Perception of reduced words: Chunking and predictability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2016/07/0021/000280Abstract
This is a first report on a word-monitoring experiment to examine how frequency-based chunking and predictability affect recognition of reduced speech. The effect of reduction on recognition of the word to was tested in English V to Vinf constructions of varying frequencies (e.g. have to go, prefer to stay). Our first results suggest that in types of mid-high frequency, predictability aids the recognition of a reduced item. In very high frequency sequences, however, reduction seems to encourage chunking, that is, accessing the sequence as a single unit.
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