Semantic transparency, compounding, and the nature of independent variables
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Gary Libben
Abstract
We report on a psycholinguistic study of semantic transparency among English compound words. We employed the P3 technique (Libben et al. 2012), which combines elements of three experimental paradigms: progressive demasking, naming, and word typing. Both the progressive demasking data and the word typing data showed a graded effect of semantic transparency associated with the number and location of semantically opaque constituents in the compound. Typing duration effects were evident at the constituent boundary, supporting observations first made by Sahel et al. (2008). We suggest that these data point to the value of letter typing durations in the analysis of morphological processing and the importance of a psychocentric perspective on lexical processing – one that emphasizes the psychological nature of morphological structures.
Abstract
We report on a psycholinguistic study of semantic transparency among English compound words. We employed the P3 technique (Libben et al. 2012), which combines elements of three experimental paradigms: progressive demasking, naming, and word typing. Both the progressive demasking data and the word typing data showed a graded effect of semantic transparency associated with the number and location of semantically opaque constituents in the compound. Typing duration effects were evident at the constituent boundary, supporting observations first made by Sahel et al. (2008). We suggest that these data point to the value of letter typing durations in the analysis of morphological processing and the importance of a psychocentric perspective on lexical processing – one that emphasizes the psychological nature of morphological structures.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
-
Editors’ introduction
- Morphology and meaning 3
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Plenary papers
- Roots, concepts, and word structure 49
- Between word formation and meaning change 71
- Indirect coding 97
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Section papers
- Diachrony and the polysemy of derivational affixes 127
- Possessive compounds in Slavic and the Principle of Integrated Meronymy 141
- Relation diversity and ease of processing for opaque and transparent English compounds 153
- Inflection vs. derivation 163
- Discrepancy between form and meaning in word-formation 177
- Compounds vs. phrases 191
- Semantic transparency, compounding, and the nature of independent variables 205
- The layering of form and meaning in creole word-formation 223
- Semantic headedness and categorization of - cum - compounds 239
- German plural doublets with and without meaning differentiation 249
- On the form and meaning of double noun incorporation 259
- Tuning morphosemantic transparency by shortening 275
- Root transparency and the morphology-meaning interface 289
- Mimetic verbs and meaning 303
- Mismatch verbs 315
- The canonical function of the deponent verbs in modern Greek 331
- Language index 345
- Subject index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
-
Editors’ introduction
- Morphology and meaning 3
-
Plenary papers
- Roots, concepts, and word structure 49
- Between word formation and meaning change 71
- Indirect coding 97
-
Section papers
- Diachrony and the polysemy of derivational affixes 127
- Possessive compounds in Slavic and the Principle of Integrated Meronymy 141
- Relation diversity and ease of processing for opaque and transparent English compounds 153
- Inflection vs. derivation 163
- Discrepancy between form and meaning in word-formation 177
- Compounds vs. phrases 191
- Semantic transparency, compounding, and the nature of independent variables 205
- The layering of form and meaning in creole word-formation 223
- Semantic headedness and categorization of - cum - compounds 239
- German plural doublets with and without meaning differentiation 249
- On the form and meaning of double noun incorporation 259
- Tuning morphosemantic transparency by shortening 275
- Root transparency and the morphology-meaning interface 289
- Mimetic verbs and meaning 303
- Mismatch verbs 315
- The canonical function of the deponent verbs in modern Greek 331
- Language index 345
- Subject index 347
