Fatemeh Nemati

This study explores the intricate interplay of constituent familiarity and frequency on compound noun processing in Persian-English bilinguals. Drawing upon a comprehensive dataset, we employed linear mixed-effect models to investigate how these linguistic variables impact lexical access in both languages. The findings reveal a complex pattern of effects. In both Persian and English, greater familiarity with the first constituent led to quicker and more accurate responses. Additionally, higher frequency of the second constituent resulted in enhanced response accuracy, albeit solely in English compounds. Intriguingly, the frequency effects exhibited contrasting behaviors in Persian, with neither the first nor the second constituent frequency significantly influencing processing time and accuracy. The outcome underscores the importance of considering the linguistic specifics in bilingual word recognition and demonstrates that constituent familiarity and frequency can correlate to an extent that minimize each other’s effects in compound noun processing. The results revealed that although established compounds were directly accessed, novel ones were decomposed to their constituents, align with the dual-access route model.