One System, Two Rules: Asymmetrical Coupling of Speech Production and Reading Comprehension in the Trilingual Brain

Background/Objectives: The functional architecture connecting speech production and reading comprehension remains unclear in multilinguals. This study investigated the cross-modal interaction between these systems in trilinguals to resolve the debate between Age of Acquisition (AoA) and usage frequency. Methods: We recruited 144 Uyghur (L1)–Chinese (L2)–English (L3) trilinguals, a population uniquely dissociating acquisition order from social dominance. Participants completed a production-to-comprehension priming paradigm, naming pictures in one language before performing a lexical decision task on translated words. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Results: Significant cross-language priming confirmed an integrated lexicon, yet a fundamental asymmetry emerged. The top-down influence of production was governed by AoA; earlier-acquired languages (specifically L1) generated more effective priming signals than L2. Conversely, the bottom-up efficiency of recognition was driven by social usage frequency; the socially dominant L2 was the most receptive target, surpassing the heritage L1. Conclusions: The trilingual lexicon operates via “Two Rules”: a history-driven production system (AoA) and an environment-driven recognition system (Social Usage). This asymmetrical baseline challenges simple bilingual extensions and clarifies the dynamics of multilingual language control.