Eye tracking in a polysynthetic language: Evidence for a distinction between lexical and grammatical suffixes.

This article focuses on an eye-tracking study examining the processing of multi-morphemic words in Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), a polysynthetic language with complex morphology. The study tests the hypothesis that some derivational suffixes in Kalaallisut are lexical rather than grammatical, finding that lexical suffixes receive longer fixation durations than grammatical ones, suggesting a distinction in visual attention during reading. Additionally, suffix frequency and length affect reading patterns similarly to word-level effects in other languages, indicating that suffixes act as processing units. Exploratory analyses reveal that longer multi-morphemic words demand more visual fixations, with attention concentrated near the root at the beginning of words. This research is based on a preprint that has not yet undergone peer review. [Extracted from the article]