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This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ (n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ (n = 484), and the syllabogram mi (n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions of certain graphemes typically placed atop T713 (T713's “holding site”) when it has the value K′AL, and to determine to what extent such signs can be described as lexical determinatives. The article concludes that MZ1 K′AB′ constitutes the unmarked value of T713, while MZ1 K′AL requires contextual or graphemic disambiguation, the latter facilitated by means of phonetic complements (e.g., k′a or la) or lexical determinatives (e.g., T617/1M3). Syntagmatic contextual associations resulting from frequent proximity to other signs was a common factor in the establishment of certain signs as lexical determinatives. The question of MR2 mi, which can be analyzed as either a digraph or a case of a “phonetic determinative” (distinct from “phonetic complement”) in the holding site of T713, is left open to future research.

Chinese is a visually complex logographic script that consists of square-shaped characters, with each character composed of strokes. Previous masked priming studies using single-character Chinese stroke neighbors (i.e., visually similar characters differing in only one or two strokes, e.g., 大/犬) have shown facilitatory or inhibitory priming effects. We tested whether the mixed pattern of stroke neighbor priming might be an instance of asymmetry in priming that has been observed previously with Japanese kana and Latin alphabets. Specifically, a prime lacking a stroke (or line segment) that is present in the target speeds up the recognition of its stroke neighbor almost as much as the identity prime (e.g., 刀-刃 = 刃-刃), but not the converse (e.g., 刃-刀 >> 刀-刀). Two experiments, one using a character match task and the second using lexical decision, showed a robust asymmetry in priming by stroke neighbors. The results suggest that the early letter identification process is similar across script types, as anticipated by the Noisy Channel model, which regards the first stage of visual word recognition as a language-universal perceptual process.

There has been debate on whether phonological deficits explain reading difficulty in Chinese, since Chinese is a logographic language which does not employ grapheme-phoneme-correspondence rules and remote memorization seems to be the main method to acquire reading. In the current study, we present neuroimaging evidence that the phonological deficit is also a signature of Chinese dyslexia. Specifically, we found that Chinese children with dyslexia (DD) showed reduced brain activation in the left dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (dIFG) when compared to both age-matched controls (AC) and reading-matched controls (RC) during an auditory rhyming judgment task. This suggests that the phonological processing deficit in this region may be a signature of dyslexia in Chinese, rather than a difference due to task performance or reading ability, which was matched on DD and RC. At exactly the same region of the left dIFG, we found a positive correlation between brain activation and reading skill in DD, suggesting that the phonological deficit is associated with the severity of dyslexia. We also found increased brain activation in the right precentral gyrus in DD than both AC and RC, suggesting a compensation of reliance on articulation. Functional connectivity analyses revealed that DD had a weaker connection between the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and fusiform gyrus (FG) than the two control groups, suggesting that the reduced connection between phonology and orthography is another neural signature of dyslexia. In contrast, DD showed greater connectivity between the left dIFG and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) than both control groups, suggesting a reduced segregation between the language network and default mode network in dyslexic children. We also found that connectivity between the left STG and the left dIFG was sensitive to task performance and/or reading skill rather than being dyslexic or not, because AC was greater than both RC and DD, while the connectivity between the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and left STG was sensitive to age, because both AC and DD were greater than RC. In summary, our study provides the very first neurological evidence of phonological deficits in Chinese developmental dyslexia and we successfully distinguished variations of brain activity/functional connectivity due to age, performance, and dyslexia by comparing AC, RC, and DD. •Phonological deficit is characterized by less activation in the left dIFG.•Dyslexia is associated with weaker functional connectivity from the left STG to FG.•Task performance effect was identified by comparing AC to DD and RC.•Age effect was identified by comparing RC to AC and DD.

Despite the increasing interest in learning non-alphabetical languages such as Chinese, research about its learning process for alphabet users is scarce. Research conducted on Latin alphabet users on learning languages written in Latin alphabet, or on Chinese language learning in Chinese native speakers, users is undoubtedly useful but it does not inform about the peculiarities of leaning Chinese language by other alphabet users. Additionally, several authors have highlighted the need to inform and extend the current second language acquisition theories on the particular challenges of learning a language that uses another script. In this research we aim to contribute filling this research gap and studied the learning process of Chinese vocabulary by users of scripts different from Chinese. In particular, we examined the role of pictures and translations as learning aids for Chinese language vocabulary learning in participants familiarized with either one or two alphabetical scripts (different from the Chinese logographic script). One hundred thirteen participants studied word-aid pairs in different conditions: Hanzi (Chinese in Chinese characters)-picture; Pinyin (Chinese in Latin alphabet)-picture; Hanzi-translation; Pinyin-translation. Participants evaluated the future recallability of the words and their meanings (i.e., judgements of learning) and completed two recognition tests. Words in Pinyin and words-translation pairs were judged to be easier to remember than Hanzi and word-pictures pairs. Participants remembered the meaning of words written in Hanzi better than in Pinyin, and word-translations pairs better than pictures, but they were more confident about word-picture pairs. These results suggest that pictures boost confidence in learning Chinese, but do not affect performance. These findings suggest that while pictures may boost confidence in learning Chinese, they may not necessarily lead to better performance. Our study provides valuable insights into the interaction of learning aids and writing system in (meta)memory during vocabulary acquisition.

Zhuānzi ... are often defined as graphs representing a \"special meaning\" of a word, manifest in the choice (i.e., addition or alteration) of a semantic component. This article approaches the zhuānzi phenomenon in the broader context of the logographic nature of the Chinese writing system. It first identifies and discusses several thematic categories of zhuānzi, including both historical examples from unearthed and transmitted corpora and instances from the Chinese script as used in the linguistic environment of modem Mandarin. The article then seeks to compare and describe different kinds of information conveyed by different zhuānzi and suggests a terminological shift toward defining zhuānzi as \"representing a subset of the word's denotation,\" a phrasing more suited to the complex reality of the phenomenon in question.

Phonological knowledge plays a pivotal role in many aspects of language processing, but it remains controversial whether it is required for writing. In the present study, we examined the issue by focusing on written production in an opaque logographic script (kanji) with highly irregular pronunciation rules, which allowed for a rigorous test of whether or not phonology contributes to writing. Using a phonological priming paradigm in two experiments, we measured response latency while participants orally named target pictures or wrote down their names in kanji. Each target was preceded by a phonographic character (kana) which represented the same sound (mora) as the beginning of the target name or a different mora. By manipulating the degree of phonological overlap between primes and target names (i.e., morae, consonants and vowels), we found that only the moraic overlap could speed up word production in logographic writing (Experiment 1). In contrast, naming response was facilitated by mora-overlap as well as vowel-overlap. This between-task difference in phonological encoding suggests that phonological codes for spoken production do not necessarily precede orthographic access during logographic writing. In Experiment 2, we further found that the facilitatory effects of moraic information did not differ in magnitude between writing and naming when primes were masked and presented more briefly, suggesting a net component of bottom-up phonological activation which contributes to logographic writing. Collectively, we propose that orthographic codes of kanji are accessed directly from semantics, whereas phonology plays a non-specific modulatory role to enhance neurocognitive systems involved in writing.

Given the typological differences between the Indo-European languages, which are fusional, and Japanese, which is agglutinative, the debate around the measuring unit of Japanese word length is unsurprising. This study delved into diachronic issues and calculated word length in Old, Early Middle, Middle, Early Modern, and Modern Japanese using data from eight writing systems, including 21 genres. This study aimed to clarify how word length distribution has shifted throughout history. The findings revealed that word length is associated with the writing system. Old Japanese bore the longest length, as it was utterly logographic. Since Early Middle Japanese, Japanese text has been written using a phonographic and logographic mix, and word length appears shorter. Furthermore, word length is associated with the diversity of genres. Moreover, an investigation of word length and frequency indicated that textbooks, sharehon, ninjoohon, and tales, which appeared after the Nara Period and used mixed Chinese character and kana writing, fit into the power law function.

Eye movements (EM) during naming alphabetic versus logographic stimuli in children with and without developmental dyslexia (DD) were examined for each stimulus separately to identify conspicuous characteristics that influence naming performance. 40 children (group DD = 18; control group C = 22) were taught Chinese characters. EM were recorded during naming alphabetic words, pictures and Chinese characters. Main variables were articulation latencies, numbers and durations of fixations, secondary variables were fixation locations and error rates. Group DD showed significantly longer latencies and more fixations while reading words, but only insignificantly more fixations while naming pictures and Chinese characters. However, their error rate was significantly higher during naming Chinese characters but correlated neither with severity of phonological deficit nor with visual complexity. Their first fixation was significantly more often on the center of characters, in group C on the left. In both groups, EM variables were influenced by conspicuous features of characters, such as visual complexity, composition and structure. EM variables and scanning behavior while naming Chinese characters indicate holistic processing in the visuo-spatial pathway and were affected by conspicuous features of characters. The higher error rate in group DD could be determined by several factors, without a major role of the phonological deficit.

The neural mechanisms that support handwriting, an important mode of human communication, are thought to be controlled by a central process (responsible for spelling) and a peripheral process (responsible for motor output). However, the relationship between central and peripheral processes has been debated. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study examined the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship in Chinese handwriting in 36 children (mean age = 10.40 years) and 56 adults (mean age = 22.36 years) by manipulating character frequency (a central variable). Brain network analysis showed that character frequency reconfigured functional brain networks known to underlie motor processes, including the somatomotor and cerebellar network, in both children and adults, indicating that central processing cascades into peripheral processing. Furthermore, the network analysis characterized the interaction profiles between motor networks and linguistic‐cognitive networks, fully mapping the neural architecture that supports the interaction of central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting. Taken together, these results reveal the neural interface underlying the interaction between central and peripheral processes involved in handwriting in a logographic writing system, advancing our understanding of the neural basis of handwriting. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study offers novel neural evidence for the interaction between central and peripheral processes in handwriting from the perspective of functional brain networks. The manipulation of a central variable induced reconfigurations of the somatomotor network and the cerebellar network, networks known to serve motor processes, in both children and adults. Furthermore, children and adults exhibited differences in internetwork connectivity between the somatomotor network and the auditory and visual networks, suggesting the development of the brain systems supporting the interaction.

Developmental dyslexia in alphabetic languages (DD) is characterized by a phonological deficit. Since logographic scripts rely predominantly on visual and morphological processing, reading performance in DD can be assumed to be less impaired when reading logographic scripts. 40 German-speaking children (18 with DD, 22 not reading-impaired-group C; 9-11 years) received Chinese lessons. Eye movements (EM) were recorded during naming single alphabetic words, pictures (confrontational) and Chinese characters to be named in German and Chinese. The main outcome variables were: Articulation latency, numbers and durations of fixations. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed by questionnaires. While reading alphabetic words, articulation latencies and numbers of fixations were significantly higher for group DD than for group C (AL-DD = 1.13, AL-C = 0.84, p< .001; FN-DD = 3.50; FN-C = 2.00, p< .001). For naming pictures and Chinese characters in German and in Chinese, no significant group differences were found for any of the EM variables. The percentage of correct answers was high for German naming (DD = 86.67%, C = 95.24%; p = .015) and lower for Chinese naming in both groups, but significantly lower in group DD, especially for Chinese naming (DD = 56.67%, C: 83.77%; p = .003). QoL differed between groups from the children's perspective only at posttest. Parents of group DD perceived their children`s QoL to be lower compared with parents of group C at pre- and posttest. Children with dyslexia performed as well as group C during naming Chinese characters in German and in Chinese regarding their EM variables, presumably because they processed Chinese characters by the visuo-spatial pathway with direct access to the semantic system. However, the significantly lower percentage of correct answers especially during Chinese naming showed that group DD had more difficulties naming Chinese characters than group C, which could be attributed to their phonological deficit, among other factors. German clinical trials register (DRKS00015697).