Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings
The present paper explores nonnative (L2) phonological encoding of lexical entries and dissociates the difficulties associated with L2 phonological and phonolexical encoding by focusing on similarly sounding L2 words that are not differentiated by difficult phonological contrasts. We test two main c...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01345/full |
| _version_ | 1811240261971345408 |
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| author | Svetlana V Cook Nick Balint Pandža Nick Balint Pandža Alia Katherine Lancaster Alia Katherine Lancaster Kira Gor |
| author_facet | Svetlana V Cook Nick Balint Pandža Nick Balint Pandža Alia Katherine Lancaster Alia Katherine Lancaster Kira Gor |
| author_sort | Svetlana V Cook |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present paper explores nonnative (L2) phonological encoding of lexical entries and dissociates the difficulties associated with L2 phonological and phonolexical encoding by focusing on similarly sounding L2 words that are not differentiated by difficult phonological contrasts. We test two main claims of the fuzzy lexicon hypothesis: (1) L2 fuzzy phonolexical representations are not fully specified and lack details at both phonological and phonolexical levels of representation (Experiment 1); and (2) fuzzy phonolexical representations can lead to establishing incorrect form-to-meaning mappings (Experiment 2).The Russian-English Translation Priming task (Experiment 1, TJT) explores how the degree of phonolexical similarity between a word and its lexical competitor affects lexical access of Russian words. Words with smaller phonolexical distance (e.g., parent - parrot) show longer reaction times and lower accuracy compared to words with a larger phonolexical distance (e.g., parent – parchment) in lower-proficiency nonnative speakers, and, to a lesser degree, higher-proficiency speakers. This points to a lack of detail in nonnative phonolexical representations necessary for efficient lexical access. The Russian Pseudo-Semantic Priming task (Experiment 2, PSP) addresses the vulnerability of form-to-meaning mappings as a consequence of fuzzy phonolexical representations in L2. We primed the target with a word semantically related to its phonological competitor, or a potentially confusable word. The findings of Experiment 2 extend the results of Experiment 1 that, unlike native speakers, nonnative speakers do not properly encode phonolexical information. As a result, they are prone to access an incorrect lexical representation of a competitor word, as indicated by a slowdown in the judgments to confusable words.The study provides evidence that fuzzy phonolexical representations result in unfaithful form-to-meaning mappings, which lead to retrieval of incorrect semantic content. The results of the study are in line with existing research in support of less detailed L2 phonolexical representations, and extend the findings to show that the fuzziness of phonolexical representations can arise even when confusable words are not differentiated by difficult phonological contrasts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:17:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0697c8bfeadb43b09bf45ee45e24939c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:17:00Z |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0697c8bfeadb43b09bf45ee45e24939c2022-12-22T03:31:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-09-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.01345188532Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning MappingsSvetlana V Cook0Nick Balint Pandža1Nick Balint Pandža2Alia Katherine Lancaster3Alia Katherine Lancaster4Kira Gor5University of MarylandUniversity of MarylandUniversity of MarylandUniversity of MarylandUniversity of MarylandUniversity of MarylandThe present paper explores nonnative (L2) phonological encoding of lexical entries and dissociates the difficulties associated with L2 phonological and phonolexical encoding by focusing on similarly sounding L2 words that are not differentiated by difficult phonological contrasts. We test two main claims of the fuzzy lexicon hypothesis: (1) L2 fuzzy phonolexical representations are not fully specified and lack details at both phonological and phonolexical levels of representation (Experiment 1); and (2) fuzzy phonolexical representations can lead to establishing incorrect form-to-meaning mappings (Experiment 2).The Russian-English Translation Priming task (Experiment 1, TJT) explores how the degree of phonolexical similarity between a word and its lexical competitor affects lexical access of Russian words. Words with smaller phonolexical distance (e.g., parent - parrot) show longer reaction times and lower accuracy compared to words with a larger phonolexical distance (e.g., parent – parchment) in lower-proficiency nonnative speakers, and, to a lesser degree, higher-proficiency speakers. This points to a lack of detail in nonnative phonolexical representations necessary for efficient lexical access. The Russian Pseudo-Semantic Priming task (Experiment 2, PSP) addresses the vulnerability of form-to-meaning mappings as a consequence of fuzzy phonolexical representations in L2. We primed the target with a word semantically related to its phonological competitor, or a potentially confusable word. The findings of Experiment 2 extend the results of Experiment 1 that, unlike native speakers, nonnative speakers do not properly encode phonolexical information. As a result, they are prone to access an incorrect lexical representation of a competitor word, as indicated by a slowdown in the judgments to confusable words.The study provides evidence that fuzzy phonolexical representations result in unfaithful form-to-meaning mappings, which lead to retrieval of incorrect semantic content. The results of the study are in line with existing research in support of less detailed L2 phonolexical representations, and extend the findings to show that the fuzziness of phonolexical representations can arise even when confusable words are not differentiated by difficult phonological contrasts.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01345/fulllexical access1phonological representations2form-to-meaning mapping3nonnative auditory perception4Russian5 |
| spellingShingle | Svetlana V Cook Nick Balint Pandža Nick Balint Pandža Alia Katherine Lancaster Alia Katherine Lancaster Kira Gor Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings Frontiers in Psychology lexical access1 phonological representations2 form-to-meaning mapping3 nonnative auditory perception4 Russian5 |
| title | Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings |
| title_full | Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings |
| title_fullStr | Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings |
| title_short | Fuzzy Nonnative Phonolexical Representations Lead to Fuzzy Form-to-Meaning Mappings |
| title_sort | fuzzy nonnative phonolexical representations lead to fuzzy form to meaning mappings |
| topic | lexical access1 phonological representations2 form-to-meaning mapping3 nonnative auditory perception4 Russian5 |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01345/full |
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