Compétences morphologiques compositionnelles en production chez des locuteurs francophones sains dans une tâche de dénomination

Résumé

Morphology is the study of the systematic correspondence between the form and meaning of words and their components. It can be divided into three areas: inflection, derivation and compounding. Compounding consists of word formation by the combination of lexical units, which have the same autonomy as words. In order to establish norms that can be used in the assessment of patients with language disorders, this study focuses on morphological compounding in healthy subjects. The objective of this study is to characterize the performance of healthy subjects in a picture naming task that includes simple words and compounds. All the words included in the task were nouns. Simple words were manipulated for length (between one and four syllables). Compounds were manipulated for internal structure (e.g., noun-noun: chou-fleur - cauliflower; adjective-noun: ouvre-boîte – can opener) and for transparency, that is the ease with which a compound can be interpreted based on its components. A transparency judgement was obtained prior to the main experiment with another group of participants. 37 participants (18 women) aged between 45 and 75 and divided into three education levels completed the naming task. Results do not show a difference between naming accuracy of simple words compared to compounds. However, performance was influenced by the structure and transparency of compounds. Overall, compounds formed with a preposition and transparent compounds were named more accurately than other stimuli. These two factors seem related, as the preposition provides compounds with a more transparent interpretation. These findings can guide the interpretation of performance following the assessment of patients with acquired language disorders.