The Production of English Lexical Levels

The present study aimed to investigate whether and, if so, how the production of English lexical levels is differentially processed in the brain using an functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI) technique. Native English speakers’ word generation task involving level 1 suffixed words and level 2 suffixed ones elicited greater effects in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) in the production of level 2 words relative to their level 1 counterparts while the left IFG was not activated for the level 1 forms. Given that the left IFG is known for its role in a rule-based, morphological analysis and the STG plays an important part in lexical retrieval, the results suggest that level 2 words are produced through a recognition of their stem + suffix configuration, while level 1 words are generated as a whole with little access to their internal structure, consistent with the dual-system (OS) model. These are also comparable to our previous perception study results, which lends support to the Motor Theory of Speech Perception postulating that perception mirrors production.