On the processing of Japanese wh-questions: an ERP study.
The processing of Japanese wh-questions was investigated using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Unlike in English or German, a wh-element in Japanese need not be displaced from its canonical position, but instead needs a corresponding Q(uestion)-particle to indicate its interrogative scope. We tested to see if there were any processing correlates specific to these features of Japanese wh-questions. Both mono-clausal and bi-clausal Japanese wh-questions elicited right-lateralized anterior negativity (RAN) between wh-words and corresponding Q-particles, relative to structurally-equivalent yes/no-question control conditions. These results suggest a reliable neural processing correlate of the dependency between wh-elements and Q-particles in Japanese, similar to effects of (left) anterior negativity between wh-fillers and gaps in English and German, but with a right- rather than left-lateralized distribution. It is suggested that wh-in-situ questions in Japanese are processed by the incremental formation of a long-distance dependency between wh-elements and their Q-particles, resulting in a working memory load for keeping track of scopeless wh-elements.
Ueno
Mieko
M
Department of Linguistics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #108, La Jolla, CA 92093-0108, USA. ueno@ling.ucsd.edu
Kluender
Robert
R
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044466:Asian People; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology