Cross-linguistic evidence for memory storage costs in filler-gap dependencies with wh-adjuncts
نویسندگان
چکیده
This study investigates processing of interrogative filler-gap dependencies in which the filler integration site or gap is not directly subcategorized by the verb. This is the case when the wh-filler is a structural adjunct such as how or when rather than subject or object. Two self-paced reading experiments in English and Slovenian provide converging cross-linguistic evidence that wh-adjuncts elicit a kind of memory storage cost similar to that previously shown in the literature for wh-arguments. Experiment 1 investigates the storage costs elicited by the adjunct when in Slovenian, and Experiment 2 the storage costs elicited by how quickly and why in English. The results support the class of theories of storage costs based on the metric in terms of incomplete phrase structure rules or incomplete syntactic head predictions. We also demonstrate that the endpoint of the storage cost for a wh-adjunct filler provides valuable processing evidence for its base structural position, the identification of which remains a rather murky issue in current grammatical research.
منابع مشابه
Online Processing of English Wh-Dependencies by Iranian EFL Learners
To be able to reach the level of ultimate attainment in the second language, learners need to acquire not only the grammar of the L2 but also the language processing mechanisms involved in the comprehension of sentences in real time. Contrary to its importance, very little is known yet about online L2 processing. This study examines whether advanced Iranian learners of English reactivate disloc...
متن کاملStorage and integration in the processing of filler-gap dependencies: an ERP study of topicalization and wh-movement in German.
We recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during the processing of unambiguous German sentences containing different types of filler-gap dependency. Both topicalization constructions and wh-questions were found to elicit a left-anterior negativity (LAN) prior to the processing of the subcategorizing verb, relative to a gap-free control condition. At the subcategorizing verb, sentences c...
متن کاملBridging the Gap: Evidence from ERPs on the Processing of Unbounded Dependencies.
Abstract Since the early days of generative grammar, the study of "unbounded dependencies" such as wh-questions and relative clauses has occupied a central place in both syntactic theory and language processing research. The problem that such constructions pose is as follows. In a normal wh-question, a wh-phrase is typically displaced to the left periphery of a clause (What did you say - to Joh...
متن کاملOnline Syntactic Storage Costs in Sentence Comprehension
This paper presents three self-paced, word-by-word reading experiments that test for the existence of on-line syntactic storage/expectation costs in English. To investigate this issue, we compared reading times for sentence regions in which syntactic expectation costs varied, keeping other factors constant. Experiment 1 manipulated the number of verbs needed to form a grammatical sentence. It w...
متن کاملCommitment and Flexibility in the Developing Parser
Title of Document: COMMITMENT AND FLEXIBILITY IN THE DEVELOPING PARSER Akira Omaki, Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Directed By: Professor Colin Phillips, Department of Linguistics This dissertation investigates adults and children’s sentence processing mechanisms, with a special focus on how multiple levels of linguistic representation are incrementally computed in real time, and how this process a...
متن کامل