The predictive function of Swedish word accents

• Swedish lexical word accents have been repeatedly said to have a lowfunctional load. Even so, the language has kept these tones ever sincethey emerged probably over a thousand years ago. This article proposesthat the primary function of word accents is for listeners to be ableto predict upcoming morphological structures and narrow down thelexical competition rather than being lexically distinctive. Psycho- andneurophysiological evidence for the predictive function of word accents isdiscussed. A novel analysis displays that word accents have a facilitativerole in word processing. Specifically, a correlation is revealed betweenhow much incorrect word accents hinder listeners’ processing and howmuch they reduce response times when correct. Finally, a dual-route modelof the predictive use of word accents with distinct neural substrates isput forth.

• Swedish lexical word accents have been repeatedly said to have a low functional load. Even so, the language has kept these tones ever since they emerged probably over a thousand years ago. This article proposes that the primary function of word accents is for listeners to be able to predict upcoming morphological structures and narrow down the lexical competition rather than being lexically distinctive. Psycho- and neurophysiological evidence for the predictive function of word accents is discussed. A novel analysis displays that word accents have a facilitative role in word processing. Specifically, a correlation is revealed between how much incorrect word accents hinder listeners’ processing and how much they reduce response times when correct. Finally, a dual-route model of the predictive use of word accents with distinct neural substrates is put forth.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- General Language Studies and Linguistics (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

phonology

prediction

prosody

morphology

speech processing

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)