Date of Award

Winter 12-2023

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (AM/MA)

Degree Type

Thesis

Abstract

Lexical stress, or which syllable is emphasized in a multisyllabic word, can provide important cues for speech segmentation, lexical class, and reading acquisition. Despite this, much of the literature on reading has focused on single syllable words, neglecting the role that stress can play. In this project, I examine the role of prefixation, onset and coda length in assigning stress in disyllabic words when reading aloud. Study 1 is a corpus analysis of English words with grade level information to replicate the model developed by Treiman et al. 2020 and check for age differences. There were no significant differences on account of age, nor did age predict any factors that predicted stress. Studies 2 and 3 examined the role of coda and onset length when any impact of prefixation was removed by having subjects read sentences containing novel nonwords aloud in Study 2 and assign stress to these nonwords in a survey. Coda length has a significant impact in both studies such that a greater coda length leads to less first syllable stress assignment. Onset length produced mixed results across the two studies with an increased onset length increasing first syllable stress in Study 3 but having no effect in Study 2. Studies 4 and 5 extended the investigation into onset length by varying onset length along with the presence of prefixation. Study 4 employed the same method as Study 2 with reading aloud while Study 5 mirrored Study 3’s procedure of self-report. Study 4 found significant effects of both onset and prefixation as well as an interaction. Onset length again increased first syllable stress as it increased. Going from a prefixed word to a word with no prefix also increased stress. The interaction showed that prefixation strengthened the effect of onset length on stress assignment. Study 5 found similar significant effects of both variables but no interaction. These findings suggest that previous work investigating the impact of onset length on lexical stress assignment may have been confounded by prefixation.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Rebecca Treiman

Committee Members

Kristin Van Engen, Mitch Sommers

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