Universality versus language-specificity in listening to running speech.

Full Abstract

Recognizing spoken language involves automatic activation of multiple candidate words. The process of selection between candidates is made more efficient by inhibition of embedded words (like egg in beg) that leave a portion of the input stranded (here, b). Results from European languages suggest that this inhibition occurs when consonants are stranded but not when syllables are stranded. The reason why leftover syllables do not lead to inhibition could be that in principle they might themselves be words; in European languages, a syllable can be a word. In Sesotho (a Bantu language), however, a single syllable cannot be a word. We report that in Sesotho, word recognition is inhibited by stranded consonants, but stranded monosyllables produce no more difficulty than stranded bisyllables (which could be Sesotho words). Thisfinding suggests that the viability constraint which inhibits spurious embedded word candidates is not sensitive to language-specific word structure, but is universal.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Cutler, Anne (A); Demuth, Katherine (K); McQueen, James M (JM);

Affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. anne.cutler(-atsign-)mpi.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS (Psychol Sci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-May; vol 13 (issue 3) : pp 258-62

Dates: Created 2002/05/14; Completed 2002/10/10; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12009047, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Analysis of Variance
Hearing - physiology
Humans
Language

Language
Reaction Time - physiology
Speech - physiology
Students - psychology

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.