Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 762-773 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Memory & Cognition |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2007 |
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Diminutives facilitate word segmentation in natural speech : cross-linguistic evidence. / Kempe, Vera; Brooks, Patricia J.; Gillis, Steven; Samson, Graham.
In: Memory & Cognition, Vol. 35, No. 4, 06.2007, p. 762-773.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Diminutives facilitate word segmentation in natural speech
T2 - cross-linguistic evidence
AU - Kempe, Vera
AU - Brooks, Patricia J.
AU - Gillis, Steven
AU - Samson, Graham
PY - 2007/6
Y1 - 2007/6
N2 - Final-syllable invariance is characteristic of diminutives (e.g., doggie), which are a pervasive feature of the child-directed speech registers of many languages. Invariance in word endings has been shown to facilitate word segmentation (Kempe, Brooks, & Gillis, 2005) in an incidental-learning paradigm in which synthesized Dutch pseudonouns were used. To broaden the cross-linguistic evidence for this invariance effect and to increase its ecological validity, adult English speakers (n = 276) were exposed to naturally spoken Dutch or Russian pseudonouns presented in sentence contexts. A forced choice test was given to assess target recognition, with foils comprising unfamiliar syllable combinations in Experiments 1 and 2 and syllable combinations straddling word boundaries in Experiment 3. A control group (n = 210) received the recognition test with no prior exposure to targets. Recognition performance improved with increasing final-syllable rhyme invariance, with larger increases for the experimental group. This confirms that word ending invariance is a valid segmentation cue in artificial, as well as naturalistic, speech and that diminutives may aid segmentation in a number of languages.
AB - Final-syllable invariance is characteristic of diminutives (e.g., doggie), which are a pervasive feature of the child-directed speech registers of many languages. Invariance in word endings has been shown to facilitate word segmentation (Kempe, Brooks, & Gillis, 2005) in an incidental-learning paradigm in which synthesized Dutch pseudonouns were used. To broaden the cross-linguistic evidence for this invariance effect and to increase its ecological validity, adult English speakers (n = 276) were exposed to naturally spoken Dutch or Russian pseudonouns presented in sentence contexts. A forced choice test was given to assess target recognition, with foils comprising unfamiliar syllable combinations in Experiments 1 and 2 and syllable combinations straddling word boundaries in Experiment 3. A control group (n = 210) received the recognition test with no prior exposure to targets. Recognition performance improved with increasing final-syllable rhyme invariance, with larger increases for the experimental group. This confirms that word ending invariance is a valid segmentation cue in artificial, as well as naturalistic, speech and that diminutives may aid segmentation in a number of languages.
U2 - 10.3758/BF03193313
DO - 10.3758/BF03193313
M3 - Article
VL - 35
SP - 762
EP - 773
JO - Memory and Cognition
JF - Memory and Cognition
SN - 0090-502X
IS - 4
ER -