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Early automatic processing of lexical word accents : Valid words are stored holistically irrespective of stem tones

Kochančikaitė, Renata LU ; Shtyrov, Yury LU and Roll, Mikael LU (2023) Neurolinguistics in Sweden 2023 p.37-38
Abstract
According to the dual route model of word processing (Pinker & Prince, 1991),
morphologically irregular and frequent words are stored in the lexical memory as full-form neural representations. In contrast, regular and infrequent words are decomposed into morphemes. So far, it has been unclear whether a tonal element―a lexical word accent―is treated by the brain as a decomposable component or an integral part of the word’s full form.
We recorded ERP responses in 17 native speakers of Swedish (6 males, mean age: 23.2 years, SD = 4.5) to Swedish words with valid and invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix. These stimuli consisted of four words―two valid and
two invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix (stem "krok",... (More)
According to the dual route model of word processing (Pinker & Prince, 1991),
morphologically irregular and frequent words are stored in the lexical memory as full-form neural representations. In contrast, regular and infrequent words are decomposed into morphemes. So far, it has been unclear whether a tonal element―a lexical word accent―is treated by the brain as a decomposable component or an integral part of the word’s full form.
We recorded ERP responses in 17 native speakers of Swedish (6 males, mean age: 23.2 years, SD = 4.5) to Swedish words with valid and invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix. These stimuli consisted of four words―two valid and
two invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix (stem "krok", tone 1 and 2, suffixes "-en" and "-ar") presented as standards and deviants in four blocks, where validity and suffix varied orthogonally in a fully counterbalanced fashion.
The results indicate a full-form lexical retrieval of valid Swedish words with both word accents. This process appears to have two stages that engage different brain areas: first the right auditory cortex, where, likely, the pitch contour of the word accent is established, and then the left lexical memory area, where the memory trace of the appropriate (that is, bearing the correct word accent) lexical unit could be activated. Moreover, these results for the first time show that word accents are used in early automatic lexical retrieval. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Lexical access, Word accents, Tone, ERP, MMN
pages
2 pages
conference name
Neurolinguistics in Sweden 2023
conference location
Lund, Sweden
conference dates
2023-06-01 - 2023-06-02
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
08e13089-b1ec-4b96-a294-2c975e0b110a
alternative location
https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/150566637/Book_of_abstracts_NLS2023.pdf
date added to LUP
2024-01-22 14:50:23
date last changed
2024-01-30 13:26:53
@misc{08e13089-b1ec-4b96-a294-2c975e0b110a,
  abstract     = {{According to the dual route model of word processing (Pinker &amp; Prince, 1991),<br/>morphologically irregular and frequent words are stored in the lexical memory as full-form neural representations. In contrast, regular and infrequent words are decomposed into morphemes. So far, it has been unclear whether a tonal element―a lexical word accent―is treated by the brain as a decomposable component or an integral part of the word’s full form.<br/>We recorded ERP responses in 17 native speakers of Swedish (6 males, mean age: 23.2 years, SD = 4.5) to Swedish words with valid and invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix.  These stimuli consisted of four words―two valid and<br/>two invalid combinations of stem tone and suffix (stem "krok", tone 1 and 2, suffixes "-en" and "-ar") presented as standards and deviants in four blocks, where validity and suffix varied orthogonally in a fully counterbalanced fashion.<br/>The results indicate a full-form lexical retrieval of valid Swedish words with both word accents. This process appears to have two stages that engage different brain areas: first the right auditory cortex, where, likely, the pitch contour of the word accent is established, and then the left lexical memory area, where the memory trace of the appropriate (that is, bearing the correct word accent) lexical unit could be activated. Moreover, these results for the first time show that word accents are used in early automatic lexical retrieval.}},
  author       = {{Kochančikaitė, Renata and Shtyrov, Yury and Roll, Mikael}},
  keywords     = {{Lexical access; Word accents; Tone; ERP; MMN}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  pages        = {{37--38}},
  title        = {{Early automatic processing of lexical word accents : Valid words are stored holistically irrespective of stem tones}},
  url          = {{https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/150566637/Book_of_abstracts_NLS2023.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}