DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Representation and Processing of Verbal Morphology in First and Second Languages

本论文以西班牙语为第一语言，英语为第二语言，对词汇形态心理计算的具体方面进行了研究。该项目是在迈克尔·乌尔曼指导的一个研究计划内进行的。该程序研究了语言的两种能力的计算和神经基础：记忆单词的心理词典，以及指定词汇形式如何组合成更大序列的规则的心理语法。它检验了“双系统”假说，即词汇由联想记忆辅助，而符号操纵系统则是语法组合的基础。相比之下，“单一系统”理论认为，所有的单词和规则都依赖于联想记忆。支持双重系统观点的证据来自心理语言学和神经语言学对形态的研究。这些研究表明，不规则形式(例如‘dug’)是通过词汇记忆的，而规则形式(例如‘walds’)是根据语法规则计算的。大多数研究都考察了以英语为母语的人在英语过去时的变化中的这种区别。该项目将在以下两个方面测试结果的普遍性：(1)西班牙语动词词法，它与英语词法有很大的不同；(2)英语过去时词法，在以英语为第二语言的西班牙语和中国成年人中。

This dissertation project investigates specific aspects of the mental computation of verbal morphology in speakers of Spanish as a first language, and speakers of English as a second language. The project is framed within a research program directed by Michael Ullman. The program investigates the computational and neural underpinnings of two capacities that characterize language: the mental lexicon of memorized words, and the mental grammar of rules that specify how lexical forms combine into larger sequences. It tests the 'dual-system' hypothesis that the lexicon is subserved by associative memory, whereas a symbol-manipulation system underlies grammatical combinations. In contrast, 'single-system' theories posit that all words and rules depend upon associative memory. Evidence supporting a dual-system view has come from psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic studies of morphology. These have shown that irregular forms (e.g. 'dug') are lexically memorized, while regular forms (e.g. 'walked') are computed by grammatical rules. Most studies have examined this distinction in English past-tense inflection, in native English speakers. This project will test the generality of the results in (1) Spanish verbal morphology, which differs substantially from English morphology, in native Spanish speakers; and (2) English past-tense morphology, in Spanish and Chinese native-speaking adult learners of English as a second language.