Quantitative, not qualitative, differences in word classification errors as a function of language dominance

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a Cantonese word categorization task that maximized lexical competition. Cantonese-English early bilinguals were presented with a Cantonese word, followed by four images depicting the target word and a tone, rhyme, and onset competitor. English-dominant listeners made more errors than Cantonese-dominant listeners, but the proportions of error types were equivalent across language dominance profiles. Cantonese listeners' error patterns suggest a hierarchy of phonological units with respect to what most robustly differentiates lexical items, corroborating previous research.