Cross-linguistic differences in the semantic networks for animal fluency between English and Korean speakers with and without aphasia

Background: Semantic fluency tasks are widely used to assess lexical–semantic retrieval in healthy aging and aphasia; however, growing evidence indicates that semantic organization is influenced by culturally grounded lexical experience. Prior cross-linguistic work suggests that Korean speakers rely on culture-specific semantic schemas–such as zodiac animals–during animal fluency, yet it remains unclear how such differences manifest in retrieval strategies or semantic network structure in aging and aphasia. Aims: The current study investigated cross-linguistic differences in clustering, switching, and semantic network structure during animal fluency in English- and Korean-speaking older adults (OA) and persons with aphasia (PWA). Methods & Procedures: Participants included English- and Korean-speaking OA (n = 30) and PWA (n = 67). All participants completed a one-minute animal fluency task. Clustering and switching were computed using SNAFU, and group-level semantic networks were constructed using co-occurrence–based Semantic Network Analysis. Global graph metrics–average shortest path length (ASPL), clustering coefficient (CC), and modularity (Q)–were compared across language groups. Outcomes & Results: Behaviorally, English- and Korean-OA produced comparable total number of correct responses; however, English-OA generated significantly larger cluster sizes than Korean-OA. In PWA, English speakers produced significantly more correct items and significantly more switches than Korean speakers. Semantic network analyses revealed that Korean-OA networks demonstrated significantly longer ASPL, significantly lower CC, and significantly higher Q relative to English-OA. In PWA, Korean speakers also exhibited significantly longer ASPL than English speakers, indicating reduced global connectivity. Together, these results demonstrate that significant cross-linguistic differences in semantic network structure are evident in healthy aging and remain observable in aphasia.