The Contributions of Segmental and Suprasegmental Information in Reading Chinese Characters Aloud

Abstract

The Chinese writing system provides an excellent case for testing the contribution of segmental and suprasegmental information in reading words aloud within the same language. In logographic Chinese characters, neither segmental nor tonal information is explicitly represented, whereas in Pinyin, an alphabetic transcription of the character, both are explicitly represented. Two primed naming experiments were conducted in which the targets were always written characters. When logographic characters served as the primes (Experiment 1), syllable segmental and tonal information appeared to be represented and encoded as an integral unit which in turn facilitated target character naming. When Pinyin served as the primes (Experiment 2), the explicit phonetic representation facilitated encoding of both segmental and suprasegmental information, but with later access to suprasegmental information. In addition, Chinese speakers were faster to name characters than Pinyin in a simple naming task (Experiment 3), suggesting that Pinyin may be read via a phonological assembly route, whereas characters may be read via a lexical route. Taken together, our findings point to the need to consider the contributions of both segmental and suprasegmental information and the time course in the well-established models for reading aloud, as well as the cognitive mechanisms underlying the reading aloud of logographic characters versus alphabetic Pinyin script.

Phonological Training and Word Learning in a Novel Language

“…Although both segmental and tonal information play an important role in lexical access, readers can process and activate these two components separately (Spinks et al, 2000). Tone seems to be represented more poorly, and plays a secondary role in lexical processing as compared to segmental information, as demonstrated in previous research on visual Chinese character recognition among skilled native adult readers, using both online and off-line experiments (e.g., Taft and Chen, 1992;Chen et al, 2002;Malins and Joanisse, 2010;Li et al, 2013;Sereno and Lee, 2015;Wang et al, 2015). For example, Sereno and Lee (2015) used an online auditory lexical decision task among native Mandarin-speaking adults and their results supported for the separate roles of tone and segmental information in Chinese word processing.…”

“…Consistently, Chen et al (2002) found priming effects for syllablealone prime (i.e., tone differed) but no priming effects for tonealone prime (i.e., syllables differed) using an implicit priming paradigm among native adult Mandarin speakers. However, there is some evidence that segmental and tonal information may also be processed as an integral unit among native speakers in a task such as primed word naming (Wang et al, 2015) or auditory word eye-tracking (Malins and Joanisse, 2010).…”

“…Alternatively, it is possible that the two groups' segmental and tonal processing would be improved equally after the training using Pinyin, regardless of whether they utilized a segmental or whole-syllable-based approach. Learners may be able to rely on segment and tone as an integrated unit (e.g., Wang et al, 2015) and thus no further benefit from the explicit emphasis on the separation. Moreover, the exercises immediately after the training session were also thought to help enhance the mental representation of phonological units in a similar fashion.…”

The role of segmental and tonal information in visual word recognition with learners of Chinese

“…If the tone is tightly bound with the vowel in a Chinese syllable, then as soon as the participant can detect that the two stimuli differed in the initial consonant, further consideration of a homophony judgement may not be necessary. This would suggest that in addition to having a more robust representation, the segment may also be activated earlier than the tone in visual word recognition (see further discussion in M. Wang, Li, & Lin, ). Future research needs to include a manipulation of the onset and the rime of the associated characters or Pinyin to address more fine‐grained representation of segmental information and its relation to suprasegmental information.…”

Neural correlates and functional connectivity of lexical tone processing in reading

“…Previous behavioral and electrophysiological studies have addressed the unique contribution of lexical tone to successful character recognition and reading acquisition (Li, Lin, Wang, & Jiang, 2013;Nixon, Chen, & Schiller, 2015;Pollatsek, Tan, & Rayner, 2000;Verdonschot, Lai, Chen, Tamaoka, & Schiller, 2015;Wang, Li, & Lin, 2015). For instance, proficient knowledge in lexical tone phonology of characters is associated with better reading performance in Chinese children (Shu, Peng, & McBride-Chang, 2008;Tong, Tong, & McBride-Chang, 2015).…”