Wilshire Carolyn E, Nespoulous Jean-Luc
School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, New Zealand.
Brain Lang. 2003 Mar;84(3):424-47. doi: 10.1016/s0093-934x(02)00501-1.
The syllable has received considerable empirical support as a unit of processing in speech perception, but its status in speech production remains unclear. Some researchers propose that syllables are individually represented and retrieved during phonological encoding (e.g., Dell, 1986; Ferrand, Segui, & Grainger, 1996; MacKay, 1987). We test this hypothesis by examining the influence of syllable frequency on the phonological errors of two aphasics. These individuals both had an impairment in phonological encoding, but appeared to differ in the precise locus of that impairment. They each read aloud and repeated 110 pairs of words matched for syllabic complexity, but differing in final syllable frequency. Lexical frequency was also controlled. Neither aphasic was more error-prone on low than on high frequency syllables (indeed, one showed a near-significant reverse effect), and neither showed a preference for more frequent syllables in their errors. These findings provide no support for the view that syllables are individually represented and accessed during phonological encoding.
作为言语感知中的一个加工单元，音节已获得了大量实证支持，但其在言语产生中的地位仍不明确。一些研究者提出，音节在语音编码过程中是单独表征和提取的（例如，戴尔，1986年；费朗、塞吉和格兰杰，1996年；麦凯，1987年）。我们通过考察音节频率对两名失语症患者语音错误的影响来检验这一假设。这两名患者在语音编码方面均有损伤，但损伤的确切部位似乎有所不同。他们各自大声朗读并重复了110对音节复杂度匹配但最后一个音节频率不同的单词。词汇频率也得到了控制。两名失语症患者在低频音节上并不比高频音节更容易出错（事实上，其中一名患者表现出了近乎显著的相反效应），而且他们在错误中都没有表现出对更频繁音节的偏好。这些发现不支持音节在语音编码过程中是单独表征和提取的这一观点。
