Activation of Chinese Verbal Classifiers in Bare Verb Naming: An ERP Study

Current models of language production debate on whether syntactic features mediate between semantic and phonological access. This study focused on the lexical selection stage in speech production, investigating the retrieval of Chinese verbal classifiers, an under-researched topic despite its lexico-syntactic properties resembling nominal classifiers (Tian, 2014). Three research questions were addressed: 1. Do traceable effects exist for classifier congruency and semantic interference? 2. Do incongruent/unrelated trials induce an N400 effect? 3. As a lexico-syntactic feature, how are verbal classifiers activated and selected during speech production? To answer these research questions, we employed a 2x2 design with classifier congruency (congruent vs. incongruent) and semantic relatedness (related vs. unrelated) as factors. Forty-one Mandarin native speakers participated in a bare verb naming task using the PWI paradigm. Behavioral and EEG data from 33 participants underwent analysis. The results revealed a significant semantic interference effect in naming latency, while no classifier congruency effect was observed in the behavioral data. Although the classifier congruency effect was only marginally significant in N400, a significant interaction effect emerged in both the N400 and P600 time windows. This indicated that the classifier congruency effect was modulated by semantic relatedness, with this influence persisting into the P600 time window. These findings suggest that verbal classifiers, as a lexico-syntactic feature, are likely to be automatically activated but may not be selected in the absence of an agreement context.