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Adults’ sensitivity to graphotactic differences within the English vocabulary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2018

REBECCA TREIMAN ,
KRISTINA DECKER  and
BRETT KESSLER
REBECCA TREIMAN*
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
KRISTINA DECKER
Affiliation:
University of Memphis
BRETT KESSLER
Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Rebecca Treiman, Campus Box 1125, St. Louis MO 63130. E-mail: rtreiman@wustl.edu
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Abstract

Linguists have described the English vocabulary as including Latinate and basic subsystems. In three experiments with a total of 93 participants, we asked whether skilled readers are sensitive to graphotactic differences between these systems. Participants saw pairs of nonwords and were asked to choose the item in each pair that appeared more wordlike. Participants were more likely to select an item with an onset and an ending that suggested the same system than an item with a mismatch. Participants also used the presence of a single versus double medial consonant as a marker of the system to which an item belongs. The results suggest that skilled readers have learned about some of the graphotactic differences between Latinate and basic words and do not treat English as a monolithic system.

Keywords

graphotacticsLatinate wordsreadingvocabulary
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 167 - 182
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Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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