Embodied Semantics: Early Simultaneous Motor Grounding in First and Second Languages.

Background/objectives: Although the embodiment of action-related language is well-established in the mother tongue (L1), less is known about the embodiment of a second language (L2) acquired later in life through formal instruction. We used the high temporal resolution of ERPs and topographic ERP analyses to compare embodiment in L1 and L2 and to investigate whether L1 and L2 are embodied with different strengths at different stages of linguistic processing.

Methods: Subjects were presented with action-related and non-action-related verbs in a silent reading task.