Compounding is one of the most productive methods to construct words in different languages, e.g. joining the words “super” and “man” gives the compound word “superman”. For decades, researchers are interested to know how compound words are stored and retrieved in the lexicon. Different theories of lexical storage and retrieval of compound words were proposed to explain the compound word processing observed in both normal and abnormal adult subjects. However, little studies have attempted to apply these theories to explain the developmental pattern of storage and retrieval of compound words. To fill the gap, the major aim of the current study is to investigate the power of different theories of lexical storage and retrieval of compound words in explaining the typical and atypical development of compound word processing in Chinese children. Altogether, 20 grade 2 children, 22 grade 4 children, and 17 grade 6 children screened to have normal non-verbal intelligence and reading abilities were recruited from a local mainstream school. Three experiments were conducted to investigate the existence of the holistic representations of compound words and the representations of their constituent morphemes in the lexicon, and their involvement during the compound word retrieval processes across different grade levels. Results show that grade 4 and grade 6 children demonstrate significant whole-word frequency, morphological family size and semantic transparency effects in all three experiments, a pattern which resembles that observed in normal adult subjects. The grade 2 children, however, only demonstrate significant whole-word frequency effect but not the morphological family size and the semantic transparency effect. The results indicate that grade 4 and grade 6 children adopt the partial-decomposed approach of compound word storage and retrieval (e.g. Taft, 2003). As for the grade 2 children, it is hypothesized that their performances represent a developing stage of the partial-decomposed approach, where networks of morphological relations between family members were underdeveloped in their lexicon. Further investigation of the compatibility of the partial-decomposed approach in explaining the compound word storage and retrieval pattern resulted from atypical development was conducted. The three experiments mentioned above were administered on 16 poor readers (PR), 16 reading-level-matched (RL) peers and 16 chronological-agematched (CA) peers. Interestingly, the PR group’s performances resemble that of the RL and CA group in experiments of whole-word frequency and morphological family size but not in experiment of semantic transparency. The PR group’s performances can be explained by assuming a deficit in identifying shared semantic features between compound words and their constituents in the partial-decomposed approach. It is proposed that the PR group identifies frequently occurring morphemes as salient orthographic reading units without recognizing the shared semantic features between compound words and their constituents. In summary, results of the current study support the partial-decomposed approach of lexical storage and retrieval of compound words. The current study further proposes (i) a developing stage of the partial-decomposed approach to explain the compound word processing within an under-developed lexicon and (ii) a deviated partial-decomposed approach to explain the compound word processing of children with reading difficulties. / published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

研究漢語詞義的學者一向對「詞義引申」十分重視。為求建立理論，學者常取段玉裁《說文解字注》所述的詞義引申作為研究起點。後人亦在段氏的基礎上提出了不少引申規律。為了達到以簡馭繁的效果，本文在前人研究基礎之上，運用核心義理論，考察段注所述引申條目中透露的核心義，目的是深入了解段若膺的詞義觀念，並嘗試更深入探討核心義理論。文章中運用的理論工具，揉雜了傳統訓詁學的觀點，亦引進了西方現代語義學的理論，務求為詞義引申之學開拓新視野和新研究空間。 / 本文以段注的引申條目為研究對象。論文主要分為五個部分： / 第一部分是導論， 簡述前人對段注所述詞義引申的研究成果，分析其不足，指出可以運用最新的核心義理論，以簡馭繁地掌握多義詞。 / 第二部分介紹本研究運用的研究理論與方法， 解釋研究中運用到的詞義概念，分析段注揭示核心義的方式，並說明本研究使用詞義系統分類。 / 第三部分是本研究的主體，從段注中擷取210條條目，逐一把段氏之說跟義位作比對、分析，以確定該詞的核心義，並把核心義貫穿義位的方式以圖表展示。 / 第四部分建基於第三部分的研究成果，嘗試深入討論核心義理論，例如指出核心義的本質、變化，歸納推求核心義的方法，考察核心義制約引申的情況，說明研究意義作用等等。 / 第五部分是總結和展望 ，總結段注對我們研究核心義有怎樣的啟發，亦期望豐富對段注之研究。此外還檢討本研究尚有待討論之處，以待將來深入研究。 / This research paper belongs to the subjects of both Exegesis and Semantics. One prominent research field under these two subjects is the Extension of Meaning. There have been many scholars studying Duan Yucai’s book, Shuo wen jie zi zhu, which has had a great achievement in studying the Extension of Meaning, and expatiated many theories. With a view to having a good grasp of Mr Duan’s concept of meaning of words, Core Meaning Theory, is used to study how Shuo wen jie zi zhu explains the rationale behind the Extension of Meaning. It is hope that this research paper can provide a better understanding of Core Meaning Theory and form a solid background for the research of Extension of Meaning in the future. / This paper focuses on the clauses of extended meanings in the Shuo wen jie zi zhu and it consists of five parts. / Part one is the introduction. Starting with the research history of Shuo wen jie zi zhu, it illustrates that these researches are inadequate to comprehend Mr Duan’s rationale behind the explanation of Extension of Meaning. Using Core Meaning Theory is therefore very significant in simplifying this complicated rational. / Part two introduces the theory and the method used in this paper, as well as some concepts of semantics. How Mr Duan acknowledged the Core Meaning in his book is also analyzed, followed by the system of meaning of words used in the paper. / Part three is the main section. There are 210 annotations in Shuo wen jie zi zhu that have inspired us to acknowledge the Core Meaning. In this part of the paper, these annotations are compared with dictionary entries to analyze the Core Meaning of each word and graphs are drawn to show the relationship between the Core Meaning and the glosseme. / Part four is the interpretation of Core Meaning Theory, which is based on the research of part three. The nature and the variation in Core Meaning are discussed, and the method of locating the Core Meaning is generalized. In addition, it illustrates how the Core Meaning affects the Extension of Meaning, and the usefulness of the Core Meaning is reiterated. / Part five is the summary and the prospect. It is concluded that Shuo wen jie zi zhu is essential in inspiring us to locate the Core Meaning. It is hope that this paper can enrich the achievement of the book and result in more researches into this field in the coming future. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 盧冠忠. / Thesis (M.Phil.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-265). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Lu Guanzhong.

Mo, Deyuan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-167). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese.