Compound words consist of two or more words which combine to form a single word or phrase that acts as one. In English, the head of compound words is usually, but not always, the right-most root (e.g., “paycheck” is a noun because the head, “check,” is a noun). The current study explores the effects of head position on language control by examining language switching performance through electroencephalography (EEG). Twenty-one pairs of Chinese (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals performed cued language switching in a simultaneous production and comprehension task. The results showed that bilinguals recognized the head position earlier both in production and comprehension. However, the language control of the head position during production occurred in the middle stage (N2), but in the late stage (LPC) during comprehension. These findings indicate that the head position in compound words exerts differential influences on language control.

中文翻译：

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语言控制中复合头部位置的神经相关性：来自同时产生和理解的证据

复合词由两个或多个单词组成，这些单词组合起来形成一个单词或短语，充当一个整体。在英语中，复合词的中心词通常（但并非总是）是最右边的词根（例如，“paycheck”是一个名词，因为中心词“check”是一个名词）。目前的研究通过脑电图（EEG）检查语言转换性能，探讨头部位置对语言控制的影响。二十一对中文（L1）-英语（L2）双语者在同步生成和理解任务中进行提示语言切换。结果表明，双语者在生产和理解方面都能更早地识别头部位置。然而，产生过程中头部位置的语言控制发生在中期（N2），但在理解过程中发生在后期（LPC）。这些发现表明复合词中的中心位置对语言控制产生不同的影响。