Primary phonological planning units in spoken word production are language-specific: Evidence from an ERP study

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged in Germanic languages that segments are the primary planning units at the phonological encoding stage of spoken word production. Mixed results, however, have been found in Chinese, and it is still unclear what roles syllables and segments play in planning Chinese spoken word production. In the current study, participants were asked to first prepare and later produce disyllabic Mandarin words upon picture prompts and a response cue while electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded. Each two consecutive pictures implicitly formed a pair of prime and target, whose names shared the same word-initial atonal syllable or the same word-initial segments, or were unrelated in the control conditions. Only syllable repetition induced significant effects on event-related brain potentials (ERPs) after target onset: a widely distributed positivity in the 200- to 400-ms interval and an anterior positivity in the 400- to 600-ms interval. We interpret these to reflect syllable-size representations at the phonological encoding and phonetic encoding stages. Our results provide the first electrophysiological evidence for the distinct role of syllables in producing Mandarin spoken words, supporting a language specificity hypothesis about the primary phonological units in spoken word production.

Syllables constitute proximate units for Mandarin speakers: Electrophysiological evidence from a masked priming task

“…Both the syllabically and phonemically related conditions were characterized by less positive ERP waveforms when compared to the unrelated condition. This pattern is consistent with a number of previous studies (e.g., Liotti, Woldorff, Perez, & Mayberg, 2000;Thierry & Wu, 2004;Wang et al, 2017;Wu & Thierry, 2010) in which similarly less positive ERPs were found in the phonologically congruent compared to an incongruent condition. On the other hand, Dell'Acqua et al (2010) found that, in a picture-word interference study, phonologically related distractors induced a more positive-going waveform than unrelated distractors.…”

“…In a study of spoken adjective‐noun production, Qu et al () found a complex pattern, namely, a more positive‐going waveform in the time window of 200–300 ms but a less positive‐going waveform in the time window of 300–400 ms (see also Yu et al, ), and they speculated that the early pattern might reflect phonological encoding proper, whereas the later difference reflects internal self‐monitoring. The waveforms directions and the map distribution of the syllable priming effect reported here were quite similar to those observed by Wang et al (), and a picture naming task was used in both studies. Different paradigms (picture naming in Wang et al’s and the current study, but phrase production in Qu et al and Yu et al) probably elicit different map distributions.…”

“…Eulitz, Hauk, and Cohen () found divergent ERPs in a similar time frame (250–400 ms) for phonological encoding in English. Specifically, Wang et al () found a syllable priming effect in the 200–600 ms interval in Chinese spoken production using a delayed naming task, which they interpreted as implying syllables as proximate units in phonological encoding. With regard to location, significant effects of syllabic match were found in the time window ranging from 300–400 ms, in right anterior as well as left, middle, and right posterior regions.…”

“…However, O'Seaghdha (; see also O'Seaghdha, Chen, & Chen, ) challenged the interpretation of the phonemic ERP effect by suggesting that it might reflect the coactivation of the same onset for two words, rather than implying phonemes as functional units of phonological encoding. Finally, a recent EEG study reported by Wang, Wong, Wang, and Chen () found evidence for syllables but not for phonemes: with a delayed picture naming task, syllable repetition elicited an ERP effect in the time windows of 200–400 ms and 400–600 ms, whereas no significant ERP effects were found for phoneme repetition.…”

Syllables are Retrieved before Segments in Mandarin Chinese Spoken Production: An ERP study

“…Most recently, the syllabic priming effect was replicated but little evidence of phonemic priming (Chen, O'Seaghdha & Chen, 2016); in fact, phonemically related primes elicited a slightly inhibitive effect when compared to phonemically unrelated primes. In a delayed picture naming study with electrophysiological measures (Wang, Wong, Wang & Chen, 2017), participants were required to name pictures upon a response cue. Each two consecutively presented pictures formed a pair of prime and target, which shared the same word-initial syllable or phoneme, or were unrelated.…”