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The Effects of Base Frequency and Affix Productivity in Spanish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Miguel Lázaro López-Villaseñor
Miguel Lázaro López-Villaseñor*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Castilla la Mancha (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miguel Lázaro López-Villaseñor. Facultad de Terapia Ocupacional, Logopedia y Enfermería. Avda. Real fábrica de la seda s/n. 45600 Talavera de la Reina, Toledo (Spain). E-mail: miguel.lazaro@uclm.es
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Abstract

In this study we present the results of a lexical decision experiment where the variables manipulated are Base frequency and Affix productivity. The results show significant main effects for both variables for the first time in Spanish, as well as for the interaction between the two. However, pair analysis shows that the Base Frequency effect is not significant when the Affix Productivity is low, while the Affix Productivity effect is produced regardless of the Base Frequency. The results for the main effects show a morphological representation in the lexicon, whilst the results of pair comparisons suggest a different representation of stems and affixes in the lexicon. These results support the idea that complex words incorporating unproductive affixes are processed differently from words incorporating productive affixes. The results are finally explained in terms of a hierarchical model of morphological processing.

En este estudio presentamos los resultados de un experimento de decisión léxica en el que se manipulan las variables de Frecuencia de base y de Productividad de los afijos. Los resultados muestran por primera vez en español efectos principales significativos de ambas variables, así como de la interacción de las mismas. Sin embargo, un análisis por pares demuestra que el efecto de Frecuencia de Base no es significativo cuando la productividad de los afijos es baja, sino tan solo cuando la productividad de los afijos es alta. El efecto de Productividad de los afijos se produce, no obstante, de forma independiente a la Frecuencia de la base. Los resultados de los efectos principales demuestran una representación morfológica en el léxico, mientras que los resultados de las comparaciones por pares sugieren una distinta representación en el léxico de lexemas y morfemas. Estos resultados avalan el hecho de que las palabras complejas compuestas de afijos poco productivos sean procesadas de distinta manera que las palabras compuestas por afijos productivos. Los resultados son finalmente explicados a la luz de un modelo jerárquico de procesamiento morfológico.

Keywords

affix productivitybase frequencylemmamorphologyfrecuencia de baselemmamorfologíaproductividad de los afijos
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 505 - 512
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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