Université Paris Descartes, Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, CNRS - Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
Brain Res. 2010 May 21;1332:75-89. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.03.047. Epub 2010 Mar 21.
In order to acquire their native language, infants must learn to identify and segment word forms in continuous speech. This word segmentation ability is thus crucial for language acquisition. Previous behavioral studies have shown that it emerges during the first year of life, and that early segmentation differs according to the language in acquisition. In particular, linguistic rhythm, which differs across classes of languages, has been found to have an early impact on segmentation abilities. For French, behavioral evidence showed that infants could use the rhythmic unit appropriate to their native language (the syllable) to segment fluent speech by 12months of age, but failed to show whole word segmentation at that age, a surprising delay compared to the emergence of segmentation abilities in other languages. Given the implications of such findings, the present study reevaluates the issue of whole word and syllabic segmentation, using an electrophysiological method, high-density ERPs (event-related potentials), rather than a behavioral technique, and by testing French-learning 12-month-olds on bisyllabic word segmentation. The ERP data show evidence of whole word segmentation while also confirming that French-learning infants rely on syllables to segment fluent speech. They establish that segmentation and recognition of words/syllables happen within 500ms of their onset, and raise questions regarding the interaction between syllabic segmentation and multisyllabic word recognition.
为了习得母语，婴儿必须学会识别和切分连续言语中的词形。因此，这种词切分能力对于语言习得至关重要。先前的行为研究表明，这种能力在生命的第一年就出现了，并且早期的切分方式因所习得的语言而异。特别是，语言节奏（linguistic rhythm）因语言类别而异，它被发现对切分能力有早期影响。对于法语来说，行为证据表明，婴儿在 12 个月大时可以使用与其母语（音节）相对应的节奏单位来切分流畅的言语，但在那个年龄却无法表现出整词切分，与其他语言中切分能力的出现相比，这是一个令人惊讶的延迟。鉴于这些发现的意义，本研究使用高密度 ERP（事件相关电位）这种电生理方法而非行为技术，重新评估了整词和音节切分的问题，并对学习法语的 12 个月大的婴儿进行了双音节词切分测试。ERP 数据显示了整词切分的证据，同时也证实了学习法语的婴儿依赖音节来切分流畅的言语。它们表明，词/音节的切分和识别发生在其出现后的 500ms 内，并提出了关于音节切分和多音节词识别之间相互作用的问题。
