Multi-lemma representation of Mandarin noun-noun compounds in speech production: EEG evidence

Abstract

This study investigated how noun-noun compounds and their syntactic properties are represented in production. Participants’ naming latencies and electrophysiological responses were analysed to investigate the classifier congruency effect in Mandarin Chinese (Wang, M., Chen, Y., & Schiller, N. O. [2019]. Lexico-syntactic features are activated but not selected in bare noun production: Electrophysiological evidence from overt picture naming. Cortex, 116, 294–307) in three conditions: (a) modifier congruent, (b) compound congruent, and (c) unrelated control. Behavioural results showed significant facilitation in the compound congruent condition relative to the control, with no effect for modifier congruency. In contrast, electrophysiological data showed an attenuation of the P600-like effect for both compound congruent and modifier congruent conditions when compared with the control condition. The effects in both conditions exhibited largely overlapping topographies and temporal profiles. Considering current production models, the findings are compatible with a multiple lemma representation account (Marelli, M., Aggujaro, S., Molteni, F., & Luzzatti, C. [2012]. The multiple-lemma representation of Italian compound nouns: A single case study of deep dyslexia. Neuropsychologia, 50(5), 852–861). These results provide evidence that, in Mandarin Chinese, compound constituents may be represented and activated at the lemma level during production and potentially contribute to morphosyntactic integration.