Search results for "Noun phrase"
showing 10 items of 17 documents
Continuous and discontinuous nominal expressions in flexible (or “free”) word order languages: Patterns and correlates
2020
AbstractThis study explores continuous and discontinuous word order patterns of multi-word nominal expressions in flexible word order languages (traditionally referred to as “free word order” or “non-configurational” languages). Besides describing syntagmatic patterns, this paper seeks to identify any functional or other correlates that can be associated with different word orders. The languages under investigation are a number of Australian languages as well as Vedic Sanskrit, all of which have long been known for their syntagmatic flexibility. With respect to continuous order, evidence from several of these languages suggests that default ordering is primarily governed by functional templ…
“Holding Grudges Is So Last Century”: The Use of GenX So as a Modifier of Noun Phrases
2020
This article focuses on the X is so NP-construction in American English, as exemplified by “Holding grudges is so last century” (SOAP, As the World Turns, 2002). Drawing on the Corpus of American Soap Operas (Davies 2011-), the aim of this study is to provide an account of the distributional pattern of noun phrase modification with so, including preferences in modified noun phrase (NP) types and concomitant differences in the meaning of so. The analyses reveal that, in line with subjectification theory on intensification (Athanasiadou 2007), so is expanding its functional range from intensification to emphasis. The findings suggest a near-complementary distribution of these meanings, with …
When nominal features are marked on verbs: A transcranial magnetic stimulation study
2006
It has been claimed that verb processing (as opposed to noun processing) is subserved by specific neural circuits in the left prefrontal cortex. In this study, we took advantage of the unusual grammatical characteristics of clitic pronouns in Italian (e.g., lo and la in portalo and portala 'bring it [masculine]/[feminine]', respectively)-the fact that clitics have both nominal and verbal characteristics, to explore the neural correlates of verb and clitic processing. We used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to suppress the excitability of the left prefrontal cortex and to assess its role in producing verb+det+noun and verb+clitic phrases. Results showed an interference ef…
Perspective in the Processing of the Chinese Reflexive ziji: ERP Evidence
2011
We investigated the comprehension of the Chinese reflexive ziji, which is typically subject to long-distance binding. However, this preference can be overridden by verb semantics (some verbs require local binding) as well as by subtle feature combinations of intervening noun phrases (NPs) (e.g., 1st/2nd person pronouns block dependencies with more distant 3rd person antecedents). The processing of ziji was examined in sentences containing two verb types (local/self-oriented, distant/other-oriented) and three different intervening NPs (1st, 2nd , 3rd person). The event-related potential data revealed an early interaction of verb and intervener: other-oriented verbs showed more processing eff…
Definiteness Marking Shows Late Effects during Discourse Processing: Evidence from ERPs
2009
This paper investigates the processing of indefinite and definite noun phrases in discourse. It presents data from an Event-Related brain Potential (ERP) study that contrasted definite and indefinite noun phrases following three distinct context sentences. The data suggest that coherence considerations influence early processing stages, while morphological definiteness features only affect later stages during reference resolution. In addition, the processing of a definite determiner (prior to encountering the subsequent noun) exerts processing demands, supporting the functional contribution of definiteness marking. Supplementary data from a plausibility questionnaire and two completion stud…
Grammaticalization in Slavic languages
2012
Abstract This article examines the grammaticalisation developments in Slavic languages. The functions of the past tenses lost in northern Slavic are only partially covered by the younger opposition of perfective and imperfective aspect. The only new classes of morphemes that arose in some sub-areas of Slavic are the definite and the indefinite article, both with preliminary, not-yet-grammaticalised stages in some more Slavic varieties. In sum, in Slavic grammaticalization, phenomena have occurred predominantly in the realm of verbal categories; only very few phenomena are related to the noun phrase.
Prominence Facilitates Ambiguity Resolution: On the Interaction Between Referentiality, Thematic Roles and Word Order in Syntactic Reanalysis
2011
In two eye-tracking experiments, we investigated the relationship between the subject preference in the resolution of subject-object ambiguities in German embedded clauses and semantic word order constraints (i.e., prominence hierarchies relating to the specificity/referentiality of noun phrases, case assignment and thematic role assignment). Our central research question concerned the timecourse with which prominence information is used and particularly whether it modulates the subject preference. In both experiments, we replicated previous findings of reanalysis effects for object-initial structures. Our findings further suggest that noun phrase prominence does not alter initial parsing s…
Context and topic marking affect distinct processes during discourse comprehension in Japanese
2011
Abstract In languages like English or German, definite and indefinite markers serve to distinguish given/old from new information in the discourse model. Japanese, in contrast, lacks definiteness markers, but has a topic marker. The present paper examines how the information status of a noun phrase (NP) in Japanese is represented and integrated into the discourse model. An ERP experiment investigated the processing of topic-marked and non-topic-marked NPs following three different context sentences (making available a given, inferred, or new reading). The results revealed an increase in the N400 as a function of contextual cueing, i.e. the less accessible a referential expression is in the …
Einführung von Diskursreferenten im Bilderbuch
2011
By analyzing 20 picture books that include both a textual narrative and pictures, three types of referent introduction were identified: introduction of referents by use of an indefinite noun phrase; introduction of referents by use of a definite noun phrase or a proper name; introduction of referents by use of a deictic construction. This shows that children are confronted with different strategies of referent introduction from early on. It is argued that the results of studies on the acquisition of the system of reference introduction could possibly be interpreted differently if one takes into account how the experience with literary texts influences children’s own narratives.
Positional influences on information packaging: Insights from topological fields in German
2012
Abstract We present three event-related potential studies that investigated the contribution of givenness and position-induced topicality (what a sentence is about) to information processing. The studies compared two types of referential expressions (given and inferred noun phrases (NPs)) in distinct sentential positions. The data revealed position-specific effects, reflected by an interaction of topicality and givenness: inferred NPs registered a more pronounced Late Positivity than given NPs in the canonical sentence-medial position, but not sentence-initially (Experiment 1). Additionally, there was a stable effect of givenness across positions, reflected by an N400 for inferred over give…