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- Volume 6, Issue, 2011
The Mental Lexicon - Volume 6, Issue 3, 2011
Volume 6, Issue 3, 2011
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Spanish diphthongizing stems: Productivity, processing, and the shaping of the lexicon
Author(s): Matthew T. Carlson and Chip Gerfenpp.: 351–373 (23)More LessWe examine a classic problem in Spanish morphophonology as a way of shedding new light on the relationship between grammar and processing. Spanish derivations with diphthongizing stems may contain either the diphthong or the monophthong stem allomorph, but the likelihood of the (phonotactically marked) diphthong appearing is related to the productivity of the suffix. Prior data also indicate that this bias constrains the formal properties of possible, but as yet unattested derivations. Interestingly, the documented relevance of suffix productivity and stem phonotactics for lexical processing suggests a relationship between the processing characteristics of neologisms and their favored formal properties. Spanish diphthongization provides an ideal window on this relationship because the availability of either allomorph for any neologism allows us to compare the processing characteristics of the grammatically preferred and the dispreferred form. We present visual lexical decision results that confirm the systematic biases concerning Spanish diphthongization and shed light on their possible roots in processing. The results illuminate this long-standing conundrum in Spanish and point to a more general picture in which the impact of distributional properties of morphemes on processing can account for the current shape and dynamic evolution of the lexicon.
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The lifespan of lexical traces for novel morphologically complex words
Author(s): Laura de Vaan, Mirjam T.C. Ernestus and Robert Schreuderpp.: 374–392 (19)More LessThis study investigates the lifespans of lexical traces for novel morphologically complex words. In two visual lexical decision experiments, a neologism was either primed by itself or by its stem. The target occurred 40 trials after the prime (Experiments 1 & 2), after a 12 hour delay (Experiment 1), or after a one week delay (Experiment 2). Participants recognized neologisms more quickly if they had seen them before in the experiment. These results show that memory traces for novel morphologically complex words already come into existence after a very first exposure and that they last for at least a week. We did not find evidence for a role of sleep in the formation of memory traces. Interestingly, Base Frequency appeared to play a role in the processing of the neologisms also when they were presented a second time and had their own memory traces.
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Processing light verb constructions
Author(s): Eva Wittenberg and Maria Mercedes Piñangopp.: 393–413 (21)More LessHenry gave Elsa a kissgivekissgivea kissWe test two approaches to light verb constructions: (1) joint predication in light verb constructions is stored as pre-specified, and their high frequency predicts less processing cost. (2) Joint predication in light verb constructions is built in real-time. The entailed extra-syntactic composition predicts greater cost.Results from a cross-modal lexical decision task show delayed, higher reaction times for light verb constructions, supporting (2), which is consistent with a linguistic architecture that has partly autonomous lexico-semantic storage and processing.
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Topological spatial representation across and within languages: IN and ON in Mandarin Chinese and English
Author(s): Yuan Zhang, Norman Segalowitz and Elizabeth Gatbontonpp.: 414–445 (32)More LessThis paper examines the commonalities and variations between and within groups of English and Chinese (Mandarin) speakers in using terms to refer to the topological spatial concepts of containment (expressed by in and related terms in English) and support (expressed by on and related terms in English). In addition to crosslinguistic similarities, systematic differences in the use of linguistic expressions by Mandarin and English speakers for these topological spatial relationships were found, as well as systematic individual differences within each language group. Together, these findings point to potential underlying differences in how speakers of English and Mandarin conceptualize these two topological spatial categories.
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