Inter-lingual Homophone Retrieval in Younger Adults

Abstract

For decades there has been a debate as to whether bilinguals are like two monolinguals within the same individual or they share the same lexicon. Is language representation in the brain shared or are they absolutely separate is still being researched. Inter-lingual homophones are words that have identical phonology across languages but different meanings. These provide a real challenge to a bilinguals’ and multi-linguals’ recognition system. Studies have been done on the inter-lingual homophone retrieval ability in Hindi-Kannada bilinguals. The present study investigates the language of dominance and its pattern in Hindi-English bilinguals and multilinguals using inter-lingual homophones. Data was collected from 40 participants who were bilinguals. Twenty paired-words which consisted of inter-lingual homophones were used as stimulus. Result shows that the retrieval of the meanings of the inter-lingual homophones is superior in their native languages (L1) in younger adults. Those who learn different languages other than L1 exhibits equal proficiency in L1 and L2. The study has its implications in the assessment, diagnosis and the intervention planning programs for younger adults.