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The Effect of Morphemic Homophony on the Processing of Japanese Two-kanji Compound Words

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Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effect of kanji morphemic homophony on lexical decision and naming. Effects were examined from both the left-hand and right-hand positions of Japanese two-kanji compound words. The number of homophones affected the processing of compound words in the same way for both tasks. For left-hand kanji, fewer morphemic homophones led to faster lexical decision and whole-word naming. For right-hand kanji, the number of morphemic homophones did not affect either lexical decision or naming. This effect of homophonic density suggested that, when a kanji-compound word is to be processed, phonological information of its kanji constituents is automatically activated and reverberates back to generate a series of orthographic representations of kanji morphemic homophones, but not in a completely parallel fashion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Student Center, Hiroshima University, 1-1, 1-chome, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8524, Japan

    Katsuo Tamaoka

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  1. Katsuo Tamaoka
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Tamaoka, K. The Effect of Morphemic Homophony on the Processing of Japanese Two-kanji Compound Words. Read Writ 18, 281–302 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-005-3354-0

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