Prosodic regularity and reader reception in three-word rhyming couplets: a four-pronged investigation of Dizi Gui.

IF 3.8 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Frontiers in Psychology Pub Date : 2026-09-30 eCollection Date: 2026-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1904387

Zheng Wang, Sheng Yu

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Abstract

Prosodic regularity-characterized by fixed rhythm, end-rhyme, and syntactic parallelism-has been theorized to enhance memorability, but there is limited empirical evidence linking these features to cognitive mechanisms. This study examines whether textual characteristics associated with prosodic regularity and reader-perception patterns are consistent with theoretical accounts of reduced processing demands and chunking-based mnemonic support. Using a corpus-based four-pronged framework, we compared four English translations of a canonical classical Chinese text Dizi Gui, a three-word rhyming couplet version (high prosodic regularity) and three control varieties. Results showed that the rhyming couplets exhibit extreme syntactic compression (mean length = 6.32 words), high lexical diversity (STTR = 47), and a Zipfian slope (-0.65) mirroring the ST (-0.66), indicating a similar macro-level pattern of lexical concentration. Reader data showed that the three-word rhyming version with supplementary annotation received the highest proportions of selections for perceived mnemonic effectiveness (64.35%), aesthetic appeal (42.61%), and popularization potential (57.39%). These converging findings suggest that prosodic regularity may reduce processing demands and support working-memory consolidation through chunking mechanisms, while direct experimental tests of these cognitive mechanisms remain necessary.

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三字押韵对联的韵律规律与读者接受——《笛子归》的四个方面考察。

韵律规律——以固定节奏、尾韵和句法平行为特征——已被理论化以增强记忆，但将这些特征与认知机制联系起来的经验证据有限。本研究探讨了与韵律规律和读者感知模式相关的文本特征是否与减少处理需求和基于分块的助记支持的理论解释一致。本文采用基于语料库的“四管齐下”框架，比较了经典汉语文本《笛子规》的四种英译本、三词押韵对联译本（高韵律规律性）和三种对照译本。结果表明，押韵对联具有极端的句法压缩（平均长度 = 6.32个单词）、高度的词汇多样性（平均长度 = 47个单词）和与ST（-0.66）相似的Zipfian斜率（-0.65），表明两者具有相似的宏观词汇集中模式。读者数据显示，在感知助记效果（64.35%）、审美吸引力（42.61%）和普及潜力（57.39%）方面，三词押韵补充注释版本的选择比例最高。这些趋同的发现表明，韵律规律可能会减少加工需求，并通过分块机制支持工作记忆的巩固，但这些认知机制的直接实验测试仍然是必要的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

13.20%

发文量

7396

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.