scholarly journals English Resumptive Pronouns are More Common where Gaps are Less Acceptable

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Morgan ◽  
Matthew Wagers
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Resumptive Pronouns ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Judgment Study ◽  
Syntactic Dependency ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

English resumptive pronouns, as in "...the flowers that I don't know where IT came from," are enigmatic in that they are judged to be unacceptable, which would indicate that they are ungrammatical, but are regularly produced by native speakers, which is typically taken to indicate grammaticality. We report results from two studies: an acceptability judgment study on sentences with resumptive pronouns or gaps ("...the flowers that I don't know where _came from"), and a written production study which elicited sentences that required participants to produce either a gap or a resumptive pronoun in various island and non-island domains. We find that, in a given structure, resumptive pronouns are produced at a rate that negatively correlates with the acceptability of the corresponding structure with a gap in it. That is, where gaps are less acceptable, resumptive pronouns are more common. To account for these data, we offer a model of English production processes as sensitive to the acceptability of a planned utterance. When the system detects impending unacceptability, it may give up on the global plan to form a syntactic dependency. When this happens, a gap is no longer licensed and a pronoun is used to satisfy local subcategorization constraints.

The acquisition of differential object marking in Spanish by Romanian speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Differential Object Marking ◽  
Written Production ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract The obligatory use of the preposition ‘a’ with animate, specific direct objects in Spanish (Juan conoce a María “Juan knows Maria”) is a well-known instance of Differential Object Marking (dom). This study investigates the acquisition of dom by native speakers of Romanian learning Spanish. Spanish and Romanian have dom lexicalized in the prepositions ‘a’ (Spanish) and in ‘pe’ (Romanian). In the two languages dom is regulated by animacy and specificity. Thirty-two native speakers of Spanish and 36 Romanian-speaking learners of Spanish with advanced proficiency completed a written production, a written comprehension, and an acceptability judgment task. The results show that, in general, and unlike what has been found for English-speaking learners of Spanish, advanced Romanian learners of Spanish are successful at acquiring the feature specification and distribution of dom in Spanish. The findings are discussed with respect to the nature of ultimate attainment as a function of language transfer.

The syntax of variable behavior verbs: Experimental evidence from the accusative–oblique alternations in Japanese

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-314
Author(s):  
SHIN FUKUDA
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Selectional Restrictions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Core Meaning ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Japanese has two types of two-place motion verbs whose ‘objects’ can be marked as either accusative or oblique (accusative–oblique alternations). The accusative–goal verbs mark their objects with accusative case -o or the goal marker -ni, and the accusative–source verbs mark their objects with accusative -o or the source marker -kara. Previous studies describe systematic differences in the interpretation of the arguments of these verbs and the events they denote between the two structures. This study argues that these alternating verbs are variable behavior verbs that are linked to two distinct syntactic structures. The core evidence for this claim comes from the results of two acceptability judgment experiments with Japanese native speakers that examined: (i) selectional restrictions on the subjects of the alternating verbs and (ii) the ability of their subjects to license ‘floating’ numeral quantifiers. The results of the experiments demonstrate that the accusative–source verbs alternate between the transitive and unaccusative structures, whereas the accusative–goal verbs consistently behave like transitive verbs but assign two different structural cases to their objects. Thus, the study shows that there are multiple ways in which two-place motion verbs are mapped onto distinctive syntactic structures, whereby the core meaning of the verbs and their syntactic structures together determine their interpretation.

Assignment of grammatical gender by native speakers and foreign learners of French

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. M. HOLMES ◽  
B. DEJEAN DE LA BÂTIE
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Real Word ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Written Production ◽  
On Line ◽  
Gender Attribution

This study compared the skill in gender attribution of foreign learners and native speakers of French. Accuracy and fluency of gender attribution by the foreign learners were assessed in spontaneous written production. Both groups performed on-line gender assignment to real nouns whose gender was regular or exceptional, given their ending, and to invented nouns with nonword stems and real-word endings. The pattern of results indicated that the native speakers' gender attributions were primarily based on rapidly evoked lexical associations, with gender-ending correspondences playing a significant but subsidiary role. The foreign learners were less able to summon lexical associations, relying heavily on ending-based rules. Overall, none of the foreign learners attained the same level of performance as any of the native speakers. We conclude that instruction in which students learn nouns in the context of distinctive lexical associates could profitably be supplemented by explicit instruction in gender-ending regularities.

Present/future tense variation in contemporary Italian

Revue Romane ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Mark R. Hoff
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Future Tense ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
The Future ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract According to normative descriptions of Italian future-framed adverbial clauses, the future tense is the only option (Quando verrai [F], ti presterò il libro ‘When you come, I’ll lend you the book’). However, the present tense may also be used (Quando vieni [P], ti presto il libro). I demonstrate that choice and acceptance of the present in future-framed adverbials are conditioned by the speaker’s presumption of settledness; that is, in every future world compatible with the speaker’s beliefs the eventuality necessarily occurs. The data come from an online questionnaire consisting of a forced-choice and an acceptability judgment task completed by 429 native speakers of Italian, and were analyzed using mixed-effects regression. Results show that the present is chosen most and rated highest when the future eventuality is presumed settled ([+certain, +immediate, +temporally specific]). These findings demonstrate that speakers use the present to express confidence in the realization of future eventualities.

Techniques in Complex Semantic Fieldwork

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ryan Bochnak ◽  
Lisa Matthewson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
Discourse Context ◽  
De Re ◽  
De Dicto ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

The main goal of semantic fieldwork is to accurately capture the contribution of natural language expressions to truth conditions and to pragmatic felicity conditions, by interacting with native speakers of the language under investigation. Most semantic fieldwork tasks (including, for example, acceptability judgment tasks, elicited production tasks, and translation tasks) require the researcher to present a discourse context to the consultant. The important questions then become how to present that context to consultants and how to best ensure that the consultant and the researcher have the same context in mind. We argue that phenomena which rely on controlling for interlocutor beliefs are particularly well suited for the storyboard elicitation methodology. This includes “out-of-the-blue” scenarios, which we treat as a special type of discourse context that must also be controlled for. We illustrate these claims by presenting novel storyboards targeting the de re/ de dicto ambiguity and verum marking.

Prosodic phrasing of relative clauses with two possible antecedents in Spanish: A comparison of Spanish native speakers and L1 Basque bilingual speakers

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene de la Cruz-Pavía ◽  
Gorka Elordieta
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
First Language ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries

AbstractThe present production study investigates the prosodic phrasing characteristic of sentences containing a relative clause with two possible noun phrase antecedents [Noun Phrase 1 Noun Phrase 2 Relative Clause] in the variety of Spanish spoken in the Basque Country. It aims to establish the default prosodic phrasing of these structures, as well as whether differences are found in phrasing between native and non-native speakers. Additionally, it examines the effect on prosodic phrasing of constituent length and familiarity with the sentences (skimming the sentences prior to reading them aloud). To do that, the productions of 8 Spanish monolinguals, 8 first language (L1) Spanish/second language (L2) Basque bilinguals, and 8 L1Basque/L2Spanish bilinguals are examined. A default phrasing consisting of the prevalence of a prosodic break after NP2 ([NP1 NP2/RC]) is obtained, and differences are found between the prosodic contours of native and non-native speakers. Additionally, a constituent length effect is found, with a higher frequency of prosodic boundaries after NP2 as RC length increases, as predicted by Fodor’s Same Size Sister Constraint. Last, familiarity with the sentences was found to increase the frequency of occurrence of the default phrasing.

scholarly journals Frequency effects of L2 English on the processing of the passive in L1 Brazilian Portuguese / Efeitos de frequência da L2 inglês no processamento da passiva em L2 português brasileiro

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
Mara Passos Guimarães
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Task Type ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Written Production ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract: This study investigated the influence of experience with L2 English in the processing of passives in L1 Brazilian Portuguese (BP) by high-proficiency bilinguals and BP monolinguals. Based on the premise that high L2 proficiency is indicative of widespread representational sharing (BERNOLET; HARTSUIKER; PICKERING, 2013) and on the observation that the passive is significantly more productive in English than in BP (GUIMARÃES; SOUZA, 2016), bilinguals’ processing of the construction is expected to be facilitated by L2 exposure. Subjects performed an acceptability judgment task and two sentence elicitation tasks. Both groups considered the passive as acceptable as the active, with no significant differences between the two groups’ judgments of the passive. Differences were found in the oral production of passives between bilinguals and monolinguals, but not in written production: task type influenced the production of monolinguals in that passive productivity fell significantly from the written to the oral task. The difference in productivity levels of the passive between bilinguals and monolinguals is attributed to bilinguals’ exposure to the construction’s distributional properties in the L2, supporting models of bilingual shared representations (HARTSUIKER; PICKERING; VELTKAMP, 2004).Keywords: bilingualism; frequency effects; L2 proficiency; passive construction; acceptability judgment; written production; oral production.Resumo: Este estudo investigou a influência da experiência com L2 inglês no processamento de passivas em L1 português brasileiro (PB) por bilíngues de alta proficiência e monolíngues do PB. Baseando-se na premissa de que alta proficiência em L2 é indicativa de compartilhamento generalizado de representações (BERNOLET; HARTSUIKER; PICKERING, 2013) e na observação de que a passiva é significativamente mais produtiva em inglês do que no PB (GUIMARÃES; SOUZA, 2016)propomos uma visão construcional da construção, na qual ela é tomada como entidade teórica independente. Apesar de sintaticamente congruente no português brasileiro (PB, espera-se que o processamento da construção por bilíngues seja facilitado pela exposição à L2.  A compreensão da construção foi observada através de uma tarefa de julgamento de aceitabilidade de sentenças, enquanto a produção foi observada a partir de duas tarefas de descrição de imagens (uma escrita e outra oral). Tanto bilíngues quando monolíngues julgaram a passiva tão aceitável quanto a ativa, sem diferença significativa nos julgamentos entre os dois perfis linguísticos. Apesar de as passivas terem sido menos frequentes do que as ativas nas tarefas de produção, o tipo de tarefa influenciou o número de ocorrências de passivas dentre os monolíngues: sua produção foi similar à dos bilíngues na tarefa escrita, mas significativamente menor na tarefa oral. A diferença nos níveis de produtividade de passivas entre bilíngues e monolíngues é atribuída à exposição dos bilíngues às propriedades distribucionais da construção na L2, corroborando modelos de compartilhamento representacional bilíngue (HARTSUIKER; PICKERING; VELTKAMP, 2004).Palavras-chave: bilinguismo; efeitos de frequência; proficiência em L2; construção passiva; julgamento de aceitabilidade; produção escrita; produção oral.

scholarly journals Verbs of falling in English language: corpus data and typology

2020 ◽  
Vol XVI (1) ◽  
pp. 115-151
Author(s):  
O. Vinogradova ◽  
◽  
A. Viklova ◽  
K. Pospelova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Language Corpus

The paper presents the results of the studies carried over the group of English verbs with the meaning of falling. The research goals included classification of the lexical meanings, both direct and metaphorical, rendered by those verbs, on the basis of the analysis of the components of the situations put together in the special questionnaire. This was carried out together with native speakers of English, after which the collected set of examples was verified and expanded with searches in the big corpora of English speakers’ oral and written production available at the SketchEngine platform. Besides being a great source of extracting lexical meanings, Sketch Engine also provided the data and the statistics for the analysis of collocational behaviour of the verbs in question used with different subjects of falling. The scope of application of the umbrella verb fall and the distribution between it and its two rivals — drop and fall down — was in focus of the three corresponding sections in the paper, while the range of peripheral verbs of falling with all the comparative analysis of their lexical features formed one more section. Separately from the verbs conveying the direct meanings of falling, metaphoric shifts in the meanings of these verbs made up the content of section 6. Based on the findings presented in the previous sections, the conclusions regarding the concept of falling in English are discussed in the last part of the paper. The research confirmed that the verb fall is by far the most widely used in various contexts of falling. Whether used alone or combined with adverbial or prepositional particles, it covers the overwhelming majority of meanings of falling, both literal and metaphorical. Although drop proved to be the most frequent synonym of fall, there is a distribution of meanings between the two related to the nature of the subject and the intentionality of the action. As shown in the paper, the choice between fall and fall down appears to be determined by the trajectory of the fall and whether the typical position of the subject is vertical or not. Likewise, the distribution between fall off and fall down is conditioned by the trajectory, with the surface mentioned with the latter. Among the various peripheral verbs of falling, come and go — the most general verbs of movement — are also used in combination with down in specific cases of falling.

NS and NNS processing of idioms and nonidiom formulaic sequences: What can reaction times and think-alouds tell us?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Hang Zheng ◽  
Melissa A. Bowles ◽  
Jerome L. Packard
Keyword(s):  
Processing Speed ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Formulaic Sequences ◽  
Psychological Reality ◽  
Think Alouds ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract Although researchers generally agree that native speakers (NSs) process formulaic sequences (FSs) holistically to some extent, findings about nonnative speakers (NNSs) are conflicting, potentially because not all FSs are psychologically equal or because in some studies NNSs may not have fully understood the FSs. We address these issues by investigating Chinese NSs and NNSs processing of idioms and matched nonidiom FSs in phrase acceptability judgment tasks with and without think-alouds (TAs). Reaction times show that NSs processed idioms faster than nonidioms regardless of length, but NNSs processed 3-character FSs faster than 4-character FSs regardless of type. TAs show NSs’ understanding of FSs has reached ceiling, but NNSs’ understanding was incomplete, with idioms being understood more poorly than nonidioms. Although we conclude that idioms and nonidioms have different mental statuses in NSs’ lexicons, it is inconclusive how they are represented by NNSs. TAs also show that NNSs employed various strategies to compensate for limited idiom knowledge, causing comparable processing speed for idioms and nonidioms. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing subtypes of FSs and considering NNSs’ quality of understanding in discussions of the psychological reality of FSs.

Experimental Evidence on Island Effects in Spanish Relative Clauses

Probus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Stigliano ◽  
Ming Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Judgment Study ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract Research on islands has been central to linguistic theory for more than 50 years. Its importance relies on the theoretical consequences islands posit for movement and long distance dependencies. In this paper we aim to explore the contrast between a variety of islands in Spanish relative clauses to reveal whether there is any gradience in the strength of the island effects. In order to tease apart fine-grained contrasts we run an acceptability judgment study based on the factorial definition of island, an experimental paradigm that aims to isolate the various factors that can affect the acceptability of a sentence involving island violations. Overall, we found that the five constructions tested (embedded wh-questions, whether-clauses, adjuncts, complex NPs and relative clauses) show island effects in Spanish and that there are limited differences in the size of these effects, which points to a more categorical view of islands.

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