A single, indirect exposure to a novel word provides information that could be used to make a fast mapping between the word and its referent, but it is not known how well this initial mapping specifies the function of the new word. The four studies reported here compare preschoolers' (N = 64) fast mapping of new proper and common names following an indirect exposure requiring inference with the...

Abstract The Estonian indefinite pronouns keegi ‘someone’ and miski ‘something’ are distinguished by being able to refer animate or inanimate entities, respectively. However, in certain dialects, is used entities as well. aim of this paper describe the functions use based on data Corpus Dialects. We statistical analyses determine which dialects typically variables (polarity, function, position ...

Human infants have considerable understanding of why objects move and what causes them to take one trajectory over another. Here, we explore the possibility that this capacity is shared with other nonhumans and present results from preferential looking time tests with a New World monkey, the cotton-top tamarin. Experiments examined whether individuals form different expectations about an object...

Two eye-movement experiments examined the processing of sentences containing reduced relative constructions. In the first experiment, animacy of the sentential subject, structural ambiguity, and parafoveal preview of syntactically disambiguating material were manipulated. Evidence of disruption was found in temporarily ambiguous sentences, regardless of animacy or preview. In the second experim...

The influence of sentential cues (such as animacy and word order) on thematic role interpretation differs a function language (MacWhinney et al. 1984). However, existing cross-linguistic research has typically focused transitive sentences involving agents, non-default verb classes is less well understood. Here, we compared the way in which English German native speakers – languages known to dif...

This essay uses Object-Oriented Ontology, a posthumanist theoretical model, to explore how King Lear’s use of and relation objects can provide insight into his characterization. provides model for scrutinizing the role objects—whether animate or inanimate—in performances early modern drama; furthermore, it argues that reveals consistent refusal understand others, which upsets redemptive arc in ...