Löytyä-verbin konstruktioiden yhteydessä esiintyvä subjektin sijanvaihtelu

Abstrakti. Artikkeli tarkastelee löytyä-verbin konstruktioiden nominatiivi- ja partitiivisubjektin vaihtelua. Aineistona on korpuksista poimittu 779 havainnon satunnaisotos, jota tarkastellaan sekä kvantitatiivisesti tilastollisin menetelmin että kvalitatiivisesta näkökulmasta. Tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään, mitkä muuttujat vaikuttavat löytyä-verbin sisältävien lauseiden subjektien sijanvalintaan. Valikoidut muuttujat ovat subjektin luku, subjektin jaollisuus, subjektin sanaluokka, sanajärjestys, aikamuoto, subjektin ja verbin välinen kongruenssi sekä subjektin lemma, joka toimii satunnaismuuttujana. Regressioanalyysin keinoin subjektin sijanvalintaa ennustetaan mainittujen muuttujien ja niiden välisten vuorovaikutussuhteiden avulla. Laadullisessa analyysissa käsitellään myös näiden morfosyntaktisten ja semanttisten seikkojen vaikutusta lauseen eksistentiaalisuuden sekä subjektin kvantiteetin ja definiittisyyden tulkintaan. Abstract. Rodolfo Basile, Ilmari Ivaska: Subject case alternation in constructions containing the Finnish verb löytyä. This article examines the nominative-partitive subject alternation occurring with constructions containing the Finnish verb löytyä. The material used is taken from corpora and consists of a random sample of 779 observations, analyzed both quantitatively by means of statistical methods, and from a qualitative point of view. The research aims at investigating which variables influence the case alternation of subjects of constructions containing the verb löytyä. The chosen variables are subject number, subject divisibility, subject part of speech, word order, tense, agreement and subject lemma, the only random variable. With the help of regression analysis, the subject case is predicted on the basis of said variables and of interactions between them. The qualitative analysis will also discuss the relationship these morphosyntactic and semantic variables have with the existential interpretations of the clause as well as with the subject quantity and definiteness. Kokkuvõte. Rodolfo Basile, Ilmari Ivaska: Subjekti käändevaheldus löytyä-verbiga konstruktsioonides. Artiklis uuritakse nominatiivi- ja partitiivikujulise subjekti vaheldumist soome keele löytyä-verbi sisaldavates konstruktsioonides. 779 vaatlust sisaldavat korpustest pärinevat juhuvalimit analüüsitakse nii kvantitatiivsete kui ka kvalitatiivsete meetoditega. Uurimuse eesmärk on välja selgitada, millised tegurid löytyä-verbi sisaldavate konstruktsioonide subjekti käändevalikut mõjutavad. Käsitletavad tegurid on subjekti arv, loendatavus, sõnaliik, konstruktsiooni sõnajärg, ajavorm ning subjekti ja verbi ühildumine. Juhusliku muutujana kaasatakse ka subjekti lemma. Regressioonanalüüsi abil ennustatakse subjekti käändevalikut mainitud tegurite ja nendevaheliste koosmõjude kaudu. Kvalitatiivse analüüsi käigus arutletakse ka selle üle, milline on nimetatud morfosüntaktiliste ja semantiliste tegurite mõju lause eksistentsiaalsele tõlgendusele ning subjekti kvantiteedile ja definiitsusele.

Semantic variables both help and hinder word production: Behavioural evidence from picture naming

This research investigated how word production is influenced by six feature-based semantic variables (number of semantic features, intercorrelational density, number of near semantic neighbours, semantic similarity, typicality, and distinctiveness). We simultaneously investigated effects of the six semantic variables on spoken picture naming in a large group of participants (n = 87), while controlling for other psycholinguistic variables. Across analyses, number of semantic features was the most consistent predictor with a facilitatory effect on naming latency and accuracy. In addition, inhibitory effects were found on naming accuracy for intercorrelational density and on naming latency for distinctiveness. The facilitatory effect of number of semantic features is suggested to stem from stronger semantic activation with an increasing number of semantic features, which results in facilitated selection of the word’s lexical representation. In contrast, the inhibitory effect of intercorrelational density is most easily accounted for by increased competition at the lexical level. The mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of distinctiveness is unclear. These findings indicate that future research on factors affecting word retrieval should also control for effects of number of semantic features, intercorrelational density, and distinctiveness. They also suggest that effects of the other semantic variables (e.g., semantic neighbours) reported in the literature were potentially overestimated due to insufficient control of other semantic and/or psycholinguistic variables.

Effects of Auditory Display Types and Acoustic Variables on Subjective Driver Assessment in a Rail Crossing Context

Highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) present multiple collision risks for motorists, suggesting the need for additional countermeasures to increase driver compliance. The use of in-vehicle auditory alerts (IVAAs) at HRGCs has been increasing, but there are limited standards or guidelines on how such alerts should be implemented. In the current study, we sought to investigate the effect of different auditory display variables, such as display type and acoustics, on subjective user assessments. We recruited 24 participants and asked them to rate 36 different IVAAs belonging to one of three display types (earcons—short synthetic tones, speech alerts, and hybrid alerts consisting of an earcon and speech) along 11 subjective ratings. Results showed that a hybrid alert led to better overall ratings for acceptance, safety, and semantic understanding when compared with earcon or speech alerts. Additional analyses revealed that semantic variables, such as speech order and gender, should be accounted for when designing IVAAs in an HRGC context. Hybrid IVAAs with spatial audio showed lower Urgency and Hazard level ratings. Findings of the current study can help inform the design of IVAAs for HRGCs.

The grammatical basis of Verb Second

The root and embedded Verb Second constructions in German are investigated and an analysis is proposed which employs properties of the inflectional system to derive finiteness fronting. In particular, the fronting of finiteness through verb movement is traced back to the deictic variables of the inflectional categories tense (time of speech) and verbal mood (situation of speech) in the case of finite clauses. Finiteness fronts in order for these semantic variables to get access to the respective components of the discourse situation. In the case of imperatives—not featuring tense and mood—the agr variable causes verb fronting. Because formal subjects cannot be licensed in imperatives, the agr variable for [person: 2, number: a plural] does not get a semantic value. Fronting of the verb allows binding the discourse component addressee to this variable. Being bound to discourse components, the respective propositional objects are anchored on the discourse table. Embedded Verb Second constructions are derived by the same principles and their interaction with the specific properties of the higher-ordered structural configurations.

Distinct roles for the Anterior Temporal Lobe and Angular Gyrus in the spatio-temporal cortical semantic network

It is now well recognised that human semantic knowledge is supported by a large neural network distributed over multiple brain regions, but the dynamic organisation of this network remains unknown. Some studies have proposed that a central semantic hub coordinates this network. We explored the possibility of different types of semantic hubs; namely “representational hubs”, whose neural activity is modulated by semantic variables, and “connectivity hubs”, whose connectivity to distributed areas is modulated by semantic variables. We utilised the spatio-temporal resolution of source-estimated Electro-/Magnetoencephalography data in a word-concreteness task (17 participants, 12 female) in order to: (i) find representational hubs at different timepoints based on semantic modulation of evoked brain activity in source space; (ii) identify connectivity hubs among left Anterior Temporal Lobe (ATL), Angular Gyrus (AG), Middle Temporal Gyrus and Inferior Frontal Gyrus based on their functional connectivity to the whole cortex, in particular sensory-motor-limbic systems; and (iii) explicitly compare network models with and without an intermediate hub linking sensory input to other candidate hub regions using Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) of evoked responses. ATL’s activity was modulated as early as 150ms post-stimulus, while both ATL and AG showed modulations of functional connectivity with sensory-motor-limbic areas from 150-450ms. DCM favoured models with one intermediate hub, namely ATL in an early time window and AG in a later time-window. Our results support ATL as a single representational hub with an early onset, but suggest that both ATL and AG function as connectivity hubs depending on the stage of semantic processing.

An item-level analysis of lexical-semantic effects in free recall and recognition memory using the megastudy approach

Psycholinguists have developed a number of measures to tap different aspects of a word’s semantic representation. The influence of these measures on lexical processing has collectively been described as semantic richness effects. However, the effects of these word properties on memory are currently not well understood. This study examines the relative contributions of lexical and semantic variables in free recall and recognition memory at the item-level, using a megastudy approach. Hierarchical regression of recall and recognition performance on a number of lexical-semantic variables showed task-general effects where the structural component, frequency, number of senses, and arousal accounted for unique variance in both free recall and recognition memory. Task-specific effects included number of features, imageability, and body–object interaction, which accounted for unique variance in recall, whereas age of acquisition, familiarity, and extremity of valence accounted for unique variance in recognition. Forward selection regression analyses generally converged on these findings. Hierarchical regression also revealed that lexical variables accounted for more variance in recognition compared with recall, whereas semantic variables accounted for more unique variance above and beyond lexical variables in recall compared with recognition. Implications of the findings are discussed.

The Role of Semantics in Spanish Word Recognition: an Insight from Lexical Decision and Categorization Tasks

This study examines the factors affecting word recognition in a language with a consistent system to map letters into sounds; Spanish. The influence of semantics on the recognition of words in languages with inconsistent mappings, such as English, is well documented. Not much is known for other languages. A lexical decision task and two category verification tasks with varying levels of semantic complexity were used. In contrast to English, none of the semantic variables entered into the analyses had a significant impact on lexical decision latencies or errors. Imageability showed an influence on responses to both category verification tasks while the effect of connectivity was marginally significant in the category verification task with the greatest semantic complexity. Results indicate that word recognition decisions can be made without the involvement of central components of the semantic system. The role of semantics in word recognition in languages with consistent spelling systems will be discussed.