Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effects of morphological semantics on the processing of Japanese two-kanji compound words

  • Chapter
Cognitive Processing of the Chinese and the Japanese Languages

Part of the book series: Neuropsychology and Cognition ((NPCO,volume 14))

Abstract

The present study investigated the way in which the activation of semantic representations at the morpheme level affects the processing of two-kanji (morpheme) compound words. Three types of Japanese two-kanji compound words were used as stimulus items: (1) words consisting of two kanji representing opposite concepts (e.g., long + short = length), (2) words consisting of two kanji representing similar concepts (e.g., soft + flexible = pliable), and (3) control words consisting of two closely bound kanji (e.g., wild + field = wilderness). Words consisting of kanji of opposite concepts (M = 768 ms for LD and M = 645 ms for naming) were processed more slowly for lexical decision, but not for naming, than words with kanji of similar concepts (M = 743 ms for LD and M = 636 ms for naming), both of which were, furthermore, processed more slowly for lexical decision and naming than the control compound words (M = 716 ms for LD and M = 590 ms for naming). These results were explained in the framework of the multiple-level interactive-activation model as follows. Because kanji morphemes of opposite and similar concepts are semantically activated both as morpheme units and compound word units, semantic representations of the two morphemes and the compound word which they create compete with each other at the concept level, which slows down lexical decision and naming of the compound word.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andrews, S. (1986). Morphological influences on lexical access: Lexical or nonlexical effects? Journal of Memory and Language 25: 726–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, S. (1989). Frequency and neighborhood effects on lexical access: Activation or search? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 15: 802–814.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, S. (1992). Frequency and neighborhood effects on lexical access: Lexical similarity or orthographic redundancy? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 18: 234–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azuma, T. & Van Orden, G. C. (1997). Why SAFE is better than FAST: The relatedness of a word's meanings affects lexical decision times, Journal of Memory and Language 36: 484–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., Lewis, V. J. & Vallar, G. (1984). Exploring the articulatory loop, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 36A: 233–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balota, D. A., Ferraro, E R. & Connor, L. T. (1991). On the early influence of meaning in word recognition: A review of the literature. In: P. J. Schwanenflugel (ed.), The psychology of word meanings (pp. 187–221). Hillsdale, NJ: Er1baum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauvillain, C. (1994). Morphological structure in visual word recognition: Evidence from prefixed and suffixed words, Language and Cognitive Processess 9: 317–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleasdale, F. A. (1987). Concreteness-dependent associative priming: Separate lexical organization for concrete and abstract words, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 13: 582–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butterworth, B. (1983). Lexical representation. In: B. Butterworth (ed.), Language production, Vol. 2: Development, writing and other language processes (pp. 257–294 ). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caramazza, A. (1997). How many levels of processing are there in lexical access? Cognitive Neuropsychology 14: 177–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caramazza, A. & Hills, A. E. (1991). Lexical organization of nouns and verbs in the brain, Nature (London) 349: 788 - 790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheesman, J. & Merikle, P. M. (1985). Word recognition and consciousness. In: D. Besner, T. G. Waller & G. E. MacKinnon (eds.), Reading research: Advances in theory and practice, Vol. 5 (pp. 311–352 ). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H.-C. (1996). Chinese reading and comprehension: A cognitive psychology perspective. In: M. H. Bond (ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 43–62 ). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H.-C., Flores d’Arcais, G. B. & Cheung, S.-L. (1995). Orthographic and phonological activation in recognizing Chinese characters, Psychological Research 58: 144–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, A. M. & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing, Psychological Review 82: 407–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coltheart, M., Davelaar, E., Jonasson, J. T. & Besner, D. (1977). Access to the internal lexicon. In: S. Dornic (ed.), Attention and performance, Vol. 4 (pp. 535–555 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniele, A., Giustolisi, L., Silveri, M. C., Colosimo, C. & Gainotti, G. (1994). Evidence for a possible neuroanatomical basis for lexical processing of nouns and verbs, Neuropsycholgia 32: 1325–1341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dell, G. S. (1986). A spreading-activation theory of retrieval in sentence production, Psychological Review 93: 283–321.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, L. & Turvey, M. T. (1980). Words written in kana are named faster than the same words written in kanji, Language and Speech 23: 141–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forster, K. I., Davis, C., Schoknecht, C. & Carter, R. (1987). Masked priming with graphemically related forms: Repetition or partial activation? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 39A: 211–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forster, K. I. & Taft, M. (1994). Bodies, antibodies, and neighborhood-density effects in masked form priming, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 20: 844–863.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E. & Baddeley, A. D. (1993). Working memory and language. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gernsbacher, M. A. (1984). Resolving 20 years of inconsistent interactions between lexical familiarity and orthography, concreteness, and polysemy, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 2: 256–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goryo, K. (1987). Yomu to yukoto [Concerning Reading]. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Grainger, J. (1990). Word frequency and neighborhood frequency effects in lexical decision and naming, Journal of Memory and Language 29: 228–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grainger, J. & Segui, J. (1990). Neighborhood frequency effects in visual word recognition: A comparison of lexical decision and masked identification latencies, Perception and Psychophysics 47: 191–198.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grainger, J., O'Regan, J. K., Jacobs, A. M. & Segui, J. (1989). Neighborhood frequency effects and letter visibility in visual word recognition, Perception and Psychophysics 51: 49–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, A. E. & Caramazza, A. (1995). Representation of grammatical categories of words in the brain, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 7: 396–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hino, Y. & Lupker, S. J. (1996). Effects of polysemy in lexical decision and naming: An alternative to lexical access accounts, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 22: 1331–1356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirose, H. (1992). Jukugo no ninchi katei ni kansuru kenkyu: Priming-hou ni yoru kentou [An investigation of the recognition process for jukugo by use of priming paradigm], Japanese Journal of Psychology 63: 303–309 (in Japanese).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jastrzembski, J. E. (1981). Multiple meanings, number of related meanings, frequency of occurrence, and the lexicon, Cognitive Psychology 13: 278–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiho, H. & Nomura, Y. (1983). Kanji jouhou short no shinrigaku [Psychology of kanji information processing]. Tokyo: Kyouiku Shuppan (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamata (1991). Kuwashii shougaku kanji jiten [A detailed Japanese Kanji dictionary in an elementary school]. Tokyo: Buneido (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellas, G., Ferraro, E R. & Simpson, G. B. (1988). Lexical ambiguity and the timecourse of attentional allocation in word recognition, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 14: 601–609.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kempen, G. & Huijbers, P. (1983). The lexicalization process in sentence production and naming: Indirect election of words, Cognition 14: 185–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, Y. (1984). Concurrent vocal interference: Its effects on kana and kanji, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 36A: 117–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, Y. & Bryant, P. (1983). Reading and writing in English and Japanese: A cross-cultural study of young children, British Journal of Developmental Psychology 1: 143–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinoshita, S. & Saito, H. (1992). Effects of concurrent articulation on reading Japanese kanji and kana words, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 44A: 455–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, J. E & Merves, J. S. (1986). Lexical access for concrete and abstract words, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 12: 92–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leck, K. J., Weekes, B. S. & Chen, M. J. (1995). Visual and phonological pathways to the lexicon: Evidence from Chinese readers, Memory and Cognition 23: 468–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leong, C. K. (1986). What does accessing a morpheme script tell us about reading and reading disorders in an alphabetic script? Annals of Dyslexia 36: 82–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leong, C. K., Cheng, P.-W. & Mulcahy, R. (1987). Automatic processing of morpheme orthography, Language and Speech 30: 181–196.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leong, C. K. & Tamaoka, K. (1995). Use of phonological information in processing kanji and katakana by skilled and less skilled Japanese readers, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 7: 377–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, J. L. & Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive activation model of context effects in letter perception: Part 1. An account of basic findings, Psychological Review 88: 375–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miceli, G., Silveri, M. C., Nocentini, U. & Caramazza, A. (1988). Patterns of dissociation in comprehension and production of nouns and verbs, Aphasiology 2: 351–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J. & Sasanuma, S. (1984). Lexical access in Japanese. In: Henderson (ed.), Orthograhies and reading (pp. 25–42 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Language Research Institute [Kokuritsu Kokugo Kenjyujo] (1973). Shinbun no goi chosa (IV) (A study of uses of Japanese words in newspapers]. Tokyo: National Language Research Institute (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nomura, Y. (1979). Kanji no joho shori: On-doku kun-doku no densa katei [Information processing of Chinese characters (kanji): Retrieval processes in Chinese-style reading (On) and Japanese-style reading (Kun)1, The Japanese Journal of Psychology 50: 101–105 (in Japanese).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peereman, R. & Content, A. (1995). Neighborhood size effect in naming: Lexical activation or sublexical correspondences? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21: 409–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A. & Zhang, S. (1991). Phonological process in reading Chinese characters, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 17: 633–643.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C. A. & Zhang, S. (1995). Very early phonological activation in Chinese reading, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21: 24–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I. & Snyder, C. R. R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In: R. L. Solso (ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola symposium (pp. 55–85). Hillsdale: NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rapp, B. & Caramazza, A. (1997). The modality-specific organization of grammatical categories: Evidence from impaired spoken and written sentence production, Brain and Language 56: 248–286.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saito, H. (1981). Kanji to kana no yomi ni okeru keitaiteki fugouka oyobi oninteki fukouka no kentou [Use of graphemic and phonemic encoding in reading kanji and kana], Japanese Journal of Psychology 52: 266–273 (in Japanese).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saito, H. (1997). Gengo no kagaku 3 - Shinteki jisho [Linguistic sciences 3 - Mental lexicon]. In: Y. Matsumoto (ed.), Tango to jisho [Words and dictionary] (pp. 93–153 ). Tokyo: Iwanami (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwanenflugel, P. J. & Shoben, E. J. (1983). Differential context effects in the comprehension of abstract and concrete verbal materials, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 9: 82–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sears, C. R., Hino, Y. & Lupker, S. J. (1995). Neighborhood size and neighborhood frequency effects in word recognition, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 21: 876–900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidenberg, M. S. (1985). The time course of phonological code activation in two writing systems, Cognition 19: 1–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seidenberg, M. S. (1989). Visual word recognition and performance: A computational model and its implications. In: W. Marslen-Wilson (ed.), Lexical representation and process (pp. 25–74 ). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seidenberg, M. S. & McClelland, J. L. (1989). A distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming, Psychological Review 96: 523–568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spahn, M. & Hadamitzky, W. (1996). The kanji dictionary. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Stemberger, J. P. ( 1985 ). An interactive activation model of language production. In: A. W.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis (ed.), Progress in the psychology of language, Vol. 1 (pp. 143–186). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strain, E., Patterson, K. & Seidenberg, M. S. (1995). Semantic effects in single-word naming, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21: 1140–1154. Taft, M. (1991). Reading and the medical lexicon. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taft, M. & Forster, K. I. (1975). Lexical storage and retrieval of prefixed words, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 14: 638–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taft, M. & Forster, K. I. (1976). Lexical storage and retrieval of polymorphemic and polysyllabic words, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 15: 607–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taft, M., Huang, J. & Zhu, X. P. (1994). The influence of character frequency on word recognition responses in Chinese. In: H.-W. Chang, J.-T. Huang, C.-W. Hue & O. J. L. Tzeng (eds.), Advances in the study of Chinese language processing, Vol. 1 (pp. 59–73 ). Taipei, Taiwan: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taft, M. & Zhu X. P. (1995). The representation of bound morphemes in the lexicon: A Chinese study. In: L. B. Feldman (ed.), Morphological aspects of language processing (pp. 293–316 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaoka, K. (1992). Processing efficiency of the Japanese words by Japanese learners of English speakers, International/Transcultural Education 6: 99–113 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaoka, K. (1991). Psycholinguistic nature of the Japanese orthography, Studies in Language and Literature (Matsuyama University) 11 (1): 49–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaoka, K. & Hatsuzuka, M. (1995). Kanji niji jukuo no shori ni okeru kanji shiyou hindo no eikyou [The effects of kanji printed-frequency on processing Japanese two-morpheme compound words], The Science of Reading 39: 121–137 (in Japanese with a substantial English summary).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaoka, K., Hatsuzuka, M., Kess, J. F. & Bogdan, D. R. (1998). Hiragana vs Katakana: The script familiarity effect on the processing of Japanese words and non-words, The Science of Reading (in Japanese with a substantial English summary) (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaoka, K., Leong, C. K. & Hatta, T. (1992). Effects of vocal interference on identifying kanji, hiragana and katakana words by skilled and less-skilled Japanese readers in Grades 4-6, Psychologia 35: 33–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, L. H., Hoosain, R. & Peng, D.-L. (1995). Role of early presemantic phonological code in Chinese character identification, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21: 43–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, G. S. & Seidenberg, M. S. (1985). Spelling-sound effects in reading: Time course and decision criteria, Memory and Cognition 13: 557–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weekes, B. (1997). Differential effects of number of letters on word and nonword naming latency, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 50A: 439–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, J.-T., Chou, T.-L. & Liu, I.-M. (1994). The locus of the character/word frequency effect. In: H.-W. Chang, J.-T. Huang, C.-W. Hue & O. J. L. Tzeng (eds.), Advances in the study of Chinese language processing, Vol. 1 (pp. 31–58 ). Taipei, Taiwan: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wydell, T. N., Butterworth, B. & Patterson, K. E. (1995). The inconsistency of consistency effects in reading: The case of Japanese kanji, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21: 1155–1168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wydell, T. N., Patterson, K. E. & Humphreys, G. W. (1993). Phonologically mediated access to meaning for kanji: Is a rows still a rose in Japanese kanji? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, Cognition 19: 491–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yokosawa, K. & Umeda, M. (1988). Processes in human kanji-word recognition. Proceedings of the 1988 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (pp. 377–380 ). Beijing and Shenyang, China.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, B. & Peng, D. (1992). Decomposed storage in the Chinese lexicon. In: H.-C. Chen & O. J. L. Tzeng (eds.), Language processing in Chinese (pp. 131–149 ). Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, S. & Perfetti, C. A. (1993). The tongue-twister effect in reading Chinese, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 19: 1082–1093.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X. & Marslen-Wilson, W. (1994). Words, morphemes and syllables in the Chinese mental lexicon, Language and Cognitive Processes 9: 393–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X. P. & Taft, M. (1994). The influence of perceptual experience on Chinese character processing. In H.-W. Chang, J.-T. Huang, C.-W. Hue & O. J. L. Tzeng (eds.), Advances in the study of Chinese language processing Vol. 1 (pp. 85–99 ). Taipei, Taiwan: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nagoya Ryujo College, Japan

    Makiko Hatsuzuka

  2. Institute for International Education, Hiroshima University, 1-2, 1-chome, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8523, Japan

    Katsuo Tamaoka Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Katsuo Tamaoka Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Makiko Hatsuzuka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katsuo Tamaoka Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Saskatchewan, Canada

    Che Kan Leong  & Katsuo Tamaoka  & 

  2. Hiroshima University, Japan

    Che Kan Leong  & Katsuo Tamaoka  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tamaoka, K., Hatsuzuka, M. (1998). The effects of morphological semantics on the processing of Japanese two-kanji compound words. In: Leong, C.K., Tamaoka, K. (eds) Cognitive Processing of the Chinese and the Japanese Languages. Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9161-4_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9161-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5140-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9161-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation