Lemmas and lexemes: the evidence from blends

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Psychology
• Phonology

Background:

• Lexical access models traditionally view word blends structurally.
• Word frequency effects are a key area in psycholinguistics.
• Previous research has not fully clarified the role of phonology in blends.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the level at which word frequency effects operate during lexical access.
• To propose a new framework for understanding word blends.
• To determine the relationship between phonological similarity and frequency effects in blends.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 166 word blends.
• Comparison of traditional structural approach with a phonological substitution approach.
• Examination of phonological relatedness between target words and intruder words in blends.

Main Results:

• Word frequency effects are specifically observed when target words and intruder words in blends are phonologically related.
• The phonological substitution model provides a clearer distinction between target and intruder words.
• Blends are better understood as sublexical substitutions rather than sequential word completions.

Conclusions:

• Word frequency effects in lexical access are primarily located at the phonological level.
• The phonological nature of blends is crucial for understanding frequency effects.
• A sublexical substitution framework enhances the analysis of word blends and their frequency characteristics.