Effects of NP Type on the Resolution of Word-Order Ambiguities

Author: Kaan E.

Source: Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Volume 30, Number 5, September 2001 , pp. 529-547(19)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Locally ambiguous NP_1 NP_2 V clauses in Dutch are preferably assigned a subject-object rather than an object-subject interpretation, presumably on the basis of structurally based principles such as the Active-Filler Strategy. The present study investigates whether this preference can be affected by a nonconfigurational factor, namely the nature of NP_2. The type of an NP (indefinite NPs, full definite NPs, pronouns) conveys information about the discourse status of the NP referent, which, in turn, is associated with a specific syntactic position. More specifically, pronouns are used to refer to given, salient entities in the discourse (topics); and NPs with such referents are generally encoded in subject position. A self-paced reading experiment shows that NP_1 NP_2 V relative clauses are preferably interpreted as subject-object when NP_2 is a full definite NP (e.g., de vrouwen “the women”), but not when NP_2 is the second person pronoun jullie (“you”-PL). This suggests that the structural bias for a subject-first order is not as strong as has been previously assumed, but is influenced by discourse information encoded in the NPs. Implications for parsing models are discussed.

Keywords: subject-object ambiguities; sentence processing; Active Filler Strategy, discourse

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Box 90999, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0999. e-mail: kaan@duke.edu

Publication date: 2001-09-01