Phonotactic structure modulates the role of consonants and vowels in lexical processing: evidence from Spanish

Introduction Numerous studies have shown that consonants play a more crucial role than vowels in lexical recognition and learning, a phenomenon known as the C-Bias or C-advantage. While traditionally considered universal, recent findings suggest it may depend on language-specific phonotactic properties. This study examines whether the C-Bias is modulated by phonotactic constraints in Spanish, where vowels may have a discriminative advantage due to their distinctiveness. Methods Seventy-seven native Spanish-speaking university students completed a Cross-Situational Word Learning task with pseudowords in two syllabic structures: monosyllabic (CVC) and disyllabic (CVCV). Results The results revealed a vowel bias in monosyllabic pseudowords and a partial consonant bias in disyllabic pseudowords. Discussion These findings indicate that phonotactic structure shapes the relative salience of consonants and vowels in lexical processing, challenging the assumption of a universal C-Bias. This study highlights the role of language-specific phonological constraints in word learning and suggests that phonological processing is more flexible than previously assumed.