Role of radical position and character configuration in Chinese handwritten production

AbstractMost Chinese characters comprise radicals that are embedded in a specific structure (e.g., left –right structure like相, or top –bottom structure like杏). We investigated the representations of word-form units (i.e., radicals) in planning Chinese handwritten production. Adopting the picture-word interference paradigm (Experiment 1,N = 29), we manipulated picture names and their corresponding distractors to share one radical. Radicals embedded in the same character structure as the target significantly shortened the participants’ writing latency, no matter whether the radicals appeared at the same or a different position in the distractor. This finding suggests that radicals appearing at different positions in characters with the same structure may share the same representations in planning Chinese written word production. On the other hand, when the shared radical appeared in the distractor that possessed a differe nt structure than the target, a non-significant facilitation trend was observed. Experiment 2 adopted the form-preparation paradigm and obtained a similar non-significant trend of facilitation, in a larger sample (N = 53). Radicals embedded in different character structures might be represented as distinct units among (a proportion of) Chinese writers, suggesting the important role of character structure in planning Chinese handwritten production. The potential influence of language-specific features on th e representations of word-form unit...
Source: Reading and Writing - Category: Child Development Source Type: research