Information Distribution in Chinese Characters

Abstract

Chinese passages were mutilated either in the right, left, upper, or lower halves and presented to native speakers to read. In Experiment 1 passages were read from left to right; while in Experiment 2 from top to bottom. Time taken to read them and errors were analyzed. Both measures showed that in both experiments the upper halves of characters are easier to read than the lower half, and right halves easier than left. Regression analysis method was used to examine effects of seven independent variables on reading accuracy of the characters. Among them, phonetic cue, symmetry, and number of strokes in the presented half were found to be significant factors.