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Abstract Previous studies related to L2 idiom processing focus on the effect of idiom-external factors on the activation of meaning of L2 idioms. Under the framework of conceptual blending, this study investigated the effect of internal motivation of idioms embodied in compositionality on Chinese L2 learners’ processing of the meaning of English idioms with reaction times collected through semantic relatedness judgment. It was found that L2 idiom processing displayed dynamic salience which was closely related to the compositionality of idioms. Specifically, the liter‐ al meaning of decomposable idioms was activated faster than their figurative meaning, indicating literal salience of this type of idioms. As for nondecomposable idioms, the figurative meaning showed faster activation than literal meaning, suggesting figurative salience. Furthermore, the literal meaning of decomposable idioms was activated earlier than that of nondecomposable idioms. However, no significant difference in figurative meaning was found between decomposable and nondecomposable idioms. The research offers evidence for the effect of compositionality on the construal of meaning of L2 idioms in context, adding a new facet to Graded Salience Hypothesis from the perspective of inner motivation of idioms.
Key words: idiom processing; compositionality; salience; conceptual blending
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