Prim ing Word Order in Sentence Production

When producing a sentence, the speaker needs to place words in linear order. We hypothesized the existence of a linearizationprocess, which imposes order on a constituent structure. This structure is assumed to be speci® ed with respect to hierarchial relations between constituentsbut not with respect to word order.We tested this hypothesis in a primed picture description experiment. Speakers of Dutch repeated prime sentences and described target pictures. Word order of prime sentenceswas manipulated (e.g. `̀ On the table is a ball’’ vs. `̀A ball is on the table’’). Both alternatives could be used in the description of unrelated target pictures. In support of our hypothesis, word order was `̀ persistent’’: Speakers were more likely to use a given word order, when the prime sentence had that same word order. We argue that our results support the notion of a linearization process and reject the alternative explanation that the results should be attributed to persistent selection of a fully speci® ed syntactic frame.