Chen Yihan, Rossi Eleonora
Department of Linguistics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Brain Sci. 2024 Sep 16;14(9):923. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14090923.
Previous research has established that bilinguals automatically activate lexical items in both of their languages in a nonselectivemanner, even when processing linguistic information in the second language (L2) alone. However, whether this co-activation extends to the sub-lexical level remains debated. In this study, we investigate whether bilinguals access sub-lexical information while processing in their L2. Thirty-two Chinese-English bilinguals and thirty-one English monolinguals completed an EEG-based semantic relatedness task, during which they judged whether pairs of English words were related in meaning or not (±S). Unbeknownst to the participants, the form (±F) of the Chinese translations in half of the pairs shared a sub-lexical semantic radical. This leads to four conditions: +S+F, +S-F, -S+F, and -S-F. This design, along with the comparison to English monolinguals, allows us to examine if bilinguals' native language is activated at the sub-lexical level when they are exposed only to L2. The results revealed that both groups showed sensitivity to semantic relatedness, as evidenced by a greater N400 for semantic unrelated pairs than related pairs, with monolinguals eliciting a more pronounced difference. Bilinguals, on the other hand, exhibited a greater P200 difference compared to monolinguals, indicating greater sensitivity to the hidden Chinese radical/form manipulation. These results suggest that highly proficient bilinguals automatically engage in lexical co-activation of their native language during L2 processing. Crucially, this co-activation extends to the sub-lexical semantic radical level.
先前的研究已经证实，双语者会以非选择性的方式自动激活其两种语言中的词汇项目，即使是在仅处理第二语言（L2）的语言信息时也是如此。然而，这种共同激活是否会延伸到词汇以下层面仍存在争议。在本研究中，我们调查了双语者在使用其第二语言进行处理时是否会获取词汇以下的信息。32名汉英双语者和31名单语英语使用者完成了一项基于脑电图的语义相关性任务，在此期间他们判断英语单词对在意义上是否相关（±S）。参与者并不知道，其中一半单词对的中文翻译形式（±F）共享一个词汇以下的语义部首。这导致了四种情况：+S+F、+S-F、-S+F和-S-F。这种设计，再加上与英语单语者的比较，使我们能够检验双语者在仅接触第二语言时，其母语是否在词汇以下层面被激活。结果显示，两组都对语义相关性敏感，语义不相关的单词对比相关单词对引发更大的N400，单语者的差异更为明显。另一方面，与单语者相比，双语者表现出更大的P200差异，表明对隐藏的中文部首/形式操作更敏感。这些结果表明，高度熟练的双语者在处理第二语言时会自动对其母语进行词汇共同激活。至关重要的是，这种共同激活会延伸到词汇以下的语义部首层面。
