6533b7d2fe1ef96bd125f6bb

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The N400 as a correlate of interpretively relevant linguistic rules: evidence from Hindi.

Ina Bornkessel-schlesewskyIna Bornkessel-schlesewskyKamal Kumar ChoudharyDietmar RoehmDietmar RoehmMatthias Schlesewsky

subject

AdultMaleTime FactorsCognitive Neurosciencemedia_common.quotation_subjectExperimental and Cognitive PsychologyBehavioral NeuroscienceSubject (grammar)Semantic memoryHumansmedia_commonLanguageHindiGrammarCognitionElectroencephalographyLinguisticsN400language.human_languageLinguisticsIndex (publishing)Ergative caselanguageEvoked Potentials AuditoryFemalePsychologyPsychomotor Performance

description

Classical views on the electrophysiology of language assume that different event-related potential (ERP) components index distinct linguistic subdomains. Hence, left-anterior negativities are often viewed as correlates of rule-based linguistic knowledge, whereas centro-parietal negativities (N400s) are taken to reflect (non-rule-based) semantic memory or aspects of lexical-semantic predictability. The present ERP study of case marking in Hindi challenges this clear-cut dichotomy. Though determined by a grammatical rule, the choice of subject case in Hindi is also interpretively relevant as it constrains the range of possible interpretations of the subject. For incorrect subject cases, we observed an N400, which was followed by a late positivity under certain circumstances. This finding suggests that violations of rule-based knowledge may engender an N400 when the rule is interpretively relevant.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2009-11-01Neuropsychologia
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.05.009https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19465035