Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:58:38.491Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Compound Verb Processing in Second Language Speakers of Persian

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi*
Affiliation:
Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Canada

Abstract

This study investigates compound verb processing in second language speakers (L2) of Persian. Forty-six near-native L2 speakers of Persian were tested to examine the processing of transparent (non-idiomatic) and opaque (idiomatic) compound verbs, under masked priming paradigm. The results revealed a significant nominal priming effect in the opaque condition, and a numerically stronger nominal priming effect in the transparent condition. There was also an increase in the processing load on the parser when the target was an opaque compound. The results of this study seem to be compatible with the dual access or dual route hypothesis, yet with the version that assumes the two routes are activated in parallel rather than the version that assumes high frequency words are represented lexically but low frequency words are decomposed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Backus, A. and Boeschoten, H.Review of Myers-Scotton, C.: Social Motivations of Code Switching: Evidence from Africa and Dueling Languages: Grammatical Structure in Code Switching.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics 6, no. 1 (1996): 129–53. doi: 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1996.tb00092.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. Papagno, C. and Vallar, G.When Long-Term Learning Depends on Short-Term Storage.” Journal of Memory and Language 27 (1988): 586–95. doi: 10.1016/0749-596X(88)90028-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barjasteh, D.Morphology, Semantics and Syntax of Persian Compound Verbs: A Lexical Approach.” PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983.Google Scholar
Blekher, M.Derivational Affixation and Translation Recognition in Bilinguals.” poster Presented at the 4th International Conference on the Mental Lexicon Windsor, Ontario. Canada 2004 30 June-3 July.Google Scholar
Bock, K. and Griffin, Z. M.Producing Words: How Mind Meets Mouth.” In Aspects of Language Production, edited by Wheeldon, L. R. 748. Hove: Psychology Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Beauvillain, C. and Grainger, J.Accessing Interlexical Homographs: Some Limitations of a Language-Selective Access.” Journal of Memory and Language 26 (1987): 658–72. doi: 10.1016/0749-596X(87)90108-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caramazza, A. “The Interpretation of Semantic Category-Specific Deficits: What Do They Reveal About the Organization of Conceptual Knowledge in the Brain?.” Neurocase 4 (1998): 265–72. doi: 10.1080/13554799808410627CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caramazza, A. and Brones, I.Semantic Classification by Bilinguals.” Canadian Journal of Psychology 34 (1980): 7781. doi: 10.1037/h0081016Google Scholar
Chen, H. C. and Leung, Y. S.Patterns of Lexical Processing in a Nonnative Language.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 15, no. 3 (1989): 1625.Google Scholar
Christianson, K. Hollingworth, A. Halliwell, J. and Ferreira, F.Thematic Roles Assigned along the Garden Path Linger.” Cognitive Psychology 42 (2001): 368407. doi: 10.1006/cogp.2001.0752Google ScholarPubMed
Clahsen, H. and Felser, C.Continuity and Shallow Structures in Language Processing.” Applied Linguistics 27, no. 1 (2006): 107125.Google Scholar
Cook, V. J.Evidence for Multicompetence.” Language Learning 42, no. 4 (1992): 557–91. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1992.tb01044.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cristoffanini, P. Kirsner, K. and Milech, D.Bilingual Lexical Representation: The Status of Spanish–English Cognates.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 38A (1986): 367–93. doi: 10.1080/14640748608401604CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dabir-Moghaddam, M. “Compound Verbs in Persian.” Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 27, no. 2 (1997): 2559.Google Scholar
De Almeida, R.G. and Libben, G.Compound Pre-access Decomposition: Effects of Constituent Disruption.” Folia Linguistica 36 (2002): 97115. doi: 10.1515/flin.2002.36.1-2.97Google Scholar
De Bot, K. Cox, A. Ralston, S. Schaufeli, A. and Weltens, B.Lexical Processing in Bilinguals.” Second Language Research 11 (1995): 119. doi: 10.1177/026765839501100101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dell, G. S. Schwartz, M. F. Martin, N. Saffran, E. M. and Gagnon, D. A.Lexical Access in Aphasic and Nonaphasic Speakers.” Psychological Review 104 (1997): 801–38. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.104.4.801CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Devlin, J. T. Matthews, P. M. and Gonnerman, L.Morphology and the Internal Structure of Words.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 101 (2004): 14984–8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0403766101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijkstra, T. Van Jaarsveld, H. and Ten Brinke, S.Interlingual Homograph Recognition: Effects of Task Demands and Language Intermixing.” Bilingualism, Language and Cognition 1 (1998): 5166. doi: 10.1017/S1366728998000121CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evette, L. J. and Humphreys, G. W.The Use of Abstract Graphemic Information in Lexical Access.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 33A (1981): 325–50. doi: 10.1080/14640748108400797Google Scholar
Felser, C. Roberts, L. Gross, R. and Marinis, T.The Processing of Ambiguous Sentences by First and Second Language Learners of English.” Applied Linguistics 24 (2003): 453–89.Google Scholar
Ferreira, F. “The Misinterpretation of Non-canonical Sentences.” Cognitive Psychology 47 (2003): 164203. doi: 10.1016/S0010-0285(03)00005-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorentino, R. and Poeppel, D.Compound Words and Structure in the Lexicon.” Language and Cognitive Processes 12 (2007): 9531000. doi: 10.1080/01690960701190215Google Scholar
Fodor, J. D.Comprehending Sentence Structure.” In An Invitation to Cognitive Science. Language, Vc1., edited by Gleitman, L. R. and Liberman, M. Vol. 1 209246. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Folli, R. Harley, H. and Karimi, S.Determinants of Event Type in Persian Complex Predicates.” Lingua 115, no. 10 (2005): 13651401. doi: 10.1016/j.lingua.2004.06.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forster, K. I. and Davis, C.Repetition Priming and Frequency Attenuation in Lexical Access.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 10 (1984): 680698.Google Scholar
Forster, K. I. Davis, C. Schoknecht, C. and Carter, A.Masked Priming with Graphemically Related Forms. Repetition or Partial Activation?.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Experimental Psychology 39A (2003): 125.Google Scholar
Garrett, M. F. “Review of Speaking: from intention to articulation (by W. J. M. Levelt).” Language and Speech 33 (1990): 273–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghomeshi, J.Projection and Inflection: A Study of Persian Phrase Structure.” PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1996.Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E.Words by Default: Inheritance and the Persian Complex Predicate Construction.” In Mismatch: Form-Function Incongruity and the Architecture of Grammar, edited by Francis, E. and Michaelis, L. 84112. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications, 2003.Google Scholar
Goral, M. Libben, G. Jarema, G. and Obler, L. K. “Morphological Processing in Bilinguals: Evidence from Hebrew-English Compounds.” Fourth International Conference on the Mental Lexicon, Windsor, Canada 2004 30 June-3 July.Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.Google Scholar
Hahne, A. “What's Different in Second-Language Processing? Evidence from Event-Related Brain Potentials.” Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 30 (2001): 251266. doi: 10.1023/A:1010490917575CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hahne, A. Müller, J. and Clahsen, H. “Morphological Processing in a Second Language: Behavioral and ERP Evidence for Storage and Decomposition.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 18 (2006): 121–34. doi: 10.1162/089892906775250067CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatch, E. Psycholinguistics—A Second Language Perspective. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1983.Google Scholar
Hermans, D. Bongaerts, T. De Bot, K. and Schreuder, R.Producing Words in a Foreign Language: Can Speakers Prevent Interference from their First Language.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1 (1998): 213229. doi: 10.1017/S1366728998000364CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johanson, L. “Code-Copying in Immigrant Turkish.” In Immigrant Language in Europe, edited by Extra, G. and Verhoeven, L. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1993: 197221.Google Scholar
Johns, A. “Restricting Noun Incorporation: Root Movement.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 25 (2007): 535–76. doi: 10.1007/s11049-007-9021-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juffs, A. “Representation, Processing, and Working Memory in a Second Language.” Transactions of the Philological Society 102 (2004): 199225. doi: 10.1111/j.0079-1636.2004.00135.xGoogle Scholar
Juffs, A. “The Influence of First Language on the Processing of wh- Movement in English as a Second Language.” Second Language Research 21 (2005): 121–51. doi: 10.1191/0267658305sr255oaGoogle Scholar
Karimi, S.Aspects of Persian Syntax, Specificity and the Theory of Grammar.” PhD diss., University of Washington, 1989.Google Scholar
Karimi, S. “Persian Complex Verbs: Idiomatic or Compositional.” Lexicology 3 (1997): 273318.Google Scholar
Kazanina, N. Dukova-Zheleva, G. Geber, D. Kharlamov, V. and Tonciulescu, K.Decomposition into Multiple Morphemes during Lexical Access: A Masked Priming Study of Russian Nouns.” Language and Cognitive Processes 23, no. 6 (2008): 800–23. doi: 10.1080/01690960701799635CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kess, J. Psycholinguistics: Psychology, Linguistics and the Study of Natural Language. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1991.Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F. and Curely, J.Lexical Memory in Novice Bilinguals: The Role of Concepts in Retrieving Second Language Words.” In Practical Aspects of Memory, edited by Gruneberg, M. Morris, P. and Sykes, R. Vol. 2. London: John Wiley and Sons, 1988: 389–95.Google Scholar
Laufer, B.What Percentage of Text-Lexis is Essential for Comprehension?” In Special Language: From Humans Thinking Machines, edited by Lauren, C. and Nordman, M. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1989: 316–23.Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M. Speaking. From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Levy, E. S. Goral, M. and Obler, L. K.Doghouse/chien-maison/niche: Approaches to The Understanding of Compound Processing in Bilinguals.” In The Representation and Processing of Compound Words, edited by Libben, G. and Jarema, G. 125–44. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Libben, G.How Language Learners Comprehend and Produce Language in Real Time. Commentaries on Clahsen, H. and Felser, C. Continuity and Shallow Structures in Language Processing.” Applied Psycholinguistics 27, no. 1 (2006): 72–4.Google Scholar
Longtin, C. Segui, J. and Hallé, P. A.Morphological Priming without Morphological Relationship.” Language and Cognitive Processes 18 (2003): 313–34. doi: 10.1080/01690960244000036Google Scholar
Mathieu, E. “Denominal Verbs in Ojibwe.” Journal of American Linguistics 79 (2013): 97132. doi: 10.1086/668609CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Megerdoomian, K. “The Status of the Nominal in Persian Complex Predicates.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 30 (2012): 179216. doi: 10.1007/s11049-011-9146-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohammad, J. and Karimi, S.Light Verbs are Taking Over: Complex Verbs in Persian.” In Proceedings of the Western Conference on Linguistics (WECOL) (1992): 195212.Google Scholar
Moyne, J. A.The Structure of Verbal Constructions in Persian.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1970.Google Scholar
Niemi, J. Laine, M. and Tuominen, J.Cognitive Morphology in Finnish: Foundations of a New Model.” Language and Cognitive Processes 9 (1994): 423–46. doi: 10.1080/01690969408402126CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osterhout, L. Poliakov, A. Inoue, K. McLaughlin, J. Valentine, G. Pitkanen, I. Frenck Mestre, C. and Hirschensohn, J.Second-Language Learning and Changes in the Brain.d201Dd Journal of Neurolinguistics 21, no. 6 (2008): 509–21. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2008.01.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papadopoulou, D. and Clahsen, H.Parsing Strategies in L1 and L2 Sentence Processing: A Study of Relative Clause Attachment in Greek.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24 (2003): 501–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M. The Assessment of Bilingual Aphasia. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum, 1987.Google Scholar
Paradis, M. A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, M. C. So, K. F. Von Eckhardt, B. and Feldman, L. B.Lexical and Conceptual Representation in Beginning and More Proficient Bilinguals.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 8 (1984): 295301.Google Scholar
Rastle, K. Davis, M. H. and New, B.The Broth in my Brother's Brothel: Morphological Segmentation in Visual Word Recognition.” Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 11 (2004): 1090–8. doi: 10.3758/BF03196742CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabourin, L. “Does the Shallow Structures Proposal Account for Qualitative Differences in First and Second Language Processing? Commentaries on Clahsen, H. and Felser, C. Continuity and Shallow Structures in Language Processing.” Applied Psycholinguistics 27, no. 1 (2006): 81–4.Google Scholar
Sanford, A. and Sturt, P.Depth of Processing in Language Comprehension: Not Noticing the Evidence.” Trends in Cognitive Science 6 (2002): 382–6. doi: 10.1016/S1364-6613(02)01958-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schreuder, R. and Baayen, R. H.Modeling Morphological Processing.” In Morphological aspects of language processing, edited by Feldman, L. B. 131–54. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1995.Google Scholar
Sedighi, A. “Do Psychological Constructions in Persian Involve Complex Predicates?Rice Working Papers in Linguistics 1 (2009): 6578.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N. “Automaticity and Second Language Learning.” In The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, edited by Doughty, C. and Long, M. 382408. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Service, E. and Kohonen, V.Is the Relation between Phonological Memory and Foreign-Language Learning Accounted for by Vocabulary Acquisition?Applied Psycholinguistics 16 (1995): 155–72. doi: 10.1017/S0142716400007062CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shabani-Jadidi, P. Processing Compound Verbs in Persian: A Psycholinguistic Approach to Complex Predicates. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Shanon, B. “Lateralization Effects in the Perception of Hebrew and English Words.” Brain and Language 17 (1982): 107–23. doi: 10.1016/0093-934X(82)90008-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singleton, D. Exploring the Mental Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smolka, E. Komlósi, S. and Rösler, F.When Semantics Means Less than Morphology: The Processing of German Prefixed Verbs.” In Language and Cognitive Processes. Hove: Psychology Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Traxler, M. “Plausibility and Subcategorization Preference in Children's Processing of Temporarily Ambiguous Sentences: Evidence from Self-Paced Reading.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 55A (2002): 7596. doi: 10.1080/02724980143000172CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ullman, M. “The Neural Basis of Lexicon and Grammar in First and Second Language: The Declarative/Procedural Model.” Bilingualism: language and Cognition 4 (2001): 105–22. doi: 10.1017/S1366728901000220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vahedi-Langrudi, M.-M.The Syntax, Semantics and Argument Structure of Complex Predicates in Modern Farsi.” PhD diss., University of Ottawa, 1996.Google Scholar
Whitaker, H. A.Bilingualism: A Neurolinguistics Perspective.” In Second Language Acquisition Research: Issues and Implications, edited by Ritchie, W. C. 2132. New York: Academic Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Wurmbrand, S. Infinitives: Restructuring and Clause Structure. Studies in Generative Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar