Abstract
Most Chinese characters comprise radicals that are embedded in a specific structure (e.g., left–right structure like 相, or top–bottom structure like 杏). We investigated the representations of word-form units (i.e., radicals) in planning Chinese handwritten production. Adopting the picture-word interference paradigm (Experiment 1, N = 29), we manipulated picture names and their corresponding distractors to share one radical. Radicals embedded in the same character structure as the target significantly shortened the participants’ writing latency, no matter whether the radicals appeared at the same or a different position in the distractor. This finding suggests that radicals appearing at different positions in characters with the same structure may share the same representations in planning Chinese written word production. On the other hand, when the shared radical appeared in the distractor that possessed a different structure than the target, a non-significant facilitation trend was observed. Experiment 2 adopted the form-preparation paradigm and obtained a similar non-significant trend of facilitation, in a larger sample (N = 53). Radicals embedded in different character structures might be represented as distinct units among (a proportion of) Chinese writers, suggesting the important role of character structure in planning Chinese handwritten production. The potential influence of language-specific features on the representations of word-form units should be taken into account when building word production models. Practical implications for literacy instruction are also discussed.
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Notes
The number denotes the type of tone carried by the syllable in Cantonese Chinese.
The legitimate writing order is from left to right (in characters with the left–right structure) or from top to bottom (in characters with the top–bottom structure).
The factor “cycle of presentation” coded the order of item repetition within a block. From Cycle 1 to 4, the items were repeated within a relatively short time interval (within the same block). The factor “order” coded the order of the two conditions, so the items appeared in separate blocks at Order 1 and Order 2 (between blocks).
Whether radicals are the primary orthographic units in the encoding process is a critical issue outside the scope of this study. Chen and Cherng (2013) and Damian and Qu (2019) compared the roles of radicals and logographemes (i.e., integral stroke patterns that occur repeatedly in different characters, e.g., character 彰 can be decomposed into four logographemes, 立, 日, 十, and 彡) in Chinese handwritten production, but mixed results were obtained. The discussion here mainly focuses on the representations of radicals.
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This research was supported by an internal research grant (No. RG 61/2019-2020R) from the Education University of Hong Kong and the Early Career Scheme grant (No. 28604920) from Research Grants Council of Hong Kong S.A.R., China.
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JW and H-C Chen contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by JW and LC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JW and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Wang, J., Cheng, L., Maurer, U. et al. Role of radical position and character configuration in Chinese handwritten production. Read Writ 36, 1609–1630 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10348-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10348-5