The majority of previous studies on cognate words have found a robust cognate facilitation effect in picture naming using alphabetic languages. Research has also identified that if the cognates do not share phonology or meaning (i.e., false cognate inhibition effect), this effect may become inhibitory. These mixed findings seem to suggest that semantics, phonology and orthography may contribute differently to cognate word processing. In this thesis, two effects, the phonological overlap effect and the orthographical overlap effect were examined independently for the first time by testing picture naming in two non-alphabetic languages: Cantonese and Mandarin. Two types of cognate words were included: cognate and semi-cognate words. The orthography of both cognate and semi-cognate words is shared between L1 and L2, but only cognate words share phonology. The thesis study included three experiments. In the preparatory experiment, an on-line rating study was conducted, whereby cognate and semi-cognate words with mono-syllabic or bi-syllabic names in Mandarin and Cantonese were rated on word AOA, frequency, picture complexity, familiarity and image agreement. From the preparatory experiments a pictorial-word corpus was selected to use in Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 1, Cantonese-Mandarin bilinguals named pictures in the corpus in L1 (Cantonese). By contrasting cognate and semi-cognate word naming latency, the results showed a slowed naming latency for cognate words that was marginally significant. It is argued that this finding reflects a possible inhibitory effect from the difference in stages at which competition occurs and the difference in the cognitive load of that competition for cognate and semi-cognate words. In Experiment 2, Cantonese-Mandarin bilinguals named the same pictures in L2 (Mandarin), showing a similar trend of cognate inhibition effect as that found in Experiment 1, albeit with a smaller magnitude of cognate inhibition. Taken together, the cognate inhibition effect can be explained by the different stages of cross-language competition that occur for cognate and semi-cognate words in picture naming. The cognitive load of overcoming that competition is larger for cognate than for semi-cognate words. / published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

If an individual speaks more than one language, there are always at least two ways of verbalising any thought to be expressed. The bilingual speaker must then have a means of ensuring that their utterances are produced in the desired language. However, prominent models of speech production are based almost exclusively on monolingual considerations and require substantial modification to account for bilingual production. A particularly important feature to be explained is the way bilinguals control the language of speech production: for instance, preventing interference from the unintended language, and switching from one language to another. One recent model draws a parallel between bilinguals??? control of their linguistic system and the control of cognitive tasks more generally. The first two experiments reported in this thesis explore the validity of this model by comparing bilingual language switching with a monolingual switching task, as well as to the broader task-switching literature. Switch costs did not conform to the predictions of the task-set inhibition hypothesis in either experiment, as the ???paradoxical??? asymmetry of switch costs was not replicated and some conditions showed benefits, rather than costs, for switching between languages or tasks. Further experiments combined picture naming with negative priming and semantic competitor priming paradigms to examine the role of inhibitory and competitive processes in bilingual lexical selection. Each experiment was also conducted in a parallel monolingual version. Very little negative priming was evident when speaking the second language, but the effects of interlingual cognate status were pronounced. There were some indications of cross-language competition at the level of lexical selection: participants appeared unable to suppress the irrelevant language, even when doing so would make the task easier. Across all the experiments, there was no evidence for global inhibition of the language-not-in-use during speech production. Overall results were characterised by a remarkable flexibility in the mechanisms of bilingual control. A striking dissociation emerged between the patterns of results for cognate and non-cognate items, which was reflected throughout the series of experiments and implicates qualitative differences in the way these lexical items are represented and interconnected.

If an individual speaks more than one language, there are always at least two ways of verbalising any thought to be expressed. The bilingual speaker must then have a means of ensuring that their utterances are produced in the desired language. However, prominent models of speech production are based almost exclusively on monolingual considerations and require substantial modification to account for bilingual production. A particularly important feature to be explained is the way bilinguals control the language of speech production: for instance, preventing interference from the unintended language, and switching from one language to another. One recent model draws a parallel between bilinguals??? control of their linguistic system and the control of cognitive tasks more generally. The first two experiments reported in this thesis explore the validity of this model by comparing bilingual language switching with a monolingual switching task, as well as to the broader task-switching literature. Switch costs did not conform to the predictions of the task-set inhibition hypothesis in either experiment, as the ???paradoxical??? asymmetry of switch costs was not replicated and some conditions showed benefits, rather than costs, for switching between languages or tasks. Further experiments combined picture naming with negative priming and semantic competitor priming paradigms to examine the role of inhibitory and competitive processes in bilingual lexical selection. Each experiment was also conducted in a parallel monolingual version. Very little negative priming was evident when speaking the second language, but the effects of interlingual cognate status were pronounced. There were some indications of cross-language competition at the level of lexical selection: participants appeared unable to suppress the irrelevant language, even when doing so would make the task easier. Across all the experiments, there was no evidence for global inhibition of the language-not-in-use during speech production. Overall results were characterised by a remarkable flexibility in the mechanisms of bilingual control. A striking dissociation emerged between the patterns of results for cognate and non-cognate items, which was reflected throughout the series of experiments and implicates qualitative differences in the way these lexical items are represented and interconnected.

Research has shown that cognates between Japanese and English have the potential to be a valuable learning tool (Daulton, 2008). Yet little is known on how Japanese learners of English produce cognates in context. Recently, studies have argued that cognates can cause a surprisingly high number of syntactic errors in sentence writing activities with Japanese learners (Rogers, Webb, & Nakata, 2014; Masson, 2013). In the present study, I investigated how Japanese learners of English understood and used true cognates (words that have equivalent meanings in both languages) and non-true cognates (words where the Japanese meaning differs in various ways from their English source words). Via quasi-replication, I analyzed participants' sentences to determine the interaction of true and non-true cognates on semantics and syntax. In an experimental study, twenty Japanese exchange students filled out a word knowledge scale of thirty target words (half true cognates and half non-true cognates) and wrote sentences for the words they indicated they knew. These sentences were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively for both semantic and syntactic errors. Sentences with true cognates were semantically accurate 86% of the time, while those with non-true cognates were accurate only 62.3% of the time, which was a statistically significant difference. When the sentences were analyzed for syntax, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of errors between true and non-true cognates, which contrasts with previous research. Qualitative analysis revealed that the most problematic syntactic issue across both cognate types was using collocations correctly. Among those collocational issues, there were clear differences in the types of errors between true and non-true cognates. True cognate target words were more likely to lead to problems with prepositional collocations, while non-true cognate target words were more likely to lead to problems with verb collocations. These results suggest that for intermediate Japanese learners of English, semantics of non-true cognates should be prioritized in learning, followed by syntax of true and non-true cognates, which should be taught according to the most problematic error types per cognate status.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 258-273).

Published in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanishspeaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and linguistic analysis of the 570 items in the AWL, the research in this thesis has resulted in a newly reorganized AWL divided into four categories that are more useful for our Spanish-speaking English language learners as well as their instructors, curriculum designers, and materials writers: English-Spanish true cognates, partial cognates, false cognates, and non-cognates

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This is a study of the broad scope of cognition verbs in Afrikaans. Firstly, the nonmetaphorical cognition verbs [e.g. ken (= know), weet (= know), dink (= think), verstaan (= understand)] are discussed and then the metaphorical cognition verbs which are subcategorized in metaphorical verbs of vision [kyk (= look), sien (= see)] and metaphorical manipulation verbs [vorm (= form), gryp (= grab), voel (= feel), vat (= take) etc.]. The study is embedded in the cognitive linguistic stance of embodiment which inter alia implies that our neurological functioning is based on feeling (which includes our sense of touch), and that the way our bodies are structured also determines the way we express our thoughts. This extensive descriptive study of Afrikaans cognition verbs, metaphorical and nonmetaphorical, indicates that visual lexemes in Afrikaans express subtle abstract thought, while manipulation lexemes express less subtle, yet still abstract result-driven thought. Synthesis is an important factor in this study because the non-metaphorical cognition verbs as well as the metaphorical cognition verbs are linked to the basic cognitive principle of embodiment. Also, the two metaphorical verb types can by seen in synthesis when the stage frame ( = vision) and the workshop frame ( = manipulation) are merged. The synthesis of the stage frame and the workshop frame eventually provides us with another perspective, namely that vision and manipulation (which includes touch and feeling) are in a state of interacting nurturing symbiosis. / Linguistics / D. Litt. et Phil (Linguistics)

Text in Afrikaans, abstracts in Afrikaans and English / This is a study of the broad scope of cognition verbs in Afrikaans. Firstly, the nonmetaphorical cognition verbs [e.g. ken (= know), weet (= know), dink (= think), verstaan (= understand)] are discussed and then the metaphorical cognition verbs which are subcategorized in metaphorical verbs of vision [kyk (= look), sien (= see)] and metaphorical manipulation verbs [vorm (= form), gryp (= grab), voel (= feel), vat (= take) etc.]. The study is embedded in the cognitive linguistic stance of embodiment which inter alia implies that our neurological functioning is based on feeling (which includes our sense of touch), and that the way our bodies are structured also determines the way we express our thoughts. This extensive descriptive study of Afrikaans cognition verbs, metaphorical and nonmetaphorical, indicates that visual lexemes in Afrikaans express subtle abstract thought, while manipulation lexemes express less subtle, yet still abstract result-driven thought. Synthesis is an important factor in this study because the non-metaphorical cognition verbs as well as the metaphorical cognition verbs are linked to the basic cognitive principle of embodiment. Also, the two metaphorical verb types can by seen in synthesis when the stage frame ( = vision) and the workshop frame ( = manipulation) are merged. The synthesis of the stage frame and the workshop frame eventually provides us with another perspective, namely that vision and manipulation (which includes touch and feeling) are in a state of interacting nurturing symbiosis. / In hierdie studie word die breë kader van Afrikaanse kognisiewerkwoorde ondersoek. Eers kom die nie-metaforiese kognisiewerkwoorde (ken, weet, dink, verstaan) onder die vergrootglas, en daarna die metaforiese kognisiewerkwoorde wat gesubkategoriseer word in visueel-metaforiese werkwoorde (kyk, sien ens.) en manipulatief-metaforiese werkwoorde (vorm, gryp, voel, vat ens.). Hierdie studie is ingebed binne die kognitieflinguistiese uitgangspunt van beliggaamdheid wat onder andere behels dat ons neurologiese funksionering sterk gevoelsgefundeerd (o.m. op tassintuiglike vlak) is, maar ook dat ons liggaamlike gestruktureerdheid 'n rol speel by die uitdrukking van denke. Die uitvoerige deskriptiewe studie van Afrikaanse kognisiewerkwoorde, metafories en nie-metafories, dui aan dat visuele lekseme in Afrikaans vir fyn abstrakte denke gebruik word, terwyl manipulasielekseme vir minder fyn, maar steeds abstrakte resultaatgedrewe denke gebruik word. Sintesevorming speel 'n belangrike rol in hierdie studie in dié sin dat die nie-metaforiese kognisiewerkwoorde sowel as die metaforiese kognisiewerkwoorde tot die basiese kognitiewe uitgangspunt van beliggaamdheid teruggevoer kan word. Ook wat die twee metaforiese werkwoordtipes betref, kan daar 'n sintese gevorm word indien die verhoograam (= visie) sáám met die werkswinkelraam (= manipulasie) beskou word. Die samevoeging van die verhoograam met die werkswinkelraam bied uiteindelik nog 'n perspektief, naamlik dat visie en manipulasie (waarby tassintuiglike gevoel ingesluit is) simbioties en voedend op mekaar inwerk. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil (Linguistics)