We propose the use of regular tree grammars (RTGs) as a formalism for the underspecified processing of scope ambiguities. By applying standard results on RTGs, we obtain a novel algorithm for eliminating equivalent readings and the first efficient algorithm for computing the best reading of a scope ambiguity. We also show how to derive RTGs from more traditional underspecified descriptions.

A controlled reading experiment reveals that stress-based linguistic rhythm impinges on syntactic ambiguity resolution in silent and oral reading. The results suggest that, at points of syntactic underspecification, the accruing prosodic representation may affect even the earliest stages of structure building, viz. the analysis of syntactic features of an ambiguous word. Such an effect remains ...

David Chalmers's version of two-dimensional semantics is an attempt at setting up a unified semantic framework that would vindicate both the Fregean and the Kripkean semantic intuitions. I claim that there are three acceptable ways of carrying out such a project, and that Chalmers's theory does not coherently fit any of the three patterns. I suggest that the theory may be seen as pointing to th...

Two sentence processing experiments on a dative NP ambiguity in Korean demonstrate effects of phrase length on overt and implicit prosody. Both experiments controlled non-prosodic length factors by using long versus short proper names that occurred before the syntactically critical material. Experiment 1 found that long phrases induce different prosodic phrasing than short phrases in a read-alo...

This paper proposes a corpus-based analysis of deverbal suffixed nouns in Italian displaying an ambiguity between a clear event reading (partenza ‘departure’) and a clear property reading (intelligenza ‘intelligence’). It focuses, in particular on words derived with the suffixes -nza and -zione. Three sets of syntactic contexts for words containing the two suffixes (highand low-frequency -nza w...

Eye-movement research on implicit prosody has found effects of lexical stress on syntactic ambiguity resolution, suggesting that metrical well-formedness constraints interact with syntactic category assignment. Building on these findings, the present eyetracking study investigates whether contextual bias can modulate the effects of metrical structure on syntactic ambiguity resolution in silent ...

A reduced relative—main clause ambiguity occurs in sentences that begin with reduced relative clauses, as in The hangman executed by the government was convicted of treason. This ambiguity has often been the focus of research designed to investigate the processes by which syntactic structures are built during sentence comprehension. Reading time differences between more difficult and less diffi...