The role of pitch accent in lexical recognition in Japanese: evidence from event-related potential and gamma-band activity

Abstract This study examined (i) the stage at which pitch accents contribute to lexical processing in native Japanese speakers and (ii) the interpretation pathway for the meaning of words pronounced with incorrect pitch accents. Event-related potential analyses during spoken word processing showed that words with incorrect accents elicited greater N400 amplitudes than those with correct accents, indicating that accent information aids in selecting suitable candidates from activated lexicons rather than in lexical activation itself. We employed a cross-modal semantic priming paradigm for the second aim, which involved exposure to a spoken word (prime) followed by a picture (target). Analyses of event-related spectral perturbations showed that the facilitation of semantic processing of the picture, indicated by low-gamma activity, occurred only after correctly accented words and not after incorrectly accented words. These findings suggest that incorrect Japanese pitch accents inhibit full access to their semantic contents when the words are spoken without appropriate contexts.