Laudanna, A. , De Martino, M. & Postiglione, F.
University of Salerno
Italian verbal forms result from the combination of a root with one or more suffixes which encode a number of morpho-syntactic properties (Finiteness, Tense, Person, Number). Each verb belongs to an Inflectional Class (IC), and its forms are generated according to a specific paradigm. Previous research revealed that lexical access is sensitive both to the different degree of regularity and productivity of the ICs and to lexical-grammatical information about finiteness. The present study investigates the role of finiteness during lexical access and whether and how it interacts with the IC information. Four lexical decision experiments based on the priming paradigm with four different SOAs were carried out. Twenty-four inflected verbs from the three Italian ICs were selected as target stimuli: 12 finite (e.g., indicative forms) and 12 non finite (e.g., infinitive forms). Prime-target pairs composed by two Finite (F) and Non Finite (NF) forms from the three IC were compared with pairs composed by F-NF and NF-F pairs. A number of control conditions were included. F and NF stimuli were matched for the main lexical variables as well as stimuli from the different ICs. Results showed: 1. a priming effect between morphologically related forms; 2. significant differences between F and NF forms: regardless of the experimental condition, F forms were subject to stronger priming effects; 3. a priming effect of Finiteness, which was restricted to a temporal window of a few hundred milliseconds; 4. a significant interaction between Finiteness and IC. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that the many forms of a verb paradigm are organized into different sub-classes on the basis of the Finite/Non-Finite distinction. Furthermore, the regularity and productivity of ICs modulate the finiteness effect and give rise to different representations: decomposed representations for regular and productive paradigms and whole-form representations for irregular and unproductive paradigms.