title: Friends and foes in the lexicon: homophone naming in aphasia.
abstract: The study of homophones--words with different meanings that sound the same--has great potential to inform models of language production. Of particular relevance is a phenomenon termed frequency inheritance, where a low-frequency word (e.g., deer) is produced more fluently than would be expected based on its frequency characteristics, presumably because of shared phonology with a high-frequency homophone counterpart (e.g., dear). However, prior studies have been inconsistent in showing frequency inheritance. To explain this inconsistency, we propose a dual nature account of homophony: a high-frequency counterpart exerts 2 counterposing effects on a low-frequency homophone target during the 2 main stages of naming: (a) a detrimental impact during semantically driven lexical retrieval; (b) a beneficial impact during phonological retrieval. In a study of naming in participants with chronic aphasia followed by computational investigations, we find strong evidence for the dual nature account of homophony.
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute.
authors.forename: Erica L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Educational Psychology Program and Center for Advanced Study in Education, City University of New York.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verkuilen
mesh_terms: D001037:Aphasia; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010700:Phonetics; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012042:Registries; D012660:Semantics