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The processing cost for reading misaligned words is script-specific: evidence from Hindi and Kannada/Hindi readers

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Abstract

Among biscriptal readers do script-specific orthographic properties in one language affect the processing of words in their other language? This question was examined with respect to the seriality effect, a phenomenon first reported by Vaid and Gupta (Brain Lang 81:679–690, 2002). In this effect, native readers of Hindi are slower to name words whose written and spoken order is misaligned (e.g., the word win is written I-W-N), as compared to words containing letters whose written order is congruent with their spoken order. The present study examined whether the seriality effect is restricted to stimuli presented in the original script (Hindi) or carries over to affect processing in a structurally similar but visuospatially different script (Kannada) which does not have the same misalignment. In a lexical decision task, slower responses to misaligned than to aligned Hindi words were observed in both readers of Hindi and in Kannada–Hindi biliterates; however, biliterates’ responses were not slower to cognates of Hindi misaligned words presented in Kannada script. These findings suggest that processing costs associated with orthographic conventions of a particular script do not carry over to another script, even when the scripts in question share similar design principles. More generally, our findings suggest that the processing of orthographic knowledge relating to the sequencing of sounds and letters is script-specific.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Speech and Language Laboratory, National Brain Research Centre, Nainwal Mod, Manesar, 122050, Gurgaon, India

    Chaitra Rao

  2. Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843, USA

    Jyotsna Vaid

  3. Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan

    Hsin-Chin Chen

Authors
  1. Chaitra Rao
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  2. Jyotsna Vaid
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  3. Hsin-Chin Chen
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Correspondence to Chaitra Rao or Jyotsna Vaid.

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Rao, C., Vaid, J. & Chen, HC. The processing cost for reading misaligned words is script-specific: evidence from Hindi and Kannada/Hindi readers. J Cult Cogn Sci 1, 39–48 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-017-0005-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-017-0005-3

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