The interplay between prosody and syntax in sentence processing: the case of subject- and object-control verbs.
This study addresses the question whether prosodic information can affect the choice for a syntactic analysis in auditory sentence processing. We manipulated the prosody (in the form of a prosodic break; PB) of locally ambiguous Dutch sentences to favor one of two interpretations. The experimental items contained two different types of so-called control verbs (subject and object control) in the matrix clause and were syntactically disambiguated by a transitive or by an intransitive verb. In Experiment 1, we established the default off-line preference of the items for a transitive or an intransitive disambiguating verb with a visual and an auditory fragment completion test. The results suggested that subject- and object-control verbs differently affect the syntactic structure that listeners expect. In Experiment 2, we investigated these two types of verbs separately in an on-line ERP study. Consistent with the literature, the PB elicited a closure positive shift. Furthermore, in subject-control items, an N400 effect for intransitive relative to transitive disambiguating verbs was found, both for sentences with and for sentences without a PB. This result suggests that the default preference for subject-control verbs goes in the same direction as the effect of the PB. In object-control items, an N400 effect for intransitive relative to transitive disambiguating verbs was found for sentences with a PB but no effect in the absence of a PB. This indicates that a PB can affect the syntactic analysis that listeners pursue.
Bögels
Sara
S
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognition, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. S.Bogels@donders.ru.nl
Schriefers
Herbert
H
Vonk
Wietske
W
Chwilla
Dorothee J
DJ
Kerkhofs
Roel
R
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011578:Psycholinguistics / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult