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Spoken word production of Mandarin monosyllabic words: From lexical selection to form encoding
Zeng, Yuyu
Zeng, Yuyu
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Abstract
The spoken word production process includes four identifiable stages: conceptualization, lexical selection, form encoding, and articulation. This dissertation studies the spoken word production process of producing Mandarin monosyllabic words, focusing on lexical selection and form encoding. The Chinese languages, including Mandarin, differ from well-researched Indo-European languages such as English in at least three crucial aspects, which could have led to different processing dynamics in spoken word production: (1) the use of contrastive lexical tone; (2) the relatively simple syllable structure, and the limited number of syllables; (3) the prevalence of homophony and a more saturated lexicon.Four experiments investigate the Mandarin spoken word production process, using the picture-word interference paradigm and its variants. In a standard picture-word interference experiment, participants name a target word cued by a picture and ignore a distractor word. Experiment 1 uses the standard picture-word interference procedure. Trials paired with a semantically related homophone have a shorter naming latency than trials paired with a semantically unrelated homophone. Experiment 1 reveals that homophones participate in lexical selection. Experiment 2 uses picture distractors. When an Exact Homophone distractor (identical syllable and lexical tone) is present, the naming latency is longer than when a Simple Homophone distractor (identical syllable but different lexical tone) is present. Moreover, compared with an unrelated distractor, a Simple Homophone distractor leads to a shorter naming latency. Experiment 2 finds that lexical tone is relevant for defining homophony during lexical selection, and there is continuous information flow from lexical selection to form encoding. Experiment 3 uses pseudo-word Pinyin distractors to study the form encoding stage. Experiment 3a examines the encoding of segments. Consistent with the previous literature, evidence supports the access of the syllable before onset and rime. Experiment 3b addresses the encoding of lexical tone. Evidence suggests that the encoding of lexical tone is early, potentially concurrent with the encoding of the syllable. The present dissertation demonstrates how language-specific properties modulate the spoken word production process. The results broaden and deepen our understanding of the Chinese languages as exemplified by Mandarin and the dynamics of spoken word production.
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Date
2022-08-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Linguistics, Psychology, Speech therapy, Chinese, form encoding, homophone, lexical selection, lexical tone, spoken word production