Abstract :
In the present study, morphological structure processing of Chinese compounds was explored using
a visual priming lexical decision task among 21 Hong Kong college students. Two compounding
structures were compared. The first type was the subordinate, in which one morpheme modifies the
other (e.g., [laam4 kau4, basket-ball, basketball]), similar to most English compounds (e.g.,
a snowman is a man made of snow and toothpaste is a paste for teeth; the second morpheme is
the “head,” modified morpheme). The second type was the coordinative, in which both morphemes
contribute equally to the meaning of the word. An example in Chinese is ( faa1 cou2, flower grass,
i.e., plant). There are virtually no examples of this type in English, but an approximate equivalent phrase
might be in and out, in which neither in nor out is more important than the other in comprising the
expression. For the subordinate Chinese compound words, the same structure in prime and target
facilitated the semantic priming effect, whereas for coordinative Chinese compound words, the same
structure across prime and target inhibited the semantic priming effect. Results suggest that lexical
processing of Chinese compounds is influenced by compounding structure processing.
