title: Non-linear processing of a linear speech stream: The influence of morphological structure on the recognition of spoken Arabic words.
abstract: Although the significance of morphological structure is established in visual word processing, its role in auditory processing remains unclear. Using magnetoencephalography we probe the significance of the root morpheme for spoken Arabic words with two experimental manipulations. First we compare a model of auditory processing that calculates probable lexical outcomes based on whole-word competitors, versus a model that only considers the root as relevant to lexical identification. Second, we assess violations to the root-specific Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP), which disallows root-initial consonant gemination. Our results show root prediction to significantly correlate with neural activity in superior temporal regions, independent of predictions based on whole-word competitors. Furthermore, words that violated the OCP constraint were significantly easier to dismiss as valid words than probability-matched counterparts. The findings suggest that lexical auditory processing is dependent upon morphological structure, and that the root forms a principal unit through which spoken words are recognised.
authors.affiliation: NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: laura.gwilliams@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gwilliams
authors.affiliation: NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Department of Psychology, New York University, United States; Department of Linguistics, New York University, United States. Electronic address: marantz@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marantz
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D018643:Arab World; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arabic; Decomposition; MEG; Morphology; Obligatory Contour Principle; Prediction; Roots; Spoken word recognition; Surprisal