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6. Speed of Getting at the Phonology and Meaning of Chinese Words
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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8 SpeedofGettingatthePhonology andMeaningofChineseWords RumjahnHoosain In psycholinguistic studies of the Chinese language we have witnessed tw o myths. An earlie r on e was tha t processin g o f th e ideographi c symbol s i s lateralized i n th e righ t hemisphere . It s empirical suppor t cam e from : (a ) the finding o f greater Stroo p effect fo r Chinese , with Biederman an d Tsa o (1979) suggestin g that bot h the processing o f colours an d Chines e colou r names were lateralized i n the right hemisphere and thus producing greate r interference compare d wit h colou r name s printe d i n English, (b ) report s of crosse d aphasi a i n Chines e aphasi c patients (e.g. , April & Tse , 1977) , with righ t hemispher e damag e resultin g i n language impairment , an d (c ) the contras t i n finding s o f lef t visua l fiel d (righ t hemisphere ) advantag e for singl e Chines e character s an d righ t visua l fiel d (lef t hemisphere ) advantage fo r two-characte r Chines e words . I t wa s though t tha t singl e characters wer e visua l whole s whil e two-characte r word s involve d sequential o r analyti c processing , an d th e righ t an d lef t hemisphere s respectively specialize d i n holistic an d analyti c processing . Eventually, whe n w e obtaine d a bette r picture , th e incidenc e o f crossed-aphasia fo r Chines e di d no t appea r highe r tha n fo r Englis h (cf . April & Han , 1980) . It was also realized that the difference betwee n single characters an d two-characte r word s in tachistoscopic perception wa s du e to the degradation o f the visual signal related to exposure time and othe r stimulus factors , an d no t an y particula r orthographi c characteristi c o f Chinese (Hasuike , Tzeng & Hung , 1986 ; Ho & Hoosain , 1989) . 130RUMJAH NHOOSAIN The othe r myt h i s tha t gettin g a t th e meanin g o f Chines e word s i s more direc t tha n English . Th e origi n o f thi s myt h coul d b e trace d t o observations b y distinguishe d linguist s suc h a s Yue n Re n Cha o an d William Wang. Cha o (1968 ) though t tha t when readin g Chines e text th e characters stare d th e reade r i n th e face . Althoug h referrin g onl y t o pictographs whic h mak e u p a smal l percentag e o f Chines e characters , Wang (1973 ) though t tha t whe n lookin g a t th e characte r fo r horse , w e could almos t se e the anima l gallopin g i n fron t o f us . In th e traditio n o f psycholinguistics going after th e psychological reality of linguistic notion s (notably o f transformationa l gramma r i n th e sixties) , investigator s o f Chinese psycholinguistics hav e been working on the question o f directnes s of acces s to meanin g o f character s fo r th e past tw o decades . My vie w i s that, i n contrast t o th e earlie r myt h o f cerebral lateralization , thi s on e o f more direc t acces s to Chines e meaning i s 'one o f truest myth s i n Chines e mythology' (i n th e word s o f Chao , 1968 , referrin g t o anothe r — th e monosyllabic myth) . I shall briefl y discus s th e evidenc e fo r thi s positio n in the res t o f thi s paper . As with an y othe r orthography , processin g th e meanin g o f Chines e words ha s t o tak e plac e i n som e tempora l relationshi p wit h processin g of phonology . O f course , w e ar e no t jus t intereste d i n th e questio n o f which...