Language is a factor in the identification and processing of number words.

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the fields of numerical cognition and psycholinguistics have evolved largely independently. However, the research since then demonstrates that language and numbers are intrinsically related, particularly in multilingual contexts. Language characteristics (e.g., morpho-syntactic properties) and language status (e.g., monolingual vs. multilingual) influence numerical processing at multiple levels, from number identification and retrieval to advanced mathematical skills. This article builds on the contribution of Frenck-Mestre and Vaid (1992), "Language as a Factor in the Identification of Ordinary Words and Number Words", to further elaborate how language contributes to the learning of numerical concepts, especially the acquisition and representation of number words across development. While their findings provided initial important insights into bilingual number processing, subsequent research, which we discuss in the current article, further shows that language and multilingual experiences can shape lexical, semantic, and lexico-semantic access to numbers. We finish by outlining some future research directions for the study of multilingual number representations.