Abstract

In bilingual language processing, people could switch between languages. In this context, different aspects play a role that could affect the processing. The morphological configuration (i.e., organization of the morpheme in a word-formation) could vary both within- and between-languages. For example, in two-digit number names the decade can be named first (e.g., twenty-one) or at the end (e.g., seventeen), or, in compound words, the head-morpheme can be first (e.g., scarecrow) or at the end (e.g., dishwasher). The aim of the present study was to examine the interplay between language switching and morphological configuration switching. In four experiments, multilingual participants had to switch between three languages (e.g., German, English and Spanish) and between morphological configurations in either number processing or compound word processing. To assess the performance, Language-switch costs (i.e., difference between language-switch and language-repetition trials) were measured. In two experiments, participants performed a language-comprehension task on two-digit number names, and, in the other two experiments, they performed a language-production task (producing either a two-digit number word or a compound word). All the experiments revealed an under-additive switch-cost pattern (i.e., larger language-switch cost occurred in morphological-configuration repetition trials than in morphological-configuration switch trials). That means that the benefit of language repetitions was mainly observed when also the morphological configuration was repeated. Thus, the present data indicate integration of the language and the morphological configuration into one language-related schema – irrespective of the language task (comprehension vs. production) and the type of stimuli (number words vs. compound nouns). Further, our results suggest that the morphological configuration played a critical role in the comprehension, representation, and production of two-digit number names and compounds words and, therefore, must be considered in models of language switching with complex words (or even phrases and sentences).