Children’s and adults’ eye movements and the extraction of number information from redundant markings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Maximiliano Gomez ◽  
Carolina Holtheuer ◽  
Karen Miller ◽  
Cristina Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Chilean Spanish ◽  
Require Information

We present an eye tracking study comparing 3.5- to 7.5-year-old children and adults’ use of number information on the verb and/or the determiner of the subject noun phrase in Chilean Spanish, a dialect of Spanish with variable realization of plural morphology in the noun phrase (due to phonological weakening) and categorical realization of number on the verb. Our results suggest that, while adults can determine whether the subject refers to a plurality or a singleton set based on the morphology of the verb alone, even 5- to 7-year-old children do not and, instead, require information from the noun phrase determiner to make a decision. Children younger than 5 years cannot use number on the verb and on the determiner to make a decision, which supports Miller and Schmitt’s (2010, 2012) hypothesis that number morphology is not always mapped into syntactic and semantic features by younger children in varieties of Spanish where number is subject to variation.

Ambiguous Pronoun Resolution

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhani Järvikivi ◽  
Roger P.G. van Gompel ◽  
Jukka Hyönä ◽  
Raymond Bertram
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
The Subject

A visual-world eye-tracking experiment investigated the influence of order of mention and grammatical role on resolution of ambiguous pronouns in Finnish. According to the first-mention account, general cognitive structure-building processes make the first-mentioned noun phrase the preferred antecedent of an ambiguous pronoun. According to the subject-preference account, the preferred antecedent is the grammatical subject of the preceding clause or sentence. Participants listened to sentences in either subject-verb-object or object-verb-subject order; each was followed by a sentence containing an ambiguous pronoun that referred to either the subject or the object. Participants' eye movements were monitored while they looked at pictures representing the two possible antecedents of each pronoun. Analyses of the fixations on the pictures showed that listeners used both order-of-mention and grammatical-role information to resolve ambiguous pronouns.

scholarly journals Re-examining the relationship between the subject agreement morpheme and (in)definiteness in Northern Sotho

Literator ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mampaka L. Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement

The grammatical position of the subject noun phrase in Northern Sotho is to the left of the predicate. The subject agreement morpheme is a compulsory link between the subject noun phrase and the predicate. Scholars have examined the role of this morpheme from various perspectives. It is also extensively documented that the morpheme has dual functions. Its primary function is to mark agreement between the subject and the predicate. Its secondary function is pronominal, whereby it is co-referenced to some antecedent. This article reexamined the primary role of the subject agreement morpheme in Northern Sotho in relation to the interpretation of a subject noun phrase as definite or indefinite. This was accomplished by (1) revisiting existing works that are directly or indirectly linked to (in)definiteness and subject agreement, (2) analysing texts that may facilitate discussion on the issue, and (3) relating the findings from previous works to current analyses. The first hypothesis in this article was that when some class 9 subject noun phrases, denoting persons, agree with the verb stem by a class 1 agreement morpheme, the noun phrases are interpreted as definite. The second hypothesis was that although the subject position is considered predominantly topical and definite it may not categorically exclude indefinite noun phrases. Therefore some indefinite noun phrases may also agree with predicates by means of this morpheme.

Un análisis cognitivo-funcional de la concordancia verbal con construcciones (pseudo)partitivas del tipo [N1 + de + N2]

Revue Romane ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrien Verveckken ◽  
Bert Cornillie
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Verbal Agreement ◽  
Linguistic Account

In this paper we present a corpus-based, cognitive-linguistic account of the singular/plural agreement alternation with binominal constructions belonging to the [N1singular + de + N2plural]-type. From a syntagmatic point of view, plural agreement reflects a shift from N1 as the head of the Noun Phrase towards N1 being a quantifier to N2. This view is in line with grammaticalization theory and holds for many examples, yet there are important counterexamples where we find a singular verb despite N1 being used as a quantifier. The Hispanic linguistic literature mentions several factors that would favor plural agreement with N2 such as an indefinite article, the distance between the verb and the subject, the position of the subject and pseudopartitive rather than partitive use. The corpus analysis will show that these factors are not conclusive. Our alternative account has recourse to the concept of lexical persistence and shows to what extent the quantifier use of N1 retains semantic features associated with the head use of N1. We argue that verbal agreement phenomena can be motivated by the interaction between lexical persistence and the morpho-syntactic and semantic criteria listed in literature. Lexical persistence is thus not a side effect of the grammaticalization process, but a crucial dimension of binominal constructions in that it allows us to explain quantifier uses of N1 with a singular verb.

scholarly journals Possessive and transitive in Eskimo

1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Mey
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Deep Structure ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Surface Structures ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Indirect Confirmation ◽  
Relative Case ◽  
Grammatical Tradition ◽  
Natural Way

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to give an account of some hitherto unexplained phenomena connected with the use of the Eskimo ‘relative case’. A deep structure is proposed that not only will account for the occurrence of certain surface morphemes, but also, and in a natural way, for the semantic affinities that exist between certain types of noun phrases and the transitive sentence in Eskimo. In particular, it is shown that in phrases of the type ‘the man's house’, there exists evidence for considering ‘man’ as the subject noun phrase, ‘house’ as the object noun phrase of some deep structure. The transformational machinery involved in deriving the correct surface structures is shown in some detail. A discussion of older terminology in Eskimo grammatical tradition provides additional, indirect confirmation of the naturalness of the proposed explanation.

Discontinuous noun phrases in existential sentences in English and German

1977 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Surface Structure ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Existential Sentences ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject

In Kirkwood (1970) I noted that in the passivization of a sentence such as: (i) They issued a report on recent developments. i.e. (2) A report was issued on recent developments. a prepositional phrase on recent developments, which appears in some way to be attached to the subject noun phrase a report, may be detached from it in surface structure and placed after the verb. A similar phenomenon was observed in equivalent German sentences. Compare:

scholarly journals LOGICS FOR THE RELATIONAL SYLLOGISTIC

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAN PRATT-HARTMANN ◽  
LAWRENCE S. MOSS
Keyword(s):  
Computational Complexity ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Proof Systems ◽  
Reductio Ad Absurdum ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject

The Aristotelian syllogistic cannot account for the validity of certain inferences involving relational facts. In this paper, we investigate the prospects for providing a relational syllogistic. We identify several fragments based on (a) whether negation is permitted on all nouns, including those in the subject of a sentence; and (b) whether the subject noun phrase may contain a relative clause. The logics we present are extensions of the classical syllogistic, and we pay special attention to the question of whether reductio ad absurdum is needed. Thus our main goal is to derive results on the existence (or nonexistence) of syllogistic proof systems for relational fragments. We also determine the computational complexity of all our fragments.

scholarly journals Eye movements during the reading of narrative and poetic texts.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Jacobs ◽  
Jana Lüdtke ◽  
Johanna Kaakinen ◽  
Lynn S. Eekhof
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Video Stream ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Software Skills ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
Eye Movements During Reading

Video stream: https://vimeo.com/358415199 Despite a wealth of studies using eye tracking to investigate mental processes during vision or reading, the investigation of oculomotor activity during natural reading of longer texts –be it newspaper articles, narratives or poetry– is still an exception in this field (as evidenced by the program of ECEM 2017 in Wuppertal). Following up on our symposium at ECEM 2017, here we bring together eye movement research on natural text reading to report recent progress in a coordinated way sharing data, experiences and software skills in this highly complex subfield. More specifically, in this symposium we will address several challenges faced by an eye tracking perspective on the reading of longer texts which involve a surplus of intervening variables and novel methods to analyze the data. In particular, the following issues will be addressed: - Which text-analytical and statistical methods are best to deal with the myriad of surface and affective semantic features potentially influencing eye movements during reading of ‘natural’ texts? - What are the pros and cons of using machine learning assisted predictive modeling as an alternative to the standard GLM/LMM frameworks? - Which kind of theoretical models can deal with the level of complexity offered by reading longer natural texts?  

Focus identification in child Mandarin

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 965-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
PENG ZHOU ◽  
STEPHEN CRAIN
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Child Mandarin ◽  
Language Learnability

ABSTRACTIn this study, we investigated how Mandarin-speaking children and adults interpret focus structures like Zhiyou Yuehan chi-le pingguo ‘Only John ate an apple’ and Shi Yuehan chi-de pingguo ‘It is John who ate an apple’. We found that children tended to associate focus operators zhiyou ‘only’ and shi ‘be’ with the verb phrase (VP), whereas adults uniquely associated them with the subject noun phrase (NP). To account for this difference, we propose that children initially treat focus operators as adverbials, thus ending up associating them with the VP. In order to assess our proposal, we examined children's understanding of zhiyou-constructions with negation, like Zhiyou Yuehan meiyou chi pingguo ‘Only John didn't eat an apple’. It was found that children, like adults, consistently associated the focus operator with the subject NP in this construction. The findings have an important bearing on language learnability, since negation assists children in reaching the adult-like interpretation.

scholarly journals Elements of Oculesics in Literary Text and Their Semantics

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 580-588
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Eye Contact ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Work Of Art ◽  
Analytical Studies ◽  
The Subject

The article deals with the most important issues of the Kyrgyz language today. In the context of the excerpts, the elements of the wheel in the work of art are analyzed, in particular, the functions of the eye during conversation and conversation. The semantic features of different eye movements depending on the situation are determined by the research based on the texts of the novel The Broken Sword by T. Kasymbekov. Since eye contact, the duration of a glance, the frequency of views and their semantics are the subject of scientific research, the article also discusses linguistic, cultural and ethnolinguistic problems concerning the Kyrgyz people. The study, analyzing the expression of eye resources in the text and its contribution to communication, determines the results of analytical studies based on problems along with linguistic science, such sciences as psycholinguistics and ethnolinguistics.

Descriptions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Neale
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Singular Term ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Theory Of Descriptions

‘Definite descriptions’ are noun phrases of the form ‘the’ + noun complex (for example, ‘the finest Greek poet’, ‘the cube of five’) or of the form possessive + noun complex (for example, ‘Sparta’s defeat of Athens’). As Russell realized, it is important to philosophy to be clear about the semantics of such expressions. In the sentence ‘Aeschylus fought at Marathon’, the function of the subject, ‘Aeschylus’, is to refer to something; it is a referential noun phrase (or ‘singular term’). By contrast, in the sentence ‘Every Athenian remembers Marathon’, the subject noun phrase, ‘every Athenian’, is not referential but quantificational. Definite descriptions appear at first sight to be referential. Frege treated them referentially, but Russell held that they should be treated quantificationally in accordance with his theory of descriptions, and argued that certain philosophical puzzles were thereby solved.

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