Phone: +44 1227 826559 Address: English Language and Linguistics
School of European Culture and Languages
Cornwallis North West
University of Kent
Canterbury
Kent CT2 7NF
In this paper, we will argue that, of the various grammatical and discourse constraints that affe... more In this paper, we will argue that, of the various grammatical and discourse constraints that affect acceptability in verb phrase ellipsis (VPE), only the structural parallelism constraint is unique to VPE. We outline (previously noted) systematic problems that arise for classical structural accounts of VPE resolution, and discuss efforts in recent research on VPE to reduce explanations of acceptability in VPE to general well-formedness constraints at the level of information structure (e.g. Kehler in Linguist Philos 23(6):533–575, 2000; Coherence, reference and the theory of grammar, CSLI Publications, Stanford, 2002; Proceedings of semantics and linguistic theory, vol 25, 2015; Kertz in Language 89(3):390–428, 2013). In two magnitude estimation experiments, we show that—in line with Kehler's predictions—degradation due to structural mismatch is modulated by coherence relation. On the other hand, we consistently find residual structural mismatch effects, suggesting that the interpretation of VPE is sensitive to structural features of the VPE antecedent. We propose that a structural constraint licenses VPE, but that sentences violating this constraint can nevertheless be interpreted. The variability in acceptability is accounted for not by additional constraints on VPE in the grammar, but by the numerous general biases that affect sentence and discourse well-formedness, such as information structural constraints (as proposed by Kertz 2013), discourse coherence relations (Kehler 2000), sensitivity to Question Under Discussion structure (e.g. Ginzburg and Sag in English thematic role bias at the lexical level (e.g. McRae et al. in J Mem Lang 38:283– 312, 1998). We test the prediction that thematic role bias (Experiment 3) and QUD structure (Experiment 4) will influence both elliptical and non-elliptical sentences alike, while structural mismatch continues to degrade elliptical sentences alone. Our proposal differs from existing proposals in cutting the explanatory pie in a different way with respect to how variations in acceptability are accounted for. We suggest that degradation can result from at least two distinct and separable sources: violating construction-specific grammatical constraints, or from complexity differences in interpretation related to very general discourse level information.
The interpretation of sentences with focus-sensitive elements like 'only' de-pends on c... more The interpretation of sentences with focus-sensitive elements like 'only' de-pends on context to restrict the domain of relevant alternatives for evalu-ating the focused expression. But what kinds of contextually available in-formation do listeners actually use to restrict interpretive ...
What is conveyed by a sentence frequently depends not only on the descriptive content carried by ... more What is conveyed by a sentence frequently depends not only on the descriptive content carried by its words, but also on implicit alternatives determined by the context of use. Four visual world eye-tracking experiments examined how alternatives are generated based on aspects of the discourse context and used in interpreting sentences containing the focus operators only and also. Experiment 1 builds on previous reading time studies showing that the interpretations of only sentences are constrained by alternatives explicitly mentioned in the preceding discourse, providing fine-grained time course information about the expectations triggered by only. Experiments 2 and 3 show that, in the absence of explicitly mentioned alternatives, lexical and situation-based categories evoked by the context are possible sources of alternatives. While Experiments 1–3 all demonstrate the discourse dependence of alternatives, only explicit mention triggered expectations about alternatives that were specific to sentences with only. By comparing only with also, Experiment 4 begins to disentangle expectations linked to the meanings of specific operators from those generalizable to the class of focus-sensitive operators. Together, these findings show that the interpretation of sentences with focus operators draws on both dedicated mechanisms for introducing alternatives into the discourse context and general mechanisms associated with discourse processing.
Florian Schwarz (ed.), Experimental Perspectives on Presupposition. Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, Vol. 45, 2014
The current study investigates presupposition-satisfying dependencies from the point of view of d... more The current study investigates presupposition-satisfying dependencies from the point of view of discourse processing. Using the presupposition trigger also as a case study, I ask to what extent the distance spanned by the trigger and the prior discourse content that satisfies the presupposition of also influences comprehenders’ interpretation of the discourse — specifically, whether comprehenders have a bias toward satisfying presuppositions using material in the discourse that is closer rather than more distant.
Two offline experiments and one Visual World eye-tracking experiment provide evidence in favor of a locality bias in presupposition satisfaction. The findings support sensitivity to both linear distance and distance in terms of hierarchically structured discourse representations, consistent with an interpretation system that tracks both structure-insensitive information about discourse mention, and structured representations of larger discourse units.
Syntactic priming without lexical overlap is well-documented in language production. In contrast,... more Syntactic priming without lexical overlap is well-documented in language production. In contrast, reading-time comprehension studies, which typically use locally ambiguous sentences, generally find syntactic priming only with lexical overlap. This asymmetry has led some researchers to propose that distinct mechanisms underlie the comprehension and production of syntactic structure. Instead, we propose that methodological differences in how priming is assessed are largely responsible for the asymmetry: in comprehension, lexical biases in a locally ambiguous target sentence may overwhelm the influence of syntactic priming effects on a reader’s interpretation. We addressed these issues in a self-paced reading study by (1) using target sentences containing global attachment ambiguities, (2) examining a syntactic structure which does not involve an
argument of the verb, and (3) factoring out the unavoidable lexical biases associated with the target sentences in a mixed-effects regression model. Under these conditions, syntactic priming affected how ambiguous sentences were parsed, and facilitated reading times when target sentences were parsed using the primed structure. This resolves discrepancies among previous findings, and suggests that the same mechanism underlies syntactic priming in comprehension and production.
In this paper, we will argue that, of the various grammatical and discourse constraints that affe... more In this paper, we will argue that, of the various grammatical and discourse constraints that affect acceptability in verb phrase ellipsis (VPE), only the structural parallelism constraint is unique to VPE. We outline (previously noted) systematic problems that arise for classical structural accounts of VPE resolution, and discuss efforts in recent research on VPE to reduce explanations of acceptability in VPE to general well-formedness constraints at the level of information structure (e.g. Kehler in Linguist Philos 23(6):533–575, 2000; Coherence, reference and the theory of grammar, CSLI Publications, Stanford, 2002; Proceedings of semantics and linguistic theory, vol 25, 2015; Kertz in Language 89(3):390–428, 2013). In two magnitude estimation experiments, we show that—in line with Kehler's predictions—degradation due to structural mismatch is modulated by coherence relation. On the other hand, we consistently find residual structural mismatch effects, suggesting that the interpretation of VPE is sensitive to structural features of the VPE antecedent. We propose that a structural constraint licenses VPE, but that sentences violating this constraint can nevertheless be interpreted. The variability in acceptability is accounted for not by additional constraints on VPE in the grammar, but by the numerous general biases that affect sentence and discourse well-formedness, such as information structural constraints (as proposed by Kertz 2013), discourse coherence relations (Kehler 2000), sensitivity to Question Under Discussion structure (e.g. Ginzburg and Sag in English thematic role bias at the lexical level (e.g. McRae et al. in J Mem Lang 38:283– 312, 1998). We test the prediction that thematic role bias (Experiment 3) and QUD structure (Experiment 4) will influence both elliptical and non-elliptical sentences alike, while structural mismatch continues to degrade elliptical sentences alone. Our proposal differs from existing proposals in cutting the explanatory pie in a different way with respect to how variations in acceptability are accounted for. We suggest that degradation can result from at least two distinct and separable sources: violating construction-specific grammatical constraints, or from complexity differences in interpretation related to very general discourse level information.
The interpretation of sentences with focus-sensitive elements like 'only' de-pends on c... more The interpretation of sentences with focus-sensitive elements like 'only' de-pends on context to restrict the domain of relevant alternatives for evalu-ating the focused expression. But what kinds of contextually available in-formation do listeners actually use to restrict interpretive ...
What is conveyed by a sentence frequently depends not only on the descriptive content carried by ... more What is conveyed by a sentence frequently depends not only on the descriptive content carried by its words, but also on implicit alternatives determined by the context of use. Four visual world eye-tracking experiments examined how alternatives are generated based on aspects of the discourse context and used in interpreting sentences containing the focus operators only and also. Experiment 1 builds on previous reading time studies showing that the interpretations of only sentences are constrained by alternatives explicitly mentioned in the preceding discourse, providing fine-grained time course information about the expectations triggered by only. Experiments 2 and 3 show that, in the absence of explicitly mentioned alternatives, lexical and situation-based categories evoked by the context are possible sources of alternatives. While Experiments 1–3 all demonstrate the discourse dependence of alternatives, only explicit mention triggered expectations about alternatives that were specific to sentences with only. By comparing only with also, Experiment 4 begins to disentangle expectations linked to the meanings of specific operators from those generalizable to the class of focus-sensitive operators. Together, these findings show that the interpretation of sentences with focus operators draws on both dedicated mechanisms for introducing alternatives into the discourse context and general mechanisms associated with discourse processing.
Florian Schwarz (ed.), Experimental Perspectives on Presupposition. Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, Vol. 45, 2014
The current study investigates presupposition-satisfying dependencies from the point of view of d... more The current study investigates presupposition-satisfying dependencies from the point of view of discourse processing. Using the presupposition trigger also as a case study, I ask to what extent the distance spanned by the trigger and the prior discourse content that satisfies the presupposition of also influences comprehenders’ interpretation of the discourse — specifically, whether comprehenders have a bias toward satisfying presuppositions using material in the discourse that is closer rather than more distant.
Two offline experiments and one Visual World eye-tracking experiment provide evidence in favor of a locality bias in presupposition satisfaction. The findings support sensitivity to both linear distance and distance in terms of hierarchically structured discourse representations, consistent with an interpretation system that tracks both structure-insensitive information about discourse mention, and structured representations of larger discourse units.
Syntactic priming without lexical overlap is well-documented in language production. In contrast,... more Syntactic priming without lexical overlap is well-documented in language production. In contrast, reading-time comprehension studies, which typically use locally ambiguous sentences, generally find syntactic priming only with lexical overlap. This asymmetry has led some researchers to propose that distinct mechanisms underlie the comprehension and production of syntactic structure. Instead, we propose that methodological differences in how priming is assessed are largely responsible for the asymmetry: in comprehension, lexical biases in a locally ambiguous target sentence may overwhelm the influence of syntactic priming effects on a reader’s interpretation. We addressed these issues in a self-paced reading study by (1) using target sentences containing global attachment ambiguities, (2) examining a syntactic structure which does not involve an
argument of the verb, and (3) factoring out the unavoidable lexical biases associated with the target sentences in a mixed-effects regression model. Under these conditions, syntactic priming affected how ambiguous sentences were parsed, and facilitated reading times when target sentences were parsed using the primed structure. This resolves discrepancies among previous findings, and suggests that the same mechanism underlies syntactic priming in comprehension and production.
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Papers by Christina S . Kim
Two offline experiments and one Visual World eye-tracking experiment provide evidence in favor of a locality bias in presupposition satisfaction. The findings support sensitivity to both linear distance and distance in terms of hierarchically structured discourse representations, consistent with an interpretation system that tracks both structure-insensitive information about discourse mention, and structured representations of larger discourse units.
argument of the verb, and (3) factoring out the unavoidable lexical biases associated with the target sentences in a mixed-effects regression model. Under these conditions, syntactic priming affected how ambiguous sentences were parsed, and facilitated reading times when target sentences were parsed using the primed structure. This resolves discrepancies among previous findings, and suggests that the same mechanism underlies syntactic priming in comprehension and production.
Two offline experiments and one Visual World eye-tracking experiment provide evidence in favor of a locality bias in presupposition satisfaction. The findings support sensitivity to both linear distance and distance in terms of hierarchically structured discourse representations, consistent with an interpretation system that tracks both structure-insensitive information about discourse mention, and structured representations of larger discourse units.
argument of the verb, and (3) factoring out the unavoidable lexical biases associated with the target sentences in a mixed-effects regression model. Under these conditions, syntactic priming affected how ambiguous sentences were parsed, and facilitated reading times when target sentences were parsed using the primed structure. This resolves discrepancies among previous findings, and suggests that the same mechanism underlies syntactic priming in comprehension and production.