On the role of the syllable in tip-of-the-tongue states

Authors

  • Nina Jeanette Hofferberth Department of Linguistics, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2012/05/0015/000221

Keywords:

speech production, lexical retrieval, word finding failures, first syllable

Abstract

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a type of production failure during phonological encoding. A reaction-time experiment was performed to determine whether the right first syllable of the target facilitates TOT resolution and whether another first syllable inhibits TOT resolution. The syllables were presented individually, which means not in another word related to the target in order to avoid interlopers. It seems that the right first syllable facilitates a positive TOT resolution, while a wrong first syllable has an inhibiting effect. These results indicate that the presentation of the right first syllable of the target word strengthens the weakened phonological connections that cause TOTs and facilitates word retrieval.

 

References

Abrams, L., White, K. K. and Eitel, S. L. 2003. Isolating phonological components that increase tip-of-the-tongue resolution. *Memory & Cognition*, 31(8), 1153–1162.

Brown, A. S. 2012. *The Tip of the Tongue State*. New York: Psychology Press.

Brown, R. and McNeill, D. 1966. The "tip of the tongue" phenomenon. *Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior*, 5(4), 325–337.

Baayen, R. H., Piepenbrock, R. and van Rijn, H. 1993. *The CELEX Lexical Database* (CD-ROM). Philadelphia, PA: Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania.

DLEX: Digitales Lexikon der deutschen Sprache. [http://dlexdb.de](http://dlexdb.de)

James, L. E. and Burke, D. M. 2000. Phonological priming effects on word retrieval and tip-of-the-tongue experiences in young and older adults. *Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition*, 26(6), 1378–1391.

Levelt, W. J. M. 1989. *Speaking: From Intention to Articulation*. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Meyer, A. S. and Bock, K. 1992. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: Blocking or partial activation? *Memory & Cognition*, 20(6), 715–726.

White, K. K. and Abrams, L. 2002. Does priming specific syllables during tip-of-the-tongue states facilitate word retrieval in older adults? *Psychology and Aging*, 17(2), 226–235.

Downloads

Published

01-01-2012

How to Cite

On the role of the syllable in tip-of-the-tongue states. (2012). Linguistic Proceedings Series, 5(1), 57-60. https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2012/05/0015/000221

Share

Similar Articles

1-10 of 400

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.