Neighborhood frequency is a crucial variable to know the nature of word recognition. Different from alphabetic scripts, neighborhood frequency in Chinese is usually confounded by component character frequency and neighborhood size. Three experiments were designed to explore the role of the neighborhood frequency effect in Chinese and the stimuli…

When reading in a second language, a reader's first language may be involved. For word reading, the question is how and at what level: lexical, pre-lexical, or both. In three experiments, we employed an implicit reading task (color judgment) and an explicit reading task (word naming) to test whether a Chinese meaning equivalent character and its…

As the discipline of language documentation and description evolves, so do the expectations placed on researchers. Current trends emphasize collaborative efforts that prioritize tangible contributions to the community, such as a pedagogical grammar, dictionary, or collection of texts. Some argue that for unwritten languages orthography development…

Recent studies in the acquisition of a second language (L2) phonology have revealed that orthography can influence the way in which L2 learners come to establish target-like lexical representations (Escudero et al., 2008, 2014; Escudero and Wanrooij, 2010; Showalter, 2012; Showalter and Hayes-Harb, 2013). Most of these studies, however, involve…

This research investigates whether English speakers who learn Mandarin Chinese via a familiar orthography differ from those who learn via a non-familiar orthography in their perception of English-Mandarin sound pairs. Canadian English speakers (n = 32) participated in a series of experimental tasks. The tasks included pre- and posttest perception…

Describes the fundamentals of Japanese braille and outlines the spacing rules now in general use. Points out the relevance of Japanese braille for the computer treatment of the Japanese language. (FL)

This article discusses the use of abbreviations in written Spanish, with abundant examples. The hope expressed is that abbreviations will be used only where indispensable. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

Describes some of the major structural features of the modern Japanese written language as they are manifested at the level of graphology. (FL)

This article discusses the orthographic problems of representing Slavic surnames in Spanish, and provides examples from Russian. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

Examines how, under Western influence, punctuation was adopted in Japanese texts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (FL)

Describes an alphabetic process for cuing readers to speak the three dimensions of sound: fundamental frequency, duration, and intensity. (RB)

Examines the linguistic and technical factors that are responsible for the intractability of the computer input problem caused by Japanese orthography and the social factors that lend it a sense of urgency. (FL)

Materials for teaching the Lakhota language, developed by the University of Colorado Lakhota Project, are written in a special new orthography. A careful description of and uses for this orthography are presented in this article. (Author/AH)

Mary S. Erbaugh has compiled this volume to examine the so-called "ideographic myth" from a variety of perspectives. Through this multidisciplinary collection of articles, we learn how the myth has come about, what sort of theory and empirical evidence have been generated to refute it, and how this myth has stubbornly persisted to hamper progress…

A study investigated children's understanding of the formal and functional aspects of written Chinese in an orthographic acceptability judgment task and a creative spelling task. Subjects were 60 Hong Kong children ages 4 to 9. Results suggest that learning to read and write in Chinese is not accomplished by rote learning of characters but through…