Neural basis of Chinese phonological processing under picture stimulus A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Studies concerning phonological processing mainly use written stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate the brain regions related to the phonological processing under the picture stimulus in the rhyme task of Chinese language. Results of the test in 13 healthy college students whose native language is Chinese showed the extensive activation in the frontal lobe, parietal lobe and the occipitotemporal cortex, including the inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus and medial occipitotemporal gyrus under the picture stimuli. Moreover, phonological processing induced activation in the superior temporal gyrus （BA 22） under the picture stimuli, but activation was not found in the middle temporal gyrus.

Interaction between semantic and phonological processes in stuttering Evidence from the dual-task paradigm

Stuttering is a common neurological deficit and its underlying cognitive mechanisms are a matter of debate, with evidence suggesting abnormal modulation between speech encoding and other cognitive components. Previous studies have mainly used single task experiments to investigate the disturbance of language production. It is unclear whether there is abnormal interaction between the three language tasks （orthographic, phonological and semantic judgment） in stuttering patients. This study used dual tasks and manipulated the stimulus onset asynchrony （SOA） between tasks 1 and 2 and the nature of the second task, including orthographic, phonological, and semantic judgments. The results showed that the performance records of orthographic judgment, phonological judgment, and semantic judgment were significantly reduced between the patient and control groups with short SOA （P 〈 0.05）. However, different patterns of interaction between task 2 and SOA were observed across subject groups： subjects with stuttering were more strongly modulated by SOA when the second task was semantic judgment or phonological judgment （P 〈 0.05）, but not in the orthographic judgment experiment （P 〉 0.05）. These results indicated that the interaction mechanism between semantic processing and phonological encoding might be an underlying cause for stuttering.

Rule Ordering in Uvwie

One of the assumptions underlying theories of phonological derivation is that the phonological architecture of any language consists of,at least,an abstract underlying form,its surface form and conditions which derive the surface form from its underlying form.It is further assumed that the conditions are serially ordered in frameworks which subscribe to the rule ordering such as orthodox generative phonology and lexical phonology.In the present study,these issues are engaged in the case of Uvwie.In particular,the study seeks to investigate the conditions(processes and rules)which derive surface forms from their corresponding underlying forms,and the order in which they apply.Thus the study will examine the different well-motivated phonological rules attested in the derivation of Uvwie formatives,and provide evidence for the order in which the processes apply.The study employe data documented in Ekiugbo(2016),and couched its analysis within rule ordering principle of generative phonology.The study identifies six rules,which are ordered thus:nasal assimilation>glide formation>vowel elision>tone fusion>vowel lengthening>consonant elision.