being acquired. There is no doubt that the accent system is well entrenched into the bilinguals’ phonological system.

Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language?

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAAN HERMANS ◽  
THEO BONGAERTS ◽  
KEES DE BOT ◽  
ROBERT SCHREUDER
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Bilingual Speakers

Two picture-word interference experiments were conducted to investigate whether or not words from a first and more dominant language are activated during lexical access in a foreign and less dominant language. Native speakers of Dutch were instructed to name pictures in their foreign language English. Our experiments show that the Dutch name of a picture is activated during initial stages of the process of lexical in English as a foreign language. We conclude that bilingual speakers cannot suppress activation from their first language while naming pictures in a foreign language. The implications for bilingual speech production theories are discussed.

Phonological priming and the role of phonology in nonnative word recognition

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
KIRA GOR
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Phonological Priming ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Minimal Pairs

Research on nonnative auditory word recognition makes use of a lexical decision task with phonological priming to explore the role of phonological form in nonnative lexical access. In a medium-lag lexical decision task with phonological priming, nonnative speakers treat minimal pairs of words differentiated by a difficult phonological contrast as a repetition of the same word. While native speakers show facilitation in medium-lag priming only for identical word pairs, nonnative speakers also show facilitation for minimal pairs. In short-lag phonological priming, when the prime and the target have phonologically overlapping onsets, nonnative speakers show facilitation, while native speakers show inhibition. This review discusses two possible reasons for facilitation in nonnative phonological priming: reduced sensitivity to nonnative phonological contrasts, and reduced lexical competition of nonnative words with underdifferentiated, or fuzzy phonolexical representations. Nonnative words may be processed sublexically, which leads to sublexical facilitation instead of the inhibition resulting from lexical competition.

Is lexical selection in bilingual speech production language-specific? Further evidence from Spanish–English and English–Spanish bilinguals

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Costa ◽  
Alfonso Caramazza
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Lexical Selection ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Naming Latencies ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

In this study we address the question of how lexical selection is achieved by bilingual speakers during speech production. Specifically, we test whether there is competition between the two lexicons of a bilingual during lexical access. In two picture–word interference experiments we explore the performance of two groups of bilinguals, English–Spanish and Spanish–English proficient bilinguals while naming pictures either in their L1 (Spanish) or in their L2 (Spanish). Picture naming was facilitated when the name of the picture and the distracter word were the “same”, regardless of the language in which the distracter was printed: same-language (e.g., mesa–mesa [table in Spanish]) or different-language pairs (e.g., mesa–table). The magnitude of this facilitatory effect was similar when naming in L1 (Experiment 1) and in L2 (Experiment 2). We also found that naming latencies were slower when the distracter word was semantically related to the picture's name (e.g., mesa–chair), regardless of the language in which the distracter was printed. The results suggest that there is no competition between the two lexicons of a bilingual during lexical access for production. This interpretation favors a model of lexical access in which lexical selection is language-specific both when speaking in L1 and in L2.

The asymmetric contribution of consonants and vowels to phonological similarity

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory Turnbull ◽  
Sharon Peperkamp
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Lexical Priming ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Auditory Lexical Decision ◽  
Unrelated Condition

Abstract Lexical priming is known to arise from phonological similarity between prime and target, and this phenomenon is an important component of our understanding of the processes of lexical access and competition. However, the precise nature of the role of phonological similarity in lexical priming is understudied. In the present study, two experiments were conducted in which participants performed auditory lexical decision on CVC targets which were preceded by primes that either matched the target in all phonemes (CVC condition), in the first two phonemes (CV_ condition), the last two phonemes (_VC condition), the initial and last phonemes (C_C condition) or no phonemes (unrelated condition). Relative to the unrelated condition, all conditions except CV_ led to facilitation of response time to target words. The _VC and C_C conditions led to equivalent facilitation magnitude, while the CV_ condition showed neither facilitation nor inhibition. Accounting for these results requires appeal to processes of lexical competition and also to the notion that phonemes do not lend equivalent phonological similarity; that is, vowels and consonants are processed differently.

scholarly journals Dialectal intelligibility of Assamese tested functionally

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Sabbah Qamri
Keyword(s):  
Structural Variation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Regional Dialects ◽  
Testing Approach

This paper includes a detailed discussion on the intelligibility of the speakers of four regional dialects of the Indo-Aryan language of Assamese. Prior research on Assamese dialects mostly being confined to examining structural variation lends this study relevance and urgency. The dialects of Standard Assamese, Central Assamese, Kamrupi, and Goalparia, covering three varieties each, were considered for the study. Using a functional intelligibility testing approach, the rate of overall intelligibility as well as of inter- and intra-dialectal mutual intelligibility of the dialects were determined. 24 speakers (1 male and 1 female from each variety) were asked to record ‘texts’— words, sentences, and connected speech in their native varieties of Assamese. 11 listeners from each variety (132 in total) were then tested on their comprehension of texts from non-native varieties. Thereafter, their rates of comprehension were used to determine the rates of mutual intelligibility between speakers of the different dialects and varieties of Assamese. This paper establishes that the rates of mutual intelligibility are unequal and asymmetric among the dialects— the native speakers of the Standard and Central Assamese dialects were more intelligible to the speakers of Kamrupi and Goalparia than vice-versa. Finally, the paper finds that the rate of intelligibility is the lowest for words in isolation and reinforces the important role of context in intelligibility.

scholarly journals Lack of Syllable Duration as a Post-Lexical Acoustic Cue in Spanish in Contact with Maya

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Nuria Martínez García ◽  
Melanie Uth
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Yucatec Maya ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Focus Marking

This paper focuses on the duration of stressed syllables in broad versus contrastive focus in Yucatecan Spanish and examines its connection with Spanish–Maya bilingualism. We examine the claim that phonemic vowel length in one language prevents the use of syllable duration as a post-lexical acoustic cue in another. We study the duration of stressed syllables of nouns in subject and object position in subject-verb-object (SVO) sentences (broad and contrastive focus) of a semi-spontaneous production task. One thousand one hundred and twenty-six target syllables of 34 mono- and bilingual speakers were measured and submitted to linear mixed-effects models. Although the target syllables were slightly longer in contrastive focus, duration was not significant, nor was the effect of bilingualism. The results point to duration not constituting a cue to focus marking in Yucatecan Spanish. Finally, it is discussed how this result relates to the strong influence of Yucatec Maya on Yucatecan Spanish prosody observed by both scholars and native speakers of Yucatecan Spanish and other Mexican varieties of Spanish.

Predictors of lexical retrieval in Hindi–English bilingual speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-273
Author(s):  
Keerthi Ramanujan ◽  
Brendan S. Weekes
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Access ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
First Time

AbstractWhen bilinguals name pictures while in ‘monolingual mode’, we expect that under conditions of language-constraint and no cognate facilitation, factors influencing lexical retrieval in monolinguals ought to exert similar effects on bilinguals. To this end, we carried out a L1-only naming task on early Hindi–English bilinguals. Results of linear mixed effects analysis reveal AoA, Familiarity, Image Agreement and Codability (availability of alternate names) to be the most significant predictors of lexical retrieval speed for early bilinguals, confirming our expectations. However, we report, for the first time, a by-subject variation in Codability for bilinguals. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of current theories of bilingual lexical access and competition. In preparation for this study, Hindi norms from bilinguals for items in the Snodgrass and Vanderwart set have been established, which will be of use for stimuli selection in experimental studies involving bilinguals.

Single-word shadowing and the study of lexical access

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Liu ◽  
Elizabeth Bates ◽  
Tracy Powell ◽  
Beverly Wulfeck
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Secondary Tasks ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Age Range

ABSTRACTA new procedure called single-word shadowing was applied to the study of lexical access in context. Subjects listened to word pairs or sentences recorded in one voice and were asked to repeat the target word signaled by a voice shift. This technique yielded rapid and robust priming effects in normal adult subjects in word pairs and in a sentence context. Regression analyses showed that the semantic priming effects were large and significant, even when several additional factors believed to affect lexical access were controlled. Evidence was found for robust semantic priming in the healthy elderly and in children from 7 to 11 years of age, and there was also evidence for a change in the size and nature of context effects across the lifespan. Because single-word shadowing works across a broad age range and does not require reading, secondary tasks, or metalinguistic judgments, it is a promising tool for the study of lexical access in a range of different populations.

scholarly journals Between syntax and discourse

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Laleko ◽  
Maria Polinsky
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Structure Level ◽  
Different Types ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Status ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract This article examines the knowledge of topic and subject particles in heritage speakers and L2 learners of Japanese and Korean. We assume that topic marking is mediated at the syntax-information structure interface, while subject marking pertains to narrow syntax. In comparing phenomena mediated at different levels of linguistic organization, we provide evidence for the hypothesis that information structure-level phenomena present greater challenges for bilingual speakers than those mediated within syntax. While these results may be interpreted as evidence of generalized interface-related deficits, we show that such a global explanation is not supported. Instead, a more nuanced account is developed, based on the recognition of different types of topic (anaphoric, generic, and contrastive) and different types of subject (descriptive and exhaustive). Under the proposed account, non-native speakers’ deficits follow from three unrelated effects: the status of topic as an interface category, structural complexity, and the memory demands necessary for its interpretation in context.

Prosodic phrasing of relative clauses with two possible antecedents in Spanish: A comparison of Spanish native speakers and L1 Basque bilingual speakers

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene de la Cruz-Pavía ◽  
Gorka Elordieta
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
First Language ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries

AbstractThe present production study investigates the prosodic phrasing characteristic of sentences containing a relative clause with two possible noun phrase antecedents [Noun Phrase 1 Noun Phrase 2 Relative Clause] in the variety of Spanish spoken in the Basque Country. It aims to establish the default prosodic phrasing of these structures, as well as whether differences are found in phrasing between native and non-native speakers. Additionally, it examines the effect on prosodic phrasing of constituent length and familiarity with the sentences (skimming the sentences prior to reading them aloud). To do that, the productions of 8 Spanish monolinguals, 8 first language (L1) Spanish/second language (L2) Basque bilinguals, and 8 L1Basque/L2Spanish bilinguals are examined. A default phrasing consisting of the prevalence of a prosodic break after NP2 ([NP1 NP2/RC]) is obtained, and differences are found between the prosodic contours of native and non-native speakers. Additionally, a constituent length effect is found, with a higher frequency of prosodic boundaries after NP2 as RC length increases, as predicted by Fodor’s Same Size Sister Constraint. Last, familiarity with the sentences was found to increase the frequency of occurrence of the default phrasing.

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