The role of orthographic syllable frequency in the syllable frequency effect: evidence from Korean

There have been ongoing debates as to whether the syllable frequency effect is dependent purely on phonological representation or is also affected by the orthographic representation of the syllable. In two experiments, the authors investigated the effect of the phonologic and orthographic frequencies on the syllable frequency effect by manipulating the first syllable's phonologic (high vs low) and orthographic (high vs low) frequency. Analyses of variance were performed for the lexical decision latencies and error rates in two experiments. Overall, the results of the current experiments showed effects of phonological syllable frequency on lexical decision latencies. Additionally, the results of the current experiments also showed the influence of the orthographic syllable frequency in the form of an interaction between the phonologic and orthographic frequencies. Longer latencies and higher error rates for higher phonological syllable frequency occurred only when the target word had low orthographic syllable frequency. The current study suggests that phonological syllable frequency is the primary sources of the syllable frequency effect while it also suggests that the orthographic representation of the syllable influences the syllable frequency effect as well.