Phonological representations are mapped onto semantic representations in word processing. This mapping is influenced by phonotactic knowledge, with high-and low-probability words, and pseudowords and phonotactically illegal sequences showing processing differences. However, the fine details of this processing are not yet fully understood. In an event-related potentials (ERPs) study, using a picture-word paradigm, we investigated the role of phonological grammar (word-like status/illegal sequences) and frequency (high/low probability pseudowords) in word processing, as indexed by the N400, to find whether/how phonotactic probability interacts with word(-like) status. An N400 was identified for incongruous words, asexpected. The effect was modulated by word-like status, showing a later latency for pseudowords. Illegal sequences did not show an N400, but instead an early effect within the N1-P2 time range. These findings suggest that grammatical illegal sequences areearly detected and processed differently from words and pseudowords, and pseudowords are also differentiated from words. No crucial differences were found due to relative phonotactic frequency. In short, word processing is rather driven by phonological grammar and not by language use, with implications for usage-based and grammatical models of language.

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• Psychology - Social Sciences
• Languages and Literature - Humanities