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ChatGPT Relies More Heavily on Consonants Than on Vowels to Recognize Words Cover

ChatGPT Relies More Heavily on Consonants Than on Vowels to Recognize Words

Open Access
|Feb 2026

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Examples of English target words and non-words. Non-words had either one consonant or one vowel change.

TARGETC CHANGEV CHANGE
astronautasgronautastrinaut
chocolatechocoratechocolite
elegantelegartelegunt
fatherfathegfathor
imaginativeimapinativeimagunative
magicmagilmagec
obsoleteobdoleteobsilete
riverrivesrivur
understandundepstandundorstand
zebrazetrazebru
Figure 1

Mean percentage (and individual data points) of trials in which ChatGPT choose non-words that kept the consonantal frame over non-words that kept the vowel frame as more similar to a target word in both English and Spanish. Dotted line is chance level.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.487 | Journal eISSN: 2514-4820
Language: English
Submitted on: Nov 11, 2025
Accepted on: Jan 22, 2026
Published on: Feb 9, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Juan Manuel Toro, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.