Abstract: A number of different models have been proposed to account for how a word is processed at the stage of phonological encoding. Based on speech error data, Dell’s model assumes that the phonological unit includes a phoneme, segment, and syllable. In contrast, Levelt et al.’s model postulates that the phonological unit might include an onset, nucleus, and coda. Previous studies suggest that different languages might have different phonological encoding units in speech production. Moreover, the role of the syllable in production across different languages is still a rather controversial issue. Speech error data in Chinese indicate that the syllable plays a more important role in production in Chinese than it does in English or Dutch. Therefore, using an implicit priming paradigm, the present study investigated the stage of phonological encoding, especially focusing on the role of the syllable in Chinese word production.
Four sets of word pairs served as experimental stimuli. Each set consisted of four pairs. The first word of a pair was the cue word, while the second was the response word. In the homogeneous conditions, four response words in a set shared certain phonological properties. For instance, the four response words in a set were 夕阳 (sunset, /xi1yang2/), 媳妇 (wife, /xi2fu1/), 喜事 (good news, /xi3shi4/), and 细胞 (cell, /xi4bao1/), which shared the first syllable. The heterogeneous conditions used the same word pairs, but assigned them to sets in which there were no shared properties. Participants were asked to memorize the sets of four pairs of associated words, after which they were presented with cue words, and were required to produce the response words. Five different homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions were used in experiments 1 to 5, respectively.
Experiments 1 and 2 examined implicit priming for the shared onset and shared rime and tone, respectively, in monosyllabic word production. The results indicated that a reliable shared rime and tone inhibition effect was obtained, but no onset shared facilitation or inhibition effect was observed. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 examined implicit priming for the shared syllable, shared tone, and shared syllable and tone, respectively, in bisyllabic word production. The results showed that the shared syllable and the shared syllable and tone produced a significant facilitation effect compared to the heterogeneous condition, whereas no significant priming effect was found in the shared tone homogeneous condition.
The results suggest that the syllable alone and the combination of syllable and tone are units of phonological encoding in Chinese word production. The syllable priming effect might occur at the stage of phonological encoding, rather than at the phonetic encoding stage in word production. The tone alone is not one of the units of the phonological encoding stage, and tone functions like stress in English or Dutch and is only a part of the metrical frame in Chinese

Key words: word production, phonological encoding, implicit priming paradigm