Why are kana words named faster than kanji words?
Feldman and Turvey (1980) found that colors conventionally written in kanji (a logo-graphic script) are named slower than are the unconventional kana (a syllabic script) transcriptions of the kanji color words. This surprising finding was attributed to the closer relation of kana to phonology, which is consonant with the general dual-route theory. However, the present study has shown that kanji numerals are named faster than are the corresponding kana numerals. A hypothesis involving selection difficulty inherent in most kanji is presented to explain those apparently conflicting results. Some implications for further research on the kanji versus kana issue are also discussed.
Yamada
J
J
Hiroshima University, Japan.
D000328:Adult; D001037:Aphasia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading