Coda Optimization in the Segmentation of English Polysyllabic Letter-Strings

Abstract

A word-spotting experiment is reported whereby participants determined whether a polysyllabic pseudoword began with a real word or not. All target words ended in a single consonant (e.g., slam) which either did or did not form a complex coda with the consonant that followed it. When it did (e.g., the mp of slampora), target detection was harder than when the target was followed by a vowel (e.g., slamorpa). When it did not (e.g., the mc of slamcora), target detection was easier. These results demonstrate a bias toward maximization of the coda when segmenting a polysyllabic letter-string which is argued to reflect the way in which polysyllabic words are represented in the mental lexicon.