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Abstract:
Abstract: Böcker et al. (1999) interpreted an early
ERP-Komponent (N325) as manifestation of the extraction of metrical
stress from the acoustic signal in Dutch. In order to replicate
this finding we examined the processing of bisyllabic words in
German beginning with either a strong (Fóto) or a weak (Fas
n) syllable. In addition we presented each word with stress shift
(Fotó, F san). The subjects had to decide whether a word was
stressed correctly or not. Thirty-two subjects (sixteen women)
participated in the present study. ERPs were recorded from 64
electrode sites. There was no effect of stress or stress shift in
an early time window from 250 to 400 ms. Therefore, we conclude
that there is no evidence for an early discrimination of metrical
stress in German. A differentiation of strong- and weak-initial
words first occurs between 400 and 600 ms. In this time window
there is a negative effect for weak- versus strong-initial words as
a function of hemisphere and region. Only for stress shift of
strong-initial words an enlarged negativity compared to correctly
stressed strong-initial words occurs. This effect is not found
comparing correctly and incorrectly stressed weak-initial words.
Lastly, the behavioral data also support the interpretation of
different representations of stress for strong- and weak initial
words in German.
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