Across the great divide: Proximate units at the lexical‐phonological interface

Abstract

Evidence that languages differ in the initial, proximate units of phonological encoding presents a challenge to current theories of language production. The proximate units principle is the idea that variation in the proximate, first selectable, phonological units during word form retrieval for speaking is key to understanding the implementation of phonological encoding in diverse languages. It proposes that rather than imposing a unilingual phonemic template across languages, the variety of proximate units should be incorporated in theories. From this perspective, cross-linguistic differences in speech error patterns, in phonological preparation, in automatic activation, in multi-word coordination, and in metalinguistic awareness are more clearly interpretable. The proximate units perspective aims to accelerate scientific progress by incorporating linguistic diversity at the lexical-phonological interface into theories of word and sentence production.

The primacy of abstract syllables in Chinese word production.

“…However, form preparation of initial consonants under some circumstances in Chinese languages is not incompatible with the proximate units principle. It merely suggests that preparation may be deployed to various units once those units are metalinguistically accessible and thus available to directed attention (O’Séaghdha, 2015; see also O’Séaghdha & Frazer, 2014). In Wong et al’s experiments, the CV components constituted syllables or potential syllables, for which preparation is natural (O’Séaghdha, 2015).…”

“…At this phonological juncture, a priori linguistic analysis (Cheng, 1973; Kuo, 1994), speech error patterns (Chen, 1999, 2000), computational work (T.-M. Chen, Dell, & J.-Y. Chen, 2007), and behavioral experiments (see O’Séaghdha, 2015, for review) all indicate that the type of unit playing the primary functional role differs between Chinese and other languages. Specifically, previous studies suggest that phonological encoding begins with syllables in Chinese (J.-Y.…”

“…Chen et al, 2002; O’Séaghdha et al, 2010; see Roelofs, 2015). In response to this language-theory mismatch, we have proposed a proximate units principle (O’Séaghdha & Chen, 2009; O’Séaghdha et al, 2010; O’Séaghdha, 2015) whereby the initial transition to phonological form in production is enacted by different types of explicitly selectable phonological units across languages. Specifically, in Chinese languages, syllables are the proximate units and segmental encoding is therefore subordinated to stored syllables, whereas in Indo-European languages phonemic segments are the proximate units and syllables are assembled flexibly from these segments.…”

“…A third configuration in which morae (phonological timing units of varying segmental composition; Kubozono, 1989; Labrune, 2012) are the proximate units has been identified in Japanese (Kureta et al, 2006; Verdonschot et al, 2011). The proximate units rubric preserves language-general phonological encoding operations of unit activation and selection, but emphasizes that the type of the primary units that implement these operations varies across languages (see O’Séaghdha, 2015, for additional discussion). Several lines of experimental evidence are relevant to these conclusions.…”

The influence of orthographic experience on the development of phonological preparation in spoken word production

“…The concept Bproximate unit,^which refers to the first selectable phonological unit at the initial stage of phonological encoding (i.e., the first phonological unit selected after lexical retrieval), was introduced to address this cross-linguistic difference (J.-Y. Chen, O'Séaghdha, & Chen, 2016;T.-M. Chen & Chen, 2013;O'Séaghdha, 2015;O'Seaghdha et al 2010;Roelofs, 2015).…”