Lexical ambiguity resolution and spoken word recognition: Bridging the gap

Phonological variation in speech production can neutralize phonemic distinc tions. In some cases, the alternations also create lexical ambiguity, as in the sentence "A quick nlm picks you up," where the underlined sequence cou ld be interpreted as either rum or as a place assimilated form of nln. Thre e cross-modal priming experiments examined the perceptual resolution of the se ambiguities. In a neutral-bias sentential context, these stimuli contact only the lexical representation matching the surface form (rum). However, a sentential context favoring run combines with the phonological environmen t of an ambiguous token to allow the alternative form (run) to be accessed. We discuss how phonological, lexical, and sentential information may he in tegrated in order to resolve these ambiguities, and we argue that the same perceptual mechanism underlies both spoken word recognition and lexical amb iguity resolution. (C) 2001 Academic Press.